Christians believe that heaven
will be perfect. But what does that mean?
Revelation 21:1 points to ‘a new heaven and a new earth.’ How different
will that be to what we now know? Does perfect, as we understand it, mean that
we have arrived, never again to make a mistake, having perfect knowledge and
wisdom, or will our ‘perfect’ be less than ‘perfect’?
If the ‘new earth’ is Eden
restored, as I believe it will be, it is appropriate to reflect on the original
creation before Adam and Eve rebelled as being an expression of God’s idea of
perfection. Starting from that point we can draw some conclusions.
Humans, both male and female,
were created in God’s ‘image’ in order to be ‘like’ Him (the text says ‘like
us’, implying a plurality) (‘Gen. 1: 26). We were created intelligent beings
with the ability to think, question, reason, learn and acquire knowledge. Who
knows the limits of our intellectual capacity?
Thomas Edison once said, ‘I have
not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.’ It was through trial
and error that Edison progressed, that knowledge is gained.
Today we can fly from Sydney to
London in around 24 hours but that has not been the case for most of human
history. It was on 17 December 1903 that Orville Wright made
mankind's first powered flight with a distance of 37 meters at a speed just
over 10 kph.
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| Orville Wright makes the first powered flight in history Image from: http://aviationhistory.info/Wright-photos.html |
This flight was not made in
isolation of the efforts of others. Someone else had developed the internal
combustion engine necessary for powered flight. And while they may not have
realised it themselves the pioneering work of Australian Lawrence Hargrave with his box kites
contributed to their success. The ability to work with others and to learn from
them is consistent with the idea of community and service to others clearly
taught in the Bible. This is how God intended us to grow in knowledge at the
beginning and therefore it is logical to conclude that this will be inherent in
Eden restored.
If we will have the capacity as
we now do to learn more, to pursue new ways of doing things, and to improve
then obviously there must be knowledge gaps. And if we don’t know everything
there will remain the likelihood that we will not properly understand what we
believe we already know. So, if our knowledge and understanding remain
incomplete we cannot claim perfect knowledge - we will in this way be
imperfect.
The Scripture affirms ‘God is
love …’ (1 John 4:16), that ‘love fulfils the … law’ (Romans 13:10) and that ‘We know what real love is because
Jesus gave up his life for us’ and so gave us an example that we should follow
(1 John 3:16). We can live our lives without committing adultery, stealing,
worshiping idols and we can go around doing good deeds. But that does not mean that
we are like God. While these things may be consistent with love, they do not
mean that we love. We were created in the image of God to love as God loves.
That love was lived out in the life of Jesus who ‘came not to be served but to
serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Matthew 20:28). Love
is demonstrated in a commitment to live one’s life in the service of others, to
put their needs and interests before our own, to ‘submit to one another out of
reverence for Christ’ (Ephesians 5:21). While this may be an ideal that we do
not live up to in this life no matter how hard we may try it will be the way we
live when God’s image is fully restored in us.
Love in a Biblical sense is both active and a matter of choice. I either
choose to do that which contributes to the greater good or I choose to pursue
my own self-interest.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own
way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures
through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
Trust is essential to successful relationships. Spouses cannot follow
their partners everywhere and so rely on the other half remaining faithful when
they are apart. Business leaders cannot know all there is to know to run a
successful business. They rely on trusted advisors to provide the information
and expertise they lack. Marriages, business and other relationships often fall
apart following serious breaches of trust.
It was in the area of trust and choice that Adam and Eve failed. God had
said they could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except one. God had
knowledge of things they lacked. Adam and Eve were placed on the earth to rule
over it as God’s representatives. When they disobeyed God they effectively put
their trust in God’s enemy. It was an act of betrayal.
Furthermore, rather than being prepared to accept responsibility for
their own behaviour they sought to shift the blame to someone else. Adam said ‘It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it’
(Gen. 3:12). In other words ‘If you had not given me this woman God, I wouldn’t
have eaten it. It’s your fault.’ Eve, in turn, tried to shift the blame to the
serpent. ‘The serpent deceived me … That’s why I ate it’ (Gen 3:13). Love does not blame others for one’s
own mistakes. Rather it accepts that responsibility at whatever cost to self. In
His wisdom God knew the only way they could learn was to suffer the
consequences of their failure.
God has not walked away from the human race. Rather, at the moment of
humanity’s failure He set in train his rescue plan. God knew that love can only
exist when we have the freedom not to love. God, who ‘is love, created an
environment in which love could flourish, but this act was not without risk. In
Calvary we see God in the person of Jesus Christ accepting responsibility for His
creation by paying the penalty for our sin.
Calvary is God’s assurance that one day we will experience Eden
restored. While this does not necessarily mean a literal restoration of the
Garden of Eden it does mean that God’s original intent that humankind live in
an environment of love will be restored.
I see a real difference between things done deliberately or knowingly to
hurt others and mistakes in judgement that in themselves are of no moral
consequence. The exploitation of others, coercion, deceptive behaviour and acts
of violence hurt people, destroy trust and breakdown community. This is sin and
the sort of behaviour that will not occur in the new earth.
But what of having to work on our relationships? Is it possible that
love will grow in the new earth? It takes time in this world to grow
relationships. Two people can love each other and be committed to the maintenance
of their relationship. However, they don’t understand each other perfectly and
will at time do things unintentionally that irritate the other. These things
don’t destroy the relationship. Rather, as they learn from them their
relationship grows stronger.
This, I believe, will be the situation in the life to come. It will be a
different world because we will be committed to the greater good, each one
seeking the welfare of others. There will be no undermining, no seeking to get
ahead at the expense of someone else. Our relationships will be grace based. As
such, we will have a trusting and supporting environment in which we will be
free to fail, to say sorry, to accept forgiveness, and grow towards fulfilling
our God-given potential. It is in this sort of environment that I believe love
will grow and flourish.
We will have things to learn – both of the universe in which we live and
of how to improve relationships. In that sense, we will be imperfect. But we
will live in a community built on a foundation of grace. It will be the perfect
environment in which to learn and grow – to be fully human.
All quotes from the New Living Translation
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