Last week, I began a series on heaven by asking three questions which I'll attempt to answer today. Believe me, I'm no expert on the topic. I'm getting my information directly from the Bible with a little help from Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven. What I hope to do for myself as well as anyone out there reading this is to dispel Satan's myths that heaven is this boring place where all these snooty religious people float around on clouds and play harps. Give me a break. Who wants to go there if that's what Heaven is truly like? Instead, I want to give us all something to look forward to, to strive for, and to fix our eyes upon.
Last week's questions.
1. Will we have physical bodies in Heaven?
The first thing to know is that Heaven is only a temporary dwelling place. Our eternal home will be when Heaven and the New Earth combine after the second coming of Jesus and the 1000 year reign. But that's another story. We don't know much about what our bodies will be like in Heaven, but we do know from scripture that we will be recognizable. When Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, they appeared in bodies that were recognizable. (Luke 9:28-36)
But after the ressurection of the dead when the saints are taken into heaven (commonly called The Rapture) we will all be given new eternal bodies. (I Corinthians 15:35-54) We can also look to the example of Jesus's glorified body after He was raised from the dead.
Our new bodies will
be Spiritual in nature, but physical, touchable.
be able to walk, run, laugh, communicate, and work
be powerful and eternal (never grow old)
have all our 5 senses and maybe even more we don't know about
never grow tired or get sick or need to sleep
I don't know about you, but that's pretty exciting to me.
2. Will we be able to eat and drink?
I don't know about you, but if we couldn't eat in Heaven, I might be a bit dissapointed. But I believe we will be able to eat and drink. For one thing, Jesus shared a meal of fish with the disciples after He was resurrected. And what about the Marriage feast depicted in Revelation. A feast to me means lots of good food! (and we probably won't get fat either!) I can't wait.
3. Will we have relationships? Families? Friends?
Our God is a relational God. He's the ultimate Father of the biggest family in the universe. He created families begining with Adam and Eve. God himself is a triune entity. Three beings in one. He loves relationships. The Bible speaks about us being "adopted" into His family and Jesus calls His disciples His brothers, sisters, mothers and children. So, yes, I believe that we will have the best relationships in Heaven than we could have ever had on earth and we will all be a part of one big family.
Next week's questions:
1. What is the difference between Heaven and the New Earth?
2. Will we remember our lives on Earth?
3. Will we still be able to pray for our loved ones and will we know what's happening on Earth?
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