what is heaven like?

[mama2one]

What does your husband say?

he gives me space
i.e. I'm up @ night/sleep days

if he were in charge of heaven, he'd given me a people free island & come visit me

 

[Mark Quayle]

so introverts will suddenly be changed & want to be surrounded by thousands of beings?

as I see it, it would be a nightmare to be around SO many beings

past two yrs of pandemic, I've been home 99% of time & like being away from other people

(exception husband & daughter)

Being alone is one of my favorite things. But I do love those whom God loves.

These "other beings" will be changed too. We think of ourselves as individuals. We really don't know just how real that individuality is, assessing intrinsic value to self, instead of attributing value to God's use for each one of us. That change that happens to us is not simply a matter of amount, but of kind of change. In Heaven, life will no longer be understood in terms of the individual, but is all of Christ. Those there are each specifically chosen by God for his purposes there; we are the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ. Thus corporate, of individuals —not for individuals, but for Christ.

Think of it in terms of John 17, we will be one as the Father and Son are one, because we are in Christ. It is not that we will be changed to become individuals who are no longer loners. There, our whole focus, our whole "mind", to include our very essence and sustenance —I'm tempted to say, "our very being"— is Jesus Christ. WE are God's Dwelling Place, his satisfaction, his rest, and his delight in every detail.

We are owned by God, our maker. And it is an honor and a delight to be his servant. Heaven is not about us, but about HIM.

 

[GoldenKingGaze]

Probably a great throng in Heaven would love you so much and sound so wonderful that you would want to stay with them.

 

[mama2one]

John 14:2 - Meaning and Commentary on Bible Verse



"This Christ says partly to reconcile the minds of his disciples to his departure from them, and partly to strengthen their hope of following him thither; since it was his Father's, and their Father's house whither he was going, and in which "are many mansions"; abiding or dwelling places; mansions of love, peace, joy, and rest, which always remain: and there are "many" of them,"


maybe there will be a "mansion" for introverts

 

[TedT]

Is not the heavenly state the culmination of all life? Is not the heavenly state characterized as the marriage of Christ and HIS Church: Revelation 19:6-7 “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready” Is not the sexual union of married people symbolic of the spiritual unity with GOD of those married to GOD?

If HE wanted to enter a marriage union with HIS creation HIS proposal would have to be accepted by our free will, that is, not coerced by anything. IF we saw HIS glory, proof of HIS Deity, HIS promises of heaven and HIS warnings of hell, who could reject HIS marriage proposal and go to hell?? HE had to hide HIS glory or a true marriage with us would be impossible.

A marriage that is forced is not a marriage but a rape.
A marriage that is built on tricking the bride into not understanding that she could say No! is not a marriage at all but a fraud.

Therefore for HIS purpose for us to enter into the communion of a unity with us called marriage to be real, it must have been as a offered to us as a proposal of marriage which we had the right and understanding to accept or reject by our free will.

What is the heavenly experience?
We are also told that heaven is not a place but is within us so I suggest that the heavenly marriage experience might be the full, loving and holy, telepathic communion (not mere communication but a full unity of emotional fellowship augmented by the telepathic link which GOD already has with HIS angels all the time) between everyone in the heavenly marriage at all times.

As for the vast, hugely vast, physical universe HE created, was HE just a show off? Was HE being extravagant? Or is the physical universe to be our playground in which we revel in HIS glory while exploring and enjoying HIS creation?

 

[TedT]

Hell, on the other hand, will be noisy and no place for introverts.

Since hell is in the outer darkness, I suggest it is past the edge of our created reality, our physical universe...either physically or dimensionally. Nothing is there that HE created...

Galatians 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. refers to the inevitable and full corruption of non-evil to become fully, ie, perfectly, evil. Therefore I conceive that there can be no contact nor communication of any sort between hell and heaven, and since GOD cannot abide evil, such contact cannot within HIS experience either.

In other words, hell is where GOD isn't (theological dogma notwithstanding), there is nothing of HIM manifest in that place until the reprobate demons are sent into it. Nothing of a created nature exists there except evil spirits and they are all fully hating and hateful - they will not be in each other's company. It is cold and endlessly empty, devoid of any manifestation of any life as we can conceive of it.

Noise? What's to make the noise? The wails of tormented spirits will be lost in the vastness of the void.

 

[TedT]

so introverts will suddenly be changed & want to be surrounded by thousands of beings?

as I see it, it would be a nightmare to be around SO many beings

past two yrs of pandemic, I've been home 99% of time & like being away from other people

(exception husband & daughter)

Umm, is it so inconceivable that at GOD's love will fill you enough for millions just as if they were your daughter and husband??

You love them, they love you, GOD loves you and your love for God will fill you and everyone else is within that love. Where is there room for separation? For nightmare?

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Rev 21:4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Do not judge heaven by your earthly experience...

 

[RileyG]

Union with God. I expect it to be wonderful beyond comprehension.

