Heaven is Not My Home

Do you remember when you were a kid,
Life was simple, love was unconditional...

And heaven looked pretty darn boring.


I always had a difficult time separating my image of clouds and harps from my perception of heaven. And no wonder. That's what I was taught to believe as a kid; heaven is a place where you go sit on a cloud, maybe fly around the tree of life a few times with your new wings(?) and play your harp all day long. Boring!

And that isn't to say I don't enjoy music.

But I've come a long way since then, as has my perception of heaven. A while back I began asking myself some vital questions like, why do I have this boring perception of heaven? And why would God make such an altogether boring place for me if it's supposed to be my own paradise? 

And then I thought, why do I even see heaven as the ultimate goal? Why is heaven so high up on our list of places to get? Okay, sure. I get that all too often when we say heaven what we really just obscurely mean is an eternal life with God, but I'm talking about the place. Heaven. The throne of God. The residence of angels.

So you might be saying something like hey, slow down a minute, what do you got against heaven?

Nothing.

But. A lot of Christians today are missing some great news--even greater than heaven--because they didn't quite get what the Bible really says about heaven--or rather in some instances, what the Bible lacks to say about heaven. You see, I believe a lot of Christians are thinking the same thing I did. Heaven? Boring!

And I've heard people talk about their problems with a boring heaven.

How could God be so unjust that he would create such a place for us?


The truth is, God didn't make heaven for you. Oh sure, we all get that verse where Jesus says he's going to go make a place for us so we can be where he is, and that's probably a good part of where people get the idea that heaven was made for us. But I believe it is wrong.

Let's look at that.

"²There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? ³ When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." -John 14:2-3 [NLT]

We know Jesus is talking about heaven. Do we know how long he is talking about? In verse three he says we'll always be with him; "You will always be with me where I am." But do we know that heaven is where he will always be?


Let's start at the beginning.


God on his throne had an epiphany;

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

 ²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image.
      In the image of God he created them;
      male and female he created them.

 ²⁸ Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
                          -Genesis 1:26-28

You know the story, you've heard it time and time again. But did you ever get just what God entitled to you when he called you a human and placed you on the earth? Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it... Reign! Rule! Establish the earth! God made you for the earth. But furthermore


God made the earth for you.

Wow. 

Do you still think he's got heaven all laid out for you?


Something in me wants to burst out - 'Hear me roar' - change the world. Before having read John Eldredge's book, Wild at Heart, I wouldn't have understood it, but now I do. That deep heart-longing is there because that's what I was made for. That's the nature God placed inside of me. I am Adam's son. I was created to inherit the earth.

I don't even know how to describe properly how amazing that picture is for me.


I'm excited. 


But we've still got this thing where Jesus said he was going to heaven to make us a place. We also have a vague concept of a thousand years of life in heaven, and that's what we'll take a look at right now.

The Thousand Years

 ¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. ² He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. ³ The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while. ⁴ Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
 ⁵ This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years. -Revelation 20:1-6 [NLT]


When looking at the book of Revelation I think it vitally important that the context be well-explored. So here's a context. The earth is desolate, there are left both righteous and unrighteous dead, the unrighteous have just been slaughtered by the host of heaven's armies.

And then Satan is seized.

And the righteous are brought to life to reign in heaven beside God and judge. But John is quite specific. God hasn't resurrected every righteous person on the earth, after all further on in the chapter we see the rest of the dead brought to life for judgment. John says that those God chose for the first resurrection were those that had been beheaded for testifying Jesus the Christ. From what he says there seem to be others put in place to judge--perhaps these are the righteous remnant that did not die on the earth--but he is not clear, and perhaps didn't know himself just who they were.

This is our thousand years. And it doesn't even sound like everybody's there, does it.

Let's skip forward.

The New Jerusalem

 ¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
 ⁵ And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” ⁶ And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. ⁷ All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. -Revelation 21:1-7 [NLT]


Wow.

What a view.

God's home is now among his people. Heaven meets earth. I can just imagine Jesus had just this glorious image in his mind when he said to his disciples you will always be with me where I am. Can you picture it? It is far too glorious to even comprehend.


That is what you were created for.

Not for glittering clothes and clouds and harps. I heard someone say once that they simply hated that image. Once again, boring. No, it is a renewal of our inheritance in the garden of Eden; a renewed commission to govern, rule and reign God's new creation. And again, God didn't create us for the world; if he had then it would have been simple enough creating a new human for the earth. No. He created the earth for mankind, and that is why he made a new earth and not a new mankind.

I say made.

Jesus already started. He went to heaven to begin a new creation--the new heaven and earth--waiting to be revealed when all has been made right. That's what he was talking about when he said he was going to prepare a place for us. Not a golden-plated cloud-kingdom, a new earth. Full of discoveries and adventures and opportunities to govern and reign. An earth including all the wild places that take your breath away.

A Paradise.

And the best part? He lives with us. God dwells with us. And that was God's intention in the beginning, to dwell with Adam and Eve in the garden - community - to be with them. He says look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. (Rev 21:3-4)

A Paradise.