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). 

Because We Don’t Know What It Will Be Like

Can you imagine a builder of grand, upscale houses – ones consisting of many perfectly decorated rooms, with every conceivable accessory – living in a tiny, rundown, rat and cockroach-infested apartment? No, that’s impossible to imagine.

How about the CEO of a luxury car manufacturer – vehicles equipped with all the latest high-tech options that only the most affluent can afford – driving a personal car covered with dents on every side, paint hopelessly faded, and its tires nearly bald? Nope, can’t see that happening either, right? 

 

Why is that? Because we would rightly assume that creators, makers and providers of the highest quality products and services would want to enjoy that same standard of quality themselves. We wouldn’t expect the top executives of Neiman-Marcus to buy Christmas gifts for family members at a dollar store, or purchase their office attire at a thrift store.

 

Then how is it, I’ve often wondered, that we feel hesitation and uncertainty in considering the prospects of dying and going to heaven, the domain of the Creator of the entire wondrous, expansive, complex and mysterious universe? It’s nice to trust that when we’ve drawn our last breath we won’t dissolve into nothingness, but we’re still facing the unknown. When we hear the common question, “Where do we go when we die?”, we might think, “I’m going to heaven. But what’s it like?”

 

This comes to mind because in recent weeks, two more members of our extended family have passed away. Life as they knew it has ended for them; they no longer have to contemplate what heaven must be like. For them, in the words of the classic hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul” – faith has become sight.

 

The Bible teaches, of course, that not everyone goes to heaven. It’s reserved for those who have placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have received Him and His gift of forgiveness for their sins: 

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).

 

And yet, even for those having this assurance, not needing to fear what the Bible calls “the second death” (Revelation 2:11, 20:6,14), sometimes there are still questions, even anxieties, about what awaits us on what I call “the other side of eternity.”

This is why I offer the analogies above. Just as we wouldn’t expect a builder of exquisite homes to live in a rundown shack, why would we think that God’s eternal home would be any less beautiful than what we have experienced on earth? Actually, I wholeheartedly believe that from the Lord’s perspective, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. 

 

In fact, that’s what the Scriptures tell us:

“However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him…’” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

 

During His time on earth, Jesus often talked about what awaits His followers after our earthly days are over. For instance, He said, “My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2). Other translations use the terms “mansions” or “dwelling places” instead of “rooms,” but Jesus’ point is clear: Our heavenly Father in providing a very special place for each of us, and we have every reason to believe it will be magnificent beyond anything we could imagine.

 

The apostle Paul, who served as an unabashed, unwavering ambassador for Christ after his dramatic encounter with Him on the road to Damascus, viewed the next life with great expectation. He wrote, “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).

We find imagery in the Book of Revelation, describing “a new heaven and a new earth…. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass…” (Revelation 21:1, 21), its walls consisting of precious gems. Without an equivalent to that on earth, we might find ourselves scratching our heads in uncertainty. 

 

Consider wonders of this world, such as the grandeur of the Grand Canyon, towering sequoias, the awesome majesty of Niagara Falls, a glorious sunset at the beach, a festive field of flowers. If only we could enjoy such beauty perpetually, right? God promises that one day we will:

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

 

Holding fast to that assurance, we have no reason to fear – but every reason for great anticipation.