What Is Heaven Like?

Dreamer48

Dreamer48

Well-Known Member
I'm coming back to the faith after a hiatus of 7 years. It's tough. I feel like a child again, so I have a child-like question: What is heaven like? I don't want to offend anyone, but sometimes the thought of eternal life is just not that appealing. I think it's because during my hiatus, I found comfort in the idea of dying and simply entering this blackness of peace and quiet. Peace away from hate, arrogance, suffering, etc. So now I'm trying to embrace the idea of eternal life, but I'm struggling :ohwell:.

I'm still easing into the act of praying, so I'll definitely do that, but I'm curious about what you ladies think heaven is. I know the purpose of the kingdom will be to praise God and to glorify him. Do we have any Biblical evidence about how this eternal life will be? Will we be in our most perfect bodies or will be be spirits? Will I recognize my loved ones? Will people with God-given gifts like musicians, dancers, and artists be able to continue practicing their gifts for the kingdom of heaven? Will we be walking or floating? :spinning:

I know I sound ridiculous, but I really want to know. TIA
 
That is not a ridiculous question at all. Read Revelations 21 and 22. The chapters talk about eternity/heaven. No more crying. The presence of the Lord. Etc.

Revelation 21

A New Heaven and a New Earth

1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

....
 
^^ Yes, it's frightening, but then again, heaven will be sooo much better. :yep:

P.S. 1 Corinthians 15 gives a glimpse into what our bodies will be like:

39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly man.
 
loolalooh said:
^^ Yes, it's frightening, but then again, heaven will be sooo much better. :yep:

P.S. 1 Corinthians 15 gives a glimpse into what our bodies will be like:

39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[f]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly man.
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I've never read or heard this scripture before. It is beautiful. Thank you!
 
Dreamer48 I just finished reading a novel that is bible based where the author talks a about Heaven

Heaven and Hell: a Novel: A Journey of Chris and Serena Davis (Tears of Heaven) Zeigler, Kenneth

I have it on my kindle for iphone if you would like to borrow it.
 
Hey Dreamer48 :wave: I found this at CBN.com HTH

Heaven is where God is. He is the light of heaven, the joy of heaven. As you mature in your understanding of the Bible, you realize there is no material concept of heaven that will do it justice. The Bible talks about streets of gold as clear as crystal and walls made out of precious stones (see Revelation 21:18-21). All sorts of images immediately come to mind when we mention heaven. More than anything else, heaven is a spiritual condition where one spiritual being is in touch with another spiritual being, and there is total communication and fellowship.

Whatever we consider to be a joy here on earth will be heightened millions of times beyond anything we can conceive when we get to heaven. The apostle Paul put it this way: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (I Corinthians 2:9).

In the Middle Ages philosophers talked about the "ultimate good." The ultimate good to them was being in the presence of God. That will be the greatest aspect of heaven. Those who are there will be in His immediate presence, in a way no one can possibly know this side of eternity.

Being in God's presence will bring an intensity of delight that will far exceed anything we could know here on earth. Furthermore, in heaven there will be neither death, nor sorrow, nor sickness, nor poverty.

"He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be nor more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:3-4).

The Bible also talks about crowns and thrones in heaven, so we do know that heaven is not just a huge democracy where there is no differentiation of function (see Revelation 4:4-11). There will be different functions and different levels of responsibility assigned to different people. For there will still be levels of order and structure throughout God's universe.

The Bible says that those human beings who are fortunate enough to enter into heaven will actually judge angels (see I Corinthians 6:3). The fallen angels -- or demons -- will come before us and we will decide their fates. Perhaps people will be assigned to watch over a planet or two. We do not know for certain what tasks we will be performing in heaven, but there will obviously be an ongoing, functioning universe. We will be God's messenger-agents in ordering and running it.

There are many things about heaven we do not really know. Will there be animals in heaven? The Bible says that Jesus will be riding on a white horse when He returns to reign on the earth, but we do not know if this is a literal horse (see Revelation 19:11). A white horse represents purity and power, so this may be symbolic. We cannot say for sure if there will be animals of any kind in heaven, but I believe there will be.

