Heart Soul and Might

Ok - I’m taking it slow, moving through Randy Alcorn’s Heaven - there is so much to take in, ponder and meditate on. What I love about Alcorn’s approach is how thoroughly he explains our future home in Heaven as a renewed Earth - clearly what Revelation 21 teaches. Most of us have probably read Revelation 21 and know that at least there is the concept of a “new heaven and new earth” - but I would guess that most of us haven’t spent a ton of time investigating or even imagining what it really means to live on a renewed earth for eternity.

Alcorn builds what I believe is a compelling biblical case for the fact that God created us to live on the earth - and the earth as He originally intended it before the Fall is a picture of what Heaven will be like when the earth is renewed. He says this:

“The biblical doctrine of the New Earth implies something startling: that if we want to know what the ultimate Heaven, our eternal home, will be like, the best place to start is by looking around us. We shouldn’t close our eyes and try to imagine the unimaginable. We should open our eyes, because the present Earth is as much a valid reference point for envisioning the New Earth as our present bodies are a valid reference point for envisioning our new bodies. After all, we’re living on the renmants of a perfect world, as the remnants of a perfect humanity.” (Randy Alcorn, Heaven, p. 81)

I have to admit that, even after having taken an eschatology class in seminary, my view of Heaven was a little foggy. I’m guessing that many of us have very divergent pictures of Heaven - from floating in the clouds playing a harp to perpetually singing worship songs while walking streets of gold to floating around as a disembodied spirit… But, I’m gaining a beautiful and wonderfully compelling picture of Heaven through this book - one that convinces me that

“Messiah will come from Heaven to Earth, not to take us away from Earth to Heaven, but to restore Earth to what He intended so He can live with us here forever.” (p.90)

Christ is going to redeem all that has been veiled, clouded, distorted and perverted to the perfection that He originally intended. “That which is now used for prideful and even idolatrous purposes will be used to the glory of God when the hearts of mankind are transformed and creation itself is renewed.” (p.97)

I love the thought of this place that God has created for finally being renewed to its original perfection for us to enjoy. Trees that are always green, mountains majestic, flowing rivers teeming with life, animals of all kinds - that never attack humans, plants that never wilt, people that never betray, disappoint or fail in any way, and a Savior who lives with us and walks on this renewed Earth with us every day for all of eternity. WOW!

I’ll close this post with this quote from theologian A.A. Hodge, who as Alcorn points out, says it beautifully:

“Heaven, as the eternal home of the divine Man and of all the redeemed members of the human race, must necessarily be thoroughly human in its structure, conditions and activities. Its joys and activities must all be rational, moral, emotional, voluntary and active. There must be the exercise of all the faculties, the gratifications of all the tastes, the development of all talent capacities, the realization of all ideals. The reason, the intellectual curiosity, the imagination, the aesthetic instincts, the holy affections, the social affinities, the inexhaustible resources of strength and power native to the human soul must all find in Heaven exercise and satisfaction. Then there must always be a goal of endeavor before us, ever future… Heaven will prove the consummate flower and fruit of the whole creation and of all the history of the universe.” (p. 97-98)

This is a view of Heaven that really excites me. I can’t wait to get there! (Or better put, I can’t wait for Heaven to get HERE!)

Earlier today, a story in The Jerusalem Post was circulated in which Dr. Jerry Falwell was said to have agreed with televangelist John Hagee’s assertion of a “dual covenant” theology, holding that Gentiles and Jews are covered by two different covenants, and that the Jewish people therefore have no need to come to faith in Christ. This is the idea that the Jewish people, as God’s chosen people, have an everlasting covenant with God prior to Christ and therefore have access to God apart from Christ. This kind of theology is contrary to the Gospel of the cross of Christ and is not based on the truth of Scripture. Falwell quickly issued this clarifying statement and demanded that The Jerusalem Post correct its story:

Earlier today, reports began circulating across the globe that I have recently stated that Jews can go to heaven without being converted to Jesus Christ. This is categorically untrue.

These false reports originated from a March 1 Jerusalem Post front page column which said: “An evangelical pastor and an Orthodox rabbi, both from Texas, have apparently persuaded leading Baptist preacher Jerry Falwell that Jews can get to heaven without being converted to Christianity. Televangelist John Hagee and Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg, whose Cornerstone Church and Rodfei Sholom congregations are based in San Antonio, told The Jerusalem Post that Falwell had adopted Hagee’s innovative belief in what Christians refer to as ‘dual covenant’ theology. This creed, which runs counter to mainstream evangelism, maintains that the Jewish people have a special relationship to God through the revelation at Sinai and therefore do not need ‘to go through Christ or the Cross’ to get to heaven.”

While I am a strong supporter of the State of Israel and dearly love the Jewish people and believe them to be the chosen people of God, I continue to stand on the foundational biblical principle that all people — Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, Jews, Muslims, etc. — must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to enter heaven.

Dr. Hagee called me today and said he never made these statements to the Jerusalem Post or to anyone else. He assured me that he would immediately contact the Jerusalem Post and request a correction. Before today, I had never heard of Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg or had any communications with him. I therefore am at a total loss as to why he would make such statements about me to the Post, if in fact he did.

One Way to Heaven

In this age of political correctness and diversity, the traditional evangelical belief that salvation is available only through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is often portrayed as closed-minded and bigoted. But if one is to believe in Jesus Christ, he must believe in His words: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father but by Me” (John 14:6). I simply cannot alter my belief that Jesus is The Way to heaven, as He taught.

Again, I do not follow this teaching of “dual covenant” theology and I believe it runs counter to the Gospel.

