|
What will Heaven be like? |
|
First thoughts...
What will heaven be like... also see the study "What will we do in Heaven". Scripture teaches the following: We will live in God's house... and God will be good to us... Biblical references... John 14:2... "In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you." Ephesians 2:5-7... "even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the boundless riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Matthew 5:12... "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in this same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:19... "Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 6:5... “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full." Matthew 6:20... "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;" Matthew 10:41-42... "The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and the one who receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person shall receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” Matthew 19:21... "Jesus said to him, “If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 25:14-19:29 ... " “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. The one who had received the five talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. 29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Mark 10:21... "Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Luke 6:23... "Rejoice on that day and jump for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used to treat the prophets the same way." Luke 6:35... "But love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people." Luke 12:33... “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor does a moth destroy." Luke 18:22... "Now when Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” John 3:16... “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life." Discussion thoughts... Theologians have two schools of thought when it comes to whether or not the believer will receive rewards in heaven based on what he or she did here on earth. One view holds that all believers will enjoy the same, or similar, existence in heaven; there will be no ranking or any other means of hierarchy in the afterlife. The opposing viewpoint holds that those who have been extra faithful in this life will be graded, and thus enjoy extra benefits, on how faithfully they served God in this life. For instance, if a believer lives as close to a perfect life as he or she possibly can, that person will receive extra blessings in heaven. Both viewpoints are based on an understanding of certain Bible verses and passages. Some theologians suggest that if believers receive different rewards there would be envy in Heaven... the counter to that is that there will be no envy in Heaven... only love. The arguments go on and on about who is correct! John 14:2 is very clear that there is a place for believers in heaven... the different bible versions of John 14:2 are very interesting... some say "many mansions (KJV and YLT)", some "many rooms (NIV, RSV and NABRE)", GB says "dwelling places", and NLT simply says "enough room"! Nowhere does it say all the "rooms" are all alike... nor does it say some are "nicer" than others! Ephesians 2:5-7 various bible versions all say the same thing, in slightly different wording... God will show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness forever, to all those who are united with Christ Jesus! Several scriptures suggest that "rewards" for people are different (especially Matthew 10:41-42). Matthew 25:14-30 suggest the same thing... if we perform good on Earth we will receive rewards in proportion... verse 29 says it all - "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given...". Matthew 10:41-42 is probably one of the strongest cases for indicating "different" rewards! Matthew 5:19 also suggests "different" rewards. Matthew 6:5 is interesting... the "rewards" discussed in that verse are not "good" rewards! My Beliefs... I suppose it's nice to think that the more "good deeds" we do on Earth will gain us a "better" reward in Heaven, and certainly we need to do as many "good deeds" as we can; but that is missing the point of "salvation"... Jesus promised that all who believe in him will be saved (John 3:16). So... our life goal is to do as many "good deeds" as possible and let God make the decision of "rewards" (what could be better than that)! What we do know from the scriptures is that "our rewards will be great - Matthew 5, Luke 6", "we will have treasurers in heaven - Matthew 6, Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 12, Luke 18". We know that there is a "room" in God's Kingdom waiting for us and that Heaven (Paradise) will be glorious!
[Return
to home page to see the list of other questions discussed]
|