We do know that we will be able to recognize our loved ones in heaven, and we will experience great joy over being reunited with them (see Luke 23:42-43, Hebrews 12:22-23). Your real self will live on in heaven, not some shadowy part of you. You will never feel so alive as when you enter into the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem God has prepared for the saints.

There is also going to be an extension of man's mind beyond anything we could begin to understand now. There will be an opening of understanding into the secrets and mysteries of the universe. Furthermore, in heaven there will be no fear of any kind of evil, and God will provide magnificently for His people.

What is heaven like? It is better than anything any human being could ever imagine when he tries to picture the best thing that could ever happen to him. Beyond that, there is not much else we could say!

http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/teachingsheets/FAQ_heaven.aspx
 
I believe heaven feels like gods love. You are completely connected to god. You feel nothing of the devil. No fear, no hurt, no pain, nothing but the loving kindess and peace of god. I dont think you just sit around either. I think you choose to help those that you were close to in the living. That's what you do until you return to earth again. Help people and make sure your family knows you are watching over them. I imagine there are spiritual circles where the angels pray for the salvation of the living. Well thats what i imagine its like. I dont have a bunch of scripture for you or anything.
 
My friend told me its church all day and every day idk if she was joking or what.....is this true?
 
Dreamer48 said:
I don't want to offend anyone, but sometimes the thought of eternal life is just not that appealing. I think it's because during my hiatus, I found comfort in the idea of dying and simply entering this blackness of peace and quiet. Peace away from hate, arrogance, suffering, etc. So now I'm trying to embrace the idea of eternal life,
Click to expand...

I feel the same way which is why I feel more comfort in the Buddhist belief that once you become enlightened, your life ceases to exhist in any form.

Also, as I was growing up and attending church regularly, I was taught that there are different levels in heaven. Depending on how devout of a Christian you are, you have higher or lower ranking than others. It reminded me of life here. How can that be heaven? Wouldn't that fuel envy and bitterness? If that really is true, that would explain the whole Lucifer situation.

Heaven also isn't appealing to me because all (okay, I'll say some) of Christians that I've encounterd don't walk the walk. Aside from them going to church on Sundays, they don't live or act any different than people of the "world". So, personally, I wouldn't want to deal with them for eternity spewing the same crap. Excuse my language.

Besides, I like to believe that my heaven is here on earth. When I'm alone in my garden and my neighbors are silent, and I'm surrounded by greenery, butterflies are ubiquitious, the scent of flowers whafting in the air, birds chirping... just being surrounded by the beauty and awesomeness of nature . To me, that's heaven.

Also, laying lazily and peacefully in my bed with my cats sleeping at my feet, mid day, having no where to go and the only sound that can be heard is new age music playing softly in the background.

I really treasure those heavenly moments as well as others. So honestly I don't need another heaven.

I hope that this life is it. And if it is, I want to make sure that I enjoy every little gift that I am given.
 
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cyrealla said:
someone once told me that everyone will be naked in heaven
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Something I was wondering the other day. It was supposedly the devil that made man ashamed of his/her body and cover up.

Well, when people get saved, why don't they go naked again? Why do Christians still hold on to the belief that nudity is bad?

Not trying to be funny. I don't care either way, but it was something random that crossed my mind.
 
Godyssey said:
Something I was wondering the other day. It was supposedly the devil that made man ashamed of his/her body and cover up.

Well, when people get saved, why don't they go naked again? Why do Christians still hold on to the belief that nudity is bad?

Not trying to be funny. I don't care either way, but it was something random that crossed my mind.
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:lol: Christians although not of the world still live in the world, and if they ran around nekkid all day they would be arrested or jailed...christian or not they still must conform to the laws of the land :ohwell:

Also due to the fall, most christians would still feel shame about nakedness as women still have to go endure labor and menstruation, men/women have to work and will eventually die...being saved does not take away the punishment of first sin.
 
All this about heaven and peace, no war, perfection, tranquility.. What type of heaven exists for people who commit monsterous crimes on earth and is it fair that they are in heaven too?

I don't know but from what I can tell heaven is what you make it and your spirit, as long as it is at peace, that's where heaven exists.
 
