Monday, May 21, 2012

Heaven All Around Us?

I'm still working my way through Randy Alcorn's book Heaven, slowly but surely. It's not that it's a difficult or boring read, quite the contrary!  There are so many intriguing and exciting truths and possibilities to consider about our eternal home.  The book is changing my whole heavenly paradigm. 


For example, in chapter 18, Alcorn discusses what it will mean for God and mankind to dwell together, and I'd like to share these thoughts:

Genesis 3:8 states, "And [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden."  God visited with Adam and Eve in the garden whenever he pleased, but on the new earth, God and his redeemed children will live together; there will be no "visiting" from one realm to another (2 Corinthian 6:16).  There will no longer be one primary dwelling of God and a different primary dwelling of mankind.  According to Alcorn, "Once God and mankind dwell together, there will be no difference between Heaven and Earth.  Earth will become Heaven--and it will truly be Heaven on Earth.  The New Earth will be God's locus, his dwelling place.  This is why I do not hesitate to call the new Earth 'Heaven,' for where God makes his home is Heaven. The purpose of God will at last be achieved:  'To bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ' (Ephesians 1:10)." (pp. 183-184) 

And now for the intriguing part:

Alcorn continues:  "In fact, there may not be two universes even now. . .It might be better. . .if we think of the location of the present Heaven as not in another universe but simply as part of ours that we are unable to see, due to our spiritual blindness.  If that's true, when we die we don't go to a different universe but to a place within our universe that we're currently unable to see.  Just as blind people cannot see the world, even though it exists all around them, we are unable to see heaven in our fallen condition.  Is it possible that before sin and the Curse, Adam and Eve saw clearly what is now invisible to us?  Is it possible that Heaven itself is but inches away from us?  Does death restore a visual acuity we once had?" (p. 184)


"When we pass through what we call death, we do not lose the world.  Indeed, we see it for the first time as it really is."  ~ Dallas Willard

No comments:

Post a Comment