A few years back, Dr. Jerram Barrs, a professor at Covenant Seminary, was speaking about the Narnia books at a Borders bookstore (remember those?). The store had been gracious enough to host the event and Dr. Barrs had drawn a large crowd, speaking about the Chronicles of Narnia and what they meant. At one point in the Q & A, a little boy stood up and said, “I don’t want to go to heaven! I want to go to Aslan’s country!”
I remember that story because that little guy’s desire was so right. In my favorite book in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Reepicheep the mouse has this lifelong wish to see Aslan’s country, the land where Aslan came from, where Aslan’s father reigns supreme. And at one point in the book, Reepicheep says this:
“While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.”
Christians tend to get very excited about heaven. And that’s great. I’m sure heaven will be fantastic. But it seems to me that we’re missing something. The Bible is very clear: heaven is not our final destination.
People really want to know what heaven will be like. People are so desperate to know about it that they write books about the afterlife. I completely understand this motivation. Some people even go so far as to say they’ve died, gone there, and come back to tell us what our home will be like. But heaven is not our home. Heaven is merely the threshold.
But this reigning “heaven-is-the-ending” philosophy has a few problems.
1.) It leads to an “I’ll Fly Away” escapist mentality. The rationale goes something like this: This world is not my home. God will scrap it anyway. My job on earth is to grin and bear it until I die and then the real party starts. To quote Colin Hay, “I’m waiting for my real life to begin.”
2.) If heaven is the final destination for a Christian, then the Christian has no meaningful reason to take care of the earth. Oh sure, we should be good stewards of creation and we’re commanded to care for the earth. But because our citizenship is in heaven, I don’t really have a reason to recycle or fight pollution or save the whales. Heaven will be litter-free and THAT’S where I’m going.
3.) It just ain’t biblical.
I’ve already written about how I think God is not going to scrap the world and start over with a new one. But whether you agree with me there or not, the real biblical story does not end with all the saints floating up in heaven. It ends with a new sky and a new land, renewed and cleansed from all sin and death.
And upon that new earth, the holy city, new Jerusalem, will come down out of heaven to be the dwelling place of God among humanity. That old hymn “I’ll Fly Away” should really be about leaving heaven to come back down to our true, eternal home: the earth.
This is what C.S. Lewis was trying to get at with the idea of Aslan’s country. A real place with real walls and streets and trees and running water. That’s where the saints will live out eternity. You can read all about this in the Book of Revelation, chapters 21-22.
In the end, heaven will come down to subsume the earth with “the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel” (Rev.21:10-11). We will live out eternity here, on the earth-renewed, in Aslan’s country, bathing in the glory of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea. And he will dwell among his people and they shall reign forever and ever.
That is why I will sink with my nose to the sunrise. Because that’s my real home: this earth, cleansed from evil, wrapped in the Light of the glory of God. The promise of Aslan’s country.
question(s)… so christians get to go to heaven and get a new earth? what about the sinners? they just get to go to hell and that’s it? maybe this is a silly way to put it, because we’re talking about the damned here but doesn’t that seem a bit unfair? and i don’t get the whole eternity thing. it’s so incomprehensible that sometimes its seems like a pretty boring word, if you know what i mean. and what’s the difference between heaven being perfect and the new earth being perfect and how do the eternities differ? maybe it’s a lot theology i’m asking about here and i could better take a class, which i don’t have time or money for, and i’m not about to dig through the book revelation my self and try to draw my own conclusions from the bible, a book that is mysterious, mystical and pretty strange (good and bad) at the same time.
oh and is there sin in the new earth because it seems again, unfair if all the damned just have to stay there.
I remember as a kid in sunday school, often i would not pay attention and just read the book of revelation, and i really enjoyed it. there are so many different interpretations of life after death, inside and outside of christianity which are very fascinating, and i also love learning about the cosmos, astrophysics, quantum theory, all that who ha. just fun stuff.
i’d appreciate hearing your response jason.
matthew.
ps. back in stl in late august. fur good.
Matt,
First off, your post script filled me with delight. Were it a deer carcass and I a dog, I would’ve rolled around in it. We are going to paint the town puce, my friend!
