Heaven -- I Want To Go There
by Denise Morris on 11/30/2007 at 3:51 PM
I recently finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia and my Bible study is currently going through the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn. Both have caused me to think a lot about what heaven is and looks like.
While I don't necessarily agree with all that Alcorn says, his thoughts and research have caused me to be a bit more excited about actually going to heaven. That may sound weird, but it's true.
My idea of heaven has always been that it's someplace cloudy, floaty, pristine-y and honestly, kind of boring. For some reason -- I don't know why -- I picture heaven being fairly monochromatic -- all white, all the time (with a couple streets of gold mixed in here and there). I've pictured us sitting around singing praise and worship to the Lord -- it brings new meaning to the song, "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever." Although I know in my head that it will be wonderful spending time with my Creator, I've always felt a bit guilty about wanting my time on earth to last as long as possible before I had to enter heaven's eternal realm.
What I've been learning, though, is that heaven will actually be pretty awesome. And I think it'll look a lot more like earth than we might think. First of all, Revelation 21 talks about how the new Jerusalem descends to earth and God comes to live here with us. The new Jerusalem will be a city -- something that we can understand. We probably won't float around on clouds as we strum harps all day long -- we'll fellowship, work, play, build, laugh and explore. And we'll worship God in all of those ways.
In The Chronicles of Narnia, I loved The Last Battle when the children enter the new Narnia and realize that the Narnia they had known and loved was only a shadow of the real thing. Aslan's real Narnia was similar to the old but it was more, it was better, it was real. Everything they had loved about the old Narnia was simply a small picture of what was to come:
The new [Narnia] was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can't describe it any better than that: if ever you get there you will know what I mean. It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then he cried: "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that is sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!"
The reason we love some of the good things on this earth is that it sometimes gives us a small glimpse of what is yet to come. And just imagine what this place -- mountains, streams, cities, relationships, light -- will be like when the curse has been lifted and all creation is redeemed!
It makes me excited for heaven's glory and it spurs me on to action so that those I love will be there with me.
1. Adam D said the following at 4:12 PM on Nov 30:
I don't know if anyone has read the book 90 minutes in heaven, but if Don Piper's descriptions are true, I won't be disappointed, at least in the first few moments. I think part of the reason of the descriptions of heaven being next to nil is because it may instill an unhealthy desire to die and go there mentality, which would be detrimental to spreading the good news of Jesus here on earth.
2. Adam T. said the following at 4:36 PM on Nov 30:
"his thoughts and research have caused me to be a bit more excited about actually going to heaven."
My friend said the exact same thing after I gave him that book as a present. :)
And yeah, most people don't realize that heaven is *not* 'sitting around'. It's gonna be *doing* stuff. Interesting stuff.
3. Jacob Douvier said the following at 4:58 PM on Nov 30:
Lewis' description of Heaven/Aslan's Country is right out of Plato's theory of the Forms.
4. Katie said the following at 5:23 PM on Nov 30:
If only we were MORE heavenly-minded! Like Romans 8:18 says: "For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
Heaven puts earth into perspective. Thanks for that reminder!
5. Jenny said the following at 6:48 PM on Nov 30:
I used to think of heaven the same way--washed out pastels, us standing around on clouds in white robes singing forever. I love the Lord, but that sounds like it would get old quickly. Then my pastor recently did a series on what the Bible really says about heaven.
He reminded us that the foundation stones of the Holy City are what we on earth call precious gems. Which goes to show what is beautiful and costly on earth will be common and ordinary in heaven. (Anyone remember the old joke about the guy who brought his gold to heaven, and one of the angels asked him what he was doing carrying around pavement?) Imagine the most spectacular mansion you've ever seen. Compared to our mansions in heaven, it would be the old tool shed.
I love sunsets, and I was sad when I first realized there won't be sunsets in heaven because the light of the Lord will shine all the time. But Jesus said our minds haven't come close to imagining what He has in store for those who love Him. I bet the skies on the new earth will be so beautiful, the most vibrant sunset you've ever seen would be dull and boring compared to them.
And think of all the great heroes of old we'll get to meet and talk to. I wonder how long it will take to meet every other Christian in heaven?
And think--we will be in the presence of Christ! We will know only His love. No more pain and sorrow. And I am sure looking forward to my sinful flesh being gone forever and being in full harmony and communion with the Lord. Being able to obey and serve Him wholeheartedly without the hindrance of pride and selfishness. Oh, it will be so wonderful. If it blows my mind just imagining heaven, how much more wonderful must it really be!
May this not only inspire me to lay up as many treasures in heaven as I can, to enjoy for eternity, but also to invite as many others as I can to join me in sharing eternally the glory and love of God!
