And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4 [TNIV]
I wonder what comes into your head when you imagine Heaven? There is a lie going around, and Satan would have us all believe it. It suggests that Heaven is like the most boring church service you could imagine, with people singing uninspiring songs and perhaps someone speaking for a long time about something you are not interested in - maybe a few people playing harps and lots of people looking bored and miserable. There is an opposite lie about Hell (firstly Satan would be happy for you to think it doesn't exist, alternatively he would have you willing to go there). The lie says that Hell is a cool place to be with all the best music and it is like the best eternal party you ever could imagine with all the fleshly excesses you could imagine.
I am not a scholar on this subject but I have been reasoning on what I have learned about the bible and here are my conclusions:
- Heaven is being with God all the time, in the presence of people who love God and have had their human failings removed
- God will be present, and will never seem distant - we will be filled with awe and love of Him and never feel let down or abandoned
- All the things we hate about life on earth will be absent from Heaven (mourning, sadness, pain, broken relationships, addictions, boredom, hurry-sickness etc.)
- Sometimes we see moments of immense joy and have a feeling of "breath taken away", Heaven will be better than this for eternity
- We will be able to spend time with people in perfect relationships without awkwardness, sin, deceit or superficiality
- It will be like the descriptions of the Garden of Eden but without the temptation to evil
- We will be completely fulfilled, so will not feel any sense of absence or loss of those who are not with us
I don't know what Heaven will look like, how we will communicate, what people will look like – but I do know there is everything to look forward to.
Do you look forward to Heaven?
Lord, we look forward to spending eternity in your presence and in perfect peace. Thank you that you created us in your image to be in relationship with you. Amen
Dave MacLellan
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