Short answer: Heaven is translated in the KJV from Hebrew and Greek words that refer to the area above (i.e., the sky or beyond the sky).  For example, Genesis 1:20 refers to birds in “heaven” which we can look up and see, however, Matthew 6:9 mentions our God being in Heaven although we cannot look up and see Him.  The reason is because the Most High is beyond the heaven that we can see.

According to the Scriptures, the Most High is in the Heaven of heavens [1 Kings 8:27] which Paul the apostle calls the “third heaven” [2 Corinthians 12:2].  Said differently, He is in the area above the areas that are above us; perhaps, beyond our atmosphere and outer space.

So, who goes to Heaven where God is? Well, there have been a few people.  Enoch [Genesis 5:24] and Elijah [2 Kings 2:11] are two that were taken into Heaven.  Another example would be the Messiah [Acts 1:9] who was taken up out of sight into Heaven after His resurrection.  With that information, we can say that God can and has taken people to Heaven but it is not set as an expectation in the Word.

Many Christian sects teach that people die and immediately go to heaven.  What the Scripture and Epistles teach is that we, who are in the Messiah, sleep until His return and we are then resurrected according to His glory.  This comes from a poor and out of context interpretation of some isolated verses in Paul’s writings [2 Corinthians 5:8, Philippians 1:23] which is often used to defend this position.  Interestingly enough, Paul himself rejects this view in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 where he makes clear that those alive will not precede those that are dead, but all will be gathered with the Messiah upon His return.  Which makes sense when taking into consideration that Peter clearly taught that David did not ascend into heaven [Acts 2:34].  God even comforts Daniel by prophecy, revealing to him that he would rest until the end and be resurrected [Daniel 12:13] which is exactly how Paul taught us to comfort one another [1 Thessalonians 4:13-18].  I know what you are thinking… just try not to cringe when you hear people comfort themselves after Christian tradition saying, “I know my grandmother is watching down on me from heaven…”

What many don’t realize is, Heaven will actually come to us!  The Messiah will return, we will meet Him in the sky then the earth will be judged.  After all is said and done, Revelation prophesied by the writing of John saying the following:

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

The chapter goes on to describe what the city looks like, being covered in precious stones and gold, even the streets.  This is what comes down from Heaven from God and will be New Jerusalem on the New Earth in the end.  Our God is such a gentlemen.