Many are misled by one of the most damaging deceptions ever propounded by mainstream Christianity--the idea that heaven is the reward of the saved. But the book of Revelation shows the error of this false doctrine.
by John Ross Schroeder
Geography is very important to grasping our human condition. As a species, we are place-oriented. We were all born at a specific place and at a specific time somewhere on this planet. Maybe we grew up at our birthplace and then moved elsewhere. Some of us have resided on more than one continent. Every person's place experience is unique.
We often become emotionally, if not nostalgically, attached to our birthplace, to the sites of our greatest success and happiness and sometimes even to the land of our ancestors.
Ancient Israel's Promised Land was and is an actual place on this earth. To this day it holds a special place in the thinking of almost every Jew and many Christians. God's promises to the patriarch Abraham originally consisted of specific portions of this earth, but kept expanding until they now include the whole world (Romans 4:13). Jesus Christ noted that the meek "shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).
If we look to the Bible as our guide, we may conceive of our future reward during the afterlife as being in a particular place too.
Common misconceptions
Many preachers speak of "when we get to heaven." They may picture it as somewhere up there beyond what we can see in the sky above. Songsters have even sung about "the great somewhere." Many apparently still seem to think that the saved will spend eternity playing harps in heaven.
