Our editorial last Sunday gave us two reasons why heaven does not affect us as much as it should: (1) We see heaven as an exclusively future state, and (2) We have uninformed and unbiblical ideas about heaven.
The third reason is offered today, as well as some concluding applications for how thoughts of heaven interacts with our day to day on earth. May it lift our minds to things above!
Pastor Luwin Wong
3. We treat heaven as an impersonal abstraction.
A problem in modern theology is that Christians tend to depersonalize theological realities. For example, many have reduced the gospel to merely a transaction: Jesus died. We repent and believe. Eternal salvation is credited to our spiritual bank account. Credentials acquired. Clearance granted at the pearly gates.
This falls far short of the Bible’s holistic, personal perspective: We were personally identified with Jesus in his life, death, and resurrection. God’s Spirit dwells within our hearts. We’re united with Christ and find abundant life in fellowship with the Father, Son, and Spirit. Our justification before God comes as part of the relational realities of our regeneration and adoption and the promise of our sanctification and ultimate resurrection.
While we still physically live in sinful flesh and on this fallen earth, we also dwell spiritually in the kingdom of heaven.
Heaven has befallen a similar depersonalization. We tend to think about heaven’s features, like golden streets and pearly gates, or about the experience there (freedom from suffering, total euphoria, and so on) before we think about the center of heaven’s promise: Jesus.
Heaven became personal for me when my child went to live there. And as I studied and explored the realities of heaven, I grew in my relationship with Christ, the King of heaven, as well. What makes heaven heaven is Jesus. We’ll experience unfettered communion with him there. We’ll behold the face-to-face vision of God in his glory. That’s what makes heaven so euphorically wonderful. Understanding heaven in these personal terms moves us toward deeper fellowship with Jesus and enhances our relationship with him in the present life.
When heaven is depersonalized, it becomes merely hypothetical and abstract. Consequently, heaven has little influence on our lives because it doesn’t feel real. To grow in heavenly mindedness doesn’t just mean you intellectually know more about heaven. It means eternity has a discernible effect on your mood, perspective, and actions.
In his essay “The Negro Spiritual Speaks of Life and Death,” Howard Thurman described the critical role heavenly mindedness played in the survival and perseverance of American slaves. Thurman talked about the concrete view of heaven contained in their songs:
Heaven was specific! An orderly series of events was thought to take place…
A crown, a personal crown is given… There are mansions... There are robes.
Their theology of heaven was concrete and individual. A heavenly imagination that flowed out of Scripture nurtured this eternal sustenance.
Heaven will have greater significance and meaning in our day-to-day lives when we view it as both a real and a personal reality. We can employ our heavenly imagination within Scripture’s bounds to move in that direction.
Having a biblically centered, personal theology of heaven grounds our mindset about eternity in verifiable substance.
What will it be like to have a body that doesn’t experience back pain, acid reflux, or migraines? What will it be like to have conversations with Martin Luther, the apostle Paul, or your brother who died before you knew him? What will it be like not to walk by faith because you live with Jesus in plain sight every day? What will it be like to never experience temptation or falter in sin again? What will it be like to explore the new earth without limitation or expense? Using our sanctified imaginations in this way reminds us heaven is real and meaningful and that its reality should influence our lives.
In my life, these changes have taken various forms. I have more courage to say hard things and to share the gospel when it may feel awkward. Life on earth is too short and eternity far too long to let awkwardness or discomfort stand in the way of faithfulness. Heaven has shaped my moral and ethical thinking. When I’m tempted to be self-indulgent or to act out of anger and pettiness, knowing I won’t act this way in heaven compels me to resist sin in this life. When I remember that perfect, unfettered communion with Jesus is what will make heaven so glorious, I’m reminded to stop and pursue intimate fellowship with him now as the path to contentment.
Heavenly mindedness can bless us with great satisfaction, endurance, perspective, inspiration, and focus. Learning more about eternity and asking the Holy Spirit to cultivate heavenly minded thinking can radically transform your life. It certainly has transformed mine.
(1) Cole, Cameron. (2024, August 4). 3 Reasons Heaven Doesn’t Affect Us as Much as It Should. The Gospel Coalitionhttps://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/heaven-doesnt-affect/
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