Heaven - A Common Belief

Mark Dunagan
05/18/08 - Sunday Morning

 

• A Common Belief

 

An ABC News poll taken in 2005 found that nine out of 10 people in the United States say, they believe in heaven. This news station concluded, “Every culture has wrestled with the question of an afterlife, and most have come to a similar conclusion: the bad end up in Hell, the good go to Heaven” (Heaven—Where Is It? How Do We Get There? Dec. 20. 2005, abc.news.com).A recent AARP poll taken in 2007 among adults 50 and older found that 94% believe in God, 86% believe in heaven and 70% believe in hell (Thoughts on the Afterlife Among US Adults 50+, June 2007, www.aarp.com). Not only do people in the United States believe in heaven in overwhelming numbers, but such has always been true in every culture:

 

The Vikings believed in Valhalla, where one would join an eternal feast. Yet it was only for those who died heroically in battle. There they would battle all day, be remade at sunset, and feast all night. Avalon, also called the “Fortunate Isle” was paradise for the ancient Celts. It was said to be a place of timeless happiness. Bralgu is the name that the Australian Aboriginals have for heaven. They believe when a person dies the soul is ferried to Bralgu in an enchanted boat that sails upstream where one is reunited with dead relatives and friends. Dilum is mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and is said to be a lush garden full of fruit and game where favored souls live forever. Most American Indians believed in the Spirit Land, where humans and animals go after death and is a place of endless Spring and Summer. According to the Inuits (Eskimos) virtuous souls ascend to the Land of the Moon where they find eternal rest. Moksha is the ultimate destiny for the Hindu, a state where reincarnation is no longer needed and where the spirit dissolves as a distinct individual entity and joins with the collective cosmic essence. The Pole Starwas the center of the Aztec Universe, with Tialocan being South of the Pole Star, a place of friendly animals, fragrant flowers, and peace. Many Muslims believe that heaven is a physical place. “We are told we will be in comfortable homes, reclining on silk couches—so we’re given the delights of sex, the delights of wine, the delights of food with all of their positive things without their negative aspects” (Imam Feisal Abduf Rauf, found of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, www.abcnews.com).

 

• What One Must Conclude:

 

It is obvious that not only is belief in a deity an overwhelming and universal belief, but belief in a wonderful afterlife for the good and a bad afterlife for the wicked is equally common and universal. I can only conclude that such proves that:

 

1. All cultures did spring from Noah and his sons just as the Bible says (Genesis 10), and God’s truth filtered down into every culture. While it was often corrupted in other cultures outside of Israel, over time the grain of truth is still there nonetheless.

2. All men and women are made in the image of God and have the capacity of understand and long for spiritual things.

3. All can understand that there is a God (Romans 1:20).

4. All have a sense of “eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and have equally have a sense of “justice”. This is seen in the fact that 70% of people believe in hell.

5. Atheists may seem to have influence in various institutions or in the media, but it seems that very few people believe them. Therefore it appears that there are far more people who are “acting like” God does not exist, rather than who truly believe that there is not a heaven or hell.

 

Ellen Johnson, president of the American Atheists said, “Heaven doesn’t exist, hell doesn’t exist. We weren’t alive before we were born and we’re not going to exist after we die. I’m not happy about the fact that that’s the end of life, but I can accept that and make my life more fulfilling now, because this is the only chance I have” (www.abcnews.com). What I found revealing about this quote is the statement she is “not happy” with the absence of an afterlife taught in Atheism. I would guess that many atheists feel the same way. They find themselves in a religion (not believing in God is “a faith”) that has placed them between two “dislikes”: They do not like the idea of God, accountability, submission to His will, and the final judgment,yet in moving away from such realities they find themselves confronted by the disappointment of no afterlife.

 

• Heaven Made to Our Liking?

 

As I researched “heaven” in other cultures I often found the pattern of putting in heaven all the things that such a culture loved or valued, just like various cultures invented gods to their own liking or at least with their own faults magnified. For example, the American Indians wanted a place of perpetual hunting, the Muslims an unlimited supply of wine, women and song, and the Vikings longed for a place of “good fighting” and feasting. I find the same trend in the American culture as well. Certainly many Americans have a very fuzzy view of heaven, but others are expecting a physical place where they can pursue their favorite pastime in unlimited measure.

 

The danger of making heaven into a place where our favorite hobby or pursuit is always accessible is that we start pursuing it for all the wrong reasons. Heaven is certainly something that we should pursue and long for:

 

• “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20).

• “To those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immorality, eternal life” (Romans 2:7).

• “For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:2)

• “We are of good courage, I say, prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

• “Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

• “Having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:23).

 

I find it significant that when the apostles or Jesus spoke of heaven, they did not stress unlimited recreation, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and so on. Rather, the entire stress was seeing God and being with Him.

 

• Things or Him?

 

As long as heaven is presented as being some kind of reward that is physical or earthly, men and women will not address their greatest need. I know there are professed Christians who do not find worship, prayer, bible study or simply serving to be that enjoyable, but they keep on because they view heaven as a place where they can go about their business without really having to spend much time with God. What such a person needs to address is the reality that physical pleasures cannot satisfy the soul even when such pleasures are in unlimited measure and duration or cleansed of all their negative consequences. The Bible and human experience both repeatedly remind us that only a good relationship with God can make life—any kind of life worth living:

 

“For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?” (Ecclesiastes 2:25).

“He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season” (Psalm 1:3)

“My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:2).

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38).

 

Thus the idea of heaven being some kind of physical amusement park, where we are on a perpetual vacation and where do everything we want to do at the moment, would actually become old and boring after a while. We need to be grateful that God did not design eternal life according to what we might think would make us happy. Many ideas of heaven are just as shortsighted as the little boy who thinks that a constant diet of candy would be satisfying. This is probably one reason some groups believe that heaven will be a renewed earth, even though the Bible makes it very clear that the earth will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:10). Yet it is very difficult for mankind, even when they are religious, to think of any existence that is better than the beauty of this earth. Thus dwelling on heaven should remind us that what really makes any existence meaningful, is a relationship with God, whether earthly or heavenly, and that material things or physical pleasures all have their limitations.

 

• How Good is It?

 

The value of looking at how other religions or cultures view heaven is to see what people think is the ultimate and then to realize that our reward is actually far greater than that. Heaven is better than unlimited feasting that does not result in stomach pain or weight gain. It is better than hunting and fishing all the time, or glory in battle. It is far better than living in an earthly place, being served and unlimited sexual activity. It is even better than being in an eternally good marriage (Matthew 22:30). So when people talk about their idea of heaven, the Christian can clarify, “That’s not it. But heaven is worlds better than that!” Jesus said, “Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:12).

 

So when it comes to thinking about heaven, we need to be humble and admit that our idea of the ultimate experience is far below what the ultimate really is. God is the architect of this place, and His ways and thoughts are far above our limited ideas of what we think at this moment would bring lasting happiness (Isaiah 55:8-9).