Resources by Topic: Heaven

Think about the person you would most want to spend time with. Who would that person be? Your favorite singer, author, or athlete? Your best friend who moved away? A family member who’s already died? Many Christians would say they’d want to spend time with Jesus. They’d want to see the Savior who created them, died for them, and made their life in Heaven possible—the one who loves them more than anyone else.

This is a classic question, and you are not the first to propose it. The answer is two-fold, one from God’s view, and one from man’s view.

As I say in the introduction to Heaven, readers should carefully examine God’s Word and evaluate the book’s claims accordingly (Acts 17:11). If they do, I believe they will discover that the great majority of the book is solidly grounded in Scripture.

Question from a reader: On page 174 of Heaven you talk of the thrill of seeing Jesus in Heaven. You say, “Being with him. Gazing at him. Talking with him. Worshiping him. Embracing him. Eating with him. Walking with him. Laughing with him.” But how will millions of resurrected believers be able to do this? Do we take turns?

Question from a reader: The New Earth is going to be so amazing, wonderful, beautiful, breath-taking, tangible, relational, joy-filled (the list goes on and on) and is also void of pain, suffering, death, sin, and grief. In light of all that, how much will rewards really matter?

Worship involves more than singing and prayer. We’re commanded, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We know that God expects us to do many different things on Earth, such as work, rest, and spend time with our families. So if we are to be joyful, pray, and give thanks all the time, we must worship God even while doing other things. Same deal in Heaven.

What matters isn't what someone else says, but what the Bible says. The Jehovah Witnesses are wrong in many number of areas about the New Earth. However, their belief that there will be a New Earth is correct.

Several people have already asked about my response to the passage of the Health Care Reform Bill and its inclusion of abortion. Yes, I am deeply concerned about its effect on unborn children. However, even though this bill has passed, the righteous cause of the unborn is not over. 

Some of the portrayals of Heaven in my novels Deadline and Dominion are surprising and unconventional.

The Bible speaks of two separate judgments: the judgment of faith, and the judgment of works. The judgment of faith determines our inheritance, whereas the judgment of works determines our recompense.

Service is a reward, not a punishment. This idea is foreign to people who dislike their work and only put up with it until retirement. We think that faithful work should be rewarded by a vacation for the rest of our lives. But God offers us something very different: more work, more responsibilities, increased opportunities, along with greater abilities, resources, wisdom, and empowerment. 

We know by the context.

(Inspired by Deadline by Randy Alcorn, page 338+) Doc Aloud:    Hello?! Heelllooo... Doc Voice:    Where is everybody? Where am I?                    (checks out hands and arms as though they are completely new)

Author Randy Alcorn is quick to point out that the Bible tells us much more about Heaven than we might realize. In Light of Eternity (1999) was his first nonfiction book about Heaven and in it, he addresses all the questions above and a lot more – and it’s all just a re-telling of what Scripture says.