For the sake of anyone whose loved one recently died, I must share highlights of what I believe the Bible clearly teaches about heaven.
As I write, it was only a few weeks ago that a once-in-a-hundred-year flood event in Texas claimed the lives of 27 children and counselors attending summer camp on the Guadalupe River bank at Camp Mystic.
Additionally, I am watching family, friends, and acquaintances lose loved ones to other tragedies and diseases.
One of the gifts of being 70 years old is the benefit of long reflection on what I’ve learned about suffering and the hope for eternal life in heaven.
So, I took some time and reviewed many of what I believe are the best books about heaven as well as bible verses about what the future holds after death.
Several outstanding conclusions come to mind.
One final address change
Everybody has one last change of address.
The Population Reference Bureau recently stated that 117 billion people have lived on Earth. 109 billion have died. So, about 7% of the world’s historical population is alive today.
Every one of us, wherever we are living now and no matter how satisfied we are with it, has one more move to make. We all have one more address change.
And there’s no other book in the world that’s as qualified as the Bible to comment on this address change. That’s why I think the Bible should be in the travel section of every bookstore.
40 different biblical authors spanning about 1500 years wrote and claimed God’s authority to write on matters of life and death.
One of those authors, the apostle John, a constant companion and eyewitness to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, records this from Jesus.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-6
Seven times, Jesus puts himself in the middle of our troubles by saying “I have,” “I am,” “I,” or “I will.”
God’s answer to fear
No matter what’s happening in your circumstances right now, Jesus will be in the middle of it with you if you let him.
He essentially says, “I will be here for you now. I will be here for you in the future. I will be back for you, and where I am in my Father’s house, you are going to be.”
Understand that these words are being uttered by a man who…
- calmed physical storms
- fed thousands with scant resources
- healed thousands of sick and crippled people
- was transfigured with dead people brought back to life
- raised three other dead people in three different locations
- came back from the dead, himself, appearing to hundreds over 40 days
His followers went to great lengths to record all of this and share it with the world at the expense of their own physical safety.
So, Jesus says, don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid. It’s going to be OK.
Why believe in heaven?
Every human is born with an instinct for eternity.
“A man’s physical hunger does not prove that man will get any bread; … but surely a man’s hunger … proves that such a thing exists.” C. S. Lewis
And Solomon reminds us that…
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
The word “heaven” appears over 300 times in the Bible. The words “eternal life” appear 42 times.
The biblical authors use many terms to describe heaven, like “city,” “country,” “river,” “trees,” “crops,” and “banquet.” We also see terms like “kingdom,” “gates,” “street,” and “walls.”
These terms describe the final heaven on the new earth where we are working, socializing, and creating with purpose and joy using our gifts and talents. We are celebrating and maintaining God’s new earth with its new city (probably more than one) in a new country with no crying, no pain, no crime, no abuse, no corruption, no taxes, and no decay.
Why believe in a new earth?
The apostle Peter said that Christ “must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” Acts 3:21.
Restore what? Earth.
About 750 years prior, God said the following through Isaiah…
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create…” Isaiah 65:17
The present heaven, however, is away from the earth.
- Jesus refers to it as “paradise” (Luke 23:43).
- Paul calls it “the third heaven…paradise” (2 Cor. 12:2-4)
But God says this paradise will change locations. It will be moved to the new earth (Rev. 21:1).
When? After the great judgment (Revelation 20).
Then, the new earth begins at “the renewal of all things” (Mt. 19:28, 2 Pet. 3:13, Isa. 66:22).
The earth will be made fresh and restored from years of worldwide decay and destruction.
“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11:6-9
How do you get to heaven?
No one else, so far, has the authority to make a claim about a bodily resurrection except Jesus Christ because no one has ever brought back anyone from the dead, much less themselves, except Jesus Christ.
So, he has the authority to say, “I am the way.”
That’s what he said to Thomas. “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
So what does Jesus say about eternal life?
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.” John 5:24-27
Everyone, regardless of their faith, should think long and hard about the last trip.
My decision for Jesus powers me through suffering and loss with hope and joy.
How about you?