This afternoon I was thinking about my Mama. She was very sweet and taught me about Jesus. She was very creative and after a shower I put on a robe she had made. I have more memorabilia than most. When I was with my Dad as he passed into eternity (43 days after my Mom) he was reaching for someone. Both arms were outstretched and he clearly saw Heaven then passed a few hours later. I’m thinking about heaven after studying the Book of Ruth with Secret Church. Every book in the Bible is telling the same story of God reaching out to man because we need rescue. Eternity is ahead and that is my hope and challenge. You see, I want a preview. I don’t know what to expect or how to act. I’m the type of person who is early to meetings and always prepared. I want to be prepared. I know Jesus and that part is solid. Heaven is described in many ways referencing: God created the heavens, God called the expanse heaven, the house of God is the gate of heaven, the heavens tell the Glory of God, a new heaven and a new earth, open for you the windows of heaven, repent as the kingdom of heaven is at hand, behold a voice out of the heavens, Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, your reward in heaven is great, Our Father who art in heaven, on earth as it is in heaven, your Heavenly Father will also forgive, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Heaven and earth will pass away, your names are recorded in heaven, have sinned against heaven, was caught up in the third heaven, we have a building from God – eternal in the heavens, or an angel from heaven should preach, their Master and yours is in heaven, our citizenship is in heaven, who are enrolled in heaven, a door standing open in heaven, and I saw a new heaven. You are correct – all I did was go through my Bible concordance, looking for clues about what to expect in heaven. Randy Alcorn has written a book summarizing what he understands the Bible is saying about heaven. 1) Heaven is the dwelling place of God. 2) Heaven is the dwelling place of God’s angels, 3) Heaven is the dwelling place of God’s saints from earth who have dies, 4) At death, the human spirit leaves the body and goes either to heaven or hell, 5) There is immediate conscious existence after death, both in heaven and hell, 6) Heaven is an actual place, 7) Heaven is consistently referred to as “up” in location, 8) Heaven is where Christ came from, 9) Heaven is described as a city, 10) Heaven contains for believers a permanent inheritance, an unperishing estate specifically reserved for us, 11) Heaven is the Christian’s country of citizenship, 12) God’s people should long for heaven, 13) Heaven and all that it represents should be a central object of our attention in this life, 14) There is a sense in which believers are currently in heaven with Christ, 15) Heaven will provide us delivery from the present conditions of material decay and corruption, 16) Heaven will provide us delivery from the current sinful human condition, 17) The redeemed in heaven are described as “shining” and wearing ‘white robes,” indicating their moral purity and righteousness, 18) Heaven is a place of great joy and pleasures for the redeemed, 19) The names of Christ’s redeemed are written in heaven, 20) When in his presence, Christ will give new names to the righteous, known only between him and them, 21) The wicked, those whose sins remain uncleaned by the blood of Christ will be excluded from heaven, 22) Heaven’s central draw is our anticipation of being with Christ, 23) Another draw of heaven is our anticipation of continued and unhindered life, and ultimate reunion with Christian loved ones who’ve gone before us and will come after us, 24) Heaven has not remained the same since its creation, but has undergone several phases, and will experience future change as well, 25) Heaven contains an actual sanctuary which served as the pattern for the earthly tabernacle, 26) Christ promised his followers they would live with him in heaven, 27) Jesus described heaven as having many rooms or dwellings, and promised that he himself would go there and prepare a place there for us, 28) When we are in heaven, it may be possible for us to welcome others into our dwelling places, 29) Some believers will receive a “rich welcome” when they enter heaven, 30) Christ’s resurrection body appears to be the prototype for our own heavenly bodies, 31) In our resurrected state we will have real “spiritual” bodies with physical substance, 32) Christ ate food in his resurrection body, and he and we will eat and drink in heaven, 33) Between our entrance to heaven and our resurrection, we may have temporary pre-resurrection bodies, 34) At death the believer is ushered into heaven by angels, 35) In heaven, we will worship God along with the angels and redeemed people from every race and background, 36) In heaven, we will sing praise songs along with all the rest of God’s creation, 37) Communication, dialogue, corporate worship and other relationship-building interactions all take place in heaven, 38) In heaven, we will exercise not only intellect but emotions, 39) Heaven is a place from which God is said to exercise his wrath against godlessness on earth, 40) In heaven we will have eternal; rewards, permanent possessions and positions which very from believer to believer, 41) At least five different crowns are given as heavenly rewards, 42) Heaven should be looked to by the believer as the time when all righteous acts-many of which will have been disregarded and some punished on earth-will be finally rewarded. 43) In heaven, we will serve God, 44) In heaven, we will be given rest from our labors on earth, 45) In accord with our service for Christ while on earth, we will reign with Him in heaven, 46) At the center of the future heaven will be the city of New Jerusalem, 47) Heaven’s New Jerusalem is filled with magnificent beauty, including streets of gold and buildings of pearls, emerald, and precious stones, 48) Heaven has light, water, trees and fruit, 49) The heavenly city’s gates are always open, and people will travel in and out, some bringing wonderful things into the city, 50) Heaven contains some animals, 51) In heaven, we’ll eat and drink at a table with Christ and the redeemed saints from earth, communicating and fellowshipping and rejoicing with them.
I know that is an exhaustive collection out of scripture vetted by Alcorn but I think we cannot find earthly terms to describe heaven’s riches. I don’t even want to use the word riches as it makes me think of BMW’s and fancy homes. I’m not sure what I think, now, after intersecting missing my Mom to my future meeting with her in Heaven. I’m also not sure why heaven is sometimes heaven and other times, Heaven. I do know this. God keeps His promises and, because of that, we do not fear our future inheritance. If God wanted me to have a preview – I should look to scripture.