Heaven

This week I have been reminded of Heaven three different times because three people from our congregation have died. Death always brings sadness because death is part of the curse. It brings departure, separation and sorrow. Death, however, for the Christian is different than it is for the unbeliever. Yes, we do experience sadness and sorrow at seeing someone we love leave us, but we are also greatly comforted. We are consoled because we know they are with the Lord in heaven. We honor our loved ones with a memorial service and Christian burial because we cherish their memories and expect that their bodies will be raised from the dead. When we lower the body into the ground, we already know that this is just the empty house they used to occupy, and we remind ourselves that God is not yet finished with that body, and he will one day transform it into a glorified body capable of living in an eternal heaven.

We are burdened with sorrow for their loss when we see the body no longer has life, but it also reminds us that our loved one is with Jesus. For that reason, no matter how much we miss them, we do not want to bring them back because they are comforted in the presence of the Lord.

Paul reminded us that “…to be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord.”

(2 Cor. 5:8). Job knew that no matter what happened, his body would not remain in the dirt forever but that he would be resurrected. He said it like this, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-26). One of my all-time favorite verses about the resurrection is from Isaiah, “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead” (Isaiah 26:19).  Jesus told us that our dead bodies would one day hear his voice and come to life, "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear [my] voice” (John 5:28).

Paul very eloquently described our bodies here on this earth, with all our sicknesses and debilitating infirmities, and he also described what our bodies would be like in heaven. The difference is startling. “…The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, It is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor. 15:42-44).

The earthly body is perishable, but the heavenly body is imperishable. The earthly body dishonors us with our sicknesses and disabilities, but our heavenly body will be glorious. Our earthly body knows weakness—pitiful weakness, but our heavenly body will be powerful. I’m not exactly sure how our bodies will be in detail, but I believe as John says, “…what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).