Paradise
When did you last hear a sermon
describing heaven? Was it recently? Probably not. Christians often talk about going to heaven or, more
often, about other people having gone to heaven (meaning people who have died) but we rarely define what
"heaven" is like. If we turn to the Bible for a description we find appealing "paradise" images at the
beginning and the end, but neither of them is about heaven. Genesis chapter 2 places The Garden of Eden
firmly upon earth, and the same is true of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 22 and 23.
Solid
The Bible truth is that
we're not going to heaven. Look more carefully at what the Bible says, especially in the teachings of
Jesus and the Apostles, and we find them talking about something much more solid. They're not talking
about souls lifting off into an ethereal after-life, but about bodies being resurrected to live on a
new earth. Now that's a lot easier to imagine and hope for. For detailed teaching about this, I recommend
Tom Wright's book, "Surprised by Hope". My book, "Shemayin" will help you to imagine what that hope might
look like in reality.
Quantum
It might sound impressive
if I claimed to have planned to meet that objective, but that's not really how "Shemayin" came to be written.
What actually happened arose from a coffee-time chat I had with a friend, debating the oddities of quantum
physics. Some thoughts popped into my mind later while I was reflecting on that conversation, so I made
some notes. Then I looked at what I'd written, and realised that I'd started writing a story
Adventure
I've written a number of
non-fiction books about Christian life and teachings, and I didn't know where to start with a fictional story.
But I had started, and the story flowed easily from that point. I imagined a man expressing the thoughts I'd
just written down, then being plunged into an adventure based on a quantum event. He was transported to a
planet that looked and felt much like earth, but the similarities were only physical. The problem with earth
is that it's beautiful but spoiled - and it's humans that have done much of the damage. Shemayin is a much
more pleasant place, because it's populated by more pleasant people - people we'd hope to meet on a new earth
following the Resurrection.
Exciting
The fluffy images of heaven
that are often bandied about hold no appeal for me. Have you flown through a cloud? So you know you can't
sit on one. Do you enjoy worship meetings? So do I, but I wouldn't choose to stay there all day every day.
Do you enjoy serving and helping people? Now we're getting closer. Does variety make life more interesting
and exciting? The life people live on the (fictional) planet of Shemayin would appeal to you. Resurrection
life will be full, varied, beautiful, useful and blessed with honesty, joy, love, service, and worship. Can
you imagine that? Shemayin will inspire your thinking.
Not static
But the story isn't a static description.
Your Kingdom come
Your will be done
ON EARTH...
