Hebrews 12:1 - Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…
I do not pray to those who have gone into the heavenly dimension before me. Nor do I ask those who’ve gone before me to approach Father God on my behalf, putting a word in for me as it were, but I do pray with them, and I say this carefully, I do even pray for them.
Yes, the following is a long sentence… so read it slowly, sorry! Though I cannot say with certainty what their environment is exactly like it seems to me that the saints, that is believers in Christ who are no longer physically with us, are occupying, serving, worshiping, or resting within some kind of“space”, the portal of which is created by the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. One day that "space" will open up more fully with the second coming of Jesus and the bodily resurrection.
Meanwhile, this “space” may rightly be called paradise. Or it rightly may be called heaven. I don't really know. If it is heaven, it’s important to note that it is not the final heaven. The final (so to speak) heaven takes place after the second coming of Jesus and the physical bodily resurrection of those who have previously died. Our great and ultimate hope is this final (again, so to speak) heaven, but I cannot help but be intrigued and fascinated with whatever we call the current heaven or paradise. Why? Because I have loved ones there, and as such, a part of my heart is there! And since today is All Saints Day it’s more than appropriate to contemplate the subject. One of the questions I’ve thought a lot about is whether or not those in the current heaven are aware of what is happening in current earth. I don’t really know for sure, however, here are four thoughts that would lead me to think it is likely…
• There is prayer going on in heaven about injustice being done on earth. Read about it in Rev 6:10. If prayer about injustice is going on right now, it seems legitimate to suggest that those in the current heaven know about what is happening with us and to us in the earthly dimension.
• Hebrews 12:1 says we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us.
• Jesus once spoke of a story in Luke 16, about a rich man and a poor man (Lazarus) who were interacting in the dimension beyond earth about people they knew at that present time to be alive on earth.
• The current heaven is a place where The Lamb is worshiped, but think about it, if you are looking at someone you adore and that someone is looking somewhere else, it’s likely that your gaze will turn that way as well. In 2 Chronicles 16:9, and other passages, we learn that God is watching us. It seems likely to me that those in current heaven watching God watch us… will at some point turn and watch us as well.
If that logic seems accurate, and I think that is probably is, it seems we are more linked than I ever previously imagined to those in the current heaven. If we are linked, and my daughter (and others) have some awareness of me and the situations I am in, it encourages me all the more to live a life pleasing to God. Not because I want to impress them necessarily (although given a choice I would rather impress them than not) but so that I can continue to walk through and in that portal that Christ created. It’s through that portal that I gain life with Christ. And it’s through Christ that I will have a relationship once again with my loved ones. So, why wouldn’t I be encouraged to have a stronger connection with God by considering that my loved ones are still linked up with me? And why wouldn't I be encouraged to pray with and for them?
Sidenote: Of course, it’s also entirely possible that any talk of the current heaven within the context of space and time (which is what I’ve been doing here) has no bearing on the matter. If there is a God who’s created time and space, then he must be bigger than time and space. If heaven exists beyond time and space, then it’s also possible that my loved ones are already stepping into that “final” heaven. For them, to pass from death into life would just seem to be instantaneous. They would have gone to sleep and then awakened at the celebration of the wedding supper of The Lamb! And one day, it will be for me as well. In fact, looking at it this way may lead me to think that I will join up, hand in hand with my loved ones and experience that celebration with them, all at the same time. We would all, in that scenario, wake up together! That would be really cool if that were true… and maybe it is… but now my brain hurts.
Suffice it to say that the risen Christ is the hope of the world. It is the hope for those who’ve died and entered into whatever that heavenly dimension is… and it is the hope for those of us who will die… because you realize, you will die, right? One day you will be a “saint” that others will think about and consider on All Saints Day. Until then, be thankful for the "space" God has created for us!
Want to do more reading about this? Check out…
NT Wright, Randy Alcorn, or James Bruckner to name a few.