Good Heaven! After death - what?

  • Testimony

“The term is over; the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning”….The things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.…For them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world …. had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

C S Lewis: The Last Battle, 1956

Indeed, because conveying truth about the future is beyond adequate prose, the Bible instead appeals to our imaginations in a kaleidoscope of dazzling pictures:

  • A new creation: a stunning blending of the heavenly realm with a transformed earth [1]
  • A spacious parkland: whose trees are even more varied, beautiful and succulent than before, inviting endless opportunities for exploration and discovery [2]
  • A transformed body: majestic, flawless and with vibrant health [3]
  • A personalised villa: whose windows at last allow us to see with perfect clarity the glory and magnificence of Jesus, as well as others [4]
  • A golden city: bustling, thriving, and full of light, refreshment and energy [5]
  • A palace: with royal status, privileges and responsibilities, along with discovering old and new friends from around the world and throughout history, with a background of unparalleled singing [6]
  • A wedding breakfast: with laughter, music, dancing, magnificent clothes and an exquisite celebration meal [7]

Although many of these point to the end of days when Jesus returns to complete all things, some refer to our immediate experience after death. This is why St Paul declares his “desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” than this life.

This day in Paradise

Engraving on a headstone: Waddesdon Parish Church, 2013

Dr Andrew Miller - author of ‘This world is not my home’ on this website

[1] Is 65:17; Rev 21:1; Rom 8.20-21

[2] Gen 2:8-9; Luke 23:42-43: Rev 2:7

[3] 1 Cor 15:42-44,49

[4] John 14:1-3; 1 Cor 13:12

[5] Rev 21:3-22:5; Heb 11:10,16

[6] Heb 12:22-23; Rev 4

[7] Rev 19:6-9;21:2