Where is Heaven?
“Now suppose you’re Paul,
good at mixing your metaphors, and you try to say all those things at once
within the biblical cosmology, which uses upstairs/downstairs language for
heaven and earth, even though the writers know perfectly well that heaven is
not a location in our space-time universe but rather a different kind of space
that intersects with ours in complex and interesting ways.” —N.T. Wright
Recently Carolyn and I watched a movie in
which two men were arguing about Timbuktu. One thought it was a “made up place”;
the other insisted it was a real city, but neither man knew where it was.
So it is with Heaven. It resides in our
thoughts like Timbuktu, Kuala Lumpur or Katmandu—far-away places with strange
sounding names —a real place…
But, where is it?
In ancient times when people spoke of Heaven they
pointed up at the sky. Heaven was “up there,” way beyond the blue. But what if
Heaven is not up there somewhere, but everywhere?
Studies in quantum mechanics
support that thesis: Physicists argue
that there must be an unobservable, parallel universe lying in and around our
own. The theory is so weird and counter-intuitive that nobody understands it,
but it’s the only hypothesis that fully accounts for physical phenomena, as we
know it.[1] Could it be that this “unobservable, parallel
universe lying in and around our own” is Heaven?
Consider the varied “appearances” of
Jesus after His resurrection: In every instance he did not descend from Heaven
but simply “appeared”…and then “disappeared,” or to quote Luke exactly, “became
invisible” (Luke 24:31; 24:36). On the Mount of Transfiguration, while Jesus
was talking to the Apostles, Moses and Elijah, long-time citizens of the
Kingdom of Heaven, suddenly “appeared” (Matthew 17:1-9). As Stephan was dying
he saw Heaven “standing open” (Acts 7:56). In each case Heaven and all its
citizens, though invisible, seems to be, well…next door.[2]
But,
you ask, is there a point to this wondering? Indeed. Faith tells me that I’m not alone in the little
study in which I write. The room is crammed with Heaven—Jesus, reaching out to
me in lovingkindness and compassion; legions of angels watching over me;[3] and perhaps my family and friends that have gone on
before me,[4] cheering me on,
watching in anticipation when I’m tempted, bursting into applause on those
occasions when the world, the flesh and the devil go down in defeat. I cannot
see these heavenly helpers but surely they are there.
Faith
is the means by which we gain access to this invisible world. It “gives
substance to things that are not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). It is, to the spiritual
realm, what the five senses are to the natural: the means by which we grasp
spiritual reality and bring it into the realm of our experience.
G. K.
Chesterton was once asked by a reporter what he would say if Jesus were
standing beside him. “He is,” Chesterton
replied with calm assurance.
David
Roper
November 4, 2015
[1]
See Brian
Greene’s The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the
Cosmos.
[2]
Additionally, there
is the story of Elisha and his servant in the city of Dothan (2 Kings 6). Surrounded
by a massive Assyrian army, Elisha insists that there was a greater force on
their side. Elisha’s servant eyes were opened and he “saw that the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire all around”—an angelic army of inestimable
size, present, but invisible to human eyes.
[3] “Are they not all
ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit
salvation” (Hebrews 1:13)
[4]Can our loved
ones in heaven see us? I answer, “Why not?” Angels are watching the story of
redemption unfold (1Peter 1:12). Why not the saints? Is there any compelling
reason why they shouldn’t, or wouldn’t want to see how their loved ones
are faring?
