A Vision of Heaven and How to Get There

The life of the world to come

What is it; how do you imagine it?

The woman of Shunem received a son as thanks for her hospitality;

a huge blessing for her.

A cove on the Aegean

When I think of life after the resurrection:

beatific vision: very spiritual, even ethereal.

CS Lewis’ version:

We are a unity of body and spirit;

is it likely that the body will play no part in the heavenly joy?

if so, then things that give us joy now may do so in the risen life.

I like this version.

Alive to Christ

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11, ESV-CE)

Death and life (& resurrection) are in the present, too.

A 2-fold promise

We are already dead and risen to new life;

Heaven has already started.

‘If we are God’s children now, what we shall later be has not yet been revealed.’ (Paraphrase of 1 John ?:?)

The fulness of the Kingdom is unimaginable.

Death and Life

Moses says the the Israelites:

‘I set before you today, death and life, blessing and curse;

choose life, then, that you may live.’

Jesus tells the disciples:

You will suffer, maybe even die, for my sake.

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:39, ESV-CE)

Then:

“The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, … .” (Matthew 10:41, ESV-CE)

All the promise & fulfillment stories in Scripture result in something beyond the person’s imagination.

How do you imagine the prophet’s reward?

Whatever it is,

you will receive greater.

All this will be yours

and persecution besides.

If we walk with Christ in life,

we do so with enormous hope,

and with our eyes wide open.