INTENTIONAL FAITH · THE PROMISE
Whenever heaven comes up, someone usually quotes a verse that seems to close the conversation. Let’s look at the most common ones, because each of them, read in context, actually opens the door rather than shutting it.
“No eye has seen…”
“”No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 2:9–10
Verse 9 is often quoted alone to suggest we can’t know anything about what God has prepared. But Paul didn’t stop at verse 9. The sentence continues: but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The very things we could never have discovered on our own, God has made known through his Word. Not exhaustively, but truly. This verse says precisely the opposite of what it’s usually used to prove.
“The secret things belong to the Lord…”
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”
Deuteronomy 29:29
Yes, there are secret things, and God surely has countless surprises waiting for us. But the second half of the verse matters just as much. What God has revealed about heaven belongs to us and to our children. It’s our inheritance to study, teach, and enjoy.
“Things that man is not permitted to tell…”
In 2 Corinthians 12:2–4, Paul says he was caught up to paradise and heard things he wasn’t permitted to tell. That restriction was on Paul’s report of his visit. It wasn’t a ban on the subject. God commanded the apostle John to write down what he saw, and he did so in detail in the book of Revelation. Isaiah and Ezekiel also recorded what they saw. When God reveals something, he means for it to be understood. After all, when was the last time you wrote a letter to someone using words you didn’t expect them to understand?
“My thoughts are higher than your thoughts…”
Isaiah 55:9 is true: God’s thoughts are far higher than ours. But when God puts his thoughts into words and gives them to us in Scripture, he intends for us to meditate on them and grasp them. Again, not completely, but accurately.
For reflection
- Have you ever heard one of these verses used to end a conversation about heaven? How does reading the full context change things?
- Why do you think God chose to reveal anything at all about heaven, rather than keeping it all a surprise?