A book worth reading

Of the many books that I read through each year, perhaps none have been more influential than Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. It is an amazing work that answers numerous questions on the topic of the afterlife. This book is thorough, easy to read, and is set up in a leisurely fashion. You can read the chapters you are interested in and skip the rest. The book can be somewhat repetitive at times and there are some places in which I feel the author is a bit too literal with a poetic text, but it is still quite wonderful and will enrich the life of Christians that read it. Below are some selections from the book.

Chapter 5: What is The Nature of The Present Heaven?
The current Heaven is temporary. While it is immeasurably better than life on Earth, its current state is not the final. There is another transition to make with the creation of the New Heavens and New Earth. Heaven therefore is not eternal like God, but a created place where He dwells. Heaven can and will change when Christ returns to Earth again. There are theories as to the location of the present Heaven. It could be in another dimension or universe, though that is not clearly explained.

Chapter 6: Is The Present Heaven a Physical Place?
We know that Heaven is a spiritual place but it is quite possible that it has substantial qualities as well. If nothing else, we should not be hostile to the idea that Heaven is somewhat physical. Jesus alludes to a physical place when telling the thief on the cross, “you’ll be with me today in paradise.” Paradise references a physical place. Also, angels are heavenly beings, but definitely seem to have physical bodies. Also, the sight of Moses a Elijah at the Transfiguration seem to indicate that they have physical bodies, therefore it makes sense that their habitation would also have physical characteristics. In all honesty, this world will likely seem like smoke in comparison. Heaven will be more real that what we know now.



Chapter 8: This World is Not Our Home…or is it?
As previously mentioned, Heaven is an intermediate state prior to the creation of the New Heavens and New Earth. So the answer to this question is yes and no. While we will live on Earth, it will be a new Earth, completely transformed with the effects of the Fall completely eradicated. We will recognize things from our previous life, hills, trees, and building. However, they will be greater and more perfect that we can actually imagine with our current ability.

Chapter 9: Why is Earth’s Redemption Essential to God’s Plan?
God does not have modest goals for redeeming creation but a masterful one. He desires to restore not just one creation but all. God could have destroyed everything and created everything perfect, but He didn’t. Instead choosing to reconcile His creation to himself through himself. There are numerous questions concerning the necessity of Earth in the plan of God. My answer, it is because God is ostentatious and His glory knows no end. That he seeks to reconcile every Adam as well as every atom affected by the Fall.

Chapter 11: Why is Resurrection So Important?
The resurrection is important because the Christian Faith hinges on the empty tomb. With no eternal hope, Christianity cannot stand. If Christ did not defeat death, but was instead slain by the enemy, he does not have victory over it and neither do we. Also, we are promised a resurrection like that of Jesus and if we are to not receive that, it makes God a liar, which we know He is not. The resurrection is inseparable from true Christianity.

Chapter 16: Will the New Earth Be Familiar…Like Home?
Yes. The New Earth is not a foreign creation but the restoration of the current one. God will make Earth and Christians whole, completing the original work He had planned and erasing the effects of the Fall on both parts of His creation. While it will be new in the sense of experiencing a perfect sinless creation, it will feel like Home because this is where our home truly is, with God. If we could take every place and experience that would make us feel at home, multiply it by the immeasurable and apply it to every aspect of our lives, that will be a glimpse of what Heaven will be like.

Chapter 17: What Will it Mean to See God?
To be with God is what all pleasure will generate from in Heaven. God’s greatest gift will be his presence and intimacy. The primary way that we will see God will be in the person of Jesus. To look upon the face of our Savior without sin-stained eyes and experience Him in His fullness will be our primary and all encompassing joy.

Chapter 18: What Will it Mean for God to Dwell Among Us?
When God will live among us, it means that there will be an intimacy that we have not known before. That God visits with man, and man with him is amazing and should ensnare our focus. That God will rule in our presence, allowing us to see Him in His fullness, will grant us a joy that we cannot fathom in this life. We will be free of our delusions that Heaven will be boring or God’s dwelling disappointing. We will be able to savor God’s goodness and glory, finally seeing, touching, and tasting that which our souls desperately long for.

Chapter 19: How Will We Worship God?
In everything we do we will worship God. From every gesture to every word we will praise our Maker and King. God will dwell among us, giving Himself to us and ourselves to Him, a union in which every way that we respond to Him will be worship unrestrained. God created us as beings with the need to worship. God desires our worship but does not force us. In Heaven and the New Earth, our intended purpose and longing for God will be met in full.

Chapter 35: Will There Be Marriage, Families, and Friendships?
The ending of the rule of Satan’s tyranny does not end history but complete it. However, it will broaden the understanding of relationships. We will relate to others through the concept of family, but we will embrace each other as one great family with a great Father. Friendships old and new will be reconstructed and perfected. We, the Church, will be married to Christ Jesus and find it to be completely satisfying. Our relationships from here will find new depths of meaning in Heaven.

Evaluation
This book has been a great encouragement to me. The author goes into great depth, answering a plethora of questions in an understandable way. Though there is a great deal of repetition throughout the book, none of it is really superfluous. Alcorn, can be woodenly literal at some points when dealing with the book of Revelation, but that should not discount his points either. Rather, I accept that there is still much we do not and cannot know about Heaven in this life. I believe that this book is a great resource for those of us that sometimes doubt the wonder and majesty of truly seeing the face of God and living with him.

I look forward to worshipping now more than ever. I have a greater desire for evangelism, telling others of Christ not out of fear for their torment but out of a desire that they experience the glory of Heaven and God for themselves. I long for intimacy of my soul to be with God and to walk with my Savior. I anticipate the perfection of all relationships I’ve had and the creation of new ones. Mostly, though, I truly, desperately long to praise a Father who has given me so much.