What Will Heaven Be Like?

Because I am a pastor, isn’t all that uncommon to get the question, “What do you think heaven will be like?” I would imagine that this question comes from the place in us that knows deep down that there must be something after this life. Because, like the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “God has placed eternity in the hearts of man.” And while this question arises from a somewhat instinctive hunch that there must be something more, I think the question pops up from time to time because of all the different visions there are out there about this hoped for reality called heaven. To be honest, most of the visions provided for us paint a picture of a place that I for one would never want to visit, let alone be bound to for all of eternity.

I mean come on, won’t playing harps, sitting on clouds, and eating grapes get a little old after 100 years or so?

As a Christian, I affirm that there is more to this life and that God desires for every human to live eternally in restored relationship with self, others and God. And I also know that the picture painted for us of what this new heavenly reality looks like is sketchy in some ways and loaded with crazy metaphors and word pictures. But when looking at the narrative of Scripture, one can get a definitive sense of the way God has designed us to live, and work towards a picture of where God is taking things.

Where We Have Been

Our story starts in a garden, with a God who creates out of nothing and loves what He creates. He sees the trees and says that they are good. God sees the oceans and says they are good. God creates animals and says they are good. And then God creates man and woman and says it is good. We need to remember that we were created for this world, not the next. If God’s plan the whole time was to zap us away to some foreign world up in the skies, what we call heaven nowadays, well, isn’t that where we would’ve started in the first place?

But it wasn’t; we started here, on earth. And it wasn’t a mistake. It was good. In fact, there is a fascinating little thing that happens in Genesis 2. In verse 5, the writer says that God hadn’t created bushes yet because it hadn’t rained, and “BECAUSE THERE WERE NO PEOPLE TO WORK THE GROUND.” Think about this, the God who creates all things, out of nothing, doesn’t create plants because he needs one huge piece of the creative puzzle, you and me. Couldn’t God do it without us? Right away in our story, we find a God who invites humans in on the creative process. In fact, it goes further in verse 15 when it says that God placed man in the garden to tend and watch over it. God didn’t create this world and then say, “Just don’t mess anything up.” God creates and then tells humans to go and work, to keep creating.

Something comes to life in us every time we create something with the raw materials handed to us. I have a friend, Courtney, who plays with the components of words and arranges them into sentences that create informative articles and great stories. My friend, Ryan, takes the raw materials of notes and arranges them so that they become beautiful melodies. I have another friend, Dan, who has the unique ability to take the raw material of money and create economic opportunities for the under-resourced.
Something comes alive in us when we tap into this creative potential because it is rooted at the beginning of our story in a God who invites us to create along with him. A God who made us for this world, to live in wholeness with him and with others, all the while joining him in his ongoing creative work.

Where We're Heading

It doesn’t take too much effort to realize that this world isn’t like it was in the beginning. We know that evil, injustice, exploitation, poverty, and sin run rampant. And the writers of Scripture knew this as well. So we find these writers expressing a longing for a day when things would be restored to the way God intended things to be in the garden. Isaiah, one of those writers, described a day when God will come and usher in a “new heavens and new earth”. So the hope for these followers of God throughout the centuries has never been that we would all be taken away from this world, but rather that God would come to restore and renew it.

And it’s along these themes that the writer John jots down his vision of the new heavens and new earth in the book we call Revelation. In chapter 21, John describes the heavens crashing into the earth, and says that God will now make His home among His people. This world will be spoiled no longer. No more war, no more cancer, no more death, no more exclusion, no more injustice, no more poverty. The evil and wrong will be finally judged and burned away, the good will last.

It is fascinating that these same scriptures describe humans bringing our splendor and glory into the new heavens and new earth with us. In some mysterious way, the things we create in this life matter. They last. Ryan will bring his songs with him, Courtney, her stories, and Dan, his entrepreneurial spirit and ability to create good for others. Despite popular depictions of the new heavens and new earth being up in a sky somewhere where we all just sit around and sing, the bible describes it as a city. It will be full of life, energy, and creativity, all given to the worship and glory of the one God of all.

Where We Are Now

This of course leaves one final thought for reflection. We obviously don’t live in the reality of the garden - sin and evil have spoiled that. We still waiti on the new heavens and new earth, when God will renew and restore all things. So how do we live as faithful people in between creation and new creation? The New Testament is full of insights regarding this question. Paul, one of the first followers of Jesus, is writing to some new Christians in the ancient city of Corinth. In Corinthians, chapter 15, of this letter, he goes on and on about our hope that we will be physically resurrected. And then he concludes chapter 15 with an interesting little note. He says that because we are going to be resurrected, because of our hope in the new creation so to speak, we should work hard in doing the work of the Lord, right now, in this life.

Some may have expected him to say, “So because new creation is coming, go huddle together and wait things out in this evil world.” Or, maybe, “Because new creation is coming, just relax and don’t get too worked up over this life.”

But he doesn’t say either of these things. In fact, for these first Christians, it was their hope in the new heavens and the new earth that they found their greatest inspiration for life today.

So when someone asks me, “What will the new heavens and new earth be like?” I think of all of the good things that we love in this life, like good food, deep friendships, fulfilling work, play, and beauty. I think about all of those things lasting, being in the new heavens and the new earth, except without any spoiling from evil and sin. I think of life as God has intended, living as fully human beings, loving, encouraging, creating, and demonstrating kindness.

So if you ever get the question, “What will heaven be like?” answer them this way:
“Heaven will be like this…” and then go and forgive someone who has wronged you.
Or tell them, “Heaven will be like this…” and then go and demonstrate kindness in a profound way.
Or tell them, “Heaven will be like this…” and then go and freely share your possessions with your neighbors.

Because with each Spirit led act you give yourself to in the name of Jesus, you are announcing in this life, that new creation is on the way, and here is a little taste.

Jason Mitchell is a teaching pastor at LCBC, a community of people whose lives are being changed by Christ. He lives in Manheim, PA with his wife Jenny and daughter Sienna.
© 2008 Jason Mitchell. Used by permission of the author. All rights reserved.


Answer Logo

Life Articles

Faith Articles

Random Reflections

Order Now!