{"id":33,"date":"2018-08-21T10:17:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T14:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/?p=33"},"modified":"2018-08-21T10:30:33","modified_gmt":"2018-08-21T14:30:33","slug":"hades-heaven-and-the-new-earth-book-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/hades-heaven-and-the-new-earth-book-introduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Hades, Heaven, and the New Earth (Book Introduction)"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last year and a half, I have been writing a book titled Hades, Heaven, and the New Earth<\/em>. It is still a work in progress, but to give you an idea of what I am doing, here is the latest draft of the book introduction:<\/p>\n

\n

As I write this introduction, the #4 song on Christian radio is Chris Tomlin\u2019s \u201cHome\u201d:1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

This world is not what it was meant to be
\nAll this pain, all this suffering
\nThere’s a better place waiting for me in Heaven
\nEvery tear will be wiped away
\nEvery sorrow and sin erased
\nWe’ll dance on seas of amazing grace in Heaven, in Heaven<\/p>\n

I’m going home where the streets are golden
\nEvery chain is broken
\nOh I wanna go, oh I wanna go
\nHome where every fear is gone
\nI’m in Your open arms where I belong
\nHome<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chris Tomlin is, as always, brilliant, and his song inspires a much-needed hope for millions of Christians. But what many do not realize is that Chris Tomlin\u2019s lyrics repeatedly allude not to biblical \u201cHeaven\u201d imagery but to biblical \u201cNew Earth\u201d imagery. In short, the destination of followers of God has changed in the past, and it is going to change again. When believers die, they go to Heaven, which will be their temporary home. But when Christ returns, believers will live on a New Earth. The New Earth is described in Revelation 21 as a place where \u201che will wipe every tear from their eyes\u201d (21:4), a place where the streets are golden (21:21). Often Christians today read Revelation 21-22 as if it describes Heaven, but it is John\u2019s description of the \u201cheavenly Jerusalem,\u201d which comes down to the New Earth. Sure, it is a city that is being prepared for us in Heaven, but it is not yet what it will be. The image of every tear being wiped away was John\u2019s way of envisioning a future state that believers still await. According to Revelation 6:10, before the return of Christ, martyrs are crying out with a loud voice, \u201cHow long, O holy and true Lord, will you not judge and avenge our blood from those dwelling on the Earth?\u201d It is only after a final battle and the creation of the New Heavens and the New Earth that believers experience the final rest described in Revelation 21.<\/p>\n

This is not to say that Heaven won\u2019t be so great or that Chris Tomlin has gotten it all wrong. Paul said it is better by far to depart and be with Christ (Philippians 1:23). I imagine tears will be wiped away as soon as we reach Heaven. Perhaps as we await the New Earth our spirits will already be in the heavenly Jerusalem. Certainly we will be \u201cwith Christ.\u201d As MercyMe has put it:<\/p>\n

I can only imagine what it will be like
\nWhen I walk by your side
\nI can only imagine what my eyes will see
\nWhen your face is before me
\nI can only imagine, I can only imagine<\/p>\n

Surrounded by You glory
\nWhat will my heart feel?
\nWill I dance for you Jesus
\nOr in awe of You be still?
\nWill I stand in your presence
\nOr to my knees will I fall?
\nWill I sing hallelujah?
\nWill I be able to speak at all?
\nI can only imagine, I can only imagine<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This book is not written to downplay believers\u2019 experience in Heaven. Rather it is written to let believers know that Heaven is only the appetizer and the God has a full table set for us.<\/p>\n

In the pages that follow we will explore what happens to people when they die. Chapter 1 will demonstrate that the Old Testament expectation was Sheol or Hades, a place where one\u2019s existence is less than their earthly experience. Many Christians do not know what to do with passages like Psalm 6:5 where David says that no one remembers God or praises him after death. This chapter will demonstrate a thoroughgoing Old Testament expectation of a shadowy existence in Hades after death.<\/p>\n

Chapter 2 will discuss the glimpses of hope that are found in the Old Testament. While the general Old Testament portrayal of the afterlife is grim, those who know God\u2019s character conclude that this cannot be the end of the story. From this emerges a hope for the resurrection of the dead \u2013 not upon death, but in the future on the day of the Lord. Something cataclysmic must happen before believers can be delivered from Hades and experience the resurrection.<\/p>\n

Chapter 3 investigates the first of two cataclysmic events \u2013 upon Jesus\u2019 death, his spirit left his body with a shout and descended to Hades so quickly that \u201cthe Earth shook, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised\u201d (Matthew 27:51-52). After his resurrection Jesus has \u201cthe keys of Death and Hades\u201d (Revelation 1:18) so that its gates no longer prevail against God\u2019s people (Matthew 16:18). This means that since Christ\u2019s descent into Hades, believers have a new destination: Hades has been replaced (for the believer) with Heaven.<\/p>\n

