Heaven: God's Eternal Goodness to You

Psalm 23 ends with a line that Rick Warren calls "the understatement of the millennium." After eleven pictures of God's goodness—helping you rest when stressed, walking through the valley of death, anointing your head with oil, overflowing your cup—the psalmist adds almost as an afterthought: "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Warren compares it to winning a year's supply of potato chips on a game show and then learning you also get three houses to eat them in. The other eleven promises only last while you're on earth. The final one means God will be good to you for trillions and trillions of years.

What Heaven Actually Is

Warren offers three summary statements from Scripture. First, heaven is a physical place, not a state of being. It is not nirvana, not a dream, not a metaphorical attitude. Jesus told his disciples in John 14, "There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you." Warren emphasizes that God has a place specifically for each person: "You got a condo in heaven somewhere."

Second, heaven is a permanent place that will last forever. Second Corinthians 5:1 describes it as "a home in heaven that will last forever." Ephesians 1:10 says God will gather his children together to be with Christ forever. Millions are already there, and millions more will join.