Heaven (39 page)
Authors: Randy Alcorn
The New Earth's citizens will build, plant, and eat, as human beings on Earth always have. Like Adam and Eve in Eden, we'll
inherit a place that God has prepared for us. But we'll be free to build on it and develop it as we see fit, to God's glory.
WILL WE OPEN OUR HOMES TO GUESTS?
I believe Scripture teaches that on the New Earth we'll open our homes to guests. I base this on Christ's words in Luke 16.
After speaking of the shrewd servant's desire to use earthly resources so that "people will welcome me into their houses"
(v. 4), Jesus told his followers to "use worldly wealth to gain friends" (v. 9). Jesus instructed them to use their earthly
resources to gain friends by making a difference in their lives on Earth. The reason? "So that when it [life on Earth] is
gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings" (v. 9).
Our "friends" in Heaven appear to be those whose lives we've touched on Earth and who now have their own "eternal dwellings."
Luke 16:9 seems to say these "eternal dwellings" of our friends are places where we'll stay and enjoy companionship—second
homes to us as we move about the Kingdom.
Because many people mistakenly believe that Heaven won't be earthlike, it never occurs to them to take this passage literally.
They think "eternal dwellings" is a general reference to Heaven. But surely Christ isn't saying we'll enter Heaven because
we used our money wisely. In the parable, the eternal dwellings are Heaven's equivalent to the private homes that the shrewd
servant could stay in on Earth.
Do I believe Jesus is suggesting we'll actually share lodging, meals, and fellowship with friends in God's Kingdom? Yes.
I'm aware that some readers will think this far-fetched. But that's only because when we think of Heaven, we don't think of
resurrected people living on a resurrected Earth, living in dwelling places, and eating and fellowshiping together. But isn't
that
exactly
what Scripture teaches us?
In his song "Thank You," Ray Boltz pictures us in Heaven, meeting people who explain how our giving touched their lives. They
say, "Thank you for giving to the Lord, I am so glad you gave." This is more than a nice sentiment. It's something that will
actually happen. Every time we give to missions and to feed the hungry, we should think about people we'll meet in Heaven,
people whose homes on the New Earth we'll likely one day visit.
Mincaye, the Auca Indian who speared Nate Saint, is now a follower of Jesus. When Mincaye was asked what he's going to do
when he meets Nate Saint in Heaven, he replied, "I'm going to run and throw my arms around Nate Saint and thank him for bringing
Jesus Christ to me and my people." He added that Nate Saint would welcome him home.
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How many wonderful meetings and reunions should we all anticipate? "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing
some people have entertained angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2). Perhaps we'll be welcomed into the homes not only
of people but also of angels, who will reciprocate the hospitality we showed them on the old Earth.
Will Jesus be one of the guests you welcome into your dwelling place? When he lived on Earth, Jesus often visited the home
of his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Just before Jesus went to the cross, he told his disciples, "I will not drink of
this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:29). He
spoke these words as he ate a meal with them in a private home. When he dines and drinks with his disciples on the New Earth,
what better places to do that than in homes?
Jesus says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat
with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). Although he speaks figuratively here, his interest in our lives will surely extend
to visiting us in our homes.
Incredible as it seems, Jesus desires our company. He's preparing us a place in Heaven. He'll welcome us into his home. And
we should expect to welcome him into ours.
WILL WE DESIRE
RELATIONSHIPS WITH
ANYONE EXCEPT GOD?
T
hroughout the ages, Christians have anticipated eternal reunion with their loved ones. In 710, the Venerable Bede, a church
historian, wrote these words about Heaven:
A great multitude of dear ones is there expecting us; a vast and mighty crowd of parents, brothers, and children, secure now
of their own safety, anxious yet for our salvation, long that we may come to their right and embrace them, to that joy which
will be common to us and to them, to that pleasure expected by our fellow servants as well as ourselves, to that full and
perpetual felicity. . . . If it be a pleasure to go to them, let us eagerly and covetously hasten on our way, that we may
soon be with them, and soon be with Christ.
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WILL WE WANT ANYONE BESIDES
CHRIST?
Christ is "the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last" (Revelation 22:13). He alone is sufficient to meet all our needs.
Yet, God has designed us for relationship not only with himself but also with others of our kind. After God created the world,
he stepped back to look at his work and pronounced it "very good." However, before his creation was complete, he said that
one thing—and only one—was not good. "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" (Genesis
2:18). God planned for Adam, and all mankind, to need human companionship. In other words, God made people to need and desire
others besides himself.