Chapter 4 discusses what such a disembodied existence in Heaven is like. It is temporary, as believers anticipate the resurrection of their bodies and the renewal of the Earth. At the same time it is blissful and an experience of the Lord\u2019s presence that surpasses our earthly experiences. So whereas Hades was a step down from earthly existence, Heaven is clearly an improvement. But it is still not the resurrection hope that was expressed in the Old Testament and throughout the New Testament. For such a hope to become the reality, another cataclysmic event is needed: the return of Christ.<\/p>\n

Chapter 5 explores the second coming of Christ, which will involve a sequence of events: the revival of Israel and the rebellion of the Lawless One, Jesus\u2019 return, the resurrection of the dead, the rapture of the living Christians, the millennial reign, the final judgment, and the renewal of the Earth. The goal of all of this is the redemption of \u201call things\u201d (Colossians 1:15-17, 20). This means that God plans to redeem not just humanity, but the Earth and the rest of creation as well (Romans 1:19-21). It also means that Jesus will transform our physical bodies (Philippians 3:21). Just as Jesus\u2019 tomb was empty because his physical body was raised, so will our tombs be empty.<\/p>\n

The Bible describes two final destinations for humanity \u2013 the Lake of Fire and the New Earth. These are the focus of Chapters 6 and 7. Like Heaven, Hell is a very often misunderstood concept in Christianity today. Notions of the devil tormenting people for eternity are rooted more in later church tradition than in Scripture. In the Bible, Gehenna is a place where the soul is \u201cdestroyed\u201d (Matthew 10:28) or \u201cconsumed\u201d (Matthew 3:12). Later Christians came to think of Hell as a place of eternal torment, due to a misreading of the Bible\u2019s language of \u201cunquenchable fire\u201d (Mark 9:43) as implying unending torment. This misunderstanding is probably rooted in Greek notions of the immortality of the soul, which oppose the biblical concept of humans as mortal. Chapter 7 surveys the biblical teaching on this subject.<\/p>\n

Chapter 8 then investigates the renewal of the Earth. The idea of a \u201cNew Earth\u201d is not one in which something entirely distinct from this Earth is created. Just as our bodies are transformed in the resurrection, so the Earth is transformed in the renewal. Peter compares the process to that of \u201cthe former world\u201d in Noah\u2019s flood (2 Peter 3:6). It is a New Earth, but it is a New Earth because Christ is \u201cmaking all things new\u201d (Revelation 21:5).<\/p>\n

Chapter 9 explores the difference that understanding this can make in the way we think, speak, and act. Many Christians have never thought about the distinction between our spirits going to Heaven when we die and our transformed bodies inhabiting the New Earth when Jesus returns. Blurring these lines has caused us to care less about both our bodies and the Earth. Sometimes we have become, as the saying goes, so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good.<\/p>\n

This book also makes a difference in the way we read and understand the Bible. Many Christians ignore passages that teach a different afterlife expectation than the traditional Christian one. We must let the Bible challenge our theology rather than thrusting our theology upon the Bible. Chapter 10 investigates how evangelicals have come to silence biblical afterlife teaching that does not fit our theological traditions and makes suggestions about how we can better let Scripture be Scripture.<\/p>\n

If this book causes us to think more deeply about our hope as Christians and inspires us to live Christ-centered lives in the midst of a confused and broken world, it will have accomplished its purpose. One day \u201cwe will be like Jesus, for we will see him as he is\u201d (1 John 3:2). In the meantime we can explore this hope, because \u201ceveryone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure\u201d (1 John 3:3). Let us begin!<\/p>\n

\n

1<\/sup><\/a> Billboard\u2019s Hot Christian Songs, May 27, 2017; http:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/christian-songs\/2017-05-27<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The hope of Christ\u2019s return and of the New Earth appears in almost every book in the New Testament, whereas the idea that you go to Heaven when you die appears in only a few verses. While we sing today about going home, the first Christians sang about Christ coming here. Both messages are true. Our theology is correct. But something is missing from our songs and from our thinking, and that something was so central to the hope expressed by Jesus and Paul and Peter and John that you have to wonder what effect this missing hope will have on the church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[20,21,22,23,25,24],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eschatology","tag-afterlife","tag-eschatology","tag-hades","tag-heaven","tag-hell","tag-new-earth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/45"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidbsloan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}