Transparent Christian Magazine

My Dad was very racially biased and struggled with that issue all of his life. He was not alone among the “greatest generation”.

A few months before he died, I asked him to share his thoughts on heaven. He said, “There will be no color because our spirits do not have color”.  He considered himself to be a learned Bible student. I reminded him that in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes the process of the “immortal being united with the mortal”. I also mentioned that in Revelation, John saw “tribes from every nation” in his preview of heaven.

Dad was not alone in his misunderstanding.

Lately I’ve been discussing “heaven” with people and asking them to give me their perception.  Comments range from “floating on clouds” to “not sure” to “haven’t thought about it lately”.

I used to believe that a person could be “so heavenly minded that they were no earthly good”. I no longer believe that.  As I consider the folks who have made gigantic impacts in this world spiritually, they were all “heavenly minded”.

I’ve reflected on the songs that we sang when I was young with titles such as: “When We All Get to Heaven”, “I’ll Fly Away”, “I’ve Got a Home in Glory land”, “Beyond the Sunset” and countless others.  Our African American friends sang “We Shall Overcome”!

Why do we not think about heaven nor sing about heaven until we attend a funeral?  The reason that “I Can Only Imagine” became a mega-hit and crossed over as a secular hit is that it temporarily lifted our eyes and minds to think and imagine beyond the cares and toils of life.

Misconception #1-We’ll be in heaven in spirit form only.

Reality- We’ll have bodies exactly like the resurrected body of Jesus during His forty days after His resurrection and before His ascension. He walked, talked, and ate with His disciples and more than 500 folks saw His “new body” and heard him speak!

Our spirit and body will exist for eternity in heaven or hell. See Luke 16:19-31 and read the dialogue between a man who went to hell and a man who went to the “present heaven”.