Yesterday in Gathering, one of our guests raised the question about levels in heaven. Will people who have been more faithful as followers of Jesus on earth reside in "higher" levels of heaven? Are there degrees of rewards in heaven?

Here's a little insight I'll throw out there for you today. Let me know if you have any thoughts about it.

The idea of levels of heaven was not a distinctively first century, Christian idea. Paul hints at levels of heaven when he writes this to the Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 12:2-5 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know- God knows. And I know that this man- whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows- was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.

Paul clearly means that "third heaven" is heaven itself. The "first heaven" in antiquity commonly meant the skies or the earth's atmosphere. The "middle heaven" if you will would be where the moon, stars, planets, etc traveled about. This doesn't really imply levels in heaven itself. It just means that heaven would somehow have to reside above the earth, above the skies, above outer space.

Later in church history, early fathers such as Justin Martyr, developed an entire cosmological system in response to Gnostic thinking about the universe, Satan, demons, angels and heaven. The diagram above represents some of the thinking on the part of early church apologists. Note the various levels and how they are grouped in a hierarchy starting with Hell building all the way to heaven. This is perhaps where we get ideas of levels.

Scripture itself never talks about levels IN heaven. The focus is on a place created by God in which God and his people will dwell eternally. There may be varying degrees of reward for the kinds of things people have done to serve God in their life-times. The bible speaks of crowns. Paul mentions our works being judged and found to be of varying qualities of significance (some will burn up, other will be refined like gold, silver, etc). No really "good seats" in heaven for really good Christians like Mark Ashton and the rest of us get so-so seating! In fact if it is a graded experience in any sense we might actually be surprised to find out what "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" is really all about.

Let me know what you think! In my next post, I'll give you a little more on Early Church Father cosmology....

Labels: cosmology, eternity, Heaven, judgment, levels of heaven, Questions for Heaven

I'm so excited I could just about explode! The more I think about heaven, the more my spiritual vision burns with hope, joy and anticipation! Do you feel that way?

You've probably heard the familiar slam on the adage: "Don't be so heavenly-minded you're no earthly good." Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth! Most people I know scurrying around trying to be busy and important, could use a heavenly two-by-four to the forehead. We all need to slow them down and infuse our striving madness with a good dose of heavenly reality. I don't know how anyone could make sense of earth WITHOUT the possibility of heaven on the horizon of our impossible schedules.

Come on out to Gathering this week as we launch head-long into a fascinating look at heaven. Here's a flavor for some of the questions we're going to start with this week:

1 - What's on the timeline between here-and-now...and then-and-there. What's gonna happen between the world as we know it now and the New Heavens and New Earth? Take a look at Rev 21 if you can before you come to Gathering.

2 - Rev 21 is a look at the eternal state, but what about now? What is the present experience of believers in heaven. Is the place we call heaven happening here and now? Who is in heaven right now as I'm reading this blog post? What is the intermediate state of a redeemed person who dies before the second coming of Jesus?

3 - Last and most important: What will my body be like in heaven? What will I do? Will I be bored? Will heaven be an ethereal or solid? What's the food going to be like? What was Jesus' resurrection body like and does that give us any clue about what we'll eat in heaven (better look up a little scripture on that one - see John 21 and Luke 24

Stay tuned to the blog as I get more stuff out about our topics. Come out this Sunday and bring your best questions! I'm the chump we all get to stump and I'm psyched about the topic!

Labels: eternal state, Gathering, Heaven, intermediate state, Jesus' 2nd Return, New Earth, New Heavens, Questions for Heaven