“Where am I going after this life is over”, is a question that most people ask themselves at some point in their lives. Knowing the answer can give piece of mind, a sense of destiny, and a great deal of comfort, when those we love pass out of this life and into the next. Many people of faith maintain a belief that the afterlife contains only two possibilities, a heaven and a hell. My reading of the Bible however reveals that God has more in store for us than just heaven and hell.
In the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John the Savior taught, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you1.” In this passage the Savior taught His followers that after He died he would go and prepare “a place1″ for us to live. If there were only two options, heaven and hell why would Jesus have used the term “many mansions”? Also of interest is the empathic statement Jesus made reemphasizing that it was true doctrine, “…if it were not so, I would have told you1….”.
Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians taught of more than two possibilities after we die. In his sermon on the resurrection in Corinthians 15: 40-41 he taught, “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars:…”.
Note that in addition to the celestial and terrestrial glories in verse 40, in verse 41 Paul mentions three distinct glories; the sun, moon and the stars obviously referring to three possible states of glory. This concept of three glories or heavens is further supported when he testified that in a vision, he had been “….caught up to the third heaven2.”. Also of note is his statement at the end of verse 41 “…for one star differeth from another star in glory.” This certainly implies that at least in the heaven that is comparable to the glory of the stars, there are “many mansions” of varying magnificence, just as each star differs from each other in brightness.
The Bible is clear that God loves us and that He sent His Son Jesus Christ, to show us the “…way, the truth, and the life…3″. His Son has prepared “many mansions1″, “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life4.”
1. John 14:2 KJV
2. 2 Corinthians 12:22 KJV
3. John 14:6 KJV
4. John 3:15 KJV