 

[mama2one]

Probably a great throng in Heaven would love you so much and sound so wonderful that you would want to stay with them.

a "great throng" would be too overwhelming

constant sound/singing would be too overwhelming, also

 

[ViaCrucis]

The interim between death and resurrection with the Lord, aka "going to heaven" is a subject Scripture only briefly touches upon because the Bible doesn't really concern itself with "life after death", but is far more interested in this life and life after "life after death"--e.g. the resurrection of the body and the renewal of all creation in the Age to Come.

"Heaven" in the sense of the immediacy of God's Presence, such as what the angels and saints who have gone before us experience, shouldn't be conceived as a "where", as though "Heaven" is a location. "Heaven", in this sense, describes God's Presence. In a sense, when the Jewish high priest entered into the Holy of Holies before the Ark of the Covenant, he entered into the intimate presence of God, the Shekinah; a literal or nearly literal Heaven on earth.

The confession of the Incarnation, that God became man, is that Heaven has come down. Our future hope is not that we will go to some place called "Heaven" for all eternity, but that Heaven comes down, we behold in St. John's Apocalypse of the heavenly city descending down upon the earth, and God dwelling with man forever.

What we typically think of as "Going to heaven" is really nothing more than a rest stop. A foretaste of future glory that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, for right now we only see in part and know in part, as through a dim, dark glass.

God intends to do so much more than just offer a respite for weary souls, He intends to justify the entirety of creation through His own covenant faithfulness to His creation. On that Day when, as the Prophet Amos long ago said, justice shall flow like a river and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream. On that Day when, as the Prophet Habakkuk said, the earth shall be filled with the glory of YHWH as waters cover the oceans. All nations assembled at His Holy Mount Zion, Jesus Christ our Lord, who by His Tree of Life--His cross--there is healing for all the nations. And God will be all in all.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Daniel Marsh]

Heaven - What Is it Like and Where Is it?


who is in heaven:

"The Bible tells us that angels are in heaven. In fact there are myriads of angels-uncountable numbers of heavenly beings-all of them serving the Lord in various ways.

And the saints of God who died on this earth are in heaven. [Note: I mean by this that heaven includes the Old Testament Saints who by faith trusted in God's Word and looked forward to God's redemption at Calvary (which they did not fully understand). It also includes every true believer from every continent and every denomination. Everyone who has genuinely trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior will be there. I also think that children who died before the "age of accountability go to heaven and I would also include those born with such mental limitaitons that they cannot understand the gospel."

For some reason, I have the impression that Heaven is going to be boring. what does everyone else think and why

 

[GoldenKingGaze]

For some reason, I have the impression that Heaven is going to be boring. what does everyone else think and why

Look at NDEs, there is worship, access to all knowledge, books, fruits, living water, prophecy, your room overlooks your hometown, you are praying for your family and friends, you can talk to your great grand parents and ancient people, explore the universe and it's secrets in maths, physics, biology... You prepare to meet God the Father and need receive the blood of Christ to be ready. He speaks over you...

 

[TedT]

For some reason, I have the impression that Heaven is going to be boring. what does everyone else think and why

Heaven is within you as the experience of the perfect unity of the perfect marriage of the full communion of loving fellowship and full communication with everyone else in the marriage, GOD included, no matter where you are. We will have resurrected bodies that are indestructible and able to go anywhere at the speed of angels and the whole universe will be our playground to explore the glory of GOD's creation for us!! If that sounds boring to you then, shrug...

 

[mama2one]

We will have resurrected bodies that are indestructible and able to go anywhere at the speed of angels and the whole universe will be our playground to explore the glory of GOD's creation for us!! If that sounds boring to you then, shrug...

if you think about it, there are people who never read books, who never venture outside of the small town they live in, who aren't interested in having pets, or even children for that matter

so saying they can go explore is not enticing
they didn't explore before so why would they in heaven?

video games & tv is all consuming for some people
so maybe that is what heaven would be for them?

 

[Mark Quayle]

Heaven is within you as the experience of the perfect unity of the perfect marriage of the full communion of loving fellowship and full communication with everyone else in the marriage, GOD included, no matter where you are. We will have resurrected bodies that are indestructible and able to go anywhere at the speed of angels and the whole universe will be our playground to explore the glory of GOD's creation for us!! If that sounds boring to you then, shrug...

Agreed.

@Daniel Marsh, do you find yourself boring? Heaven is a little like that, only amplified a billionfold, and without anything disgusting or perverse within yourself.

By saying that, I don't mean that you won't also be finding out, learning, amazing new things about God and about other individuals like yourself, but we will all be one, not just brothers and sisters.

 

[TedT]

so saying they can go explore is not enticing
they didn't explore before so why would they in heaven?

Still defining heavenly experience as a repeat of our earthly life... Why do this? Why not look at what is written and accept it that all things will be new with NO sorrow!! ?

 

[Servant78]

Heaven is like when you forgive and pray for people who hate you.

@mama2one

 

[GoldenKingGaze]

Heaven is like when you forgive and pray for people who hate you.

@mama2one

And they repent and and cleaned and justified, healed and restored, hearts much warmed and you are restored and we are sanctified and glow with the beauty of God's light and are reconciled, so we become friends like Apostles Peter and Paul who had been Saul.

 

[mama2one]

Heaven is like when you forgive and pray for people who hate you.

@mama2one

been there, done that