The book and movie Heaven Is For Real is the true story of Colton Burpo, the four-year-old son of a small-town Nebraska pastor. After surviving emergency surgery, he begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. He also describes being in heaven, seeing God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and meeting long-dead family members.
Told by his father, but often in Colton’s own words, the disarmingly simple message is that heaven is a real place, that Jesus really loves children, and that we should be properly prepared because there is something after death.
We will be watching this movie here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church on Ga. Hwy. 314 in Fayetteville beginning tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 6:30 p.m. We must stop at 7:30, so it will probably take at least one more Wednesday to finish it. Then we will take a couple more Wednesdays to discuss the movie, its meaning, and its application to our own lives.
Children three years old through the fifth grade will go to fun-filled “Kids’ Music Company” during this hour, and all youth will have a time together geared to their interests. We invite you to share in this great, and fast, hour of fellowship and spiritual development.
In preparation for this, I share here the “Biblical Theology of Heaven,” with which I agree, as presented in the “Christian Cyclopedia.”
“1. Heaven is eternal, or everlasting, life; it is the gift of God through Christ Jesus; it is the end of faith; it is the ultimate object of a Christian’s hope and striving (Ph 3:13–14; 2 Ti 4:6–8). The Bible describes eternal life as a kingdom (Lk 12:32), a paradise (Lk 23:43), an unfading inheritance (1 Ptr 1:4), a rest for the people of God (Heb 4:9), Abraham’s bosom (Lk 16:22), a marriage supper (Rv 19:9), a crown of life (Rv 2:10), to picture under earthly symbols the ineffable joys and pleasures of heaven.
“2. Scripture represents heaven as a place, a house with many mansions (Jn 14:2), everlasting habitations (Lk 16:9), a city (Heb 11:10), a new heaven and a new earth (2 Ptr 3:13; Rv 21:1). It makes no attempt to locate heaven.
“3. Essentially eternal life is immediate, uninterrupted fellowship with God. To be with God is to be in heaven (Ps 16:11; Lk 23:43). The saints in light are with God and with His Son (Jn 17:24). They see God face to face, as He is, and know God even as they are known; their knowledge of God and His wonderful works will no longer be partial, but perfect and complete (1 Co 13:9–12; 1 Jn 3:2).
“4. This blissful fellowship is unbroken by time, unmarred and undisturbed by sin or any of its disrupting consequences (Ps 16:11; Jn 3:16). Pain, sorrow, tears, tribulation, hunger, thirst, and death will be no more (Rv 7:16–17; 21:4). In heaven the elect will sing the praises of God and their exalted Redeemer (Rv 5:9–13). The divine image will be fully restored (Ps 17:15; Heb 12:23). The glory that will be revealed surpasses human understanding (2 Co 12:4) and far outweighs the suffering of this present time (Ro 8:19). It is a blessedness beyond compare (2 Co 4:17).
“5. The body of believers will share in the glory of everlasting life. Transformed to resemble the glorified body of their Redeemer, the body will be free from weakness, dishonor, and corruption (Ph 3:21; 1 Co 15:42–54). The white robes mentioned Rv 7:9–14 are symbols of the sinlessness effected through the cleansing power of Christ’s blood. The institution of marriage will be abolished (Mt 22:30). In glory the believers will be equal to the angels of God (Lk 20:36). Whether the redeemed will recognize each other in heaven is not stated explicitly but may be inferred from the story of the Transfiguration, which says that the disciples recognized Moses and Elijah (Mt 17:3–4).
“6. Though Scripture ascribes full salvation to all believers (Jn 3:16), there will be degrees of glory in accord with the difference of the works that the believers performed on earth (1 Co 3:8; 2 Co 9:6). It is futile and needless to speculate in what this difference of glory consists. This we know, that a believer enjoying a greater measure of glory will not be envied by those who have less. It is inherent in eternal life with its absolute perfection that the difference in glory will not give rise to any evil thoughts.”
In the discussion guide, Colton’s dad writes, “We are an ordinary family in the midst of extraordinary circumstances, desiring to be faithful to God and to be a source of encouragement to those who encounter us and our story. The message of the reality of heaven we’ve been given to share is serious and powerful because it deals with eternal truth. It is a message of hope and peace.”
Come join us. We’ll learn and grow spiritually together.
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[Find Kollmeyer at www.princeofpeacefayette.org.]
