What will Heaven be like? Here is your answer
TIME magazine recently did a cover story with the title, “Heaven and the Afterlife: What awaits us? This article revealed that a 2021 poll from the Pew Research Center that nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults said they believe in Heaven.
To learn more about the afterlife, we need to go to an authoritative source.
And we have that in the Bible. Fact of the matter is, you would not even use the very word, “Heaven” if it were not for the Bible. It is a biblical word and Scripture has much to say about it.
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What is Heaven? Heaven is the dwelling place of God. And one day it will be our home, if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ.
I love John 17, where we are given the amazing privilege of listening in to a conversation between the Son of God with His heavenly Father. Speaking of His disciples — and by extension you and me — He says, “Father, I want those you gave me to be with me, right where I am, so they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me, having loved me long before there was ever a world” (John 17:24, The Message)
Jesus wants us to be with Him, in Heaven, forever. Hard as it might be to comprehend, He longs for each one of us.
Sometimes we ask the question, “What is Heaven like?” Why do we ask that question? Maybe it’s because we have all collected a lot of strange, cartoony, caricatured versions of Heaven. We think of ourselves sitting around in bathrobes on fluffy white clouds plucking harps, with fat little baby angels hovering above us with tiny wings.
That’s fine for the cartoons, but it has nothing to do with the real, biblical vision of the afterlife.
Maybe instead of asking “What is Heaven like” we should be asking, “What is earth like?” What is earth like, at its best? My friend told me about his elderly Christian grandmother from Nebraska, seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time. She stood on a cliff, gazing out to sea, trying to take it all in, and watching the seagulls ride the air currents without even flapping their wings.
She said, “Someday I will fly — just like that.”
My friend was seeing the majesty of that scene through her eyes, and it seemed like a glimpse of Heaven. Have you had a glimpse like that recently? Think of the most amazing sunset you have ever seen. Think of the thundering waterfall, the crashing ocean waves, the field of wildflowers, or the mist rising from a mountain lake early in the morning.
Think about the most mind-blowing architecture you have ever laid eyes on. The most incredible city you have ever visited. Or go back in your life for a moment and remember golden moments — some of the best and most beautiful times you have had with family and friends.
These are tiny keyhole glimpses of Heaven. Because Heaven is not an imitation of earth. Earth is an imitation of Heaven. In the book of Hebrews, the author speaks of earthly things as a shadow, and Heaven as the reality (Hebrews 10:1). The very, very best that you have ever experienced on this earth or ever will experience will be vastly better in Heaven.
Heaven will answer the ache in your heart for a place you have never even seen. C. S. Lewis wrote: “The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.”
In the classic Chronicles of Narnia series, Lewis imagines the words of someone seeing Heaven for the first time. He says, “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it.”
Heaven is a real place for real people to do real things. Jesus said, “There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming” (John 14:2, TLB). And by the way, He has had over 2,000 years to do that!
What will it be like? The apostle Paul had the unique experience of dying, going to Heaven and then returning. He didn’t write a book about it, or record a podcast, and he didn’t do cable news interviews. In fact, he didn’t tell us much about it. Many scholars believe this took place outside of Lystra, where Paul had been stoned by a mob and left for dead in Acts 14.
He wrote about it in his letter to the Corinthians, saying that he “was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of Heaven. I really don’t know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows.” He went on to say that he was “highjacked into paradise” and “heard the unspeakable spoken,” but was forbidden from talking about it (2 Corinthians 12:2,3,4, Message).
Paul doesn’t provide much information, and he didn’t post pictures on Instagram. But he did give us this hint. Having been there, briefly, he spent the rest of his life wanting to go back. He wrote: “I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me” (Philippians 1:23, TLB). He tells the believers, in effect, “Yes, I like hanging out with you guys and talking about the Lord. But I would rather be with the Lord. The sooner the better!”
When I want to know about a place I’d like to visit, I try to talk to someone who has been there. If I’m planning to visit a city like New York or Chicago, I try to find someone who has recently been there or lived there. I will ask about places to stay, places to see, and (most important) the best places to eat. I want to talk to someone who actually knows the place.
There is only one person who is a reliable source on the afterlife who has been there and returned. Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus said in John 6:38 (NLT), “I have come down from Heaven to do the will of God.” He came down from Heaven. But He didn’t just come to earth to tell us about Heaven. He came to open a door to Heaven so that we can actually live there after we pass from this earth. He said, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9, NKJV).
Because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, if you are a Christian, you will have life after death in Heaven. I want to emphasize that this is for believers only, not for those who do not believe. Heaven is not the default destination of every person. It is only the destination of the person who has put his or her faith in Christ.
What happens when we die? That all depends. If you are a Christian, you go straight to Heaven. The apostle Paul said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Our body goes into the ground, but our spirit goes right into the presence of God.
You will close your eyes on earth and then open them in Heaven.
We know this because 1 Corinthians 15:21 says, “Since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Jesus overcame death at the cross — for all of us.
The Bible says that “each person is destined to die once” (Hebrews 9:27, NLT).
Scripture also tells us there is a generation — and we may be that generation — that will not see death at all. We may be those “who will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17, NLT).
For those of us who have placed our trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation, and belong to Him, we may be less than an eyeblink away from our forever Home.
When you know you have loved ones who have preceded you to Heaven, you can have confidence that you will see them one day. I will see my son Christopher again in Heaven. I will see my mom and dad again. I will see the Lord Jesus who loves me and opened the door for me.
Nonbelievers don’t have this hope and rely on fantasies, fictional speculation, and vague hopes about life after death. I would rather rely on a document we can trust. In the Bible, God has told us how to safely reach the Other Side.
Do you want to know the way? Jesus is the Way.
Greg Laurie is the pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and Harvest Crusades. He is an evangelist, best-selling author and movie producer. “Jesus Revolution,” a feature film about Laurie’s life from Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company, releases in theaters February 24, 2023.
