What The Bible Says About Heaven預覽

Paradise More Beautiful than Anything You Have Ever Seen

What is it that feeds our souls on earth? It’s a kaleidoscope of ingredients. The work we do, when it has meaning and does others good. Colour, light, the natural world, variety, scale, shape and form. Then add to that the limitless creativity of human endeavour, from the scale of construction like pyramids, to aircraft like the jumbo jet and Concorde, to thatched cottages, design, art and sculpture, to exploration of other worlds. We are made for it, drawn to it, it is as if it almost calls to us. Then there is eating, drinking and fine dining. The exquisite process that goes into making then storing wines and champagnes. There is the milk of human kindness that we experience in friendships and family. There are moments of love, joy and peace that build us, entrance us, captivate us. Imagine paradise, then, as all that on steroids!

I love the natural world and have always been drawn to beauty. Some beauty on this earth is simply breath-taking, even with all its imperfection. My wife and I love to snorkel, and we have been to some wonderful places such as the Bahamas, the Florida Keys and notably the Red Sea. Some friends who are experienced divers took us to one stretch of the Red Sea near Sharm El Sheikh and they warned us of the underwater cliff-edge drop a few metres from the shoreline. I can remember the moment as if were yesterday: the breath-taking drop, the clarity of the water to seemingly impossible depths, the countless varieties of fish and sea creatures. It was beautiful enough to draw a tear of gratitude. We have watched the Attenborough nature documentaries and the Blue Planet series, along with countless other natural world documentaries over the years with awe.

Gill and I celebrated our fortieth wedding anniversary with a series of safaris across five Kenyan game parks. The things we saw, the birds, the predators, the Big Five, natural beauty, sunsets and sunrises, were awe-inspiring. Mount Kilimanjaro calling with its snow-capped beauty, and the amazing sight, not just of individual animals, but the jaw-dropping encounters with thousands of elephants and tens of thousands of wildebeest gave a glimpse of unimaginable scale. 

I sail a fair bit and get to see beautiful night skies with no night pollution, a sunrise where for a few seconds the sun almost fills half the sky. I recall my first ever celestial navigation lesson, where tears ran down my face as I ‘brought the sun down to the horizon’ using an instrument called a sextant. That moment was a moment of connection for me with my Creator and the Creator of heaven and earth. These are a tiny taste on the tip of our beauty appreciation taste buds. Heaven has to be more and has to be better.

Please don’t tell me heaven has none of this. Please don’t suggest that what heaven has will somehow be boring, set up like a Sunday gathering. Please don’t suggest to me that heaven will somehow be less breath-taking. This is God’s address, God’s place, God’s home. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard half of what God has prepared for those who love him. Think of the best places on this planet, the best sunsets, the best mountain views, the best of Blue Planet above and below the water, the best natural world experiences and the best natural parks you’ve ever visited. They are nothing – nothing, hear it – believe it, nothing compared to paradise. There will be music like we’ve never heard before, light like we’ve never seen it before, construction that will make world-class buildings like Notre Dame or Westminster Abbey look like sandcastles, beauty more breath-taking than anything we could imagine. And it starts with his welcome, his arms wide open in a welcome home embrace. ‘Welcome home!’

To read in full what heaven is like, the book All About Heaven unpacks this in more detail

www.davidoliverbooks.com