Heaven (24 page)
Authors: Randy Alcorn
ABSORBING, BUT NOT ABSORBED
We must distinguish the biblical promise of seeing God from the beliefs of Buddhism, Hinduism, or New Age mysticism, in which
individuality is obliterated or assimilated into Nirvana. Though God will be absorbing, we will not be absorbed by him. Though
we may feel lost in God's immensity, we will not lose our identity when we see him. Instead, we will find it. "Whoever loses
his life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:25).
"The people of God will not be absorbed into or partake in an immediate way ofthe being of God," writes Cornelius Venema.
"God's people will see him without any of the sinful limitations of the present. No sin-induced stupor, no failure of hearing,
no blindness of vision will obscure the beauty of God from their knowledge."
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We will not know God exhaustively, but we will know him accurately. We will no longer twist and distort the truth about God.
Some have portrayed the beatific vision as a pursuit in which every person seeks God individually. It is characteristic of
our Western cultural independence that we think of Heaven in highly individualized ways. But God also views us corporately,
as Christ's bride, as part of a great eternal community in which we'll love our Lord together and undertake cooperative pursuits
for his glory. We will always be individuals, but Heaven will not be a place of individualism.
We aren't individual brides of Christ; we are collectively the bride of Christ. Christ is not a polygamist. He will be married
to one bride, not millions. We belong to each other and need each other. We should guard not only our own purity, but each
other's. We
are
our brother's keeper.
The fact that countless professing Christians are not part of a local church testifies to our over-individualized spirituality.
Scripture teaches that we need each other and should not withdraw from each other's fellowship, instruction, or accountability.
It's unbiblical to imagine that we can successfully seek God on our own (Hebrews 10:25). Because we will be part of a community
of saints that constitutes the bride of Christ for eternity, and because we will worship and serve him together, to prepare
properly for Heaven we must be part of a church now.
NO RIVALRY BETWEEN CHRIST AND HEAVEN
A man said to a few of usat a gathering, "I find myself longing for Heaven." After he left, someone said to me, "Shouldn't
he be longing for
God,
not Heaven?" This may sound spiritual, but is it? Scripture speaks positively of "longing for a better country" (Hebrews 11:16).
I don't know the man's heart, but his statement was biblically warranted. The right kind of longing for Heaven
is
a longing for God, and longing for God is longing for Heaven. If we understand what Heaven is (God's dwelling place) and
who God is, we will see no conflict between the two. A woman who longs to be reunited with her husband could well say, "I
just want to go home."
I'm often asked the following question in various ways: "Why talk about Heaven when we can just talk about Jesus?" The answer
is that the two go together. We were made for a person (Christ) and a place (Heaven). There is no rivalry between Christ
and Heaven.
Any bride in love with her husband wants to be with him more than anything. But if he goes away to build a beautiful place
for her, won't she get excited about it? Won't she think and talk about that place? Of course. Moreover, he
wants
her to! If he tells her, "I'm going to prepare a place for you," he's implying, "I want you to look forward to it." Her love
and longing for the place he's preparing—where she will live with him—is inseparable from her love and longing for her husband.
Some erroneously assume that the wonders, beauties, adventures, and marvelous relationships of Heaven must somehow be in
competition with the one who has created them. God has no fear that we'll get too excited about Heaven. After all, the wonders
of Heaven aren't
our
idea, they're
his.
There's no dichotomy between anticipating the joys of Heaven and finding our joy in Christ. It's all part of the same package.
The wonders of the new heavens and New Earth will be a primary means by which God reveals himself and his love to us.
Picture Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve says to Adam, "Isn't this place magnificent? The sun feels wonderful on my
face, the blue sky's gorgeous. These animals are a delight. Try the mango—it's delicious!"
Can you imagine Adam responding, "Your focus is all wrong, Eve. You shouldn't think about beauty, refreshment, and mouthwatering
fruit. All you should think about is God."
Adam would never say that, because in thinking about these things, Eve
would be
thinking about God. Likewise, our enjoyment of what God has provided us should be inseparable from worshiping, glorifying,
and appreciating him. God is honored by our thankfulness, gratitude, and enjoyment of him.
