rambling thoughts on heaven
I've been thinking a lot about heaven lately. I just finished Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. I know Wright may have some issues in his thinking on justification, but this book doesn't deal with justification so much and is EXCELLENT. As in, top five all time. I recommend it for any thoughtful Christian. Just to make sure that I haven't been sucked in by something that sounds appealing, but isn't Biblical, I'm reading another book on heaven, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, and reading a lot in the prophets and Revelation.Eschatology and the book of Revelation have always scared me a little bit, but I'm realizing more and more how important my eschatology really is to the way I live my every day, what motivates and drives me. The way things will be for eternity is important.
Growing up, I remember thinking things like "I hope Jesus doesn't come back till after the State Fair" till after so and so football game. Probably because my idea of heaven was sitting around in the clouds playing my harp. I don't want to spend eternity in that heaven.
As I've grown up, I can now pray much more readily with John, "Amen, Come Lord Jesus! And I also know what Paul means in some way when he says "to live is Christ and to die is gain." But, I still have a large sense of there being things I want to experience on this earth. Sitting at a cafe in Vienna with Kate, I thought about how there is so much of the world that I want to see. Things that are part of God's glorious creation, as well as things that are beautiful which man has made.
I don't want to go to heaven because there will be things there I did not get to see in this life; I want to be in eternity because that is where Christ will be and all things will be set right. I long for things to be made right. I wish I longed to be with Christ as much as I long for things to be set right.
Anyway, you should read that book.
posted by CP @ 11:27 AM
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1 Comments:
Yay! I've never read the book, but I've heard Wright speak on this topic before and he IS excellent!
It's funny how much our views can change from when we were kids. I, too, remember wishing that Jesus would come back AFTER my birthday that year, so that I could have a roller skating party. I don't even remember if I ever had that party, but I do hope there is a roller skating rink in the new heavens and new earth, one where everyone can skate backwards if they'd like. ;)
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