Heaven

nws2dc

nws2dc

I wanted to begin a discussion on the topic of heaven. To me this is one of the most misguided topics in all of Christianity. There are several aspects that bother me. To illustrate this point let me go over the most common way I hear heaven described in Christian circles.

Here it goes: You go up into the clouds and of course b/c you were a good Christian you are able to enter the gates of heaven. You are in your physical body. You still walk, comb your hair, and I would assume eat and go the bathroom just like on earth. You see all your friends and family there too. They are just like you remember them.

All day everyone sings and dances and is forever happy. No one is ever unhappy, uncomfortable, or bored. Very odd that even though you are not an earthly human you still have the same emotions and physical characteristics. And I could go on and on about all the rejoicing that has been forecasted in church and from our Christian friends.

Big problem here is that all this stuff I have written is not biblical. I am not a biblical scholar but I believe heaven is referenced less that 3 or 4 times in the bible (correct me if I am wrong). I believe that Jesus simply referred to it as paradise. So that means the rest of the details have been filled in by us.

Could “heaven” be a lot different than the descriptions I have listed above? What do you think?
 
The scriptures give few descriptions of living in His kingdom. What there is seems to refer more to specific events rather than provide general descriptions.

So, what we put here is necessarily speculation. But some speculation can be based in understanding of the nature of our Lord.

I believe that the Lord God is an active God, and as such, I don't think we will be in an endless retirement sitting around polishing halos.

The Lord is building a kingdom of persons that have committed themselves to Him. That commitment is of various qualities in this world, some more committed than others, but in His Kingdom our of will will be fully committed to Him. I truly believe that existence here is in preparation for further work we will do for Him in His kingdom. Our lives here are a kind of training period where each one of us is individually.

What that work is, I have no idea. We will be praising Him while we do whatever it is He has in store. I believe that it will be of great joy and not burdensome.

I believe that we will continue to be creatures of creation, and thus of time, although the sequencing of events in the New Heaven and the New Earth may bear little relation to whether time has meaning at 'the very throne of the Lord'.
 
If I remember correctly, the Bible says that all things will be made new in paradise. That's enough to get me excited. Not to mention the fact that we will be with Almighty God forever and ever. Feels even better knowing that we escaped hell. I don't know too much about heaven though.
 
nws2dc said:
I wanted to begin a discussion on the topic of heaven. To me this is one of the most misguided topics in all of Christianity. There are several aspects that bother me. To illustrate this point let me go over the most common way I hear heaven described in Christian circles.

Here it goes: You go up into the clouds and of course b/c you were a good Christian you are able to enter the gates of heaven. You are in your physical body. You still walk, comb your hair, and I would assume eat and go the bathroom just like on earth. You see all your friends and family there too. They are just like you remember them.

All day everyone sings and dances and is forever happy. No one is ever unhappy, uncomfortable, or bored. Very odd that even though you are not an earthly human you still have the same emotions and physical characteristics. And I could go on and on about all the rejoicing that has been forecasted in church and from our Christian friends.

Big problem here is that all this stuff I have written is not biblical. I am not a biblical scholar but I believe heaven is referenced less that 3 or 4 times in the bible (correct me if I am wrong). I believe that Jesus simply referred to it as paradise. So that means the rest of the details have been filled in by us.

Could “heaven” be a lot different than the descriptions I have listed above? What do you think?
Click to expand...

Heaven is mentioned hundreds of times throughout the Old and New Testaments.

I would recommend the book, "Heaven", by Randy Alcorn, who puts together a wonderful picture of what heaven is like according to all bible references.

 
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Its different.
Read the book of Revelation and you will find its much more.

Only those written. In the book of life and saved by Jesus, with the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony, will enter. It is not based on whether you are a 'good christian'. Also, we will be in glorified bodies which are incorruptible, so, no going to the bathroom.
 
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nws2dc said:
Could “heaven” be a lot different than the descriptions I have listed above? What do you think?
Click to expand...
I think part of the puzzle is to grasp that when God created us, food, animals and all....He said '''it is good''. I don't believe God created anything ugly / that is bad. Hence....why would food not be in heaven if it is good? Why would we not look the same if God stamped us as good? I think the only change will be new immortal bodies as Jesus had. People recognized Him. People will recognize us. We may lose our names and receive God's ones.

One thing is for certain and that is pretty much anything you want you will have. God of the universe gave His life for us. Anything less is surely freely given if we are His.

Happy happy? I don't agree. Humans are never happy happy. We always have issues. We don't cease being the human race. We don't lose our free will!!! We will recognize Jesus because of the marks of the cross on Him. Jesus has the marks of the cross on Him as they are one with Him. They are one with Him as for all eternity we have a reminder of His commitment to us. An eternal reminder that we are always welcome in His house. It really is something special when you think about it.
 
There will be food in heaven.
Wedding supper of the lamb. Also..Jesus actually said he will eat and drink with us.
 
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