Wondering What Heaven Is Really Like

“Heaven.” When you hear that word, what comes to mind? Billowy clouds? Angels flitting around playing harps? “Pearly gates,” in front of which someone holding a giant book listing who gets in and who doesn’t? Streets made of gold?

The suppositions could go on, but no one knows for certain what heaven will be like. This question might not be foremost in our thoughts during a typical day, but it does arise from time to time, especially when someone we know departs from this life. At such times we often hear – and might even say ourselves – that he or she is in a “better place.” But have you ever wondered what that better place is really like?

 

The Bible gives us some clues, particularly in the book of Revelation, but it can be hard to determine what descriptions are factual and which are figurative. Even Jesus Christ during His time on earth didn’t offer a lot of specifics, although He did provide assurances that it’s a very special place. 

 

One day, not long before His crucifixion, Jesus consoled His disciples by saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3). The King James Version uses the term “mansions” instead of “rooms,” but we know for certain the Lord has reserved a special place for each of us. 

 

Maybe one reason biblical descriptions of heaven might seem vague is because our finite, temporal minds couldn’t begin to grasp the infinite, eternal delights of heaven: “No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 1:9). Think about seeing firsthand some natural wonder we’ve only heard described or seen via a two-dimensional photograph, and then multiply that sense of awe about a million times.

 

One reality of getting older is knowing more and more people who are no longer living. In the past several months, several friends I knew well have died. After years of waiting for “the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13), their faith has become sight. Causes one to wonder what they’re experiencing right now on what I like to call, “the other side of eternity.”

 

Have you ever been away on a lengthy trip and felt so happy when you finally arrived back home? We might find this physical world familiar and comfortable, but the Bible indicates when we arrive in heaven, we’ll know we’re finally home. “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). 

 

We might be proud of our national heritage, but for followers of Jesus, our true citizenship isn’t here. As the old gospel song proclaims, “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through…. The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

 

Even though we typically perceive death as the enemy, God doesn’t see it that way when it comes to His children. I often think of Psalm 116:15, which caused a doubletake the first time I read it: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” ‘Precious? Are you kidding me?’ we’re tempted to ask. However, for God it’s precious indeed, because His children are finally coming home – forever.

 

The apostle Paul, who had more than his share of near-death experiences before being martyred for his faith, offered this view: “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). After his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus and becoming one of the most influential leaders of the early Church, Paul knew the best was yet to come.

 

Quite a few authors have been bold enough to write entire books about what they think heaven will be like. And there’s much more we could consider directly from the Scriptures. But for now, perhaps it’s best to continue looking through the eyes of faith, trusting that even in the most difficult times, “our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).