What Will Heaven Be Like?
Joseph Anderson Donetti looked at Pastor Chuck. “Are we really going to live forever in a big apartment building? I’ve already lived forever in an apartment! This is the first time I ever lived in a real house. Even if it is just for the summer. I like living in a real house! I like having a real lawn and a real garden and everything!”
Pastor Chuck looked at Joseph. “What?” he asked. “Why do you think we are going to live forever in a big apartment building?”
“Well, that’s what the text said,” Joseph answered. He looked down at his notebook. “That first text you had us read today. John 14:1-3.”
“Humm,” Pastor Chuck said. “Maybe we’d better look at that text again.”
Bible pages rustled softly. “I’ve got it!” Trevor said. “I’ll read it. ‘Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. And trust in Me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.” ‘ ” Trevor looked up. “That does sort of sound like a big apartment building,” he said.
“I don’t think it sounds like an apartment building!” Mac exclaimed. “I think it sounds more like a palace! God is a King, right? And kings live in palaces. So maybe Jesus is saying that we will move right into God’s palace with Him.”
“I like that idea!” Pastor Chuck said. “I think it probably captures just what Jesus meant.” He looked at Joseph. “You know, the Bible doesn’t give us a lot of details about exactly what heaven is like. However, it does tell us that Jesus has gone to heaven to prepare a most fantastic place for us. A place so fantastic that we can’t even imagine the things God has planned for us!”
“Where does it say that?” Joseph interrupted.
“Excellent question!” Pastor Chuck beamed at Joseph. “You can find it in I Corinthians 2:9,” he said.
Joseph bent over his notebook and carefully wrote down the text. “I want to read it later,” he explained.
Pastor Chuck’s eyes twinkled, much like G.M.’s. “But the Bible does give us a tiny glimpse of the special city that God Himself has built for us. You can read about that in Revelation 21.”
“Revelation is the last book of the Bible,” Mac said to Joseph. “It’s really easy to find!” She grinned.
Pastor Chuck turned to the text, too. “You can read all of chapter 21 this week if you’d like,” he said. “But just listen to this part right now. I’m looking at verse 18. ‘The city was made of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundation stones of the city walls had every kind of jewel in them.'”
“I just love looking in the jewelry shop windows at the mall!” Mac exclaimed. “I love seeing the diamonds and the sapphires and the amethysts sparkle. That city must sparkle so much you’d never want to look at anything else!”
“You’re right about the sparkling part,” Pastor Chuck said. “Verse 11 tells us that the whole city shines with the glory of God. There’s nothing brighter than the glory of God. That’s a brightness that makes even the sun seem pale.”
Pastor Chuck went on. “Think about it! We are going to be in the most beautiful place imaginable, doing things more wonderful than we can even think of right now. But the most fantastic thing of all is that in heaven we will be with God. The God who made us. The God who made the whole world just by speaking. The God who made the stars and the universe and space. The God who made everything! And the God who loves us more than anyone else ever possibly could. Being with God will make everything else seem pale!”
Everybody was quiet for a moment, thinking. A car horn honked in the distance.
“Invitations!” Hannah broke the silence.
“What?” Trevor asked.
“Invitations! When we were talking about party plans, we forgot the invitations! If you want people to come to your party, you have to invite them!”
“I’m so glad you thought of that!” Pastor Chuck exclaimed. “I was wondering if anybody would.”
Hannah’s cheeks turned pink with pleasure.
Pastor Chuck looked around the circle. “In a way, the Bible is a party invitation for each of us. More than anything, Jesus would like everybody to be in heaven. So He asks us, the people who have already said ‘Yes!’ to His invitation, to share that invitation with others. It’s in Matthew 28:19,” Pastor Chuck said before Joseph could ask. He paused so Joseph and the others could write the text in their notebooks. “It says,” Pastor Chuck continued, “‘So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.’
“Let’s talk about that for a minute,” Pastor Chuck continued. “Can you think of anyone you would like to invite to the party? Do you know people who haven’t heard yet about Jesus’ invitation? Write down some of those names in your notebook.”
Joseph stared at Pastor Chuck. Why, he could fill his whole notebook with names!
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