To some people, this sounds like heresy. After all, Asaph prays, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire
besides you" (Psalm 73:25). This verse is sometimes used to prove that we should desire nothing but God, that it is wrong
to desire "earthly things," including human relationships. But God made us to desire earthly things such as food, water, shelter,
warmth, work, play, rest, human friendship, and much more. That won't change in Heaven.
People have told me we shouldn't long for Heaven, only for God. If that were true, God would condemn rather than commend his
people who "were longing for a better country—a heavenly one" (Hebrews 11:16). King David saw no contradiction between seeking
God the person and seeking Heaven the place. The two were inseparable: "One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek
after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire
in his temple" (Psalm 27:4, ESV). Notice that David says he seeks "one thing"—to be in God's magnificent place and to be with
God's magnificent person.
As I said in chapter 17, we must understand that God is the source of all joy—all other joys are secondary and derivative.
They come from him, find their meaning in him, and cannot be divorced from him. Likewise, while Christ is our primary treasure,
he encourages us to store up other treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).
Christ is Heaven's center of gravity, but we don't diminish his importance by enjoying natural wonders, angels, or people.
On the contrary, we'll exalt him and draw closer to him as we enjoy all he created.
WILL WE NEED ONLY GOD IN HEAVEN?
Like the desert monks who withdrew into the desert to live apart from human companionship, some people still insist, "I need
only God." But as spiritual as it sounds, this perspective is another form of Christoplatonism. Consider again the implications
of the fact that God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Genesis 2:18). Think of it—God was with Adam in the Garden,
yet God said that wasn't good enough. God designed us to need each other. What we gain from each other is more of God because
we're created in his image and are a conduit for his self-revelation.
Eden was the forerunner of the New Earth. Since meaningful human companionship turned God's assessment of "not good" into
a declaration of "very good" on the first Earth, we shouldn't expect him to change his mind on the New Earth. Yet many people
minimize human relationships in Heaven. Protestant reformer John Calvin said, "To be in Paradise and live with God is not
to speak to each other and be heard by each other, but is only to enjoy God, to feel his good will, and rest in him."
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To Calvin's credit, he longed for the joy to be found in God. But he imagined a false dichotomy between the joys of relating
to God and relating to God's children. To take pleasure in another image-bearer doesn't offend God; it
pleases
him. To enjoy a conversation with a brother or sister does not require making that person an idol or competitor with God.
God was supremely pleased that Adam and Eve enjoyed each other's company in Paradise. God is our father, and fathers delight
in their children's close relationships.
Some people falsely assume that when we give attention to people, it automatically distracts us from God. But even now, in
a fallen world, people can turn my attention toward God. Was Jesus distracted from God by spending time with people on Earth?
Certainly not. In Heaven, no person will distract us from God. We will never experience any conflict between worshiping God
himself and enjoying God's people.
Deep and satisfying human relationships will be among God's greatest gifts. Jonathan Edwards saw no conflict between anticipating
our relationships with God and our loved ones:
Every Christian friend that goes before us from this world is a ransomed spirit waiting to welcome us in heaven. There will
be the infant of days that we have lost below, through grace to be found above. There the Christian father, and mother, and
wife, and child, and friend, with whom we shall renew the holy fellowship of the saints, which was interrupted by death here,
but shall be commenced again in the upper sanctuary, and then shall never end. There we shall have companionship with the
patriarchs and fathers and saints of the Old and New Testaments, and those of whom the world was not worthy. . . . And there,
above all, we shall enjoy and dwell with God the Father, whom we have loved with all our hearts on earth; and with Jesus Christ,
our beloved Savior, who has always been to us the chief among ten thousands, and altogether lovely; and with the Holy Spirit,
our Sanctifier, and Guide, and Comforter; and shall be filled with all the fullness of the Godhead forever!
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Jesus affirmed that the greatest commandment was to love God, but that the second, inseparable from the first, was to love
our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). He never considered these commands as incompatible. Neither should we. He saw the second
flowing directly from the first. One of the highest ways we love God is by loving people. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders
because they imagined they could love God without loving people (Luke 10:27-37). The spiritual-sounding "I will love only
God and no one else" is not only unspiritual; it's impossible. For if we don't love people, who are created in God's image,
we can't love God.
WHAT DID PAUL SAY ABOUT REUNION IN HEAVEN?
Paul says to his friends in Thessalonica, "We loved you so much" and "You had become so dear to us," then speaks of his "intense
longing" to be with them (1 Thessalonians 2:8,17). In fact, Paul anticipates his ongoing relationship with the Thessalonians
as part of his heavenly reward: "What is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord
Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy" (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
Isn't this emphatic proof that it's appropriate for us to deeply love people and look forward to being with them in Heaven?
