thoughts on heaven
This past Wednesday, October 11, at Mid-Week Sessions a woman asked a question regarding heaven. She said, “If we are in heaven will we know who is not there? And if so, how can we be happy?” I repeated the question, saying, “You mean, if we are in eternal bliss how can that be if someone we love is not there?”
She said, “Yes. I pray for my son all the time, but right now he does not know Jesus.” My heart hurt for her. To think of living with that day in and day out has to be heavy. So I told her I would blog about it because I wanted to think about it for a time. Here are some of my thoughts …
We often have an idea of heaven that may not be completely accurate. I know that I do. This question however, made me think about misconceptions that we all may have. One thing I do know is that John in his vision sees God come and live with men and women on the new earth. We will forever bask in the presence of the eternal Triune God free of sin and death.
If this is the case, then I wonder, can we live in complete bliss? Is this reality? I ask this question because we know from the Text that God does not want anyone to reject him. Then how does He, who is love, live in bliss knowing that people have rejected him? It may be possible that we do not understand bliss well. If ignorance is bliss, this does not mean bliss is ignorance. Maybe bliss is not the best word to think of, rather let’s define our eternity with the word love. I say this, because this is God’s essence, and he will be with us.
So would anyone want to live with a God who knows about all of those who have not chosen to have relationship with him without feeling sorrow? Without caring? I think this would be a cold, unmoved-mover kind of God. Not really one that I would want to get to know. He seems to be a little scary to me. The God that we have faith in is revealed in the person of Jesus. One who wept over the un-repentance of Israel, the One who reached out to Judas, the one who wants everyone to come to Him for their own good.
When we read the words in Revelation 21 that there will be no more “grief, crying or pain” in heaven we think it is impossible that we can feel anything for the loss of others. I know that heaven is much greater than any of us can imagine. C.S. Lewis states that joy of union with God will far surpass the deepest satisfaction we can ever experience in this life. Maybe we will have an understanding of God’s justice, His rule, and His perfection that will help us to understand why some are separated.
Maybe we will be able to live in perfection and in complete love, and precisely because of that be able to feel pure compassion for those who are separated from God. Not that we live in abject pain, and mourning … but that we have the compassion of Jesus. We are moved by those who do not get to experience this kind of love. One way I think of this is in relating to my brother. My middle brother lives in Texas. During Thanksgiving, his in-laws go and visit with his family. On my end of the country, I play football with my oldest brother and 15 of our closest friends. We call it the Turkey Bowl, and it is a hilarious event.
Each year I think to myself, “It would be awesome if Bumper was here.” (Bumper is my brother’s nickname). However each year I know he will not be around. Do I have fun at the game? Absolutely? However, with all of the fun I have I miss my brother with whom I played football for years. I think this will be like heaven.
The one difference is this. The game would be better for me if both of my brothers were there. When we are present with God there is nothing that can make it better. And therein lies the mystery. Nothing could make heaven better than it will be … even if everyone was there.