6. Katie M. said the following at 6:47 AM on Dec 1:
Denise, I have been working my way through Alcorn's "Heaven" as well, and have found it has increased my anticipation for that place, too. I'm curious about what your disagreements are. Anyway, I think one of his strongest points, at least early in the book, is that a proper view of Heaven only enhances our perspective on earthly life. I feel freer to surrender any and every aspect of my life now, because I know every good thing awaits me in my eternal home. It illuminates this passage from Hebrews 12 for me:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
7. Carrie said the following at 8:43 AM on Dec 1:
My pastor often poses the question: "If in heaven, all you get is one-on-one fellowship with the Almighty -- no happy reunions, no lions to pet, no streets of gold -- nothing else except fellowship with the perfect, triune God, is that enough for you?"
It's something to ponder . . .
8. Rachel Gray said the following at 10:47 PM on Dec 1:
There was a really rich guy who wanted to take his wealth with him to Heaven. So right before he died he liquidated all his properties and converted them to gold bullion. He arrived at the pearly gates of Heaven dragging a huge sack of gold behind him. St. Peter stood there. "Enter in, my son!" "Thank you, sir!" said the rich man, "but please, may I take this sack of gold in with me?" St. Peter look quizzical. "Well... sure, if you want to... But why did you bring pavement?"
9. Denise Morris said the following at 11:20 PM on Dec 1:
Katie M.,
I guess I don't necessarily disagree with Alcorn, I just think that we can't know some of what he proposes in his book. In some areas, I think he takes a verse and runs with it. And it may turn out that way or may not. I also think he's kind of repetitive -- he could have made all the same points in about half the pages. Overall, I do like it though!
10. Jacob Douvier said the following at 12:33 PM on Dec 2:
The description of the Heavenly city at the end of George MacDonald's Lilith is very beautiful and compelling. Sometimes you need a poet to express things like what Heaven is like. Dante's descriptions, from the excerpts of Paradiso that I have read, involve lots of light and space, which is somewhat different than the take that MacDonald and Lewis have, which, as I said above, is inspired by Plato's theory of Forms, a world in which everything is Really Real, and after which things in our impermanent world are made after, in lesser ways. Dante used a lot of Aquinas' ideas, which were, more or less, adapted from Aristotle. The difference between Aristotle and his teacher, Plato, is that Plato emphasized the transcendent while Aristotle emphasized the immanent. Thus, when describing Heaven, an Aristotlean poet would have to describe something very ethereal to contrast with earth, whereas the Platonic poet does the reverse: heaven is what is really real and by being present, you see that what you thought amounted to real life is nothing put shadows.
11. Brandon German said the following at 9:50 PM on Dec 2:
In the past I have often thought the same about heaven as many of you have pointed out. That it would eventually get boring just singing praises to God. But, I began to realize that I really shouldn't have any expectation for anything in the afterlife. After all just getting to heaven is far more than I deserve. It seems to me to be inherently selfish to pattern my thoughts of being in direct fellowship with God in heaven by what I can get out of it. Especially when I have no true understanding of heaven and can only think of things from an inherently world tainted mindset.
12. Erin said the following at 5:15 AM on Dec 3:
I too love the description of the 'New' Narnia as a picture of Heaven.
There are so many times when I don't feel at home, even in my 'home' country/city - it's just another reminder that we are not meant to be settled here on earth, but always look forward to the day we will go home to heaven.
13. Loris said the following at 7:18 AM on Dec 3:
This reminds me of Lewis's The Great Divorce, where even the "lobby" of heaven is so sharply real that it hurts the ghosts who visit it. What a relief it will be to see things that are perfect and permanent. Beautiful things and places on earth are a little sad because they never last.
14. Nate said the following at 8:16 AM on Dec 3:
Adam D, I'm reading 90 min. in heaven right now. Great book! Really makes you think.
15. Jessica said the following at 9:12 AM on Dec 3:
Did anyone else have this '80s kids song pop in their head when they read the title?
______
Heaven is a wonderful place
Filled with glory and grace
I wanna see my Savior's face
Cause Heaven is a wonderful place,
I wanna go there!
______
Or was that just me? :)
16. Esther said the following at 10:46 AM on Dec 3:
Once when I was thinking about all the things that I'd like to be able to do: learn to play the violin, be a skilled woodworker, run a marathon, etc; I was discouraged by the realization that while they are good goals, I probably won't have time for all of them in this life. However, if all of these skills of beauty and creation are given by God, then how much more will He allow us to serve Him in heaven with them? I'm excited to imagine an eternity of time to become a great artist, so that I could paint great works that point to God's glory, or write a new song that praises His love.
17. Denise Morris said the following at 10:58 AM on Dec 3:
hahah -- that's where the title came from, Jessica. :-)
18. Dr. Ransom said the following at 1:40 PM on Dec 3:
Katie M. wrote:
Heaven is one of my all-time favorite tomes now, brilliantly balancing Deep Theological Magic with readability and a Biblically baptized imagination. Currently I’m actually about 30 percent of the way through my third reading; I was blessed to read it first last year, almost simultaneous with John Piper’s Desiring God. Each volume’s emphasis on “Christian Hedonism” wonderfully happens to complement the other’s!
I, too, would be curious about your possible disagreements, and the we-can’t-know parts you mentioned in your response, Denise.
