Ask an ordinary person in the middle of the street what they think of “paradise. “He’ll probably describe a place where there won’t be anything we love here in this life.
In the minds of many, things like bright colors, good food, loud music, close friends and physical activity will be absent in paradise Can you imagine a place where everything is white, sterilized and generally quiet?Like a cosmic hospital or a The inhabitants are disembodied spirits floating, dressed in white leather, sitting on cotton balls and playing the harp for all eternity. No offense to those who collect alleed figurines).
- The sad reality is that Christians usually let our understanding of heaven be contaminated by the culture in which we live.
- Hallmark must not define what paradise is to us.
- Hollywood shouldn’t define what paradise is to us.
- Centuries of monastic tradition should not define what paradise is for us.
- Defines what paradise is to us.
On the contrary, only the Word of God can correctly explain how we should understand heaven, and when we go to the scriptures, we discover that our future home is anything but a boring, immobile, boring place.
In particular, heaven (which Revelation 21 and 22 describes as a new earth) will be a place of vibrant colors (Revelation 21. 19-21; 4. 3), with good food (22. 2; 19. 7-9), with loud music (5. 8-13), intimate friendship?With God Himself (22. 2; 19. 7-9) and pleasurable physical activities (21. 24-26; 1 Corinthians 15. 35-49).
The best of this life cannot be compared to heaven. The best emotions, the best joys, the best memories we have in this life are just shadows. The most wonderful, deep, emotional, exciting and rewarding moment in this world cannot be compared to a candle near the bright sun that is the experience in the sky.
Ironically, much of what people love in this life and assumes that they will not be in heaven will be there, but it will be infinitely better and perfect.
Because, in fact, some important aspects of our current experience will be absent from heaven. To fully understand how wonderful heaven will be, we must know not only what will be in heaven, but also what they will not be. There.
Therefore, in Revelation 21-22, the Apostle John spends much time describing the new earth, saying what will not be in heaven, as he does to say what will be there.
What won’t be in heaven? Below is a list of 17 items that, according to Joo, will not be in the new country; each represents an aspect of the fall, rebellion, or divine judgment associated with this present world; and there will be no signs of corruption or judgment in the world to come.
A short blog post does not allow us to go into details about these elements, but the central idea should be clear:
To highlight the greatness of the new earth, Joo confronts the new earth against it, emphasizing aspects of the fallen world that will not be in heaven, because sin and its corrupt consequences are an integral part of this life. far from emphasizing that none of this will be present in life to come.
Sometimes, to describe an experience, the best way to do this is to contrast it with something familiar.
When I was in college, for example, I bought a used car, it was a small four-door car that perfectly met the needs of my students, the car was already seven years old and almost 129,000 kilometers traveled when I bought it, but it was fine and I stayed with it for another ten years.
When I finally got rid of it, the car was gone, the mechanics were still working, but everything else showed that the car was already exhausted, the shock was completely worn out, making me feel something on the road. broken, the paint was peeling; the seats were broken and stained and the doors scratched. One of the mirrors was attached with duct tape.
The car did not constantly pass the air pollution test, being classified by the state of California as “highly polluting”. On several occasions I had to go to the agency responsible for a special authorization to drive the car. It was too old to have a CD player and the cassette player also broke. One of the ornaments was missing. The front and rear bumpers were in trouble and sometimes the battery didn’t work. Needless to say, the car was a disaster.
I knew I couldn’t sell it. So I finally went to a junkyard and said goodbye, so I bought a new car.
If you asked me to describe the new car, right after I bought it, I probably would do it by saying the problems you didn’t have:
“No more trouble to start with?
“More strange noises when I drive?
“Am I no longer ashamed when I see someone I know?
The paint does not peel; The padding is not damaged. The wings don’t fall off, I no longer had to deal with suspension problems, broken rearview mirror, battery.
All these things characterized my old car. But they didn’t characterize the new one, although they were both cars, the new one is exponentially better than the old one.
Of course, this illustration is limited. But this gives an idea of how the Apostle John used contrasts to describe the glories of heaven in Revelation 21-22. At the end of the two chapters of the Bible, he explains the greatness of the new earth by showing how different it will be. of the world tainted by sin, broken, cursed and corrupted.
So what will be in paradise? Lots of stuff. But nothing our popular culture thinks about.
When we understand exactly what will be missing in our eternal home, we will be more excited to go.