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So ends the old Christmas carol “Away in a manger” –
“And fit us for heaven to live with You there.”
But what is heaven like? Is it floating about on a cloud
playing a harp? As I often said, it would need to be a
pretty substantial cloud to take my weight! Is it
some spooky place where “spirits” float about? Is it one
eternal church service (all that singing!)? No.
But what is it like? We don’t know
the details but here are some things we do know,
although they may be difficult to imagine fully.
The Bible speaks of God creating a new heavens and a new
earth with all the imperfections of the old one removed.
It pictures heaven coming down to earth. So I believe
heaven will be on earth, within the physical universe.
But it will be a world without wrongdoing, violence,
division, poverty, injustice and hatred. It will be a
world without suffering, pain and death. It will be an
unspoilt world in all its God-intended beauty: a world
of peace, unity and positive relationships.
Christians believe in the resurrection of the body, not
just the immortality of the soul. It seems to me that
this will mean God creating a new body for most people,
but somehow it will be related to the body we had in
this present world. We shall be recognisable. But all
the results of human sin: disease, pain, ageing will be
absent.
We can get some idea of what our new bodies will be like
by reading about Jesus’ body after he was raised from
the dead. His disciples could touch his hands and they
were just as real and substantial as they were before
his death. He could make breakfast for his disciples and
eat it with them. He was no ghost! However, he could
appear and disappear at will at whatever location he
chose. And he could move through solid objects. I
believe our new bodies will be like that and have the
same powers, which, by the way, could afford protection
from any natural turmoil such as earthquakes, floods
etc, if they still happen. The stuff of science
fiction? No, I believe this is real. Maybe the very
existence of positive science fiction is an indication
that deep down we humans have a yearning for eternity
and for heaven. The Bible says that God has “set
eternity in the human heart.”
The New Testament also teaches that all the “riches of
the nations” will be present in heaven. I think this
includes all the art, music and culture and good human
achievements which will be present to enrich life in
heaven. I also don’t think that the fulfilment of human
beings in heaven (what the Bible calls eternal life)
means that we shall be without positive challenges and
sit around in perennial boredom! I think there will be
exciting and satisfying things to achieve.
More wonderful than all this is that we shall see Jesus
and be able to communicate directly with him. We shall
live in the glory of God. It is difficult to imagine
what this means although the Bible describes it
poetically as a wonderful light which replaces
sunlight.
I have kept using the future tense because this is
something which will happen in the future. But where are
our loved ones who have died trusting in Christ? As far
as we can understand from the New Testament, they are
currently in a blissful disembodied state in the visible
presence of Christ, awaiting the resurrection of the
body.
On the negative side, the New Testament says: “Nothing
impure will ever enter [heaven], nor will anyone who
does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose
names are written in [Jesus’] book of life.” Because
Jesus died for us, all the sins we commit in this life
can be forgiven if we repent of them. But to be sure of
heaven we need to be sure that (so to speak) our names
are written in the Book of Life.
How can we be sure of this? By turning to Christ as
Saviour and submitting to him as Lord. Then we shall
know and experience that he is the way (to heaven), the
truth and the life. We could use the prayer in “Away in
a manger” – “Be near me, Lord Jesus: I ask You to stay,
close by me forever and love me, I pray.”
Tony Higton |
Do
We Believe in 3 Gods?
