At the risk of beating a dead horse and losing my readers, I am going to take one more stab at explaining what I believe the Bible says about Heaven. Several years ago, I shared my surprise with my readers that Heaven is nowhere clearly portrayed as the place believers go when they die. (See Why Heaven Matters) The idea was introduced to me by N.T. Wright, a respected Bible scholar, in his book, Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. His premise is based on a broad view of God’s entire plan for His people from Genesis to Revelation. Wright proposes that God never intended to bring His people to Heaven when they die; rather, His plan is to redeem all creation and repopulate it with all those who choose to trust Him during their life on earth. God wants to restore Eden.
Wright supports this idea by suggesting that our present
concept of Heaven as a place to go when we die arose during medieval times.
This picture has endured, and the real meaning of the word heaven has been lost
to most Christians. Jesus and His disciples understood the kingdom of heaven He
proclaimed to be an aspect of rulership or dominion, not a specific place. This
might be most clearly revealed in Jesus’ statement, “The kingdom of God is
within you.” (KJV). He used “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God”
interchangeably. God rules heaven (and earth), so heaven is where God rules.
We don’t get much help from the Old Testament defining
heaven. The ancients imagined a three-tiered existence. The first “heaven” was
what we might call the atmosphere. The second was outer space. The third heaven
was the dwelling place of God; it surrounded and encapsulated all creation.
Most often, the OT saints spoke of Sheol as the place of the dead. It sometimes
appears as the grave itself and other times as the abode of the spirits of
those who had passed on. Occasionally, people spoke of being raised from Sheol
at some point, but their final destination was not thought of as heaven.
About three hundred years before Christ, the Jews began to
mix ideas from their ancestor’s time in Babylon and the Greek philosophers’
teachings about the afterlife. Putting Zoroaster and Aristotle together, they
began to imagine an afterlife in an otherworldly place ruled by Yahweh God. By
the time Jesus came to earth, the majority party of the Pharisees were
convinced that the righteous would be welcomed by God into His dwelling place
after their resurrection from the dead. (The Sadducees didn’t believe in a
resurrection after death.)
Jesus played into this thinking with many of His parables
and teachings. He often spoke of a king coming from a far country to reward His
servants. People were praised for setting aside wealth for a future kingdom. He
talked about the bosom of Abraham as an afterlife abode. These were familiar
concepts He used to make His point. When He told His disciples He was leaving,
He couched His
explanation in terms they would understand: “In my Father’s house there are
many dwelling places; but if not, I would have told you, because I am going
away to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and receive you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also.
And you know the way where I am going.”
Although Jesus indicated that He would be going elsewhere,
He did not specifically say heaven. The Greek in verse two could be translated
(loosely), “There is plenty of room for everyone where my Father is.” In verse
four He added, “And you know the way.” They did know the way; they just
hadn’t figured out what it meant that He was the Way, the Truth, and the
Life as He said in His answer to Thomas’ next question in verse six. He meant
that the way to have eternal life is to be found in Jesus. It’s not about
looking for an escape from Earth and its troubles: it’s about being in Christ.
Wherever Jesus Christ is, it is “heaven.”
In the “Lord’s
Prayer,” Jesus recommended praying that the Heavenly Father’s will be done,
“on earth as it is in heaven.” Once God’s will is perfectly done on
earth, it will be “heaven.” I believe as N.T. Wright suggested that it is God’s
will that His original plan in Eden be reinstated. The prophetic promise of a “new
earth” found in Revelation uses a word for “new” that is specific. It means
an earth of a new kind, not new as in later in time. The “newness” of the new
earth is that it is a place where
righteousness dwells. Because only those who are in Christ can dwell there,
it will be a place of righteousness. That would be “heavenly.”
It is hard for me to stop thinking of “heaven” as a place of
future hope. But I am convinced it is not a “place” with golden streets and
pearly gates. Those are metaphors God used to speak into the mindset of the
people at that time. Golden streets and pearly gates just sound weird to me. However,
a recreated Earth where everything works as God intended sounds wonderful to
me. I plan to keep thinking of a “heavenly place” as my eternal dwelling, but
when I say heavenly, I mean Earth perfected with all the graces of Heaven.
God’s graces. Heaven on Earth!
If you are still reading, I will now explain why I am
pounding this issue. I think that there is an opportunity for evangelism in
refining our explanation of what happens after you die. I have heard many
Christians say they are unsure how they feel about “heaven” if it means
floating on a cloud playing a harp for eternity. How do you make that
attractive to an unbeliever? The same goes for streets of gold and pearly
gates. Can you honestly sell streets paved in transparent gold (?) and city
gates made of one gigantic pearl? (Imagine the size of the oyster !?!) However,
if in fact, “heaven” is a recreated Earth where everything works like it was
intended in the beginning (Genesis 1-2), the afterlife becomes very attractive.
God created humans to live on His Earth, not in His Heaven.
(Read Genesis 1-2) I believe that after the resurrection and judgement, Heaven
and Earth will be reunited. That is what God intended in the first place. Adam
screwed that up; Jesus fixed it. That is our message. Life on earth kinda sucks
now, but if you get on Jesus’ side, you get help for the present and hope for
the future. That is a message we can sell.
Related Posts: Why
Heaven Matters; Is
Heaven a Wonderful Place? Heaven
is NOT my Eternal Home
