One good way to keep our focus on heaven is to once in a while try to imagine it. I don’t very often do that, but I should. I confess that maybe I don’t trust my mind. But we should remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:15-16,

But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

Well, right away I’m thinking, am I spiritual enough? That I suppose sounds logical, but we must believe God to sanctify our mind. I would say, get in the word more and pray more and obey Him more. And then trust God that you do have the mind of Christ. And as you are trusting Him, I would suggest going through all the passages we have previously looked at on heaven and see if that will stir up your imagination.

Randy Alcorn wrote a book on heaven. He said early on in his book, “God has given us glimpses of Heaven in the Bible—to fire up our imagination and kindle a desire for Heaven in our hearts.”1

Now before we go through the nine passages again for the purpose of stirring our imagination, I would suggest that there will be very little in the bible, in reference to heaven, that speak of the beauty of nature on this earth. There are many passages that speak of nature’s beauty in reference to God’s creation and His power over creation, but not in reference to what heaven will be like. You will see this in Romans 1:20 and also in a few Psalms.

I say these things not to dampen your imagination in regard to nature’s beauty. I do think that God is all for beauty and that heaven and the new earth will be very beautiful. However, remember that God said in Revelation 21, that the “first earth” and “the first things” are “passing away.”  And He said, “I am making all things new.” Also, remember that our flowers, and most other plants, fade away and can be very easily damaged. But things in heaven will never fade away. I suggest that they will be made of different stuff than we have now. That’s something to think about.

Okay, lets go over all the references we looked at earlier and make some observations about what heaven is like.

Matthew 5:8. Here we may conclude that heaven will be seeing God for who He really is, having all the fruits of the Spirit.  And we will also enjoy all the people who are in their new bodies—how they are not being at all sinful, and how they are also seeing God as we do.

John 14:1-4. In heaven we will see the Father’s house (the New Jerusalem) with many rooms. Everyone will have his own room. And where He is, there we will be also. Yes, we will have our own private room, but God and Jesus will always be there too. And we will also be going and visiting each other. It will always be a party, enjoying company with good friends. I wonder how our rooms will be decorated and whether we will be involved in decorating them.

Philippians 3:20-21. Our body will be glorious like Jesus’ glorious body was. And they will be supernatural: powerful, able to do miraculous things—whatever Jesus did after He was resurrected. He walked through walls, appeared and disappeared, etc.

Colossians 3:1-3. Our life is now hidden with Christ in God. In heaven He will be our ultimate comfort, joy and protection. And we will be so much life Him in many ways.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. We will always be with the Lord; and just as we will ascend with Him to heaven, I imagine that He will take us to many marvelous places in the new universe and in the third heaven. Yes, I think we will fly around together with Him to many wonderful places.

Hebrews 11:13-16. In heaven when we are enjoying our great city that he has prepared for us, we will look back and remember how we longed for a better place—a holy and sinless place.

1 Peter 1:3-4. When we were born again we were born into a living hope—the hope of obtaining an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not pass away. Hence, this inheritance has eternal qualities like joy, peace and righteousness, in addition to God’s presence and Christ’s companionship.

Revelation 21:1-8. This passage is a summary of all that will be new and different in the heavens and the earth. Here is a list of the differences:

• There will no longer be any sea. There is a lot of discussion among theologians as to what this means, which we will discuss later.
• There will be a holy city, the new Jerusalem, which will descend down from the third heaven. This is where we will live. Each of us will have our own living quarters there.
• God’s presence will always be with us. We will be His people.
• He will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
• We will never die; we will live forever in our eternal bodies.
• There will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain.
• We will forever be satisfied with the springs of living water—everlasting nourishment from Christ.
• We will never have to fear evil people. They will be gone forever in their own place.

---

1 Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Wheaton, Illinois) 2004, p. 16.