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We can live in hope What are we thinking about as we enter the autumn of our lives? How will we use our remaining years on earth? In this booklet, Robert M. Solomon takes a look at what we can look forward to, how we can keep going, and how we can make the best use of our time as we live in certain hope of an eternal future with God. Robert M. Solomon served as Bishop of The Methodist Church in Singapore from 2002–2012 and has an active itinerant preaching and teaching ministry in Singapore and abroad. He has authored more than 40 books on a wide variety of topics, and has also written several resources for Our Daily Bread Ministries.
THINKING about
HEAVEN
Discovery Series presents biblical insights for all areas of life. To read any of over 100 titles, visit discoveryseries.org.
XB055
Robert M. Solomon
contents one
What Will Heaven Be Like? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 two
Preparing for Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 three
Living in Hope and Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 four
Leaving a Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 five
What Are You Building? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Excerpted and adapted from Growing Old Gracefully: Following Jesus to the End by Robert M. Solomon. Copyright 2019 by Discovery House. EDITORS: Chia Poh Fang, Leslie Koh COVER IMAGE: © Shutterstock.com COVER DESIGN: Mary Tham INTERIOR DESIGN: Mary Chang, Lidya Jap INTERIOR IMAGES: (p.1, 23) © Shutterstock.com; (p.4, 10, 16, 30) Pixabay.com All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV®. Copyright ©1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. © 2022 Our Daily Bread Ministries All rights reserved. Printed in Singapore.
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What Will Heaven Be Like?
C
hristians have often been criticised for being so focused on things of heaven that they’re no earthly good. It is indeed possible for Christians to live in a way that does not connect the future heaven with the present earth. But well-known Christian author C. S. Lewis reminds us that this is a false dichotomy. Citing the most effective Christians in history, he makes this observation: “The Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought 4
the most about the next.”1 Thinking about heaven will help us become involved with the world in a redemptive way. Christians think about heaven in many different ways. One of the questions people commonly ask is: “What will we do in heaven?” Popular culture often depicts people in heaven as playing their harps leisurely as they laze around on clouds. This idea may have biblical roots, for the book of Revelation does speak about clouds and harps (Revelation 5:8; 14:2, 14; 15:2). There is also the notion that we will all be one eternal choir praising God— just look at all the heavenly songs in Revelation. This usually begins as a great thought, especially for those who love singing, but after a while, even they ask: “But what else will we do in heaven?”
Rethinking Heaven Perhaps, however, we may be approaching the subject of heaven from the wrong angle. Yes, the Bible does speak about harps and clouds, and about heavenly singing. But if we see them as nothing more than actions or activities, then we may have misunderstood what the Bible actually teaches. Thoughts that begin with biblical passages can be hijacked by mindsets shaped by modern culture. What Will Heaven Be Like?
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Today, many of us have fallen into a pragmatic way of thinking that influences every sphere of our lives. We tend to measure ourselves by what we do or achieve, and judge others in the same way. This is reflected in every area of life. Take, for instance, going on a holiday. We tend to focus on what our holiday destination has to offer in terms of attractions. We are terrified by the thought of having nothing to do or see. In the modern age, we tend to define ourselves by our “doing”. Compare this perspective with the dominant way of thinking in the past. Then, the focus was more on being rather than doing. We were defined by who we were rather than what we did. We are thus sometimes reminded today to focus on being rather than doing, and to remember that our Christian lives really have to do with who we become, rather than what we achieve. This is a helpful and a much-needed corrective in a culture focused on action and achievements. Let us stop and think about what sort of people we are, and what sort of people we are becoming. Likewise, perhaps we can approach the question of heaven from this angle: instead of asking what we will do in heaven, how about thinking about what we will be in heaven? 6
THINKING ABOUT HEAVEN