The story is told of a Scottish Presbyterian minister who met an angel one day. The preacher had one very important question to ask the angel. The question was: “Will there be golf in heaven?”
The angel replied, “I’ll have to ask my superior and get back to you on that one.”
So the angel went away and came back the next day. And the preacher asked him again, “So, is there going to be golf in heaven?”
And the angel responded, “I’ve got good news and bad news.”
The preacher said, “Well, give me the good news first.”
“Alright,” said the angel, “The good news is: there is golf in heaven.”
And the preacher said, “That’s great! So what’s the bad news?”
The angel replied, “The bad news is that you are teeing off tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock.”
Now, I imagine that many of you have heard that story before. What I find interesting is that it is a “good news, bad news” kind of story. For the Christian, it really ought to be a “good news, better news” kind of story. As Christians, we do not have to fear death. In fact, we can look forward to dying and going to heaven because of what Christ has done for us through his perfect life, his death on the cross for our sins, and his resurrection from the dead.
So, we come today, in our series on Ultimate Questions to the final question, “What is heaven really like?” Let me state this caveat before we begin. I haven’t been to heaven, so I can’t tell you what it is like based upon personal experience. What I can share with you is what the Bible has to say about heaven.
The word “heaven” appears some 655 times in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. By the way, the word “heaven” appears much more in the Bible than the word “hell” which only appears 13 times, and all of those are in the New Testament. (The word “hades” appears 10 times.) However, not all of the appearances of the word “heaven” are relevant to the question at hand.
One reason why this is the case is because “heaven” is used as a euphemism for “God” in such verses as Daniel 4:23 and much of the Gospel of Matthew. The Jewish people had such reverence for the name of God, and even the title “God” that they would not say it. Thus, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus talks about “the kingdom of heaven” instead of “the kingdom of God”. But “the kingdom of heaven” is not synonymous with our idea of heaven.
Another reason why many of the uses of the word “heaven” in the Hebrew Scriptures do not address our question for today is because the Israelite people of old had no significant belief in an afterlife until the post-exilic period. Rather, the Israelites believed in Sheol, a word which appears 63 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Sheol isa place of darkness to which all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of their moral choices in life; Sheol is a place of stillness and darkness cut off from life and from God.
Yes, the Hebrew Scriptures speak of heaven as the abode of God. But there aren’t many examples in the Hebrew Scriptures of any human being going to that abode. There is the story of Enoch in Genesis 5:24 where we read that “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.” But we don’t know anything more than that. We are not told whence God took Enoch. We also have the story of Elijah ascending to heaven in 2 Kings 2. But again, we aren’t told very much. The Scripture simply says, “As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them [that is Elijah and his assistant Elisha], and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.” But apart from these isolated incidences, the Hebrew Scriptures have few references to life after death. The belief in the resurrection of the body developed rather late in Judaism, and was common among some Jews, like the Pharisees, in the time of Jesus. We see this belief reflected in Daniel 12 and Isaiah 25-26.
So, let us then turn to what the New Testament has to say about heaven, beginning with what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4,
I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.
Now we know from the context of 2 Corinthians 12 that Paul was referring to an experience of heaven he had, but what does he mean by the “third heaven”? The word “heaven”, in the Bible and among the ancients generally speaking, could refer to three things:
- The immediate atmosphere around the earth. That’s the first heaven.
- The location of the sun, moon, and stars (outer space). That’s the second heaven.
- The abode of God. That’s the third heaven.
It is only the last reference that touches on our question for today. And so only a limited amount of the 655 uses of the word “heaven” in the Bible are relevant to our exploration.
But then, even when we are talking about heaven as the abode of God and the place that believers will live with him, we must distinguish between the heaven which exists now and the heaven that is yet to be. What I would like to do is talk with you this week about the heaven that exists now; then next week we will talk about the heaven that is yet to be.
Clearly, according to the New Testament, there is a heaven which exists now, and to which believers in Christ are destined to go. In this regard I think of the thief on the cross who said to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43)
Now I ask you: What else do we really need to know about heaven other than the fact that we will be with Jesus? After that is said, everything else is secondary.
But I imagine that the person who posed our question for today would like to know about the secondary bits. So, allow me to proceed…
The word that is translated in Luke 23 as “paradise” is an interesting one in the Greek; it is Παραδείσῳ. In the Septuagint, that is the Greek version of our Old Testament, the word Παραδείσῳis used to refer to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8-10). And in Nehemiah 2:8, the word refers to a forest.
In the New Testament, Παραδείσῳis used in only three places. It appears in Luke 23 which we have already read. It appears in 2 Corinthians 12:4 where Paul uses Παραδείσῳas a synonym for heaven.And finally, the word appears in Revelation 2:7 where we read this promise from God:
Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.
The tree of life first appears in the Bible in the story of the Garden of Eden. You may remember that in that story there are two trees at the center of the garden. There is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and there is the tree of life. Adam and Eve are given permission to eat of all the trees except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Of course, they violated that command and then God cast them out of the garden, lest they should eat of the tree of life and live forever in their fallen state.
So, the tree of life appears again in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. According to Revelation the tree of life will be there in the final paradise of God. Believers will be able to eat of that tree and live forever.
