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I have always believed in heaven.
I believed in heaven long before our son, Philip died.
I believed in heaven before my parents died.
I believed in heaven long before my wife died.
I’m strong on belief but I’m short on detail.
I don‘t believe that I’m obsessed with thoughts about heaven although I think about it more these days that in the whole of my life to this point. Maybe I am obsessed!!
For someone who thinks about heaven every day and who is asking more questions now than ever before, I seem to have fewer answers than ever. “Will we know each other in heaven?” is now an important question. Until recently it was more of an academic enquiry.
I have long since accepted the fact that the answers to many of our questions (including these questions about heaven) will be unknown until we arrive at our heavenly destination. Fortunately, we do have the answers to those questions that really matter e.g. “How can I be assured that God will receive me into His heaven?”
“Heavenly destination”. It’s a common factor in so many of our discussions and teaching sermons to refer to heaven as a place. That’s not surprising given that all we have known in this life has been physical, tangible, measurable.
I believe that heaven is better described as a “realm” or a “dimension” that is far, far greater than anything we could know here. As I wrestle with some of these questions, I can only think of them in the categories that I know here. To address these questions adequately, I need a whole new set of criteria that is appropriate for there.
If, as some one has observed, heaven is the “eternal now” (whatever that means!) then it is pointless to talk in terms of years, months, days, minutes. But what else can we do? We have no other measurement of time here.
I don’t want to allow this theme to become an exercise in frustration but maybe you could walk with me as I try to focus on those aspects of heaven that satisfy (and increase) our heart longing to "go home” to our Heavenly Father.
