An astronaut once went up into space and said that there was no God there. The universe is so enormous, I wonder if even the scientists can truly measure just how big it is. The heavens are so deep and wide, but is that the heaven that the Bible is talking about? When we talk about going to heaven, you might imagine that it is a very long way away and you would have to travel many miles to get there, but let's think about this.

On the day of perfect salvation, our bodies will be completely changed. What happened when Jesus' body underwent this transformation? His followers were worried and confused as they gathered behind locked doors to mourn the loss of their Teacher, and then suddenly He appeared in their midst. It was eight days after the Sabbath.

Some of the women had been to see Jesus' body and found the tomb empty. They said an angel had told them that Jesus had risen from the dead, but what did Thomas say when he heard this?

"There's no way I'm going to believe that! Unless I see the imprint of the nails in His hands, put my finger into the place where the nails went through, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

Thomas wanted to believe Jesus with his fingers. He wanted to actually touch Jesus' wounded side. Then Jesus suddenly appeared to the disciples when they were gathered behind closed doors. Can you imagine this scene? What will it be like on the day when we experience this complete salvation and we are physically transformed to receive perfect bodies?

In the past it might have taken a month or more for a letter to be delivered by hand from New York to Chicago, and you could never be sure if it would actually arrive. That was the way people lived back then. If a neighbor moved away or a child got married and moved to another state, there would be little hope of ever seeing them again. It took such a long time to travel any great distance.

Life these days, however, is very different. We can make a telephone call:

"Mom! How are you doing?"

"I'm just fine. I'll be over to see you this afternoon."

Now we can communicate within seconds. Life has become much faster. It is just as the prophet Daniel said: "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4). Europe is practically right next door. Someone in New York can call a friend in London and reach him in an instant.

In a similar way, when we go to heaven, the moment the Lord calls us, we will be right beside Him. Other people will probably be very surprised. We will just disappear into the heavens. In a moment in time, our thoughts and everything about us will suddenly be taken up out of this world.

Right now, we are living within the confines of time as it flows along, so it takes a while for us to move from one place to another. But God is Lord over this hour, the next hour, and the last hour, over one end of space and the other. He said,

"I am the Alpha and the Omega." We are restricted by time and space, but God is not limited by anything. On the day when we stand before this God, heaven will stretch right out before us. Such is the heaven toward which we are heading.

When heaven opens before us like this, we will look on the face of the Lord. It was this same Lord Jesus, the perfect temple, that Nicodemus met that evening. He met face to face on this earth with the One who is perfect and had come from eternity.