Heaven

Since there is a lot of talk about Heaven and Hell right now and I wrote about Hell already, well here comes Heaven:

Heaven is eternal:
but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. (Matthew 6:20)
– Heaven does not go away and once you are found you can’t get lost. Saved for good!

Everyone is equal in Heaven:
I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. (Matthew 20:14)
– There is no better heaven for better people or a lesser heaven for those we don’t like that much: One size fits all!

Peace on a new earth:
He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)
– Real lasting peace among all people. That cannot be the earth we know. That must be heaven.

Eternal Davidic rule:
His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:7)
– Peace for Israel means peace for the world forever.

Physical perfection:
he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
– As new creatures nobody will have to experience any limitations in body, mind and soul.

Restoration of ruins:
And they will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined towns are now inhabited and fortified.” (Ezekiel 36:35)
– Whatever was kaput is fixed up again. The ruins of your life put back together – no matter how bad it may look now.

Heavenly Banquet:
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6-8)
– A common meal is the ultimate expression of peace and togetherness. Imagine that for all the world: Holy Communion!