Have you ever heard someone say that? I have, many times. The sentiment is that an experience may be so wonderful that it approaches the divine. In this usage, Heaven carries with it a traditional, worldly thinking that everyone can borrow from. In general, it seems “Heaven on Earth“ describes really good, peaceful, enjoyable experiences that even unbelievers can experience.
There is an earthly concept of Heaven based entirely on the perception of all the good things God will do for people who end up there. The origins of this thinking are as much conceived from media as they are from the Bible, it seems. For example, just think about how Hollywood portrays Heaven in movies. Is it ever truly accurate?
Well-intentioned believers, however, are inclined to focus on what the Bible says about Heaven, for example:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
– Revelation 21:3-4
Heaven truly will be a wonderful place to spend eternity, but how often do we think about worshipping the Lord as the better part? How often do we think about Heaven as a place where we can truly spend unadulterated, quality time worshipping the God who saved us from certain death? How often do we think about what we will be able to give to God instead of the other way around? How often do we marvel at the simple fact that our appreciation for what He’s done for us through His salvific plan will cause us to bow shoulder to shoulder with the angels in reverence for Him?
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
-Revelation 4:8
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
-Revelation 7:9-12
It appears that creatures in Heaven will be utterly predisposed to worshipping the Lord God. This makes perfect sense, given said creatures will have unfettered access to the presence of God for all of eternity.
The point I’m making here is simple. Might we consider Heaven selflessly instead of primarily selfishly? In other words, maybe the greater blessing, even during our time here on Earth, is to bask in the hope that someday soon we believers will have the privilege of worshipping Him the way our new hearts' desire to.
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
-1 Corinthians 2:6-13
I hate the fact that I do not honor my Lord the way I ought to, the way He deserves. I’m saddened that Heaven is often only thought of as a place where we get to rest and be at peace (which we will, of course). We have an additional blessing available to us right now if we stop and ponder that Heaven represents an eternal opportunity to worship the One who loved us enough to save us, to make us His own, to reconcile us to Himself when we were still hopeless and helpless.
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-Romans 5:8
We love because he first loved us.
–1 John 4:19
I think the greater blessing in Heaven will be our ability to truly express our love for God, without our horrible, selfish flesh getting in the way, as it does here on Earth.
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins
