WILL WE HAVE OUR OWN HOMES?

John 14 says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” Jesus said I am going to prepare a place for you. Place is singular not plural.

This saying of Jesus has confused many because of the King James Version’s rendering of the words “house” and “mansions.”

The Greek word translated “house” means “an abode,” literally or figuratively, and, by implication, “a family.”

The word translated “mansions” or “rooms” means literally “the act of staying or residing.”

So, putting the Greek together, Jesus is saying that in God’s home (heaven) there will be many people in the family of God all abiding together. Within God’s heavenly house, Christians will live in the presence of the Lord. This is quite different from the idea of rows of mansions on streets of gold, which is the image many people have of what Jesus was saying.

Jesus Christ prepares a place in heaven for His own, those who have come to Him in faith, and the Holy Spirit prepares the redeemed on earth for their place in heaven.

Revelation 7:9 tells us that there will be a “great multitude in heaven that no one could number” all standing before the throne. Here, again, the imagery is of multitudes together, not living separately in different mansions.