“Heaven” is one of those words that when you say it, people think they can stop listening because they already know what you’re going to say. When we die, our bodies aren’t us anymore, and our immortal souls go up to heaven where we watch over the people we’ve left behind. Add in the usual clouds and harps and pearly gates, with St. Peter standing outside them behind a lectern with a huge book—and what on earth did poor Peter do to get stuck with that, anyway?—and you have the basic picture that floats around in the back of most people’s minds; that’s what “heaven” means to us.
Personally, I don’t believe a word of it. I don’t believe I have an immortal soul, and I don’t believe it’s going up to heaven when I die, and I most especially don’t believe we’ll be playing harps then if we don’t in this life. (If you want to tell me heaven would be a place where I’ll play bassoon well enough that it will still be heaven for everyone else, we can talk about that, but I’m no harpist.) Obviously, if by “heaven” you mean the place where God lives and is fully visibly present, yes, I believe in that, but I don’t believe in heaven as most people think about it; and the reason I don’t is because the Bible doesn’t either. The Bible, instead, promises us two very different and very much greater things: the resurrection of the dead, and the new heavens and the new earth. Jesus didn’t come to Earth just to save our souls, he came to redeem us as whole human beings, body and spirit; indeed, he came to redeem his whole creation, not just us. God isn’t in this just for souls, as if he’d be happy to let the rest of the world he made go to rot; he’s in this to take it all back.
The ascension makes this clear, and underpins what Paul is saying about the resurrection from the dead in 1 Corinthians 15, because it shows us that Jesus’ resurrection was no temporary thing. He came back to life as a flesh and blood human being—albeit one whose body could do things that ours can’t—and when he left, he didn’t leave that body behind and go back to heaven as a spirit; he returned in the body, as a human being. That shows us what God is about in our own redemption. To raise us as spirits and leave our bodies behind would leave death with some measure of victory in the end; and it would devalue the world God has made, the world which he pronounced good. God isn’t interested in letting either of these things happen. Rather, his intent is to absolutely undo all the damage done by our enemy when he led Adam and Eve into sin, and absolutely destroy all powers opposed to him, leaving them no scrap of accomplishment at all. The absolute destruction of all death, and the absolute victory of all that is life, under the rule of Jesus Christ our Lord is what we have to look forward to—nothing less.
Well said, Rob. It astounds me that the whole immortal soul/heaven idea has become such an immovable foundation of the faith of most Christians when there’s no evidence for it in the Bible.
Me too, as we’ve talked about before. I think part of it is probably the desire not to have to take the body seriously–I may post on that soon–but I suspect a lot of the reason for that is that it just seems simpler to people.
The story is about a very small (wow gold)because the (wow gold)reasons for the (wow gold) expulsion Chushi doors have been forced to(wow power leveling) living on the United Kingdom, (wow power leveling)in abroad alone the people(wow power leveling) struggling for survival. A naturally do not (wow power leveling) agree with the ethical person. A war many of the cracks in the middle of the(wow gold) pursuit of hard power of (World of Warcraft gold) extreme people. A look at(wow power leveling) the friendship will be more important than the lives of people. The best of life, the best of the best stories or Long Road. Like Xiuzhen’s friends must-see (Rolex)category.
Wow Gold Store Welcome you! Look here to Buy wow gold, Cheap wow gold,world of warcraft gold