HEAVEN

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

I noted in a previous post that the reality of Heaven, of an extraordinarily joyful life that begins upon our physical death and extends into eternity, is the great hope of all Christians.

The very real promise of Heaven is given to God’s people while in this world to encourage us in the midst of the suffering, persecutions and temptations we will face in a world that is hostile toward God and toward all who identify their lives with Him in Jesus Christ, as well as to motivate and strengthen us in living holy and righteous lives that please, honor and glorify the God we love.

There is also, however, the very real promise of Hell, which is given by God to shock us out of our love affair with what the Bible refers to as this present evil world (Galatians 1:4), and  to warn us against wasting/ruining our lives by pursing our happiness and wellbeing through the atheistic philosophies, temporary riches, exploitive relationships, suicidal pleasures and mind numbing entertainments of this fallen cursed world (Genesis 3:17-19), none of which can ever satisfy the deepest needs/desires of our hearts (1 John 2:15-17).

I also noted in that post that much of what people believe about Heaven comes from their own or someone else’s imagination.  Over the past few years there have been a number of people who have claimed to have died and gone to Heaven, who write books and make movies about their experiences, which won them temporary fame and fortune, but failed to bring glory to God.  I noted that this was because their experiences were mostly inconsistent and contradictory to what the Bible does reveal about Heaven.  I suggested that it would seem that if God had wanted the glories of Heaven more clearly revealed, there were a number of people raised temporarily from the dead in both the Old and New Testaments, who could have shared within the context of scripture what they experienced.  In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, the Apostle Paul reveals that while alive, he was “caught up” to Heaven by God, either bodily or through a vision in his mind, and that what he saw and heard he was either forbidden to speak of or had no words to describe it.

When we talk about Heaven we will always be limited in our understanding because it is something beyond our senses, beyond our present experience. We live in a sin corrupted, sin cursed world and our earthbound minds have little context for accurately imagining Heaven, just as we have little context for accurately imagining God himself apart from His self-revelation in the Bible.

Ultimately we must look to God’s word as the source of revelation of both Himself and of the glorious Heaven in which He dwells (1 Corinthians 2:9-11).   It is only thru the study of His word and the work of the Holy Spirit in illuminating His word to our hearts, minds and imaginations that Heaven becomes desirable to us while in this world as not just a place of refuge from Hell after we die, but a place we long for, the place God has prepared for those who love Him supremely in this world and who, as I noted in my previous  post, are longing to be with Him more than they are longing to be with anyone else in the world to come.

In John 14:1-3, Jesus in comforting and encouraging His beloved Apostles regarding His upcoming death, and the hostility they will face subsequent to His death tells them, “I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again to receive you so that where I am you also will be”.  

In John 17:24-25, Jesus prays that all the Father has given Him – all that have trusted in His love and loved Him in return while on this earth, would be with Him in Heaven where they can behold and enjoy His glory, the infinite perfections of His being that He will display, confer and communicate to His people for their eternal joy and pleasure and satisfaction in Him.

The Bible does offer us some general information regarding what life will be like after death for those who come to love Jesus above all else while in this world (Luke 10:25-28).  The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:8, that when our spirit man/women leaves this body the moment of our death, we will immediately be in the presence of the Lord, wherein from that moment on we will know only fulness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).  This is what is referred to as the intermediate state of Heaven.

In Revelation, Chapters 4, 5, 7, and 19, we have brief representative visions into the present activity in Heaven which centers around the worship of God, as those in Heaven now clearly see His beauty, magnificence, majesty and splendor, inducing in them “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

Much of what the Bible reveals explicitly about Heaven is found in Revelation 21 and Revelation 22, as well as Isaiah 65:17-25 in what is described as the the “new heavens and new earth”, which Jesus will create at His second coming.  There God’s people will dwell forever in our glorified resurrected bodies (Philippians 3:20), perfectly conformed to the image of Christ in our nature and character (1 John 3:1-2), forever untouched by sin or the consequences of sin (2 Peter 3:13).

As those who have entrusted their lives to Jesus Christ, we are commanded to set our mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1-3).

So, with this command in mind, I will endeavor, with the help of Randy Alcorn from his book titled Heaven; John Gerstner’s book titled Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell, as well as his Edward’s lengthy sermon titled Heaven, a World of Love; Edward Griffin and his brief treatise titled HEAVEN, and most importantly God the Holy Spirit, to provide a Who, What, When, Where, and Why tour of Heaven (though not necessarily in that order) over my next few posts.

Grace and Peace ×