It was the week before last when I appeared to have ruffled a few feathers by sharing some thoughts, in another blog, on what heaven may be like. I didn't wish to prolong an online discussion, but wanted to make my position as clear as possible, so decided that using my own blog was the best way in which to do so. I have headed this post "Pt.1" because I suspect that I will not be publishing everything I wish to share in one post!
Permit me to begin by pointing out that, according to the written Word of God, heaven is a place! It is not an ethereal, non-physical, entity. Jesus said «In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.» (John 14:2-3). That sounds pretty real to me!
I would also point out that the Bible doesn't actually give us a great deal of information as to what heaven will be like for those who will inhabit the «new heaven and new earth» (Rev.2:1) - and don't let us forget the «new earth»!
My personal thinking on what this «new heaven and new earth» will be like has evolved over a number of decades. I freely admit that most of what I share is speculation - but it is speculation that is based upon the written Word of God and, with Paul (who was writing in a different context!), I would dare to say «... I give my opinion as one who, by the Lord's mercy, is trustworthy.» (I Cor 7:25).
When I was young - very young! - I accepted the popular picture of heaven. It was where I would meet again with all of my deceased relatives. Then, when I was saved, I realised that only the saved would be in that "better place". This did cause me some concern, as I was aware that many of my relatives had, apparently, died unsaved. However, I reckoned that I had so many relatives that I wouldn't miss a few!
Of course, I was making the same mistake as did certain Sadducees - who did not believe that there was a resurrection - when they endeavoured to trap the Lord Jesus with their question about the woman who was married to each of seven brothers, with no offspring from any of them. (read Lk.20:27ff). The answer they received to their "trick" question was, in essence, that they were thinking of heaven as simply an extension of the earthly existence with which they were familiar. That, I would respectfully suggest, is the mistake that is still made by so many. Yet we look forward to «... a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, » (Rev 21:1; emphases added). Why would we expect it to be no more than a continuation of what are «...the former things...» that will have «... passed away ...»?! (Rev.21:4)
It was the comment of a dear friend whose father had recently died - pretty obviously unsaved - that she didn't know how she could be happy in heaven when her dad was highly unlikely to be there, that caused me to think further! I eventually arrived at a place at which I believed that those of us who were saved, and in heaven would be so fixed on the Lamb upon the throne, and praising Him that, while we would be aware of a vast throng doing the same thing, we would not be concerned about the personal identities of any of them. That was my basic position for many, many years.
Then, a couple of years ago, I was using the Book of the Revelation of Jesus, the Christ, for my personal devotions. As many have discovered, and discovered on many occasions, we can read a passage in the Bible that we have read many times before - and suddenly "see" something that we had, hitherto, missed. For me, at that time, it was the words found in ch.21:5 « And He Who sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'» The word from the statement that "jumped out" was the word «all». Now I don't believe that it is necessary to be the Professor of English Language in a prestigious University to be able to work out that «all» means ------ «all». Nothing is excepted!
I already know that I will receive a new resurrection body. Paul makes this clear, in his first letter to the early disciples of Jesus. Some, apparently, had been questioning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! «Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.» (I Cor 15:12-14).
The apostle produces his argument, and concludes «But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.» (I Cor 15:20). As he develops his argument, he anticipates a further question: «But some one will ask, 'How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?'» (I Cor 15:35), and introduces the illustration of a seed that is sown in the ground which, he points out, is not the plant that will grow from it. «But God gives it a body as He has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.» (I Cor 15:38).
His ultimate conclusion? «So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.» (I Cor 15:42-50). I shall be given a resurrection body that will be totally different from the mortal body I currently inhabit. Hallelujah!
Could there not be more?! That's for next week, DV.
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