A subject that has baffled mankind for our entire existence – what will heaven be like? It is something that we can only conjecture about. John was given the privilege of seeing it with his own eyes for the sole purpose of being able to describe it to us, just so we could have a glimpse of what Christians have to look forward to in our future. He gave some few little tidbits in Revelation chapters four and twenty-two of streets of gold, crystal river, the tree of life, jasper, gold, a sea of glass like crystal – but he then admitted that there were no words that he knew of that could even come close to describing the splendor of all that was there.
So, with that in mind, let’s look at what we know that Heaven is not. The first thing is, what angels look like: we have no idea. Hollyweird has tried to show angels as all sorts of different visages. From Clarence, in “It’s A Wonderful Life” to a group of sopranos singing in plays about the announcement of Christ’s birth in nativity scenes. We do not know what angels look like, we have just let our imaginations run wild. A second thing about angels is – when we leave this life we do not become angels. Angels are a different species altogether. Angels were created to be servants of God and apparently are also used to sometimes protect us down here in our robes of stupidity. We do not know what the role of angels will be when we get there, my theory is – they will be our guides as we get to our permanent, eternal homes. The main thing is, our loved ones that have passed on are not angels; everyone that dies is not an angel. The media tries to tell us that every celebrity that dies immediately goes to Heaven. I have seen countless editorial cartoons depicting all sorts of depraved Hollyweird, political types, and sports figures at the pearly gates. There have been a few that might have been appropriate for, but from the lifestyles most of those individuals, it is iffy that they will be there. We do not know, all we can do as Christians is guess because of how those people have lived. We do not know, because we are not God. We do know that we are no angels.
Heaven is not a place where gold ole’ boys sit around the bar, hoisting back a few. Heaven is not some fantasy of all the things you didn’t do or get in this life. Heaven is not the culturally driven idea that anyone and everyone will be there. Heaven is a segregated place, a place where those that have lived for Christ, are separated to, while those that have not worshipped the Lamb (Christ), are separated to Hell (yes, an actual place). Those that have lived for Christ are the ones that have, in this life, accepted that Christ is the only means to get there. It is not who we are that gets us to Heaven, it is who Christ is, and what he did for us at Calvary that gets us there – for those that have been covered by Christ’s blood. It is only the fact that we accept that marvelous gift of God that let’s us one day stand before Him – He did all the work – He gets all the praise and glory.
In the Bible, Christ said that in Heaven we are neither married, or given in marriage. I do not know what that does to our personal relationships here on earth, just that we will no longer be thinking like we do now – like a mortal. If we no longer are thinking like a mortal, it is because we will then be thinking with the mind of Christ, because we will be like Christ. This is something that is hard to fathom, because now we are constantly bombarded with evil thoughts and evil surroundings. Those evil thoughts will be gone from our heads – we will be thinking like Christ because we will no longer be in these earthly shells that pick up all the evil that comes near it (like a magnet, picking up thumbtacks).
I never did actually describe what Heaven will be like, did I? I can’t because I, like anyone else do not know. It is by faith I believe what God has told me in the instruction book. I know that if I knew more, that would be all I could think about here, I would be more homesick than I am now (and I haven’t even seen the place! I am excited about the fact that we will see Him as he is!!
P.S. We started this blog in August of 2020. This is the 100th edition! It is also the last regular edition – it is our semi-swan song. Thank you to all of you that have followed and liked our writing, you have been a blessing. It is not final, but I will probably publish on holidays and/or special occasions. Again, thanks for all of you. It has been a blessing.
AE
Voice of the Introverts 