But getting back to the word Παραδείσῳ… that Greek word is used to translate the Hebrew word pardes, which in turn, is a loan word from Old Persian meaning “enclosure,” a pleasant retreat or park. The Hebrew word occurs only in Nehemiah 2:8 (where it refers to a forest), Ecclesiastes 2:5 (where it refers to parks) and the Song of Solomon 4:13 (where it refers to an orchard). But the basic idea behind the word Παραδείσῳis the Persian one meaning an enclosed garden.
If that picture of heaven does not seem enchanting to you, then perhaps you need to read the book or watch the film version of The Secret Garden.
Moving on to another New Testament passage that speaks of the heaven that exists now, we have the words of Jesus in John 14:1-6…
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe[a] in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know[d] my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
In John 14, Jesus talks about “his Father’s house”. This is clearly a reference to heaven as God’s abode. Jesus says that in his Father’s house there are many dwelling places. The Greek word here was often used to refer to an inn or place of halt along a journey. Thus, the kind of dwelling place Jesus talks about here was a temporary dwelling place. We will look next Sunday at why the current heaven is only temporary.
For now, the important thing to notice is that Jesus says he will come, at the time of our death, to take us to himself so that where he is, we may be also. Jesus states clearly and unequivocally that he is the way to our heavenly Father.
However, Jesus doesn’t tell us much in John 14 about what heaven, or our dwelling places in heaven, will be like. But Jesus tells a story in Luke 16:19-31 that reveals a little bit more…
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.[g] The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.[h] 24 He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26 Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30 He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
In this parable, Jesus picks up a common theme, that of the reversal of fortune in the next life. The rich man ends up in Hades and poor Lazarus ends up in the place Jesus calls “Abraham’s bosom”. It is another designation for the intermediate state, the heaven that exists now. But notice the reason why the rich man ends up in Hades. It isn’t simply because he is rich. Rather, he is punished for the way he uses his riches, for refusing to help another human being in desperate need. At any rate, Jesus, in this story, pictures heaven as being like a banquet, at which poor Lazarus gets to lean on Abraham’s bosom, just as John would lean on Jesus’ bosom at the Last Supper. Visualizing heaven as a great banquet would be an attractive picture to someone like Lazarus who spent most of his life in severe hunger.
Thus, we see Jesus picturing heaven as a walled garden, an inn along the way, and a great banquet. But what will we do in heaven? The book of Revelation offers one answer to that question. In Revelation 4 we read…
After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the spirit,[a] and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! 3 And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. 4 Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; 6 and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
“Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Thus, we see the book of Revelation teaching us that one of the main activities of heaven is worship. If we imagine heavenly worship as something along the lines of our earthly church services, this may not sound very attractive. But obviously, the author of the book of Revelation pictures the worship of heaven in much more engaging terms.
Next Sunday, we will look at what the Bible, and the book of Revelation in particular, have to say about the heaven that is yet to be. For now, let me close with this story, that I may have shared with some of you before…
Thirty years ago, I was working as a youth ministry intern at a church in Charlotte, North Carolina. During my year-long internship I conducted a Bible study with a small group of interested middle school boys: Robbie, Tim, and John. We began by reading through the Gospel of John together and discussing it chapter by chapter. All three boys asked great questions and were keen to learn. Tim especially was very eager, and he began to invite one friend after another to join us for our Bible study. Many of his friends turned him down, but some accepted the invitation.
One day, Tim’s friend Stephen joined us. That day I talked with the boys about how they could have a personal relationship with God by inviting Jesus to come and live in their hearts. At the end of our session, Stephen prayed to accept Christ into his life. I was thrilled. But what I didn’t know until sometime later, was that Tim went home that day, and prayed a similar prayer, inviting Jesus into his life.
Eventually, we finished reading the Gospel of John together and I asked the group, now up to five in number, what book of the Bible they would like to read next. Without missing a beat, one of them said, “The book of Revelation.” I agreed and the next week we began reading and discussing Revelation together.
The discussion that is emblazoned on my mind was the one we had about Revelation 4, the passage I just read to you. We were sitting on the grass outside the church, on a beautiful day in June. At the end of our discussion that day, in which we talked much about heaven, Tim looked at me and said, “I can’t wait to get there.”
The next week, Tim travelled to Asheville, North Carolina, to visit his grandparents. And one day that week, I received a call from Robbie’s mother, Janice. Tim was in serious condition in the intensive care unit at a hospital in Asheville. Janice said she was about to leave with her son Robbie to go and visit Tim and his family. I said that I would get in my car and travel to Asheville as soon as I could.
When we reached the hospital in Asheville, Tim was unresponsive. We learned that he had been diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis, a rare but serious bacterial infection.
While we were at the hospital, one of the nurses told us of a conversation she had with Tim when he first arrived. Tim asked the nurse if he was going to die. She said, “No, we are going to do everything we can for you.” To this, Tim responded, “No. It’s alright, even if I die, because I know where I am going.”
Tim died a day later. But when I resumed the Bible study with the other boys, suddenly we had thirty people show up, including all of Tim’s immediate family, and a number of Tim’s friends. I shared with them the same good news about Jesus and the hope of heaven that Tim had embraced, and many of them committed their lives to follow Jesus just as Tim had done.
The memory of Tim has never left me. And whenever I think of heaven, I think that the most important thing is to be like Tim: to know where you are going when you die, and to have an eager heart, a heart that can’t wait to get there.
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