I've heard it said that "God, not Heaven, is our inheritance." Well, God
is
our inheritance (Psalm 16:6), but so is Heaven (1 Peter 1:3-4). God and Heaven—the person and the place—are so closely connected
that they're sometimes referred to interchangeably. The Prodigal Son confessed, "I have sinned against heaven" (Luke 15:18,21).
John the Baptist said, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven" (John 3:27). Why didn't he say
God
instead of
Heaven}
Because God has made himself that closely identified with Heaven. It's his place. And that's
his
idea, not ours. He could have offered us his person without his place. But he didn't.
So, thinking about Heaven shouldn't be viewed as an obstacle to knowing God but as a
means
of knowing Him. The infinite God reveals himself to us in tangible, finite expressions. Next to the incarnate Christ, Heaven
will tell us more about God than anything else. Some people have told me, "I just want to be with Jesus—I don't care if Heaven's
a shack." Well, Jesus cares. He
wants
us to anticipate Heaven and enjoy the magnificence of it, not to say, "I don't care about it" or "I'd be just as happy in
a shack." When you go to visit your parents in the house you grew up in, it's no insult to tell them "I love this place."
It's a compliment. They'll delight in it, not resent it.
Every thought of Heaven should move our hearts toward God, just as every thought of God will move our hearts toward Heaven.
That's why Paul could tell us to set our hearts on Heaven, not just "set your hearts on God." To do one is to do the other.
Heaven will not be an idol that competes with God but a lens by which we see God.
If we think unworthy thoughts of Heaven, we think unworthy thoughts of God. That's why the conventional caricatures of Heaven
do a terrible disservice to God and adversely affect our relationship with him. If we come to love Heaven more—the Heaven
God portrays in Scripture—we will inevitably love God more. If Heaven fills our hearts and minds, God will fill our hearts
and minds.
Those who love God should think more often of Heaven, not less.
WHAT DOES GOD'S ETERNAL KINGDOM INVOLVE?
Why do we not know: the country whose citizens we are? Because we have wandered so far away that we have forgotten it. But
the Lord Christ, the king of the land, came down to us, and droveforgetfulness from our heart. God took to Himself our flesh
so that He might be our way back.
Augustine
I
f you were to describe a kingdom, what elements would you include? A king, certainly, and subjects to be ruled, but what else?
In order to be rightly described as a kingdom, wouldn't it also have to include territory, a government, and a culture? Why
is it, then, that when we think of God's Kingdom, we often think only of the King and his subjects, but we leave out the territory
and the culture? We spiritualize God's Kingdom, perceiving it as otherworldly and intangible. But Scripture tells us otherwise.
DIDN'T JESUS SAY HIS KINGDOM WASN'T EARTHLY?
When Jesus said to the Pharisees, "I am not of this world" (John 8:23), he did not mean "I am not
in
or
on
this world." Rather, he was speaking of his place of origin. His Kingdom is not
of the
world because it is not
from
the world. It did not originate here. Furthermore, it's uncontaminated by the fallen Earth and operates by different principles.
When Jesus was on trial, he said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent
my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.... You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this
reason I was bom, and for this I came into the world" (John 18:36-37). When Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world,"
he did not mean that his Kingdom wouldn't be
on
this earth after it is transformed. He meant that his Kingdom isn't
of
this earth as it is now, under the Curse. Although Christ's Kingdom isn't
from
the earth, it extends
to
the earth, and one day it will fully
include
the earth and be centered on it. Christ's Kingdom touches this world through his indwelling Spirit, the presence of the church,
and his providential reign. Thus, Jesus could say, "The kingdom of God is near you" (Luke 10:9). He could say of little children,
"The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Matthew 19:14).
It's important to distinguish between what's "worldly" and what's earthly and physical. God's creation is
earthly
(Genesis 1:31). The product of fallen human culture is
worldly
(Romans 12:1-2; Titus 2:12). Similarly, what is of the body is God-made, whereas what is of the "flesh"
(sarx)
is under the sin principle that dominates our fallen humanity (Romans 7:5,18).
