by ProfDave, ©2022
(May 17, 2022) — Most people hope to go to heaven but are in no hurry to get there. Have you made reservations? All of life is preparation for eternity.
“I can only imagine” (Mercy Me). Christians see death as a door into eternity. On the other side of that door there are only two destinations: heaven and perdition. Are you looking forward to heaven? “Everybody talking ‘bout heaven ain’t a-goin’ there.” Are you “in Christ” – forgiven and included in His atonement, His child? And the minor technicality: you have to die or meet the Lord in the air when He comes – either way you get His Call.
Philosophy and science tell us that there are realities beyond the material world and a realm beyond time and space from which our cosmos came, big bang and all. Nothing comes from nothing. It all had to come from a self-existent entity somewhere. Christianity calls that entity God – a Someone – and that somewhere, where the self-existent Designer of it all dwells, they call Heaven. And Jesus is preparing a place for us there.
“For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven.” II Corinthians 5:1-2. St. Paul is talking about our mortal bodies being replaced by immortal bodies – earth-suits replaced by heaven-suits. My “tent” is getting a bit tattered and leaky. Looking forward to a new and improved model.
What is heaven like? Biblical descriptions are gloriously vague and vaguely glorious. Obviously, the prophets could not describe what they saw and even Jesus did not really try. Our imaginations run wild and some people have near-death experiences and write books. My musing is not a serious bible study, not based on serious research but on wild imagination – recreational speculation.
Yes, I’m going. We have the unmistakable promise of Jesus that he will come and take His own to be with Him and the Father forever. And we have the historical record of His bodily resurrection from the dead as our forerunner. It is this hope that spread Christianity throughout the world and gives hope in the face of all kinds of suffering. For myself, Christ died for me, the Holy Spirit called me, I repented and believed the Gospel, I am born again from above and His Presence is transforming me into His image. I am His and He is mine. Heaven is my home. I have family there already. I can’t wait!
It seems to be hard-wired in the human soul to long for life after death. Solomon wrote, “You have put eternity in the heart of man.” Pagans looked for some sort of ghostly, shadowy, disembodied existence, but bodily resurrection is the cornerstone of Christianity. Without historical, physical resurrection, there is no Christianity. The risen Christ was no ghost. “It is appointed unto mankind once to die and after that the judgment.” By His atoning death Jesus reconciled those who receive Him to God so that we can stand in the Presence of the Holy One. On our own goodness, we would never be able to face Him, much less enjoy Him forever. By Christ’s resurrection He showed, among other things, what eternal life will be like.
In our mortal lives we move through time in one direction at a fixed rate, occupying one limited three-dimensional space at a time. We cannot assume that even the normal rules of time and space will apply in heaven. Will we live in endless linear time or will we move back and forth in eternity without time at all? How about without space? What was it like outside of time and space where God was “before” time – when there wasn’t any before or after, here or there? We cannot imagine that.
On the other hand, John observed a half-hour silence in heaven and saw trees lining the river that bear a different kind of fruit every month. That implies some sort of time. Since we are given measurements of the celestial city there must be some sort of space, too. But is that the ultimate heaven or some intermediate “heaven” Christ has prepared for us to interface with the Father? We will find out when we get there, and it will be beyond comprehension – this much we know.
“I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop” was the old song about heaven. It is a happy song I love to sing in four-part harmony. But if I have a “mansion” I don’t intend to spend much time in it. With all that is going on in heaven, why would I sit around in some cavernous, gilded building? To cook and clean? To sleep? To watch reruns of Fox News for eternity? I don’t think so. That might be the other place. Fortunately, most bible scholars think ‘mansions’ is an Elizabethan translation for ‘places.’ Jesus really said, “in my Father’s house are many places”- plenty of space and more splendid than we can imagine, but not exactly mansions you would have to stay in. He went to prepare a place for me – anything between a whole world and a place at the table – and it will be great.
We can be sure it will all be good – unless you hate God, then it would be h***. It will be full of God. We are promised no sickness, pain, sorrow or death. We will recognize people as the disciples recognized Jesus after he rose from the dead. We will have spiritual bodies like his, but real bodies, nonetheless – our own bodies and consciousness repaired, renewed and somehow changed but still our own bodies.
When do we get there? “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” but do we arrive individually when we die by earth-time or all at once by heaven-time – like on a subway platform when all the train doors open at once? But then there is the picture of all of us, living and dead, meeting Jesus in the air as He returns – as if we have to wait without bodies until the end of the age, like the martyrs under the altar in another vision. Yet I can find no clear Word of an intermediate period of “being unclothed” as Paul calls disembodiment. Perhaps that is the moment we all get off the time-train? In either case, clearly the next conscious experience we will have after leaving this world will be glory. Again, I am a pan-millennialist waiting to see how it all “pans” out. Will I see you there? “Everybody talkin’ ‘bout heaven ain’t a-goin’ there.”
