THOUGHTS ON HEAVEN
AND HOW DIFFERENT
THAT WILL BE FROM OUR
PRESENT EARTHLY LIFE
THOUGHTS ON HEAVEN
AND HOW DIFFERENT
THAT WILL BE FROM OUR
PRESENT EARTHLY LIFE
JAN LILLEBY
It is completely impossible for us even to try a little bit of comparison!
Our thoughts and capabilities will not manage such a massive task for us, and really comprehending that heavenly future which has been given to all Christian believers in Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul understood this, and therefore wrote the following, Eph. 4:30, AMP Bible web version -
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [but seek to please Him], by whom you were sealed and marked [branded as God’s own] for the day of redemption [the final deliverance from the consequences of sin].”
It is all so immensely huge, enormous and overwhelming humanly speaking, that Paul was given these exact comforting words to tell us – that we, as a matter of fact, have gotten a guarantee from God: The Holy Spirit in us as we entered the faith in Christ. He will be in us and with us until we actually enter the up-above-heavens (Greek, Epiouranos) as the ‘Day of Redemption’ comes. It is this immense might and bright glory in Christ we find Paul pointing us to in Col. 3:1-4…having us keep our minds set for heaven up above, and not on things here on earth.
So, let me list up a few important thoughts of this narrative of what it may be like, the heavenly life to come.
It is quite incomprehensible, and entirely impossible to understand due to our limited brain capacity. We are not capable to understand the greatness of God and the heavenly things up there, - but still…let’s have a glimpse, shall we?
The Greek word mentioned above, epiouranos’ means ‘The heaven up above the heavens’ – or ‘The Uppermost High Heaven’, in which now Christ is residing at the right hand of His Father, God Almighty in glory and power.
Where is heaven then?
It is found outside of and over, the universe we can see. In other words it is an unknown dimension of existence than that of the earth. You cannot get there by rockets or spaceships. Only God, the Father of Christ, can bring us super-naturally into His high eternal heaven, by His great endless might and power.
I hinted at Col. 3:1-4 above, and it concludes for us that we shall be brought together with Christ in glory, - verse 4,
“When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Editor’s emphasize).
This glory is, as we all understands, not on earth, it is found in heaven…in that super-heaven where Christ now is with His Father.
No science on earth will ever manage to explain this greatness of God; no one can ever explain what it is or how it is.
We already know, by having studied the Bible, - that we are not demanded by God to know or understand, but we are only asked to BELIEVE ON Christ our Savior.
Knowledge cannot bring you to God and His salvation, but faith in Christ can!
Eph. 2:8, 9 cannot be questioned in regard to faith as the means of our salvation,
«8For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].”(Editor’s emphasize).
THE HEAVENLY BLESSINGS IN A HEAVENLY LIFE
# We shall live forever – it will never end. The clock is thus irrelevant.
# There will be no sickness, no pain, no plagues of any kind, we will have an eternal heavenly super-body.
# No one will be in lack of anything and no one will have sufferings, unforeseen problems and so on.
# We shall neither be ‘unemployed’ – there will be activities and tasks to go to, for everything is perfect with God.
# Earthly feelings and opinions are non-existent: We are not taken with boredom, we will not get angry and start to hate others. We will have no psychological troubles, fear, anxiety, paranoias, depression or other negative soulish/spiritual sufferings.
# Everyone is a ‘Zillionaire’ if monetary values should be brought into this equation; we will possess everything that God has got for us abundantly. To be with God and Christ up in the heavens, that is so indescribably rich that no values on earth can be used to describe such immense richness. Compared to heaven, we find that money is a total joke!
# Probably we will not have to get sleep or rest of any kind; nobody will ever get tired, weary and burnt out, or falling into boredom. In heaven everything is beyond great, bright, pleasant, encouraging, positive, happily…we shall be ‘drowning’ in the presence of God and His power and life, indescribably brilliant and exceedingly glorious compared to things here on earth.
# We will not be sitting in a sterile front room, staring at a white wall as we take in messages and orders from the Lord. No, it is a real life and with normal surroundings (though heavenly ones) and so forth. I personally believe there are beautiful landscapes and an overwhelming glorious colorfulness. If there will be music in heaven I think it will be super-harmonically and pleasant beyond anything we have heard here on earth.
When Jesus was born, it was reported of God’s angels appearing to the shepherds at the fields of Bethlehem…they heard angels sing for them, Luke 2:12-15,
“And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will find a Baby wrapped in [swaddling] cloths and lying in a manger.”
13Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host (angelic army) praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in the highest [heaven], And on earth peace among men with whom He is well-pleased.”
15When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying one to another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem, and see this [wonderful] thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”
# And I can keep on and on telling of the heavenly reality, using earthly words and expressions. But heaven will exceed by far everything I have tried to write here. It is actually and literarily indescribable. We only have experience from what is here on earth, haven’t we?
All the earthly things which have a minus to them will be blown away for good. Everything will be super-glorious…no death, no sickness, no suffering, no poverty, etcetera….it will all be totally heavenly.
As already told above, this heaven cannot be experienced by knowledge or science. Heaven is only given as a gift to those who believe on Jesus Christ for salvation.
The Grace Gospel of the heavenly calling is found only by the teachings of Paul, our apostle as he has described it all in his two Church epistles, the Ephesians and Colossians. Salvation is presented as a pure gift of God as we believe on His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Gracepano.com