However,flesh
isn't a universally negative word. Jesus is said repeatedly to have had
sarx,
or "flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14; 2 John 1:7), but he didn't have sin; therefore,
flesh
and
sin
cannot be synonymous. Although our physical bodies are under sin and can be instruments of sin, they aren't the ultimate source
of sin. We're commanded to "offer the parts of your body to [God] as instruments of righteousness" (Romans 6:13). In so
doing, our bodies are restored to their original purpose of being instruments of a righteous spirit, heart, or mind. And that
is what they'll be forever after our bodily resurrection.
JESUS, WORTHY KING OF THE NEW EARTH
Revelation 5:1-10 depicts a powerful scene in the present Heaven. God the Father, the ruler of Heaven, sits on the throne
with a sealed scroll in his right hand. What's sealed—with seven seals, to avoid any possibility that the document has been
tampered with—is the Father's will, his plan for the distribution and management of his estate. In this case, the entitlement
of the estate is the earth, which includes its people. God had intended for the world to be ruled by humans. But who will
come forward to open the document and receive the inheritance?
John writes, "I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside" (Revelation 5:4).
Because of human sin, mankind and the earth have been corrupted. No man is worthy to take the role God intended for Adam and
his descendants. Adam proved unworthy, as did Abraham, David, and every other person in history. But right when it appears
that God's design for mankind and the earth will forever be thwarted, the text continues in high drama: "Then one of the elders
said to me, 'Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll
and its seven seals.' Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled
by the four living creatures and the elders... . He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.... And they sang
a new song: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased
men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation'" (Revelation 5:5-9).
An old theologian once said, "Who chides a servant for taking away the first course of a feast when the second consists of
far greater delicacies?" Who then can regret that this present world passes away when he sees that an eternal world of joy
is coming? The first course is grace, but the second is glory, and that is as much better as the fruit is better than the
blossom.
CHARLES SPURGEON
Every finite being, angelic and human, stands in amazement at this man and what he has done. The Father, who sits on Heaven's
throne, will never die. Instead, the heir, the beloved firstborn son, has died. He was slain that he might "purchase men for
God"—and not just a small representation of fallen humanity, but "from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation
5:9).
The passage culminates with a statement about Christ's followers: "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve
our God, and they will reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:10).
Psalm 2 speaks of Christ ruling "with an iron scepter" and dashing the nations to pieces "like pottery" (v. 9), a reference
to the Messiah's return, judgment, and perhaps his millennial reign. But once we enter the new heavens and New Earth, there's
no iron rule or dashing to pieces, for there's no more rebellion, sin, or death. The vanquishing of sin doesn't mean the
end of Christ's rule. It means the end of his
contested
rule and the beginning of his eternally uncontested rule, when he will delegate earthly rule to his co-heirs.
If we understood God's unaltered plan for his people to exercise dominion over the earth, it wouldn't surprise us to find
on the New Earth that nations still exist and kings come into the New Jerusalem bringing tribute to the King of kings (Revelation
21:24,26).
THE IMPORTANCE OF LAND
An essential component of anykingdom is
land.
I don't always agree with David Chilton, but I believe he's correct when he says in
Paradise Restored,
"When God created Adam, He placed him into a land, and gave him dominion over it. Land is basic to dominion; therefore, salvation
involves a restoration to land and property. . . . This is why Biblical law is filled with references to properly, law, and
economics; and this is why the Reformation laid such stress on this world, as well as the next. Man is not saved by being
delivered out of his environment. Salvation does not rescue us from the material world, but from sin, and from the effects
of the Curse. The Biblical ideal is for every man to own properly—a place where he can have dominion and rule under God."
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We are pilgrims on this earth that is passing away, but eventually we'll be pioneers and settlers on the New Earth. The earth
is our proper dwelling place: "For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked
will be cut off from the land" (Proverbs 2:21-22). "The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in
the land" (Proverbs 10:30).
Christ says, "I will write on him [who overcomes] the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem,
which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name" (Revelation 3:12).
