Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Careers, Workplace and Religion
Our Hope is not for a Permanent Vacation in Heaven

Our Hope is not for a Permanent Vacation in Heaven

Last updated on: April 24, 2018 at 10:50 am by Bob Robinson

Our Hope is not for a Permanent Vacation in Heaven 2018-04-24T10:50:54-04:00 Bob Robinson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As we enter into Spring, our family has been talking about what we want to do for Summer Vacation. We want to get away from our mundane, day-to-day life and go somewhere else, somewhere where we can experience adventure, relax when we want – somewhere exciting.

As I grow older, discussions start about retirement. A time in the future when we can no longer be tied down to the lives we currently have – where we are free to do what we want when we want. We can even do nothing if we want!

Vacations and retirement: Our perception of what brings joy can be skewed by these concepts. We have been programmed to think that hope and happiness comes from getting away from it all. We have lost the reality of true hope: That the life we live on a day-to-day basis is meant to be wonderfully full of flourishing and joy. That hope is not getting away from that life; it is the renewal and restoration of that life.

Heaven is Great, But it’s Not the End of the World.

The ultimate skewing of our perception of hope in a better future is our understanding of heaven. We think that the answer to our pain, our daily frustrations, our illness and brokenness, our crumbling culture, and all that we see wrong in the world is to escape to some other place called “Heaven.”

But the Bible makes it clear (how do we consistently miss this?) that our hope is in the restoration of all things. Our hopes and dreams do not need to evaporate as we head off to another place – they can come to fruition at the renewal of all things.

Go through the Gospels and look for Jesus’ teachings on Heaven. You’d think that if Heaven is the ultimate hope for mankind that the Lord would teach a whole lot about it! But he simply does not. What he proclaimed was not the hope of Heaven but the hope of the Kingdom of God. And the Kingdom of God means that God takes control of life again. He rips our lives out of the claws of Satan, sin, and death. He restores our lives to the way God intended them to be. The Kingdom of God is when Jesus is Lord of all of life again, making it the way it is meant to be. This is our promised future!

Jesus taught that “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne…everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:28-29).

“At the renewal of all things.” That’s right! Jesus says that the future has hope not because God obliterates this existence and sends us off to Heaven, but because everything will be renewed.

John heard it proclaimed by God in the Revelation: “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5).

The hope we should have for our future is not an escape to Heaven, but a restoration of life as it should be on Earth!

N. T. Wright makes this observation:

“The first Christians did not simply believe in ‘life after death’; they virtually never speak simply of ‘going to heaven when they died’ (as I have often said, heaven is important but it’s not the end of the world); and when they do speak of heaven as a post-mortem destination they seem to regard this ‘heavenly’ life as a temporary stage on the way to the eventual resurrection of the body.” (Surprised by Hope, p. 52).

In his new book, All Things New, John Eldredge tells us that our hope for the future needs to be realigned to the Bible*.*

“I’ll be honest—far too often what gets presented as the ‘hope’ of Christianity feels more like a bait and switch. ‘We understand that you will eventually lose everything you love, that you have already lost so much. Everything you love and hold dear, every precious memory and place you will lose, but afterward you get to go to this New Place Up Above!’… Escapism isn’t going to do it… What we ache for is redemption; what our heart cries out for is restoration” (p. xi).

Everything Matters to God – And is Worthy of Restoration

Where do you place your hope? I understand that life is difficult. Believe me, I understand (I am yet again painfully recovering from another major surgery, after writhing in agony for a week). The thought of getting away is indeed attractive, like going on a vacation away from it all.

But our hope is meant to be found in so much more: It is the redemption of that pain. It is the restoration of life so that we can experience the flourishing joy that God always intended for us.

It is, astonishingly, not The Great Escape, but The Great Life You Were Always Meant to Live.

That means that your work, your family, your friendships, your accomplishments, your hobbies, your dreams – everything – matters to God and is worthy of restoration.

After a long vacation, do you know what I actually look forward to? Getting back home! As nice as Heaven will be in the immediate aftermath of my death, I look forward to being resurrected and living here on a renewed earth. I will be home, and God will dwell here with me forever (see Revelation 21:1-5).

Image by Mathieu Cartoixa. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.

Previous Post

March 20, 2018

Disintegrated, We Need Re-Integrated

Next Post

March 27, 2018 My Many Medical Problems Make Me Appreciate Easter All the More

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category arts and entertainment audio/video bible / theology business church college community culture education faith family government/politics leadership media medicine podcast science & tech social sector tech Uncategorized work and calling

Select a Month November 2025 May 2025 October 2024 September 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 July 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 July 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I denied my Lord three times before dawn broke and a bird announced the morning. What creature's cry fulfilled the prophecy?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A rooster A raven An eagle A dove