Few people who believe in God have not asked themselves, what will Heaven be like? Are there divisions of glory in the Heavens? Knowing some answers could help us live better lives while we are here on the earth. Regrets are always painful here and will be also in Heaven.
After the resurrection of all mankind, we will stand before the Savior to be judged. Each of us will be assigned an eternal dwelling place in a specific kingdom of glory. Our assignment will be based on our faith and testimony of Jesus Christ, the repenting of our sins and keeping His commandments.
The Savior told His disciples,” In my Father’s house are many mansions…” (John 14: 2 in the Bible)
The Apostle Paul Visited the Third Heaven
The apostle Paul speaking of himself said, “I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, …such an one caught up to the third heaven. (2 Corinthians 12: 2 in the Bible)
There are three kingdoms of glory: Celestial, Terrestrial and Telestial that differ from each other as the brightness of the Sun, Moon and Stars differs from each other. The apostle Paul briefly describes these kingdoms and their differences in glory. “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: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead…” (I Corinthians 15: 40-42 in the Bible)
Celestial Glory
The celestial glory is the highest of the three kingdoms of glory. Those assigned to this kingdom will dwell in the presence of our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This is referred to as Eternal Life (living forever in the presence of God) as compared to Immortality (living forever). The Savior said, “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” (Doctrine & Covenants 14: 7 p. 25)
“For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.” (Doctrine & Covenants 78: 7 p. 147)
Terrestrial Glory
In general, “… These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men who were not valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ and did not keep all His commandments. …Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun.” (Doctrine & Covenants 76: 74-78 p. 142)
Telestial Glory
This glory is for individuals who lived on the earth without God in their lives. They did not repent of their sins and allowed selfishness, hatred, murder and their passions govern their lives, being overcome by the Devil and his followers while living on the earth. “And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament…These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers …” (Doctrine & Covenants 76: 81, 103 p. 143)
In Summary
The Lord has given great promises to the faithful.
“For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory. And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.” (Doctrine and Covenants 76: 5-7)
As we learn about the marvelous “Plan of Happiness” that Heavenly Father has for His sons and daughters who keep the Savior’s commandments, we begin in a small way to understand what the Lord meant by the following: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2: 9 in the Bible)