Imagine Heaven — Part 2

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In the last post we looked at verses fromMatthew 5:8, John 14:1-4, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, Hebrews 11:13-16, 1 Peter 1:3-4, and Revelation 21:1-8. Today we will look at verses from Revelation 21:9-22:5.

Revelation 21:9-22:5. This section depicts all that God reveals to us about the holy city, the New Jerusalem—that place that will be our eternal dwelling with God. We won’t go over every point in any great detail; we will cover just the high points to stir our imagination of what our future home will be like.

Ch. 21:10-11. This great city, which John saw coming down out of heaven from God, sparkled with the glory of God. Its brilliance was like that of a crystal-clear jasper. Some commentators say that it will be more like a clear diamond.

Ch. 21:12-14.  This great and marvelous city will have a very high wall around it with twelve gates, three on each of its four sides; and the gates will have written on them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. These gates with the names inscribed on each one will be an eternal reminder of Israel and also of the millennial temple that will be set up in the same way (Ezek. 48:30-35).

Ch. 21:15-16. The city will be 1,500 miles square and 1,500 miles high, in the shape of a cube. So, it will have over two-million square miles of ground space and plenty of space above for several levels. I imagine that each of our dwellings will be very large! With very high ceilings! What do you think?

Ch. 21:17-20. The thickness of the clear diamond walls will be seventy-two yards; that’s almost three quarters the length of a football field. That’s pretty thick, but it has to be to support all the weight of a 1,500-mile-high city. Also, the rest of the inside of the city; its streets (v. 21), and I suppose other interior walls, will be of pure gold, gold like pure glass. I’ve never seen transparent gold. I can’t imagine it, nor can I imagine clear diamond walls. Now the foundation of the city—all around the bottom part of the walls—will be composed of twelve kinds of very expensive precious stones, again it will represent and bring honor to the Jewish people.

Ch 21:21. The twelve gates all around the city will be made of pearl; that is, each gate will be made of a single pearl. That is very hard to imagine since the gates will be very large; at least seventy-two yards thick and who knows how high.

Ch. 21:22. There will be no temple anywhere in heaven, for the presence of God will fill the new heaven and earth and He will be the new temple.

Ch. 21:23-24. Whether there will be a sun or moon anywhere in heaven, I’m not sure; but in the city there will be no need for their light, for the glory of God will light up the city and also the new earth. All people on the earth will see by the light of the glory of God coming from the city.

Ch. 21:25-27. There will be no night in the city; it will be light all the time and the gates will never be closed, inviting anyone to come and go in and out of the city. And it appears that God will be pleased with people coming into the city; their personalities will be honoring to God and others; that is, every person that comes into the city will make it more glorious and honoring to God. Think of it, my presence there will bring an added joy to all. But nothing unclean or evil will be allowed in the city.

Ch. 22:1-5. In this passage John records things that are especially enjoyable and beneficial to the soul for eternity. John sees a river flowing from the throne of God coursing down the center of main street. This river is unique in that it is crystal clear and eternally nourishing. That is, it holds all the qualities in it that keeps us living and thriving for eternity. Hence, it is more than H2o; it contains all the living qualities of God’s holy life. I believe it is the very water that Jesus spoke of to the woman at the well (Jn. 4:14). It is water that if anyone drinks of it will never thirst again. Hence, in heaven we will be eternally satisfied. Moreover, on either side of the river there will be a tree of life bearing twelve crops of fruit—one crop every month; and the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the people.

Now I don’t think this description of the river and the fruit trees are entirely literal. I’m not sure what we can expect to see, but I think the main point of this picture is to tell us that we will be eternally nourished and satisfied with God and the Lord Jesus. I think there may be several living rivers and multiple fruit trees wherever we go—to delight us.

Verses three through five seem to clump many things together—important things that John needs to say before he concludes.

  • That there will no longer be any curse. All that from the old earth is over.
  • That God’s throne and of the Lamb will be present somewhere in the city. I imagine it will be in a central location.
  • That His bond-servants (you and me) will serve Him.
  • That we will see His face; finally, we being sinless will be able to see God’s face.
  • And God’s name will be on our foreheads—to symbolize that we are His and He forever will protect us (Rev. 7:3).
  • And there will no longer be night; and we will no longer need the light of the sun because God’s glory will give us all the light we need.
  • And we will reign with God and the Lord Jesus forever and ever.

Imagine Heaven

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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.

Focusing on Heaven through Scripture – Part 2

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There is no better way to keep our focus on heaven than to read and meditate on heaven from Scripture. Here are a few good passages I picked out, followed by my commentary.

1 Peter 1:3-4

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

Because God gave us a new birth into a new life in Christ we now have the promise of a wonderful inheritance in heaven. It is waiting in heaven for us. It is a gift that will remain as it is: imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

Revelation 4:1-11

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,

“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”

9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Here is the first vision the apostle John saw of heaven. As he looked into the open door of heaven he saw these things: a throne and One sitting on the throne; twenty-four thrones surrounding the central throne, and twenty-four elders sitting on those thrones; and four living creatures—probably cherubim angels, who were guardians of the throne of God. And John heard and saw them all fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne, no doubt the Almighty God.

