{"id":3999,"date":"2008-07-29T00:10:33","date_gmt":"2008-07-29T00:10:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2008\/07\/heaven-18.html"},"modified":"2008-07-29T00:10:33","modified_gmt":"2008-07-29T00:10:33","slug":"heaven-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/07\/heaven-18.html","title":{"rendered":"Heaven 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 4 has two references to heaven, and neither opens up new vistas for us on the meaning of heaven.
\nActs 4:12: There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven<\/strong> given among mortals by which we must be saved.
\nActs 4:24: When they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, ?Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea, and everything in them, 25 it is you who said by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant …<\/em>
\nIn general, “heaven” here refers to the abode of God, the beyond-ness where God dwells and where God’s will rules supreme. It also refers to the skies and what is up (heaven) and what is down (earth) is the creation of God.
\nI would not want to rule out of court a possible allusion to Isa 45:22-25 in Acts 4:12:
\n22 Turn to me and be saved,
\nall the ends of the earth!
\nFor I am God, and there is no other.
\n23 \tBy myself I have sworn,
\nfrom my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
\na word that shall not return:
\n?To me every knee shall bow,
\nevery tongue shall swear.?
\n24 Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me,
\nare righteousness and strength;
\nall who were incensed against him
\nshall come to him and be ashamed.
\n25 \tIn the LORD all the offspring of Israel
\nshall triumph and glory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 4 has two references to heaven, and neither opens up new vistas for us on the meaning of heaven.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heaven"],"yoast_head":"\nHeaven 18 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/07\/heaven-18.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heaven 18 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Acts 4 has two references to heaven, and neither opens up new vistas for us on the meaning of heaven.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/07\/heaven-18.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-07-29T00:10:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"xscot mcknight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Heaven 18 - 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