"What will heaven be like?" and "How do I get to heaven?"

In Scripture, we catch glimpses of what heaven will be like. When we attempt to say too much about exactly what heaven will be like, we can very quickly get the feeling that we are out of our depth and that we are attempting to describe things that are are far beyond our present understanding.

As well as the question, “What will heaven be like?”, the Bible also addresses another question – “How do I get to heaven?”

What are we to say about these two questions?

Both questions are very important. We don’t, however, need to give a precise description of heaven, anticipating every question which could possibly be asked about it. We do need to know the way to heaven.

I suspect that, sometimes, people, who ask all sorts of imaginative questions about what heaven will be like, are not always so interested in making a personal commitment of their lives to Jesus Christ.

In Deuteronomy 29:29, we read, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

I think that this verse is relevant to the way in which we approach the two questions, “What will heaven be like? and “How do I get to heaven?”

• When we ask the question, “What will heaven be like?”, we should always remember that “the secret things belong to God. We know enough about heaven to create in us a desire to be there. When, however, the question is pressed, “What will be heaven be like?”, we become aware of how little we know.
• One thing we do know is this: Jesus Christ is our Saviour. This has been “revealed to us”. The heart of our message must always be to point to Jesus Christ as “the Way” to heaven (John 14:6).
• Notice also, in Deuteronomy 29:29, the emphasis on the call to obedience.

Thinking about heaven should change the way we live here-and-now. This is very much more practical than just wondering what it will be like.

We don’t know everything about heaven. We do know all that we need to know about the way to get to heaven – Jesus is the Way (John 14:6) – and that’s enough for now! It’s enough to get us on the way to heaven and to keep us walking in the way that leads to our heavenly destination – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).