The Trilogy: Part 3 of 3
The Destination: Heaven – Greatly Misunderstood
The Big Question: What is eternity actually going to be like? Are we just going to float around on clouds playing harps forever?
Not even close.
One of the most common misconceptions about Heaven is that it’s a never-ending church service where we fly around like angels singing hymns. That picture doesn’t come from the Bible; it comes from misunderstanding passages about God’s throne room and ignoring what He says about our actual eternal home.
What Heaven Is Actually Like
The Bible describes our eternal home (referred to as the New Jerusalem in Revelation) as a real, physical New Earth.
- A Physical Place: Scripture describes streets, trees, rivers, and actual dwelling places designed for us to live in. Just like the fact that we will get new, uncorrupted bodies, we will live on new, uncorrupted earth.
- Not Clouds and Harps: The Bible describe a Throne Room where, among other things, the final judgment takes place. Our permanent existence isn’t spent hovering in the spirit realm—it is lived out in a renewed, tangible creation.
- New, Imperishable Bodies: Just like Jesus had a physical, touchable body after His resurrection, we will receive new bodies free from pain, grief, and decay.
What Actually Makes It “Heaven”?
As wonderful as a pristine new earth sounds, the physical surroundings aren’t the true heart of Heaven. The real magic of Heaven is the relationships.
Earth is a temporary training ground where we learn what happens when we try to run things apart from God. A place where our focus on “self” is corrupting relationships. But Heaven is the graduation. It will be filled with people who have learned to trust their wise and loving Heavenly Father. Because everyone there shares that foundation of trust, relationships will be completely whole, safe, loving, and free of the strife we experience today.
The End of the Story
When you trace the trilogy from start to finish:
- The Foundation: God is like a loving parent using life’s lessons to shape our character.
- The Context: This earth is a training ground where free will, our own mistakes, and His incredible grace (through Jesus) teach us to trust His ways over ours.
- The Destination: That trust prepares us for an eternity of thriving, wholesome relationships in a physical home prepared by a Father who loves us unconditionally.
Read The Trilogy: Part 1 “The 6-year-old picture story”
Read The Trilogy: Part 2 “Big picture of what is God doing”
Read FAQ “Can I know that I’m going to Heaven?”
Read Deeper “The Spiritual Life 2.0”
Back to FAQs
Bible references:
- Revelation 20:11-15 (summarized) All will come before God for judgment. We often ask why God allows bad people to continue. He tells us it is because He is giving everyone full chance to change, but there will an endpoint to that. It will have nothing to do with “being a basically good person” – just trusting a loving and wise parent.
- Revelation 21:4 “God will wipe away every tear” We will no longer have the problems we encounter in this world that make us sad. And the pains of this world will fade in our memories as does our pains of when we were 6 years old.