Heaven

by Randy Alcorn

  Joni tells of speaking to a class of mentally handicapped Christians. They thought it was great when she said she was going to get a new body. But then she added, "And. you're going to get new minds." The class broke out in cheers and applause. They knew just what they wanted—new minds.

  My body and mind, for the moment, may be relatively healthy. But as an insulin-dependent diabetic, I've known what it is for both my body and my mind to fail me. They suffer under the Curse enough that I too know just what I want—a new body and a new mind, without sin, suffering and incapacity. Every year that goes by, I long more to be a resurrected person and to live on the resur­rected Earth, with my resurrected brothers and sisters, and above all, with my Lord—the resurrected Jesus.

  WILL WE BE MALE OR FEMALE?

  One book about Heaven claims, "[Tjhere will be no male and female human beings. We shall all be children of God and sex will be no part of our nature."217 The same book says, "Men will no longer be men nor will women be women."218

  Similarly, another book says of those in Heaven, "[T]hey have reached that androgynous condition in which sex distinctions are transcended, or rather, in which the qualities of both sexes are blended together."219

  Some people try to prove there will be no gender in Heaven by citing Paul's statement that in Christ there is neither "male nor female" (Galatians 3:28). But Paul refers to something that's already true on Earth: the equality of men and women in Christ. The issue isn't the obliteration of sexuality (you don't lose your gender at conversion).

  Was Jesus genderless after his resurrection? Of course not. No one mistook him for a woman—or as androgynous. He's referred to with male pronouns.

  We'll never be genderless because human bodies aren't genderless. The point of the resurrection is that we will have real human bodies essentially linked to our original ones. Gender is a God-created aspect of humanity.

  In my novel Deadline, Finney addresses this matter with the angel Zyor;

  "But I am still a man here, and everyone I see is clearly male or female, more distinctly in fact than on earth. I had thought perhaps there would be no gender here. I had read that we would all be . . . like angels, like you."

  Zyor looked surprised.

  "You are like us in that you do not marry and bear children here. But as for your being a man, what else would you be? Elyon may unmake what men make, but he does not unmake what he makes. He made you male, as he made your mother and wife and daughters female. Gender is not merely a component of your being to be added in or extracted and discarded. It is an essential part of who you are."220

  WILL WE WEAR CLOTHES?

  Because Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed, some argue that in Heaven we won't need to wear clothes. But even in the present Heaven, before the final Resurrection, people are depicted as wearing clothes, white robes that depict our righteousness in Christ (Revelation 3:4; 6:11). It appears we'll wear clothes—not because there will be shame or temptation, but perhaps because they will enhance our appearance and comfort.

  Wearing robes might strike us as foreign or formal. But to first-century readers, anything but robes would have seemed strange. Why? Because robes were what they normally wore. Rather than conclude that we'll all wear robes, a better deduction is that we'll all dress normally, as we did on the old earth. Am I saying some people will wear jeans, shorts, T-shirts, polo shirts, or flip-flops? Well, wouldn't those be just as normal for some twenty-first-century people as robes and sandals were for first-century people?

  Robes weren't reserved for formal events; they were part of everyday garb. Of course, we might sometimes wear more and less formal clothes, for certain kinds of events. There's no indication that we'll have only one set of clothes to choose from.

  Will we all wear white clothing? The white clothes may depict our righ­teousness (Revelation 7:9), as they did Christ's in his transfiguration. The em­phasis on white may relate to cleanliness, which was extremely hard to maintain in that culture. Remarkably, the only person depicted in Heaven as wearing a robe that isn't white is Jesus Christ: "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood" (Revelation 19:13). Just as Jesus wore clothes after his resurrection on the old Earth, he wears them now in the present Heaven, and will presumably wear them on the New Earth.

  Will white be the only clothing color? No. There are angels wearing golden sashes (Revelation 15:6). Because resurrected people retain their individuality and nationality (we'll look more closely at this later) and because many ethnic groups wear colorful clothing, we should expect this on the New Earth.

  The book of Revelation tells us we'll be priests and kings in Heaven. When you consider God's special adornment for the priests in the Old Testament (Ex­odus 28:4-43), it's likely God's royal and priestly people will wear beautiful clothes in Heaven.

  WILL WE ALL APPEAR THE SAME AGE?

  Will a child who dies at age six appear that age in Heaven? Will the man who dies at eighty appear to be eighty as he walks the New Earth?