I have been on record all 54 years of my ministry as being opposed to “dual covenant” theology. In fact, Dr. John Hagee has indicated to me, as recently as today, that he likewise does not accept “dual covenant” theology.

I want to reaffirm that I am a Zionist in terms of Israel’s entitlement to its homeland. I continue to pray daily for the peace of Jerusalem, as the Bible instructs Christians to do. And I have dedicated my life and ministry to working for the peace of Israel. I dearly cherish the highly esteemed Jabotinsky Award which was given me in 1981 by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. I have led thousands of pilgrims through the Land Of Israel during my 31 tours over 36 years. I seriously believe that few Americans have invested more time and resources in the defence of Israel in this generation.

However, I simply cannot alter my deeply-held belief in the exclusivity of salvation through the Gospel of Christ for the sake of political or theological expediency.

Like the Apostle Paul, I pray daily for the salvation of everyone, including the Jewish people.

Al Mohler covers the whole controversy well here, and I’m so glad Falwell issued this statement of clarification. I must admit, when I first read it, I could hardly believe my eyes. A good example of terrible journalism by The Jerusalem Times. I do question some of Hagee’s theological positions, but I’m glad to see someone of Falwell’s standing is still walking in truth on this matter of the gospel. I truly love the Jewish people, and hope that they would place their faith in Christ alone for their salvation. For all of us, there is only one Way - through Jesus Christ. (John 14:6)

(HT: Justin Taylor and Al Mohler)

I’m not very far into it yet, but I can already tell Randy Alcorn’s Heaven has the very real potential of being one of my all-time favorite books. I can say that because 1) Randy Alcorn is one of my favorite authors, and 2) Heaven is one of my favorite places. (now how’s that for a severe understatement?!) Although I haven’t been to Heaven yet, Alcorn is opening my eyes to what Scripture says about our eternal home in such a compelling way that I can see this will be life-changing. I’m only a few chapters into it, but I highly recommend this book - and I would love for anyone taking this journey with Randy and I to comment with any thoughts you have.

At the very beginning, Alcorn quotes another one of my favorite authors and theologians, Jonathan Edwards, speaking of Heaven:

“It becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward Heaven… to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end and true happiness.”

from Jonathan Edwards: Basic Writings, Ola Elizabeth Winslow, New York: New American Library, 1966, p. 142

This is true eternal perspective, and gives us a paradigm for living that changes everything. When we have a heavenly perspective informed and shaped by the truth of Scripture, every word, thought and decision is filtered not through the short-sighted vision this world offers, but one that promises infinite, eternal and soul-satisfying pleasure - because we’re spending eternity with the One for whom we were created to spend eternity - Jesus.

Alcorn spends the first chapter reshaping what most of us have as un unbiblical misconception of what Heaven is. It isn’t an eternal hymn-sing or even an eternal contemporary worship service. (Thank goodness!) It’s not an “ethereal realm of disembodied spirits.” It isn’t floating in the clouds in a toga playing a harp. It’s not even walking around on streets of gold, following cellestial choirs in an eternal procession of praise. Unfortunately, most people don’t have a realistic and Biblical conception of Heaven sadly because there has been so much theological neglect in the writings and teachings of the Church on this subject. That changes with this book. Alcorn paints the Biblical picture of Heaven being a real, physical, tangible place - a New Earth - the place we’re suited for - what we’ve been specifically designed for. Alcorn invites us to use our imaginations, and based in the very real truths of Scripture, imagine what life on earth would be like without sin, death, suffering and corruption. And even then, Heaven will be far better than anything we’ve ever seen or could ever imagine:

“So look out a window. Take a walk. Talk with your friend. Use your God-given skills to paint or draw or build a shed or write a book. But imagine it - all of it - in its original condition. The happy dog with the wagging tail, not the snarling beast, beaten and starved. The flowers unwilted, the grass undying, the blue sky without pollution. People smiling and joyful, not angry, depressed and empty. If you’re not in a particularly beautiful place, close your eyes and envision the most beautiful place you’ve ever been - complete with palm trees, raging rivers, jagged mountains, waterfalls, or snow drifts.

Think of friends or family members who loved Jesus and are with Him now. Picture them with you, walking together in this place. All of you have powerful bodies, stronger than those of an Olympic decathlete. You are laughing, playing, talking, and reminiscing. You reach up to a tree to pick an apple or orange. You take a bit. It’s so sweet that it’s startling. You’ve never tasted anything so good. Now you see someone coming toward you. It’s Jesus, with a big smile on His face. You fall to your knees in worship. He pulls you up and embraces you.

At last, you’re with the person you were made for, in the place you were made to be. Everywhere you go there will be new people and places to enjoy, new things to discover. What’s that smell? A feast. A party’s ahead. And you’re invited. There’s exploration and work to be done - and you can’t wait to get started.”

Heaven, Randy Alcorn, Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, p. 18.

I can’t wait! I have to admit, I struggle at times in the same way Paul described in Philippians where he said “I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” (Phil. 1:23) Don’t get me wrong - I am blessed. I love the life and ministry God has given me and the family He has WOW’d me with… But, I have within me (and I guess many of you do as well) a strong, compelling desire to be in Heaven where everything is as God intended, and I can just sit down and have a good, long conversation (with a grande, easy vanilla, two percent, no foam latte) with my Savior. And, Alcorn’s book is painting an amazing picture that is even more compelling than any vision I’ve had previously. I’m going to dig in, finish this book and write a book review on it. You’ll be hearing more from me on this subject! In the meantime, click on this link and buy yourself a copy, and we can journey together.