To the we-can’t-know contention in particular — which Alcorn wonderfully rebutted mostly by providing the very simple context of 1 Corinthians 2:9, as I wrote about http://www.faithfusion.net/index.php?itemid=329”>here — I’d enjoy hearing more. To any “why?” question about Alcorn’s speculations of Earth that Will Be, I’d likely merely ask in return, “why not?” That is to say, why not the carryover of today’s arts and literature into the New Earth? Why not the creation of new creatures by God? Why not space travel and the continuing development in technologies as we work the Earth for God’s glory — possibly even warp drive?
After all, that is very likely exactly what we would have done anyway if the Rebellion had not occurred, if God’s plan for human history had been to create the Earth as a paradise and keep it that way, sans Sin’s ultimately temporary interruption.
(I’m just guessing here the bases behind objections, of course ...)
Worth keeping in mind here, especially with the conversation about Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven book, is that Mr. Piper and Randy Alcorn are focusing on two very different places (to the extent that Mr. Piper talks about the experience at all; I found most of the book to be about his long, awful and grueling recovery from the car accident).
Mr. Piper did for a bit early on discuss his eyewitness account, rather vaguely written (and understandably so), of being transported, temporarily, to the current, “intermediate” Heaven, where believers go when they die.
Alcorn touches on that subject, to be sure, yet concentrates on the yet-to-come hybrid, prophesied in Revelation’s last chapter and in multiple occasions throughout Scripture, particular the Old Testament, about the New Heavens and New Earth. This is where the theology of resurrection meets reality: in which not only are the very human members of Christ’s kingdom resurrected materially, in their literal bodies! — but the Earth itself is renewed and restored to the most fantastic, most physical, most incredible-beyond-one’s-wildest-fantasy-world-dreams condition imaginable.
That is what we, and even those who have already reached the present-day, “intermediate” Heaven, yearn for — the restoration of Earth as the paradise it originally was.
If God decided to abandon Earth, as Alcorn repeatedly points out, in favor of taking everybody to live forever in Heaven — a false understanding, that! — then that would cheapen His victory, and throw our entire understanding of redemption and restoration into doctrinal confusion. Fortunately, He has not: the Earth will be renewed, restored, replenished.
And even more fortunately, those subconscious revulsions many Christians have toward those un-earthly, uber-“spiritual,” nonmaterial understandings of Heaven are absolutely valid and correct! They are not from our lack of “spirituality” or because of worldliness, because as C.S. Lewis wrote, “God likes matter; He invented it,” and because He has also never said He’s going to throw out the world entirely — quite the contrary, He’s going to redeem it!
Therefore, I highly encourage all of true Christendom: let’s throw out the spiritual shrapnel left over from these incidental “Christoplatonic” memes! Instead of secretly dreading Heaven, yearn for the day of His return and the Kingdom that awaits beyond all eschatological frameworks ... when Earth That Will Be has finally arrived ... “when all turns to silver glass, and then you see it ... white shores, and beyond” ... when “the [school] term is over; the holidays have begun” ... and all of the New Earth’s wonders and challenges are at last free to be worked, to be explored, to be experienced ... all for His glory, all for His Name.
“Old people” shouldn’t be the only ones anticipating Heaven or the New Heavens and New Earth (whether or not they properly understand their natures, or even if there is a difference between the two). At 24, I find myself wonderfully excited about the World to Come ... indeed, this is one too-oft-neglected truth of Scripture, closely paired with what John Piper calls “Christian Hedonism,” that can literally revolutionize your passion for God’s glory and living for Him.
19. Tami said the following at 5:29 PM on Dec 3:
Dr. Ransom: insightful comment, especially your thoughts on how Don Piper's book differs from Randy Alcorn's.
I haven't read Alcorn's book yet, but I knnow I should read it soon... it's been in my stack for a while now.
Denise - Add me to the list of folks that are curious about your qualms. :)
20. Kathryn said the following at 5:39 PM on Dec 3:
When I was younger, I stumbled across Isaiah 65:17-25. I found it a beautiful picture heaven; mostly because it was things I could relate to. My Mum has unsuccessful pregnancies, how great would it be to have them alive today! We work now and find it to be unfruitful, how great will it be to work and make things happen because of it! The new Earth is like this Earth, only more so, and that's what I found in Isaiah 65.
21. Charles E. Miller said the following at 7:21 PM on Jan 1:
Heaven in the mind of C.S. Lewis was a real world. We are reunited with loved ones and they possess real bodies. It is an eternal world because it exists outside of time as we know it. Our loved ones who have accepted Christ are there. They are now perfect in every way. Read II Corinthians 5:1-10. I miss my loved ones.
Deacon Charles E. Miller, MA
22. Dr. Ransom said the following at 5:58 AM on Jan 7:
But, I would echo his question: is there really Biblical precedent for this statement?
Meanwhile, though, with you, though I do not have that many loved ones yet who have gone on to the "intermediate Heaven," I can yearn for the world to come and its many wonders -- all emanating from and supplementary to the infinite Creator/Savior and His glory. ...