Satan labors to give people an inaccurate view of heaven.

Jesus said of the devil, “When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Some of Satan’s favorite lies are about heaven. Revelation 13:6 tells us the satanic beast “opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.” Our enemy slanders three things: God’s person, God’s people, and God’s place—heaven. Satan accomplishes his purposes not only by attacking God and us, but by attacking our view of heaven. The forces of darkness have vested interests in conveying false and unbiblical concepts of what heaven is.

After being forcibly evicted from heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14), the devil is bitter not only toward God, but toward us and the place that’s no longer his. (It must be maddening for him to realize we’re now entitled to the home he was kicked out of.) What better way for demons to attack than to whisper lies about the very place God tells us to set our hearts and minds on (Colossians 3:1-2)?

Paul warned us to be aware of the devil’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11) and put on God’s armor to stand against them (Ephesians 6:11). One of Satan’s favorite tactics is feeding us a distorted view of heaven. He knows this will rob us of joy in anticipating being with our bridegroom. It will make us fall in love with this world, as if it were our home—while Scripture commands us not to love the world and what’s in it (1 John 2:15-17). A distorted view of heaven will take away our motivation to tell others about Jesus. (Why tell someone a message about how to go to heaven when you think it’s going to be a dull and tedious place to be?)

For this reason it’s good to pray for God to enlighten our minds and break through the devil’s lies as we look at what his Word says about heaven.

For more information on the subject of Heaven, see Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven.

Photo by Chris Ainsworth on Unsplash