There are three or four scenes or pictures in Scripture that connect to what heaven might be like, the Throne Room, the New Jerusalem, and the New Heavens and Earth. Are they all in the same world? Probable, but not certain. Perhaps the link between the New Earth in time and the eternal throne room is through the Holy of Holies of the Eternal Temple – the original temple after which Moses modeled his tabernacle in the wilderness. John saw the Most Holy Place open. Elsewhere we are told it is open metaphorically through the torn veil, the flesh of Christ. The tablets of the law are in the Ark of the Covenant, covered by the Mercy Seat – the throne of God. Mercy covers law! How can the whole of creation fit into a little 30 x 30 room with no windows? Easy, if it is beyond time and space. And it will be incredibly bright. God is light. We are being prepared to enter the presence of the Holy One through that veil – Christ.
The dominant scene is the throne room where the Almighty is enthroned in unspeakable majesty and all creation is worshipping Him. “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder” (Revelation 4). Everybody is there – human, angelic and four “creatures” John cannot really describe! At one point all living creatures on the earth and under the earth and in the sea are singing praise to their Creator! That would be the center of all worlds and would be enough in itself.
But that is not all. There is also a capital city, New Jerusalem, a 1400-mile cube (1400 long by 1400 wide by 1400 miles high) “coming down.” That is the heaven with the “pearly gates” and the “golden streets.” The fact that John saw it “coming down” implies that it lands or docks somehow on the New Earth from outer space or another dimension. If you set it down next to old Jerusalem, it would take up the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt and Libya (which may be what John meant by there being “no more sea”). People come and go from it (why?). The glory of God, not the sun, illuminates it, and there is no night. Once again, the current laws of time and space may not apply in this other world.
Then there are the New Heavens and the New Earth – creation restored. Everything will be as originally intended – before mankind rebelled. I am not sure whether they (and the New Jerusalem) are parts of heaven outside time and space or separate from Heaven in time and space or somehow connected through the temple. In C.S. Lewis’ fantasy, The Last Battle, the new Narnia and the new England were really the originals of which the former Narnia and earthly England were but shadows – real-er and brighter and better versions. Nothing that was excellent in the old worlds was lost. Will the New Earth be like that, with all the beautiful and good things of earth bigger and better? Will the Green Mountains be on the New Earth, refreshed? There are two related pictures: the Garden of Eden and the Millennial Kingdom (the lion laying down with the lamb and the little child leading them). Will the new Earth be like that? What will the new heavens be like? Hope to find out.
My dear friend asked an interesting question: what do you suppose we will do in heaven? She and I are both looking forward to going there in the not-too-distant future and have no interest in sitting on clouds strumming harps for a million years. Neither of us are harpists. That idea is an invention of Renaissance artists anyway. We know it will be all good and not boring at all. But what are we going to do for eternity? Some things we know and some we do not, but meanwhile we can spend happy hours imagining, right?
With a little effort, I came up with a “top ten” list. Of course, none of them bear any rank at all compared to Him. His presence is what makes heaven heaven and his absence is what makes hell hell. His presence is with me now and I cannot imagine He will be less present then. And whatever activity He has for me, trust me, it will be far more engaging than anything I can imagine down here. So what follows this week is just what I think, while still down here, in my late seventies. So what are the ten top things I would like to do in heaven?
What are you going to do there? I am dreaming of ten fun things. You can, too!
10. In heaven I would like to play with the birds and animals. I will enjoy admiring, petting and interacting with God’s creatures in heaven. Will I see my late cat in heaven? I don’t think so, at least not as an individual. There is no hint in sacred writ that animals are immortal beings. If they were I would be concerned about her making the cut. She wasn’t a particularly “good” cat, but can you attribute morals to an animal anyway? They just follow the laws of their being, given by their Maker. Don’t you wish mankind did? On the other hand we do have that scene where the creatures on land and sea and in the air are worshipping their Creator in the throne-room of Glory. And we have lions and bears, sheep and cattle, and two kinds of snakes in the millennial picture. So there might be cats in heaven. Everything will be tame and harmless. My late wife always wanted to pet a lion. She might be doing that now. I wouldn’t be surprised if even the face of a warthog and the song of a crow will be beautiful when we see and hear them as God does. And perhaps the Creator will enjoy showing off his works to us. Hear the way He talks about leviathan and behemoth (possibly dinosaurs) in the ancient book of Job. Perhaps I will get to see and pet all sorts of creatures as He discourses with the zoologists about their features. Who knows?
