(Great Bay - New Hampshire)
This is a good place to continue our series here on the topic of Heaven.
Let me start off with some wisdom I received from a professor in graduate school. Dr. Dillon once said to my class, "If Larry King were to ask you a question about Christianity in America, you should always start with the following phrase: 'Well Larry, it depends on what you mean by...' ."
Dr. Dillon was making the point that we need to define our terms when we are speaking because if we are beginning our conversation with a different definition of - in this case - Heaven, when we will may end up with significantly divergent views.
And so let's begin with the various terms about Heaven. To do so I am going to offer a biblical but non-exhaustive (or non-exhausting) perspective. I won't cover all the Hebrew and Greek words used for Heaven, but will focus more on the conceptions shared between the terms.
3 DEFINITIONS OF HEAVEN
1. Heaven as in 'heaven and earth.', the total of all creation. This first definition we see in places like Genesis 1:1 (the Hebrew word shamayim) and Acts 17:24 (the Greek word ouranou) and it essentially refers to the entire universe - sometimes other than the earth, but the earth falls under this 'heaven'. This term is used when we see something grand being described or the location of God's complete rule and reign, and as one would likely think, it is a broad notion. It's less about a location found on a map or in a GPS and more about a universal region or umbrella under which human life occurs.
2. Heaven as in the various locations of air, outer space, and the home of God. The main reference that is helpful here is 2 Corinthians 12:2 where Paul writes about the third Heaven. The idea is that the first heaven is the air, the second is outer space, and the third is the dwelling place of God.
3. Heaven as in the (current) home of God and His followers. This third term will be our main focus in this and other posts, but it essentially refers to where God abides and where His people go after they die. Some core references might be: the eternal Kingdom of 2 Peter 1:11, the better country of Hebrews 11, or the Kingdom of Heaven of Matthew 25:1.
(Newmarket, New Hampshire)
And so then - where is this place where God dwells and where His followers are...currently?
Let's start with the second half of the question and note that the current dwelling place of people like Moses and Elijah is not where they will be for all eternity. Revelation 21 gives us a picture of what John the Apostle calls a 'new Heaven and a new earth." Why new? Because - according to John - in the future the old ones will have passed away in that Heaven and Earth are to be combined.
Stop with me for a moment and ponder this truth.
In our first post we acknowledged that people sensed the brokenness of this world.
There was a longing for things to be made right, to be made whole.
And yet sometimes we see a picture of Earth being consumed and tossed out by God as it were.
Again, Revelation 21 speaks in very different terms about our planet. When all is made right, Heaven and Earth are melded into one, and the dwelling place of God is with humanity (Revelation 21:3). God will take the mess and make it as He intended.
We can dig into this idea more in the future, but the clear teaching of the Bible is that at the climax of God's redemptive work in our world, Heaven will not be 'out there', but instead will be right here as Heaven and Earth are wed together. When Jesus returns, Heaven and Earth will become one.
This means - logically - that if people like Moses and Elijah (as in Matthew 17:1-13) are not yet in the New Heaven (here on the future-restored earth), and yet we know they are among those who are very much alive after their physical death, then they must be somewhere? So where are they? And where are those faithful who die in Christ?
We will address that topic in our next post.
- tC
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