Heaven

Think for a minute about heaven.  We hear people talking about heaven in terms of a city, streets paved with gold, gates made from solid pearl, St. Peter standing at the gate, a book with a list of names written called the "Lamb's Book of Life" and a central throne with God sitting on it with angles tossing their crowns singing Holy, Holy, Holy.

I was driving along the road in my car and wondered aloud about what heaven will be like. 

Will there be neighborhoods with tree-lined roads and green lawns with no weeds, mansions that have been prepared for the faithful and birds singing and butterflies wafting about? 

Will there be bicycles and totally efficient, non-polluting cars and airplanes for travel?

Will there be tulips and tangerines, roses and radishes; or will we have fluffy ice cream and cotton candy?  Will stars be visible or will there be a forever day shining by the Glory of God.

As I continued to think about it I wondered how others in past generations and centuries though about it.  If I had been born in say, 1344 what would I have dreamed about heaven?  When I arrived and by chance saw airplanes, trains, giant ships, cars, electricity, air conditioning, smorgasbords and skyscrapers, I would think it was marvelous and beyond my comprehension.

But since mankind has invented all those things, been to the moon, harnessed the atom, transplanted hearts and kissed away the hurts of little children, it is not likely that heaven will be anything like that.  If we have already invented something on earth I doubt if God will furnish heaven with things that we can produce.

Regardless of the environmental furnishings of heaven, I believe what it will really be is an eternal presence in a face-to-face relationship with our Creator because He, through Jesus Christ, presented Himself as a sacrifice for us by the shedding of His blood, and then rising from death to destroy the hold that death held over us.  Being with Him forever will be heaven.