Heaven: The Exploration
A few years ago a movie came out called Avatar. You may have seen it, it was kind of a big deal. I remember going to see it in 3D and being blown away. I never told anyone back then, but sitting in that theater God began a conversation with me about Heaven. I remember being in awe of this world someone had created using their imagination with beautiful bioluminescent plants and floating islands. It was beautiful and beyond anything I had ever imagined. I sat and thought to myself, ‘If there were a place like this on earth I would go.” No sooner had I had that thought when I heard in my spirit “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what I have prepared.” The voice that I heard was referring to this scripture:
1 Corinthians 2:9-10“…. But, as it is written,”What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him. 10 But God now unveils these profound realities to us by the Spirit.Yes, he has revealed to us his inmost heart and deepest mysteries through the Holy Spirit, who constantly explores all things.”
Side note: I had often heard the first part of that scripture, but I was blown away by verse 10! By His Spirit He unveils REALITIES, His heart, His mysteries!! He constantly EXPLORES all things! There’s a good chance this scripture is actually talking about God’s master plan to save everyone through the death of His son. However, have you ever read anything in the Bible that has had different applications every time you have read it? (As long as it’s consistent with the character and love of Jesus found all throughout the word) It doesn’t make the new revelation a lie because it’s not the same application every time, it means that you are doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing when you read the word, encountering Jesus! Revelation 19:13 says that His title is called the “Word of God”. The Word is alive and active, waiting to speak to you, encounter you, transform you, reveal mysteries, and EXPLORE all things!
Ok, back to business.
After I heard those words it was like an explosion of curiosity and creativity went off inside of me. I was filled with so many questions and ideas. When I used to think of Heaven, and I didn’t often, I would picture a big room with ugly wood paneling on the walls, filled to the brim with people, and a stuffy and detached God sitting on His throne at the front of the room, motionless and emotionless. Of course there was the giant city made of gold and gems, full of light, but in my head the streets were always empty because apparently, as I had believed, everyone would be so consumed with all that worship that there would be no time for frivolous things like exploring and enjoying life. Does this sound familiar to you? Maybe you’ve never struggled with imagining Heaven being worship service overload. But if you have would you be willing to imagine some new possibilities with me?
First, lets establish a couple things before we begin ‘exploring all things with the Holy Spirit”.
1. We are made in God’s image. He does have a physical body that sits on a throne, HOWEVER, His presence, not His body, is Omnipresent. Everywhere, everytime, all the time.
Pslams 139:7-8 “Where could I go from your Spirit?
Where could I run and hide from your face?
If I go up to heaven, you’re there!
If I go down to the realm of the dead, you’re there too!”
2. Worship is not just singing. It’s taking everything that you do with your body or mind and doing it before the Lord, to bring Him pleasure, as a love offering.
Romans 12:1 “ Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to
God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine
expression of worship.”
3. His Glory is everywhere. On earth we move from glory to glory, but in Heaven we will will live in the full revelation of His glory at all times.
Romans 11:36 For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.”
4. Relationships with other people: This one is a mystery really, because there will be no marriage or dating. We will be the Bride of Christ, but here’s some food for thought: there will not be a trillion individual Brides, we will be ONE. There will be so much unity and love, it’s something that we don’t even really have a grid for, but it’s so worth trying to explore what it would look like and feel like. Perhaps the closest thing might be a good marriage. There are times I think that no one in the world could ever understand me or be more perfect for me than my husband, the closeness I feel is indescribable! It almost feels like cheapening or dishonoring the marriage covenant to imagine feeling that kind of closeness and love for EVERYONE. But again, no grid! Perhaps it’s like thinking that you couldn’t possibly love another child because you’ve already given all of your love to your first child. But then that second one comes along and you realize that you don’t take love from one to give to the other, love just grows.
1 Corinthians 12:12 Just as the human body is one, though it has many parts that together form one body, so too is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we all were immersed and mingled into one single body.
Ok, so if His presence is everywhere, Worship is more than singing, it’s living, and everything created brings Him glory, then I think it’s safe to assume that Heaven will be more than always being in the presence of a physical God, singing songs. We will do those things and they will be amazing beyond our wildest imagination!! But my purpose in writing is to get you thinking outside of the box, like a child. A childlike heart would look at a movie like Avatar and wonder, “Are there bioluminescent plants in colors I’ve never imagined? Is it possible that there could be islands suspended in air? I wonder if I could jump on the back of an animal and soar through the air laughing hysterically with joy because the experience is overwhelming me with another encounter of His glory?’
What if you finally get to hug that lion? You know anyone who has ever watched the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is waiting for that day!
What if you finally get to climb that mountain that was too expensive to get to and your earthly body would have never made it up?
What if you get to swim with whales and sharks and dolphins, without fear of harm or running out of air under water?
What if you get to sit with people from different times and cultures and talk and learn new and exciting things? Will you know everything about everyone? Or will it be constant discovery?
Will we know everything about God instantly? Or will we be discovering Him for eternity? (My personal belief is that Heaven will be endless discovery because only God is Omniscient.)
Will we be able to fly? I don’t know for sure, but I do know that when Jesus rose from the grave in His resurrected body that He ascended into Heaven, and when He returns we will meet Him in the sky. Kinda sounds like flying to me. He also appeared to people, and then disappeared. And showed up in rooms full of people even though the door was locked.
Will we eat? Again, I’m not sure. But, Jesus in His resurrected body asked for fish to eat. And He talks about ’The wedding feast of the Lamb’ when He returns. We will have no NEED of food, but perhaps we will have it just for pleasure and celebration.
Will we be able to explore outer space? The deepest depths of the oceans? Will you constantly be getting to know new people or will you mostly hang with certain people?
Will the river of gladness that flows from God’s throne sound like laughter? Some of the accounts of people that have died and gone to Heaven then returned to their bodies, have said that it does.
What if…? There are too many possibilities to list. Sometimes when my girls are scared, or even just randomly, we take turns talking about the adventures we plan to have in Heaven, and they’re wild. They are never afraid of getting it wrong, because in their minds nothing is impossible with God. So what would you do? Where would you go? Who would you talk to?
It’s important that you think about Heaven, it’s never a waste of time. Next week will be my final blog in this series on Heaven and I’ll be talking about why it’s important to think about Heaven.
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