And Matt, one of the things I love about you (besides your smiling face) is that you know me well. You know me well enough to not be surprised by my convictions. I doubt this answer will shock you. But I hope you know me well enough to know I don’t write glibly or casually about the reality of “fairness” here.
If things were fair, everyone would be cast into the lake of fire for eternal torment and pain. It’s what we all deserve because we all have chosen to love other things more than we love God. But God, in his infinite “unfairness”, has stooped down to provide a way to give eternal pleasure and ecstasy. That way is trust in his Son Jesus. You know this. You’ve heard this. But you haven’t tasted it yet.
You ask “what about the sinners”. That’s a bit too vague for me. Christians are sinners too. The only thing that separates a Christian from a not-yet-Christian is that God has called him or her His child. As a result, the Christian delights in and takes supreme pleasure in God as the greatest possible Good in the cosmos.
The people who don’t take pleasure in God as the best treasure are the people you call “the sinners”. They’re the ones who decided that the best possible pleasure wasn’t what they wanted. Instead, they chose to delight in fear, porn, lying, looking out for themselves. And they are the ones that will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death (Rev.21:8).
Yeah, there are a lot of interpretations about the afterlife and the end times and all that. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun to think and talk about. But when it comes down to it, the Gospel is all about pleasure: will you delight in God above all other things, savoring Jesus and his death on the cross as payment for your lack of enjoying him…or will you not? It’s as stark and simple as that.
PS- can’t wait for you to come home. We’re gonna celebrate.
As always, Jason, spot on regarding our final destination. Nothing like a bleeding picture tourist trap to mess with the whole image. On the flip side, is imagining what it might be like to be in the presence of Jesus a bad thing? To live is Christ to die is gain. The lover anticipates the smell of his beloved’s new cologne. Sometimes the best part of Christmas are the days just before. These aren’t mutually exclusive longings. I’m not sure that all the heaven books are necessarily claiming heaven as a final destination so much as an indescribably amazing place. They affirm afresh we do not labor here in vain. Are glimpses of heaven limited to Paul, Stephen, and John? Bible in one hand, book in the other; I believe the scent of my Beloved can sometimes be detected in strange places, and His footprint in the clay of His creation.
Very well said, Lane! But please don’t hear what I’m not saying. Yes, heaven will be amazing. Yes, it’ll be great to be where Jesus is. But on the new earth, Jesus will also be there. And that’s the final destination. I was just commenting that the majority of folks don’t seem to see that (to the injury/neglect of God’s good creation). Perhaps glimpses of heaven weren’t just limited to Paul, Stephen, and John. I don’t know. But I do think it’s worth considering that with Paul and Stephen, they don’t give details about what it’s like. And with John, his story ends in a place that isn’t heaven at all. Rather, his story ends with heaven come down to earth. That’s the climax and ending and I think merely we tend to lose focus when we mistake the journey (or even the threshold) for the final rest.
I think we’re in theological agreement as far as heaven and the first command man was given (to take care of the earth)…physical fruit picturing the Great Commission of spiritual fruit and the spiritual arguably trumping but not negating the physical. Stephen briefly mentions similar details that “Heaven is for Real” mentions like the position of Jesus at the right hand of God. That book mentions some other things that make perfect sense in light of what Scripture alludes to. That book also mentions encounters similar to the prophets in booths (loved ones). Of course our faith should never rest on the extra-Biblical testimonies of any kind, but the power of testimony is not to be denied either. One thing I’m hoping you never do as I’ve seen other pastors do is belittle the callings of others, not based on biblical taboo but because they are not explicitly described, permitted or commanded in Scripture. When the Pharisees attributed Christ’s power to the Devil, the resulting dissertation was about blasphemy against the Spirit. I think we sometimes tiptoe over there, well meaning, to protect the integrity of the solid Biblical core. Given the mess the Church is in these days, I really do appreciate such caution, but with everything there is a way to be off kilter. I hold that some of the things these kids state they have seen are incredibly motivating to fall on my face in worship…not likely a result of the exploits of Beezebub.
I’m glad it helps you, Lane. I just don’t see it as very helpful for me. I would never belittle anyone’s calling. But I WOULD disagree and state my reasons. As you know, to differ is not to hate.