Pointing to heaven

Pointing to heaven

This is another HDR shot. This was again at the Camp Cooriemungle. The ground was the picture in the previous post, "Royalty Ground". The trees were out of leaves as it was during winter and spring is not here yet. The tree branches were curving out and poiting up towards the sky! I guess these were the symtomps that the tree need more sunlight and had to branch out and reach out for the sky in order to survive.

Heaven is an afterlife concept found in many religions or spiritual philosophies.

Those who believe in heaven generally hold that it (or Hell) is the afterlife destination of many or all humans. In unusual instances, humans have had, according to many testimonies and traditions, personal knowledge of Heaven. They presume this is for the purpose of teaching the rest of humanity about life, deities and notions of the afterlife.

One popular medieval view of Heaven was that it existed as a physical place above the clouds and that God and the Angels were physically above, watching over man. With the dawn of the Age of Reason, science began to challenge this notion; however Heaven as a physical place survived in the concept that it was located far out into space, and that the stars were "lights shining through from heaven".

Religions that teach about heaven differ on how (and if) one gets into it. In most, entrance to Heaven is conditional on having lived a "good life" (within the terms of the spiritual system). Catholicism and Anglican Christianity states that "He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved." However, these religions also state that pride (the feeling of knowing that one is going to Heaven) can keep you from getting in Heaven. These religions also state that you must live a repented life in order to get to heaven.

Roman Catholics believe that entering Purgatory after death cleanses one of one's sins and makes one acceptable to enter Heaven. This is valid for "venial sins" only. Some within the Anglican Church also hold to this belief, despite their Anglican history. However, in Oriental Orthodox Churches, it is only God who has the final say on who enters Heaven.

The Seventh-day Adventist understanding of heaven is based on Biblical writings which set out the following:

• That heaven is a real place where God resides.
• That earth and all the animate and inanimate things therein and within its celestial space are products of God's creative work.
• That God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to earth to live as a human being, but who "perfectly exemplified the righteousness and love of God. By His miracles He manifested God's power and was attested as God's promised Messiah. He suffered and died voluntarily on the cross for our sins and in our place, was raised from the dead, and ascended to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in our behalf." ^[5].
• That Christ promises to return as a Saviour at which time He will resurrect the righteous dead and gather them along with the righteous living to heaven. The unrighteous will die at Christ's second coming. ^[6].
• That after Christ's second coming there will exist a period of time known as the Millennium during which Christ and His righteous saints will reign and the unrighteous will be judged. At the close of the Millennium, Christ and His angels return to earth to resurrect the dead that remain, to issue the judgements and to forever rid the universe of sin and sinners. ^[7].
• "On the new earth, in which righteousness dwells, God will provide an eternal home for the redeemed and a perfect environment for everlasting life, love, joy, and learning in His presence. For here God Himself will dwell with His people, and suffering and death will have passed away. The great controversy will be ended, and sin will be no more. All things, animate and inanimate, will declare that God is love; and He shall reign forever." ^[8]. It is at this point that heaven is established on the new earth.

(courtesy wikipedia.com)