9. In heaven I would like to eat. Jesus ate after his resurrection and a wedding supper is promised, so we must be able to eat. I will be able to have bacon and cheese again, and all the other things I cannot get now without consequences or unreasonable expense. I’m sure the pies and the maple syrup will come from the ladies of Ithiel Falls Camp (VT). No doubt there will be all sorts of exotic dishes available to sample. I am sure the food will be splendid, but the big deal is that I will never have to eat alone again! Table fellowship is the best part of eating. I will dine with all sorts of forever brothers and sisters, friends old and new, in God’s house forever.
8. In heaven I would like to do a little gardening – Adam’s first job. There is every indication that the New Earth will be a new Eden – the Millennial vision. In my own love of watching things grow I see a reflection of my Heavenly Father. Perhaps we could plant a few vegetables together?
7. In heaven I would like to hike and explore. Walking golden streets does not attract me so much as exploring the new heavens and the new earth. Will Jesus conduct trail-walks in the new Galilee? How about the renewed Appalachian Trail? I so much love His forests right here in Manchester. The trails are twice as good because they are His; how much more with Him in the flesh, without trash and traffic noise, brambles, mosquitos and poison ivy? And there will be new heavens, too. Perhaps there will be guided tours of the new Solar system and the new Milky Way? I can only imagine.
6. In heaven I would like to do history. Perhaps that is why He made me an historian? Finally, I will put my eight years of professional education to work. Just think of the oral history that could be done! You could talk to the people who were there – though of course a lot of them will be missing. All those historical mysteries and questions we have? In heaven we can find the real answers.
Perhaps we can go back and watch key events. Just think of watching Moses cross the Red Sea, with Joshua doing color commentary, or Martin Luther at Worms in reality TV format. And can you imagine Heaven’s archives? Even more, perhaps the Sovereign Lord will be pleased to explain what was really going on. Think of it! It will be His glory to reveal how His sovereign purpose worked through every nook and corner of history. I can’t wait!
5. In heaven I hope to sit around a lot of campfires swapping stories of what the Almighty has done in our lives. It will be the best Celebrate Recovery ever! Each of us will have a lifetime of thanks and praise to tell. We might even sing “kum bye yah” and toast marshmallows, who knows? Will we ever get tired of telling and hearing how Jesus led us all the way?
4. In heaven I hope to make a lot of music. I hope to sing in the great choirs, in pick-up quartets and congregations. I want to do Handel’s Messiah and all of Bach’s Cantatas. The beauty of their moving harmonies brings me to tears down here – what will it be up there? I hope to play my flute in orchestras, wind ensembles and marching bands. I hope to learn to play the organ. I will enjoy every kind of worship music from every age and nation and tradition. I hope to learn to dance for Jesus, too! All in praise of my great Redeemer and thanks for what He has done.
3. In heaven I hope to attend a lot of reunions: class reunions, work reunions, Celebrate Recovery reunions, church reunions, camp meeting reunions and family reunions going back to Noah. Think of it!
But first I will see my Savior visibly, with whom I have walked invisibly down here. I can only imagine – He will introduce me to our Father: “This is Dave, son of William, son of Lucian. He is mine!” Then I want to embrace my dear Marie, who shared my life for 46 years. We will not be married there but we will be closer than ever – and be close to many others, too. And my dear parents. I want to tell Dad that he was right and feel my mother’s embrace once more. They will be so glad to see me and to introduce me to the grandparents I never knew. I have already given notice to my children to be sure to be there, too. I wonder how many descendants there will be coming sooner or later?
2. In heaven I know I will be in The Wedding. Activities 3 to 10 are all wishes and hopes; the top two are Biblical certainties. We are all invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb! If you did not RSVP – say “yes” – when the Lord invited you, of course, you won’t be there. Middle Eastern wedding feasts in the first century would go on for a week. This one might last for eternity!
The whole idea of human marriage, the covenant union of two different genders to perpetuate the species, is an analogy – a scale model – of the covenant union between mankind and deity, between Christ and the church! That parallel is what makes Holy Matrimony holy. That is one reason Christians have so much trouble with same-sex marriage, as if humanity could replace its divine Partner (God) with another alternative humanity. In the letters of Paul, the church – collectively those who are “in Christ” – is called both the bride and the body of Christ. I am in Christ. I am part of His body and of His bride. It has taken a lifetime to clean me up – and He is not done with me yet.
