As I mentioned in the sermon this morning, there are more Scriptures about "life after life after death" (this is a phrase by N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, 114-15) than simply "life after death."  

Let me recommend a couple of books for further study on the subjects of heaven and hell.  The first is Randy Alcorn's, Heaven, in which he discusses a wide array of questions about heaven, like "What will a typical day be like", "Will the New Earth feel like home" and "Will there be art, entertainment, and sports?"  The second book is Four Views on Hell, edited by William Crockett.  Four authors present their views of hell--the literal, metaphorical, purgatory, and conditional immortality (in other places called annihilationist) views.  I lean toward metaphorical (the images describing hell are not literal, but the reality of separation from God is), but see how some hold to the annihilationist view.  The literal and purgatorial views make the least sense to me and have the weakest defense from Scripture.

Here are some of the Scriptures I used today, and some of my reflections at the end:

Life after death for rebellious unbelievers:

• Hades is the Greek word used for "hell" (NIV) in Luke 16:23.  Hades was the Greek god of the underworld.  Hades was the Greek equivalent to death, deep darkness, the pit, and most often Sheol, the place of death and shadows in the Old Testament.

Life after death for resucued believers:

• Luke 16:22 Lazarus is in some state of pleasure and peace, in “Abraham’s bosom.”

• Luke 23:43 Jesus promises the believing thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  “Paradise” here literally means “an enclosed park” or “pleasure-ground.”

• Rom. 8:35-39—Nothing, including depths, time, or demons, can separate us from the love of God in Christ.

• 2 Cor. 5:8 “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

• Philippians 1:20-26—Paul writes from prison, knowing that he could face execution: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  (22) If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.  Yet what shall I choose?  I do not know!  (23) I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far."

Life After Life After Death for rebellious unbelievers:

• Jesus refers to Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom--2 Chr. 28:3; 2 Chr. 33:6; 2 Ki. 23:10; Jer. 13:30-34; 19:5-9) in Mt. 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:33; Mk. 9:43-47; and Lk. 12:5.

Life After Life After Death for rescued believers:

There is a bodily resurrection and entrance into a new heaven and a new earth.

• 1 Cor. 15:35-58
• 1 Th. 4:13—5:11
• Rom. 8:18-25—The glory that will be revealed in us is the “redemption of our bodies.”
• Eph. 1:14—The Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our “inheritance.”

• Luke 14:14—“You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Hell in the Big Story

Heaven in the Big Story

Notice what Jesus says about what happens when He comes back and the world, as we know it, ends: “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne…” (Mt. 19:28). 

Heaven is the result of God having renewed everything, having put everything back together that was broken, having made right all that was wrong.  Heaven is where everything is redeemed to the full.  No more overlap.  No more residue of the curse (Rev. 22:3).  “He will wipe away 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” (Rev. 21:4).  God has made us clean in Him and with Him.  Our relationships with others are what God always wanted them to be and look more like the relationship He has always enjoyed as Father, Son, and Spirit.  Our relationship with creation is right again.  We take care of the earth rather than gut it and abuse it.  Every relationship—with God, with people, with the Earth—is new.  Heaven is new and the earth—the earth is not gone; it is new (Is. 66; 2 Pet. 3; Rev. 21).  Everything is new.  “And God saw that it was good.”

So, heaven includes things we see and experience here, but better, fuller, richer.  There will be feasting (Rev. 19:9) and dwelling places (Jn. 14:1-4).  The Bible gives every indication that heaven will be a material world.

If God is the truest reality or purest definition of anything good—pleasure, joy, delight, exhilaration, laughter, love—then heaven will be anything but boring.  

Revelation 4-5 gives us a picture of worship in heaven.  Randy Alcorn writes: “If you’ve ever had a taste of true worship, you crave it more, never less.”

As I shared in the sermon, the idea of heaven has been a challenge to me at times.  Two things have propelled me, for now, past the cavern of doubt on this subject.  First, I believe in God's mercy and creative wisdom more than my ability to comprehend.  I will not let my lack of understanding about what heaven will be like to cause me to stumble.  Second, I believe God's goodness, beauty, power, and love will make heaven more awesome and amazing in every way possible.  Everything good here will be beyond description in heaven.  The best that I can imagine on earth falls far short of the best of heaven. 

C. S. Lewis imagined it well in his last installment of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Last Battle.  The familiar faces of the stories--both human and animal--are assembling together in Narnia.  At least, it looks like Narnia, but better, more glorious, more beautiful--the mountains and hills and foods and colors and flowers and grass seem greater, bigger, better.  The unicorn concludes, "I have come home at last!  This is my real country!  I belong here.  This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.  The reason why we loved the old Narniea is that it sometimes looked a little like this...Come farther up, come farther in!"