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From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Besides the essential object of beatitude (aka happiness) the souls in heaven enjoy many blessings [connected] to [the] beatitude. We shall mention only a few:

In heaven there is not the least pain or sadness; for every aspiration of nature must be finally realized. The will of the blessed is in perfect harmony with the Divine will; they feel displeasure at the sins of men, but without experiencing any real pain.

They delight greatly in the company of Christ, the angels, and the saints, and in the reunion with so many who were dear to them on earth.

After the resurrection the union of the soul with the glorified body will be a special source of joy for the blessed.

They derive great pleasure from the contemplation of all those things, both created and possible, which, as we have shown, they see in God, at least indirectly as in the cause. And, in particular, after the last judgment the new heaven and the new earth will afford them manifold enjoyment. (See GENERAL JUDGMENT.)

The blessed rejoice over sanctifying grace and the supernatural virtues that adorn their soul; and any sacramental character they may have also adds to their bliss.

Very special joys are granted to the martyrs, doctors, and virgins, a special proof of victories won in time of trial (Revelation 7:11 sq.; Daniel 12:3; Revelation 14:3 sq.).

Hence theologians speak of three particular crowns, aureolas, or glorioles, by which these three classes of blessed souls are accidentally honoured beyond the rest. Aureola is a diminutive of aurea, i.e. aurea corona (golden crown). (Cf. St. Thomas, Supp:96.)

Since eternal happiness is metaphorically called a marriage of the soul with Christ, theologians also speak of the bridal endowments of the blessed. They distinguish seven of these gifts, four of which belong to the glorified body — light, impassibility, agility, subtility (see RESURRECTION); and three to the soul — vision, possession, enjoyment (visio, comprehensio, fruitio).


ETA:

The saints in Heaven are also aware of those on Earth, and pray for those on Earth who ask.
 
Hmmmm. I was reading a book about this recently. I think it might have been in ibooks and I left my ipad at work.

I seem to recall though that the gist was that hell is of our own making. Like the things that we do now and the bad situations we put ourselves in right now. That sounds pretty controversial. Just throwing it out there... I'll see if I can scare up the book on my kindle or iphone.

Okay... I think I know why I didn't remember the heaven part of the book! It's hard to follow!

The book is called Love Wins. It's by Rob Bell.

It's a little thick for me, but I think basically he's saying that Heaven is multidimensional. He said in Jesus' time people didn't like to say the word God. So often "Heaven" was a word used for God. Also, Heaven is a "coming age." Based on the meaning of the word Aion. "The age to come." Aion = age. It is a specific time when God will rule. Finally, according to Bell, heaven is also the present. Those times when you're with loved ones or times when you think, "I could do this forever" are Heaven.

Bell spends a lot of time on the story of the rich man who asked how he could get to Heaven. Jesus tells him to get rid of all his riches. So Bell takes this and talks about being in a state where you are prepared for Heaven. He talks a lot about how it can't be an instant change. You can't suddenly change from a greedy person to a person prepared for Heaven.

He uses a lot of bible verses to support his ideas. Interestingly, he says that the only time crowns are mentioned in the bible in regards to heaven is when people are "taking them off." He mentions that descriptions of Heaven in the bible are "earthy." Ezekiel says that people will be given fruit and grain and new homes and new spirits. That is... not mansions and gold, but wine and crops and homes... like THIS world... only transformed.

Oh and he says that hell isn't forever but a place where the purpose is restoration/redemption.

Has anyone one else read this book?
 
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LadyRaider said:
Oh and he says that hell isn't forever but a place where the purpose is restoration/redemption.

Has anyone one else read this book?
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I haven't read Mr. Bell's book, but I have come across similar explanations of Heaven and Hell.

I understand Heaven in light of what the purpose of life is:

"God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in the next."

Heaven is God's dwelling place, where His will is executed perfectly and completely, and where the souls of the saints and holy angels enjoy Him and see Him as He is (this is known as the Beatific Vision).

I will have to disagree with Mr. Bell that Hell is temporary. Hell is eternal for the following reasons:

1. Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the constant witness of the Church affirms that Hell is eternal.

2. The souls in Hell cannot exist or survive in the environment of Heaven. Being in the presence of the Holy God would itself be a torture to the damned.

3. The souls of the damned are deprived of sanctifying grace, thus they do not have the will to repent or render any merits.
 
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