  People have asked questions like these throughout the centuries. Alister McGrath states,

  This issue caused the spilling of much theological ink, especially during the Middle Ages. . . . By the late thirteenth century, the church's emerg­ing consensus was this: "As each person reaches their peak of perfection around the age of 30, they will be resurrected, as they would have appeared at that time—even if they never lived to reach that age." Peter Lombard's discussion of the matter is typical of his age: "A boy who dies immediately after being born will be resurrected in that form which he would have had if he had lived to the age of thirty." The New Jerusalem will thus be populated by men and women as they would appear at the age of 30 . . . but with every blemish removed.221

  Thomas Aquinas, the great medieval theologian, argued that we will all be the age of Christ when he was crucified, about thirty-three. Aquinas pointed out,

  Human nature is deficient in a twofold manner: in one way because it has not yet obtained its ultimate perfection, and in a second way, because it has already receded from its ultimate perfection. Human nature is deficient in the first way in children, and in the second way in the aged. And therefore in each of these, human nature will be brought back by the resurrection of the state of its ultimate perfection, which is in the state of youth, toward which the movement of growth is terminated, and from which the movement of degeneration begins.222

  Hank Hanegraaff suggests, "Our DNA is programmed in such a way that, at a particular point, we reach optimal development from a functional perspec­tive. For the most part, it appears that we reach this stage somewhere in our twenties and thirties. . . . If the blueprints for our glorified bodies are in the DNA, then it would stand to reason that our bodies will be resurrected at the optimal stage of development determined by our DNA."223

  Does this mean that children who go to Heaven won't be children once they get there? Or that there will be no children on the New Earth? Isaiah 11:6-9 speaks of an Earth where "the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. . . . The in­fant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain."

  Since the larger context of Isaiah is concerned with an eternal Kingdom of God on Earth, it seems inappropriate to restrict this passage to a thousand-year kingdom that ends in rebellion and destruction of human beings. The end of sin and the complete righteousness of all Earth's inhabitants won't come until the New Earth. But if Isaiah 11 is speaking of the New Earth, as does its parallel passage in Isaiah 65, who are the infants and young children playing with the animals? Is it possible that children, after they're resurrected on the New Earth, will be at the same level of development as when they died?

  If so, these children would presumably be allowed to grow up on the New Earth—a childhood that would be enviable, to say the least! Believing parents, then, would presumably be able to see their children grow
up—and likely have a major role in their lives as they do so. This would fit something I'll propose later, that on the New Earth many opportunities lost in this life will be wonder­fully restored. Although it's not directly stated and I am therefore speculating, it's possible that parents whose hearts were broken through the death of their children will not only be reunited with them but will also experience the joy of seeing them grow up . . . in a perfect world.

  It's also possible that on the New Earth we will appear ageless. C. S. Lewis portrays this in The Great Divorce, saying of Heaven's inhabitants, "No one in that company struck me as being of any particular age. One gets glimpses, even in our country, of that which is ageless—heavy thought in the face of an infant, and frolic childhood in that of a very old man."224

  In my novels I suggest the possibility that in Heaven we'll see people as we most remember them on earth. So I'll see my parents as older, and they'll see me as younger. I'll see my children as younger, and they'll see me as older. I don't mean that physical forms will actually change but that the resurrection body will convey the real person we have known, and we will see each other through different eyes.

  The New Earth will be a place of both maturity and perfection. Regardless of what age we appear, I believe that our bodies will demonstrate the qualities of youthfulness that Jesus so valued in children. God could easily have made a way for people to come into the world fully developed, not as maturing chil­dren. But he didn't. He put special qualities into children, ones we—and he—delight in. I fully expect all of us to have such qualities as curiosity, gratefulness, longing to learn and explore, and eagerness to hear stories and gather close to loved ones.

  We'll be unburdened by the Curse that shrivels not just our bodies but also our spirits, robbing many of youthfulness. Jonathan Edwards stated, "The heavenly inhabitants . . . remain in eternal youth."225 Heaven will be full of chil­dren . . . even if we look like adults. What we love about children is their joy, ex­uberance, curiosity, laughter, and spontaneity. In Heaven, whether or not anyone is the size and appearance of a child, we'll all be childlike in the ways that will bring joy to us and to our Father.

  CHAPTER 30

  WILL WE EAT AND DRINK ON THE NEW EARTH?

  Words describing eating, meals, and food appear over a thousand times in Scripture, with the English translation "feast" occurring another 187 times. Feasting involves celebration and fun, and it is profoundly relational. Great conversation, storytelling, relationship-building, and laughter often hap­pen during mealtimes. Feasts, including Passover, were spiritual gatherings that drew direct attention to God, his greatness, and his redemptive purposes.

  People who love each other like to eat meals together. Jesus said to his dis­ciples, "I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom" (Luke 22:29-30). Scripture says, "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines" (Isaiah 25:6).

  WILL WE LITERALLY EAT AND DRINK?

  Not all Christians believe that we will eat and drink in Heaven. Some people cite Romans 14:17: "The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drink­ing, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." But this passage isn't about the afterlife. Paul is speaking about our walk with God and the impor­tance of not making other people stumble over what we eat and drink.