Paul sees no contradiction in referring to both Christ and his friends as his hope and joy and crown in Heaven.
Paul then asks, "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because
of you?" (3:9). The joy he takes in his friends doesn't compete with his joy in God—it's part of it. Paul thanks God for his
friends. Whenever we're moved to thank God for people, we're experiencing exactly what he intended.
Paul also says to the Thessalonians, "You long to see us, just as we also long to see you....How can we thank God enough foryou
in return for all thejoywe have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may
see you again" (3:6,9-10). Paul finds joy in God's presence because of other Christians. He anticipates the day "when our
Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones" (3:13). He looks forward to being with Jesus
and his
people.
Paul tells the Thessalonians that we'll be reunited with believing family and friends in Heaven: "Brothers, we do not want
you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no h o p e . . . . God will bring
with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. . . . We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with
them.... And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words" (4:13-14,1718). Our source
of comfort isn't only that we'll be with the Lord in Heaven but also that we'll be with each other.
Puritan Richard Baxter longed for that comfort: "I know that Christ is all in all; and that it is the presence of God that
makes Heaven to be heaven. But yet it much sweetens the thoughts of that place to me that there are there such a multitude
of my most dear and precious friends in Christ."
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In Philippians 1, Paul speaks with unapologetic affection to his brothers in Christ, describing himself as longing for them.
Note that he clearly sees no incompatibility between his Christ-centered desire to be with Jesus (1:21) and his Christ-centered
love for others:
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership
in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on
to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6)
Paul's delight in his brothers in Christ reminds us that the first and second greatest commands are inseparable: "Love the
Lord your God with all your heart... and love your neighbor as yourself " (Luke 10:27). And if you love your neighbor as yourself,
how much more your family, which derives its identity from God himself?
As if anticipating that someone might object by saying, "But God is the only one we should find joy in and long for," Paul
continues his thought in the following verses:
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending
and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection
of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:7-8)
Note the source of Paul's deep longing and affection for his brothers and sisters: Christ Jesus himself. Though it is possible
to put people over God (which is idolatry), it is also possible, while putting God over people, to find in people a wonderful
expression of God himself, so great that it is completely appropriate for us to have them in our hearts, to find joy
in them,
and long to be
with them.
Such sentiments are not idolatry, and it is not wrong to have them. In fact, something is wrong if we do not have them. For
finding joy in God and longing for God does not kill our joy in and longing for others. Rather, it fuels it. The joy and longing
we have for other people is directly derived from our joy in and longing for God.
WHAT WILL WE REMEMBER?
One writer claims, "We will not even remember this old world we call Earth . .. nor will we even recall it! It simply will
not come into our minds."
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This common misperception confuses people. They think we won't remember our earthly lives, including the relationships so
precious to us.
The people who believe we will not remember our present lives often cite Isaiah 65:17 as their proof: "Behold, I will create
new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." However, this verse should
be viewed in context. It's linked to the previous verse, in which God says, "For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden
from my eyes." This doesn't suggest literal lack of memory, as if the omniscient God couldn't recall the past. Rather, it's
like God's comment to Jeremiah: " I . . . will remember their sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). It means that God
chooses
not to bring up our past sins or hold them against us. In eternity, past sins and sorrows won't preoccupy God or us. We'll
be capable of choosing not to recall or dwell on anything that would diminish Heaven's joy.
In chapter 7 we learned that the martyrs now in the intermediate Heaven remember what happened on Earth, including that they
endured great suffering (Revelation 6:9-11). Jesus promised that in Heaven, those who endured bad things on Earth would be
comforted for them (Luke 16:25). The comfort implies memory of what happened. If we had no memory of the bad things, why
would we need comfort? How would we feel it?
Our minds will be clearer in Heaven, not foggier. Memory is basic to personality. The principle of continuity requires that
we will remember our past lives. Heaven cleanses our slate of sin and error, but it doesn't erase our memory of it. The lessons
we learned here about God's love, grace, and justice surely aren't lost but will carry over to Heaven. Father Boudreau states,
"For the sins which so often made us tremble, are washed away in the blood of Jesus, and are, therefore, no longer a source
of trouble. The remembrance of them rather intensifies our love for the God of mercy, and therefore increases our happiness."
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It seems likely that recalling the reality of our past troubles, sorrows, and sins would set a sharp contrast to the glories
of Heaven, as darkness does to light, as Hell does to Heaven. We would lose this contrast if we forgot what sorrow was. If
we forgot we were desperate sinners, how could we appreciate the depth and meaning of Christ's redemptive work for us?
