INTENTIONAL FAITH · THE PROMISE
We can’t long for what we can’t picture. That’s one reason God has given us real glimpses of heaven in the Bible: to stir our imagination and kindle a longing in our hearts. It’s also why the enemy works so hard to either shut our imagination down or send it drifting into misty notions that have nothing to do with Scripture.
When Marco Polo came home to Italy from the court of Kublai Khan, he had to describe a world his listeners had never seen. China was not an imaginary place, but it was very different from Italy. Still, because both were real places on the same planet filled with real people, Italy gave his listeners reference points to understand China. In the same way, Scripture describes heaven as a garden, a city, and a kingdom. Those are things we know. They aren’t empty metaphors. They are bridges from the world we know to the world we’re going to.
We are made of dust and breath
Part of our trouble is that we’ve been taught to think of heaven as purely spiritual, with no real place, no real bodies, and no real things. But we aren’t merely spirits temporarily stuck in bodies. When God formed Adam from the dust and breathed into him, Adam became a living being, the Hebrew word nephesh (Genesis 2:7). He was fully human only when body and spirit were joined. We are physical beings as much as spiritual ones. That’s why the bodily resurrection is so central to Christian hope. God doesn’t plan to rescue us out of our humanity. He plans to restore it.
A Scripture-fed imagination
There are two ditches on either side of this road. One is wild speculation that floats free of the Bible. The other is a flat, fearful refusal to imagine anything at all. Bible-believing folks have usually fallen into the second ditch. What we need is an imagination that is fueled by Scripture and stays tethered to it. Francis Schaeffer said the Christian should be the one whose imagination flies beyond the stars. Imagination shouldn’t fly away from the truth. It should fly upon the truth.
Pray as the psalmist did: “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18). And take Paul’s encouragement to Timothy: reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight (2 Timothy 2:7).
Try this
You don’t have to look up at the clouds to get a picture of heaven. Look around you. Then imagine everything you see without sin, death, decay, or sorrow.
Picture the most beautiful place you’ve ever stood, whether mountains, ocean, or a quiet field at sunrise. Now picture the people you love who knew Jesus and are with him now, walking there beside you in strong, healthy bodies, laughing and talking and remembering. You reach up and pick fruit from a tree, and it’s sweeter than anything you’ve ever tasted. Then you see someone coming toward you with a broad smile on his face. It’s Jesus. You fall to your knees, and he lifts you up and embraces you. At last you’re with the Person you were made for, in the place you were made to be. And somewhere just ahead, there’s a feast being laid, and you’re invited.
The next time someone says, “We can’t begin to imagine what heaven will be like,” perhaps you’ll be able to answer, gently, “I can. Let me show you why.”
For reflection
- Which of the Bible’s pictures of heaven (garden, city, kingdom, feast) speaks most to you, and why?
- Why does it matter that we will have real, resurrected bodies?
- Take five minutes this week to walk through the “Try this” exercise. What did you notice?