Heaven

Submitted by RVH on Wed, 11/04/2020 - 13:52
Heaven

Questions that always get interesting answers are “what do you think heaven will be like?” and “what do you hope heaven is like?”

Many answer that heaven will be like the most beautiful earthly landscape they have seen.  

Heaven

 

Many also say they have no idea.

Truthfully, none of us have any idea, but there are a few things we can reasonably discuss.

First of all, heaven will be beyond anything we can imagine.

In the book of Revelation, John writes about the new heaven describing it has having streets of gold, adorned with jewels, with a great surrounding wall of jasper and 12 gates.

This elicits wonderful images in our minds and that is exactly what God intended.

Many interpret this description as literal and believe this is exactly what heaven will look like.

However, we believe that John was using symbolism to create images in our minds.

The first readers of this book definitely knew that gold was the most precious material on earth. They also knew the value and beauty of jewels. They also knew that total security meant strong walls and heavy gates.

When reading the words of John, the early readers would envision heaven as being the most beautiful and everlasting place they could imagine. Safe and secure in their heavenly, eternal home.

Given the symbolic language of John, we can expect the unimaginable. We do know that it will be grand.

Paul states it wonderfully;

1 Corinthians 2:9   English Standard Version

But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Remember, Paul was granted the privilege of seeing “paradise”, but not permitted to describe it;

2 Corinthians 12:2-4   English Standard Version

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

Heaven will be worth it all, no matter what it is like, but we can be certain from the words of John and Paul that it will be so much greater than we could ever imagine.

Do you know where you will spend eternity?

RVH