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Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms” and “I go and prepare a place for you” and “I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also.” So is Jesus teaching that Christians will live in heaven forever? Maybe . . . But probably not.
On the eve of his death, Jesus gave his last extended teaching to his followers. He taught them many things. But He first wanted to offer comfort because He was about to die, and they didn’t realize it. So Jesus began by saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1–3). Jesus said he’s leaving the earth to prepare a space for his followers in a location not on the earth. Presumably, heaven. Heaven is the Father’s house that has many rooms where Jesus will go. Heaven is the space where Jesus will take his followers when he returns to take them to be with him so they can inhabit those rooms.
All of that seems plain. But we go wrong by assuming Christians stay in that heavenly space forever. We also go wrong by assuming Jesus’ emphasis is on that space called heaven. Those two assumptions cause us to miss one of the most radical truths taught in all of the Bible—right there in John 14.
When Jesus said, “in my Father’s house are many rooms” in verse 2 he used the Greek word mone for “rooms” and oikia for “house.” Later in that chapter, verse 23, Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” You would think the word Jesus used for “home” in verse 23 is the same word he used for house in verse 2. Oikia. But that isn’t case. Instead, the Greek word translated “home” in verse 23 is mone. The same word used for “rooms” in verse 2. That word occurs only twice in the New Testament. Both times, right here in John 14.
In verse 2, the rooms, or mone, in the Father’s house are many and Jesus said he will take his followers to them so they can inhabit them in heaven at some point in the future. But, in verse 23, Jesus said he and the Father will come to the believer in the present and inhabit the believer. Jesus and the Father will make their home with the word-keeper. That occurs in the present. Why is that important? Because Jesus’ use of mone in verse 23 helps us understand his emphasis in verse 2. The space of heaven isn’t the emphasis. It takes a backseat. Rather, Jesus emphasizes being with the Father. The place Jesus is preparing for His followers is less about local space, or heaven, and more about relational space, or being close to God. Eternal life is about knowing God and being with God. In verse 23, Jesus said his followers don’t have to wait for the future to experience heaven. They can have an appetizer of that experience in the present when he and the Father come to make their home with the believer.
So will Christians live in heaven when they die? Yes. But will they be there forever? Probably not. But where they are is less important than who they’re with. The bliss of heaven is about getting God, and that doesn’t have to wait. It can happen right now through Jesus Christ.