We don’t know how much of this vision is realistic or more for our learning. It is certainly meant to persuade us of the glory and majesty of heaven.

From Revelation 21:1 to 22:5. (I will not record all these verses, but I invite you to read them from your bible.)

In chapter 21:1-8 John is given a vision of a new heaven (new universe) including a new earth. And he also saw a new Jerusalem—a very large, holy city that came down out of heaven from God (the third heaven). This is where you and me and all the saints will live with God (although I am convinced that we my venture out of it if we desire). And God will wipe all our tears away. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. And He spoke and said, “I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life.”

In 21:9-21 an angel describes the New Jerusalem in all her brilliance and glory, and even gives its measurements and describes all the costly materials.

In 21:22-27 there is a description of how the glory of God illumines the city and how all the nations (the people) of the earth will walk by its light.

In 22:1-5 there is a description of a river of the water of life coming from the throne of God; and there is also a description of the tree of life. Life in heaven will be abundant and satisfying.

Keeping Our Focus on Heaven through Scripture

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There is no better way to keep our focus on heaven than to read and meditate on heaven from Scripture. Here are a few good passages I picked out, followed by my commentary.

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

If we maintain a pure life now we will see God though our faith “in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).  And we will also see Him in His full glory in heaven.

John 14:1-4

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

We ought not to be troubled with our various problems in this life. If we believe in God and in His Son, we know that He (Christ) is preparing a wonderful place for us in the Father’s house in heaven. And He will very soon come to take us there.

Philippians 3:20-21

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory…

Because He has made us citizens of heaven we are eagerly waiting for Him to take us to heaven and to change our earthly bodies into bodies of glory just like His own.

Colossians 3:1-3

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

If we are believers in Christ and have our citizenship in heaven, we are not to be bogged down and worried over things of this world. Instead, we are to keep thinking about and have our mind set on heavenly things (things that matter to God). For our old life is gone and our new life is now in Christ. He will protect us from all our spiritual enemies that are always out to destroy us.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Here is probably the best, or most descriptive, passage on the Rapture of the church. It tells us plainly that when the Lord comes to take us to heaven, He will first take up (and transform) those believers who had died. I believe this includes the Old Testament as well as the New Testament believers, for they all died in Christ. Then, after the dead are risen, all those who are alive will be taken up (and transformed) with the first group; and they all will meet the Lord “in the air.” We don’t know exactly where in the air they will be, but from that point they will all be transported to heaven to the Father’s house. Now we don’t know where we will be when He comes, but we can be sure of this: we will either be one of the dead ones that are raised, or one of the living ones who are raptured alive. I hope that comforts you.

Hebrews 11:13-16

 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

NIV

The people of faith spoken of in Hebrews 11 did not receive the promise of heaven before they died, but all their lives they remained strong in faith. For they were always looking for a better county than they left. They longed for the promised heavenly country that they knew God was preparing for them. If we want to remain faithful to God until the end, we must also as these did regard ourselves as strangers on earth—not really belonging to this world, rather having our citizenship in heaven.

Small Tastes Of Heaven

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Though we aren’t in heaven yet, God will send us small tastes of heaven. The more you connect yourself with God through His Spirit by prayer and meditation on His word, and by your personal holiness and obedience, the more you will be blessed and will taste of all of the spiritual blessings He has given us (Eph. 1:3).

I love what Paul says in Colossians 3:1-3.

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Let me go through this passage and comment briefly. In verse one Paul instructs the believer to “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” He is talking about heaven isn’t he?  We are to “keep seeking” those things in heaven.

What does he mean by this? How are we to do it? Well, verse two gives us his answer. We are to set our mind on the things above (on heaven where Christ is) instead of on all the things down here on this earth.

In verse three Paul continues with this thought. He is giving us the reason why we are not to set our mind on things of this earth: it is because we have died to our old life and have been raised up with Christ to a new life with Him. Our real life now is in Christ in God. That is to say, everything that gives us real meaning in life is in the Christ life. Our real home now is with Christ in heaven.

So how do we actually taste of heaven? I would say anything that brings the life of Christ into us is how we taste of heaven—because heaven is really enjoying the life of Christ. Here are five ways that we can taste of heaven:  

  1. Obey Christ in everything. Remember that obeying Him is loving Him.
  2. Pursue holiness. The more we stop sinning the more we will see God (Matt. 5:8).
  3. Stay in prayer. Prayer is our connection to God.
  4. Fellowship with other believers. The more we love and encourage them in the Lord the more He will bless us—satisfy us with His love.
  5. Worship together. Praise to God is most blessed and satisfying when we do it together.

A Foggy Day — The Kindness of God

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It’s a very foggy day. God is being kind, giving the Dem’s a place to hide. It will take a while for them to face up to the MAGA victory. But soon, hopefully, they will see some great economic results. This next few years may be the last stretch of grace this country has before all hell breaks loose. We must pray that many will see His kindness and receive Him before it’s too late. May the kindness of God lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4).