Consider how the theme that Earth belongs to God and his people (not to the unrighteous who sometimes rule it now) is carried
throughout Psalms, Proverbs, and Isaiah:
You made [mankind] ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet. (Psalm 8:6)
The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1)
He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and his descendants shall inherit the earth. (Psalm 25:13, NKJV)
For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. . . .The meek shall inherit
the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. . . . For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
but those cursed by Him shall be cut off. (Psalm 37:9, 11, 22, NKJV)
How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth! (Psalm 47:2)
I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate
heritages. (Isaiah 49:8, NKJV)
The man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. (Isaiah 57:13)
In Isaiah 57:13, the Hebrew word
erets,
here translated "land," is the same word translated "earth" in many other contexts, including those just cited.
Erets
is the fourth most frequently used noun in the Old Testament, appearing more than 2,500 times.
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The frequency of the word's use reflects its centrality The Old Testament is filled with the idea of place, earth, land. Earth
is the place of all mankind; Israel, especially Jerusalem, is the place of God's covenant people.
God gave management of the earth to Adam and Eve. All people would be their descendants, taking up their management responsibilities
in turn. Then came the Fall and the Flood. Later, when God made his covenant with Abraham, what did he promise him first?
Land (Genesis 12:1,7). Though the whole Earth was under the Curse, God granted Abraham a piece of land that could be lived
on, ruled, and managed in a way that would bring glory to God and blessing to all other lands and nations.
"If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). New covenant
Christians, not just Israel, are heirs of the promises made to Abraham—and these promises center on possessing the land.
After saying that mankind would rise from the dust of the earth and rule Christ's Kingdom on Earth (Daniel 12:2-3), God promises
Daniel, "You will rise to receive your allotted inheritance" (Daniel 12:13). Inheritance typically involves not just money
but also land, a place lived on and managed by human beings. After our bodily resurrection, we will receive a physical inheritance.
The New Earth is the ultimate Promised Land, the eternal Holy Land in which all God's people will dwell.
THE GOAL OF HISTORY
God is the sovereign ruler of the universe, yet he chooses not to rule the universe alone. He delegates responsibilities
to angels, who exist in a hierarchy of command under Michael the archangel (Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7). God made human beings
in his image, as creators and rulers, to carry out his divine will. He does not grudgingly pass on to us management responsibilities.
On the contrary, he delights to entrust Earth's rule to us. He has uniquely created and gifted us to handle such responsibilities
and to find joy in them.
We've been born into the family of an incredibly wealthy landowner. There's not a millimeter of cosmic geography that doesn't
belong to him, and by extension to his children, his heirs. Our Father has a family business that stretches across the whole
universe. He entrusts to us management of the family business, and that's what we'll do for eternity: manage God's assets
and rule his universe, representing him as his image-bearers, children, and ambassadors.
While we face our daily challenges, the knowledge that a New Earth is coming should reassure us and give us perspective. It
means there's not only hope but purpose in our suffering. It means that though injustice is widespread, it will not last.
God will make all things right, rewarding his people for trusting him. He will turn this upside-down world right side up,
placing it in the care of his beloved children.
The promise of a New Earth reminds us that the events of human history aren't meaningless. Rather, they are heading toward
the fulfillment of a divine plan, involving a New Earth with culture and citizens that glorify God.
"We cannot understand biblical revelation, human history, or the events of our own lives if we don't grasp God's plan for
the new heavens and New Earth," writes theologian Herman Ridderbos. "[Christ's] redemption acquires the significance of an
all-inclusive divine drama, of a cosmic struggle . . . the goal of which is to bring back the entire created cosmos under
God's dominion and rule."
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Remember God's explicitly stated plan: "to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Ephesians
1:10). His design is through Christ "to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making
peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20).
We're mistaken to leave such verses in the hands of universalists, who isolate them and disregard the emphatic biblical statements
that some will spend eternity in Hell. But we must not ignore the broad redemptive significance of these passages. Anthony
Hoekema is correct when he insists that "we must see [history] as moving toward the goal of a finally restored and glorified
universe.
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