The analogy is a bit awkward for a guy. As C.S. Lewis explains it, the image of God in mankind is both male and female but compared to Him we are all female. Think of marriage as a union of opposites, male and female down here, God and human up there. So I will be wearing white. And if the joy of His presence is so glorious down here – during the “engagement” – what will the marriage be?
Jesus prayed that “they all may be one as we [!] are one” – one in Him as He is with the Father. One with all the saints of all ages and places and simultaneously one with the Holy Trinity! We cannot imagine. This is no extinguishing of personhood, as in the Buddhist nirvana, but the fulfillment of our personhood with the ultimate Person – that for Whom we were made in all our variety. The wonder! The ecstasy!
1. In heaven I will worship. Worship is the main business of heaven. Here we go with the boring harps? Not! Worship is something you grow into. The more you worship the more you enjoy it, admiring something that is supremely admirable. The word ‘worship’ comes from ‘worth-ship’ and what is worth more than Jesus? Yes, as a preacher’s kid I was bored listening to Dad drone on. I still fight the conditioning to go to sleep every Sunday at 11:30am. But there was always the music. In my youth most of my enjoyment of worship was aesthetic rather than spiritual. But today worship is the highlight of my week. Who God is and what He has done for me excites me to the limits of my physiology. Give me an immortal body and I will love every minute of worship for centuries at a time!
John the Revelator gives several pictures of worship. This requires us to back up a bit. Before I enter the throne room, the Holy of Holies, I must pass through the curtain of the body of Christ. His blood cleanses me from all sin (I John 1:8) before I get there. “It is appointed” unto to me “to die and after that the judgment.” I don’t believe I will have to wait in line for years to have my day in court. Before the Great White Throne my attorney, Jesus, needs only to claim me as His own and it is over in an instant. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” My sins are gone – including some I haven’t committed yet. On that day the record will be clean. I will proceed to the judgment seat of Christ, the Bema – the awards.
John saw the Elders casting their crowns before the throne in worship, every time the four Living Creatures cry “holy, holy, holy” – which they do continually for eternity. Where did they get crowns? At the Bema Judgment. How about the rest of us? The book of my life will have a lot of blank pages where my sins were whited-out by the blood of my Savior, but the rest I will present to the Judge. Passing through the fire of his gaze, most of my “good” deeds will evaporate – they were done in my own righteousness, adulterated by earthly motives. If there is anything left, I will get the coveted “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” awards. Believe me, I will be delighted just to get a participation trophy – the crown of life. I can hardly imagine the delight of my Lord’s smile, but even greater will be the delight of giving it all back to Him, casting my awards at His feet, for He is the one who empowered every truly good thing I have ever done. We can do this over and over for a million years and more and not get tired of it. But there will be much more that we cannot even imagine.
Of all the things I look forward to doing for eternity in heaven, number one, worship, swallows up everything else. If I get to admire the creatures of the earth, the sea and the sky it will be with my Creator, admiring His works in all their exquisite perfection. If I eat it will be in His presence and the sweet fellowship of His people in all their variety. If I garden it will be with Him enjoying the wonder of Eden and of work as He intended it. If I explore the worlds He has made it will be, again, to admire His wonders in His presence. If I do history it will be to see what He has done and wonder at His providential working in time. If I sit around campfires swapping tales it will be to glory, with my forever brothers and sisters, in what He has done in us. In music I will lift my voice and instruments in praise and worship. In all our reunions His presence will be our joy and His glory will be our conversation. In the wedding He will be my beloved. And I could spend forever before the throne: gazing on His face and the scars He bears for me; basking in His love; endlessly receiving and returning my crowns with Him. In activity and in contemplation, in everything worship will be my joy.
Worship is the business of heaven. We will be worshiping Him before the throne, and at the wedding banquet, in music, in our stories, in history, in exploration, in work, at meals, and in play – in everything for eternity. Worship is the fulfillment of our being and the ecstasy for which we were made.
Bored in heaven? Are you kidding? You might well ask how I will ever find time in all eternity for all ten things I want to do. I have no idea. Perhaps being outside the limits of time and space as we know them I will be able to do everything all at once. And how is Jesus, if he is in a human body, going to get around to all of us doing all these things at the same time? I don’t know. But in His divinity He does it now, doesn’t He? He is sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for you and at the same time standing at your door knocking. Let Him in and someday we will all find out together.
David W. Heughins (“ProfDave”) is Adjunct Professor of History at Nazarene Bible College. He holds a BA from Eastern Nazarene College and a PhD in history from the University of Minnesota. He is the author of Holiness in 12 Steps (2020). He is a Vietnam veteran and is retired, living with his daughter and three grandchildren in Connecticut.