When Heaven Lands on Earth

Surely every Christian has asked the question, “What will Heaven be like?”

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In terms of the details, we are given precious little in Scripture, outside of a few accounts of people in the Word who experienced the fulness of Heaven (e.g. Isa 6; Rev 4-5; Rev 21-22, etc.) – although there is debate over how literally to take those passages. In the apostle Paul’s experience of being “caught up” to Heaven, he described it as a place where he “heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell…” (2Cor 12.4).

So we don’t know tons of what the experience will be like.

In terms of the overarching view of the Kingdom of Heaven, we have a little more information – metaphors and parables of Jesus give us a glimpse, prophetic pictures show us a view, the wise words of Scripture point us in a certain direction – all giving us little pieces of what Heaven is like.

It is difficult to summarize, but in attempting to do so, we can say that the Bible says that Heaven will be:

• A place where God dwells with His people face-to-face (Isa 6.5;Rev 21.1-3)
• A place where there is no pain (Rev 21.4)
• A place where there is no violence (Mic 4.3)
• A place where there is no fear (Rev 21.5)
• A place of holiness (Isa 6.3; Rev 21.27)
• A place of provision and generosity (Mt 6.19-20; 19.21; Rev 21.18-21; v.26)
• A place of unity and reconciliation (Col 1.19-20; Rev 7.9)
• A place of worship (Isa 6; Rev 4-5)
• A place of joy (Ps 16.11; Heb 12.22-23)
• A place of peace (Lk 19.38; Rom 14.17)
• A place where everything is made new (Rev 21.5)

No doubt there is more that could be added, but that is I think a decent overview.

All Christians look forward with hope to the day when this will be our permanent home – when we see God in His fullness, face-to-face, and are reunited with Him forever.

There is, however, another wrinkle to this.

Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven is where we are heading.

But it is also where we live right now.

When Jesus arrived on earth, His message was, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!” (Mt 3.2)

In Christ, God began to inaugurate His Kingdom, not as a promise for the future, but as a current reality, here on earth.

Heaven was not something just to be experienced later when we die – when Jesus got here, the Kingdom of Heaven began to built right here and now, in our midst.

We who follow Jesus are citizens of this Kingdom of Heaven right now (Phil 3.20), and we are receivers of the Holy Spirit, who has come to us a “deposit,” a down payment, guaranteeing the future fullness of heavenly glory to come (Eph 1.13-14).

As citizens of Heaven and partakers of the Spirit, we who know Jesus get to begin to experience Heaven right now. Heaven has already started for us. The Kingdom is already here, under the rule of its King.

So we live as people of Heaven, even while here on earth. We don’t wait for it to start at some future date (although of course we will experience its fullness to a much greater measure later).

We are partakers and participants in God’s Kingdom right now.

As such, we seek the Kingdom, and serve as agents of the Kingdom, seeking to be used by God to advance His Kingdom and bring it more fully to earth, as Christ taught us to pray (Mt 6.10).

We live our lives by the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven, not waiting until later, but now.

So we get to experience God’s presence now.

We enjoy all the blessings and benefits of His forgiveness now.

We seek to bring healing and wholeness to the world through Jesus now.

We live our lives as peacemakers and reconcilers and put away our swords now.

We live by faith and put all our trust in God now.

We put to death our sins and embrace God’s holiness now.

We live lives of generosity and seek to meet others’ needs now.

We choose unity, reconciliation, and forgiveness for others now.

We passionately worship Him and lift up His Name now.

We embrace the joy of the Holy Spirit now.

We rest fully in the peace of God now.

And as we do these things, a few different things happen to us.

Of course, we get to experience God’s presence and His blessings here on earth, strengthening and sustaining us.

As well, we see the Kingdom of Heaven advance as the kingdom of darkness gets pushed back in many different ways.

We also bear witness to rest of the world of the Kingdom to come, and all of its glory, by displaying what it looks like when a life is fully immersed in the Kingdom.

We then remind ourselves constantly of the future glory to come, and the fullness of what we will experience one day when we see the Lord face-to-face.

C.S. Lew famously said:

“Enemy-occupied territory—that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

By living out the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven now, we proclaim and advance the rule of Jesus everywhere that we do so.

As we proclaim and act in the subversive ways of the upside-down Kingdom, we challenge the status quo, show the failings of the world’s way of doing things, and demonstrate that God’s way truly is a better way to live.

We don’t wait for Heaven to begin as Christ-followers. We wait for the fullness of it, to be sure. But the Kingdom of Heaven has already begun, and we who are its citizens live in its ways, starting right now.

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