  If we don't have intermediate bodies, then we won't eat in the intermediate Heaven. (If we do have temporary bodies, we might eat, but not necessarily.) However, it's interesting that manna is referred to as "the bread of angels" (Psalm 78:25). When angels, and God himself, took on human form, they ate human food (Genesis 18:1-2, 5-8). In the present Heaven is the tree of life, from which God says overcomers may eat (Revelation 2:7). Perhaps they won't eat from it until it's on the New Earth. Nevertheless, the fact that a tree with possibly edible fruit is currently located in the present Heaven at least raises the question of whether people can eat there now. However, since it's pre-resurrection, it seems likely there's no eating in the present Heaven.

  Strangely, however, many people also believe we won't eat or drink in the eternal Heaven. They assume the biblical language about eating and drinking and banquets is figurative and that we will eat only "in a spiritual sense."226 But how does one eat in a spiritual sense? And why is there a need to look for a spiri­tual sense when resurrected people in actual bodies will live on a resurrected Earth? Once again Christoplatonism lurks behind this understanding.

  The resurrected Jesus invited his disciples, "Come and have breakfast." He prepared them a meal and then ate bread and fish with them (John 21:4-14). He proved that resurrection bodies are capable of eating food, real food. Christ could have abstained from eating. The fact that he didn't is a powerful state­ment about the nature of his resurrection body, and by implication, ours, since Christ "will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body" (Philippians 3:21).

  Other passages indicate that we'll eat at feasts with Christ in an earthly kingdom. Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes" (Luke 22:18). On another occa­sion Jesus said, "Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 8:11). Where will the kingdom of God come? To Earth. Where will God's Kingdom reach its ultimate and eternal state? On the New Earth.

  An angel in Heaven said to John, "Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!" (Revelation 19:9). What do people do at any supper—especially a wedding supper? Eat and drink, talk, tell stories, celebrate, laugh, and have dessert. Wedding feasts in the Middle East often lasted a full week. When we attend the wedding supper of the Lamb, we won't be guests—we'll be the bride!

  Part of the conclusive evidence for the true physical resurrection of Christ is the fact that he ate and drank with his disciples:

  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. (Luke 24:4043)

  God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. (Acts 10:40-41)

  Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught. . . . Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished eating . . . (John 21:10-15)

  These passages emphatically link eating and drinking to the resurrected state. The fact that it's so often repeated means it's not viewed as incidental. Scripture goes out of its way to prevent us from embracing the very misconceptions so many of us have: that life in Heaven will be "spiritual," not physical, and that we will not partake of any of the basic pleasures of this life.

  Yet another biblical passage gives us insight about eating in Heaven. One day while eating in the home of a Pharisee, Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, . . . invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous" (Luke 14:12-14). When Jesus made this ref­erence to the resurrection of the dead, a man at the same dinner said to him, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God" (Luke 14:15). Since they were eating together at the time, the obvious meaning of "eat" and "feast" is literal. If the man who said this was wrong to envision literal eating after the bodily resurrection, Jesus had every opportunity to correct him. But he didn't. In fact, he built o
n the man's words to tell a story about someone who prepared a banquet and invited many guests (Luke 14:16-24). Clearly, both the man and Jesus were talking about actual eating at actual banquets, like the one they were at. One translation has the man at the dinner state, "What a privilege it would be to have a share in the Kingdom of God!" (Luke 14:15, NLT). But the Greek words do not mean "have a share in" the Kingdom; they mean "eat" in the Kingdom.

  I don't always take the Bible literally. Scripture contains many figures of speech. But it's incorrect to assume that because some figures of speech are used to describe Heaven, all that the Bible says about Heaven, therefore, is figurative. When we're told we'll have resurrection bodies like Christ's and that he ate in his resurrection body, why should we assume he was speaking figuratively when he refers to tables, banquets, and eating and drinking in his Kingdom?

  Speaking of eating, drinking, and the physical properties of life on the New Earth, Wayne Grudem writes, "There is no strong reason to say these expres­sions are merely symbolic, without any literal reference. Are symbolic banquets and symbolic wine and symbolic rivers and trees somehow superior to real ban­quets and real wine and real rivers and trees in God's eternal plan? These things are just some of the excellent features of the perfection and final goodness of the physical creation that God has made."227

  We're commanded, "Glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20, NKJV). What will we do for eternity? Glorify God in our bodies. We're told, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). What will we do for eternity? Eat, drink, and do all to the glory of God.

  An evangelical author tells us, "In Heaven, Scripture indicates that we shall neither eat nor drink."228 But Scripture tells us no such thing. In fact, it couldn't show more clearly that we will eat and drink on the New Earth.