Photo: Artem Podrez

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bibleproject.com - Revelation 21-22: A New Heaven & A New Earth - The Bible Project

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Do you really know who the “One” is? Your true Soulmate?

Promotion

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Get ready for the answer.

There is not even one passage in the Bible that talks about “going to heaven” after you die. The phrase “go to heaven” doesn’t appear anywhere in the Old or New Testaments about death. Not once. This doesn’t mean the Bible has nothing to say about what happens to God’s people after they die. It just means that “going to heaven” isn’t the way biblical authors thought about it. Let’s look at the New Testament passages that speak to what Jesus’ followers will experience after they die. Jesus spoke to the repentant criminal being crucified next to him, saying, “Today you’ll be with me in paradise.” - Luke 23:42-43 Paul discussed his possible execution in a Roman prison, and he said death wouldn’t be so bad. It would make the Philippians sad, but he would get to be “with Christ.” - Philippians 1:21-24 Paul talked about the true hope that drives Christian faithfulness, even in the face of death. The result of death, he said, was being “with the Lord.” - 2 Corinthians 5:6-9 Notice the consistent factor is not that people will “go to heaven,” it’s that they all use the same phrase: Our hope is about being “with Jesus.” Both Jesus and Paul believed that not even death could separate people from God’s love, and that Jesus’ followers would be with him after death. However, Paul does not envision this disembodied mode of existence as permanent, or even desirable. In 2 Corinthians 5:2, Paul wrote that in this world “we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.” He’s referring here to a resurrected body believers will inherit when they are finally made like Jesus. For Paul, the end goal is not disembodied bliss in heaven, but rather a restored physical existence, which is a gift from heaven.

But what about the interim period, when our mortal bodies rot in the ground?

Paul describes this interim experience like “falling asleep.” He wasn’t alone in using sleep as a metaphor for death. It was common in Jewish culture to use the phrase “lay down with my ancestors” to talk about death. The prophets described death as a form of sleep and the hope of future resurrection as “waking up.” Remember that these are poetic metaphors, so we shouldn’t analyze them for precise information about what we will experience after we die. In the Revelation, it would seem John’s hope somehow resides in the specific manner in which Jesus was resurrected. Just as he went through death and came out the other side in a transformed physical existence, so also his people can hope for the same. The risen Jesus was physical, not a ghost. He ate food and drank wine and talked with his followers about the Kingdom of God over the course of a few weeks. He had scars on his hands and feet. There was no mistake. They were touching and talking with the same Jesus they followed up in the hills of Galilee. But the resurrected Jesus was also different. Really different. Some of the disciples didn’t even recognize him at first glance. And while Jesus’ body was physical, it was physical in a way that was different from ours. He inexplicably appeared and disappeared from rooms, baffling the disciples. There were no categories that prepared them for this moment, so all they could do is tell the odd stories we find in the New Testament.

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Promotion

This paradox of “the same Jesus and also a different Jesus” is precisely what John was trying to communicate about the “new heavens and earth” in the book of Revelation. He was convinced that the future of the universe walked out of the tomb on Easter morning, simultaneously the same and different. What was true of the risen Jesus is what will be true for all creation when heaven and earth completely reunite. So while we can’t say you’ll “go to heaven” when you die, we can say that one day you will be resurrected and reborn LIKE Jesus in the resurrection. Even better, that means you’ll be WITH Jesus. Now THAT is worth writing home about, and in this case, was worth John writing the churches in Asia minor to remind them about. John did not write this book as a secret code for you to decipher the timetable of Jesus's return, or figure out exactly what happens to you after you die. It's a symbolic vision that brought hope and challenge to the seven 1st Century churches, and every generation of Christians. It reveals history’s pattern and God's promise that every human kingdom eventually becomes Babylon and must be resisted in the power of the slain Lamb. But there's a promise that Jesus who loved and died for this world, will not let Babylon and all the evil of this world go unchecked. One day, Jesus will return to remove evil from His good world and make all things new, including his people! And that is a promise that should motivate faithfulness in every generation of God's people until the King returns. Thanks for reading! This is a modified selection from our Heaven & Earth Workbook. You can download the entire workbook for free here.

bibleproject.com - Revelation 21-22: A New Heaven & A New Earth - The Bible Project

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