Heaven Is Not an Escape Hatch

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. - Revelation 21:1

The final vision of heaven that we get in the Bible is very clearly NOT about going to heaven when you die. It’s not about going to heaven at all. That’s not the direction of the movement in this passage.

This passage (and many others) emphasize that heaven comes to earth. It’s right here, folks, where heaven takes up residence. Ultimately, we don’t go to be with God. Instead, “God’s dwelling place is no among the people.”

For some of us, it used to be easy to think of heaven as a place you went to when you died, as long as you got your ticket punched by saying “the sinner’s prayer.'“ It was a neat and clean way out of taking responsibility for this world, since it’s all passing away anyhow.

But how does it change things if the earth you stand on is going to be the place where heaven invades? If God comes here, then God hallows this planet like God hallowed this flesh and blood in the incarnation. Now it’s sacred, and no longer can we just disregard this place - we’ve got to start getting ready for the King to come! No longer can we use a disembodied heaven as a placebo to quiet down the masses - we’ve got to get out there and love and serve them.

Perhaps heaven is less of an escape hatch and more of a protest song. How might that view of heaven change how you think of your role on earth now?