Posted on 03/28/2011 9:53:43 PM PDT by Salvation
HEAVEN: WHY ARE PEOPLE SO HAPPY THERE?
Everybody knows that in heaven there will be no pain, no suffering, no death, no bad feelings, no mourning, no anxiety, no fear, no sin, no heartache or headache or flu or allergies or itchy nose. Just love, justice, mercy, friendship, and intense joy.
But the real reason people are so happy in heaven is that the most loveable person in the entire universe will be theirs, and they will be showered by love and gifts by Him eternally. If you’ve only met human people in your life, then this divine person, Jesus Christ, is really going to be something. He will steal your heart.
One of our favorite activities in heaven will be singing praises to Him. As earthlings, it’s hard to imagine the pure bliss of that relationship. If you are married to the love of your life, then do you remember the minute right before you met him or her? At that moment, you probably could not have imagined that a person as wonderful as your spouse existed.
Likewise, as of today, we cannot possibly imagine the extent of God’s love or greatness. But the minute we meet Him face to face for the first time, we will have something that is a million times more spectacular than any relationship on Earth. We will have a life we do not yet have the capacity to imagine. We will long for nothing but Him, and this longing will be fulfilled.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
The above is probably all we need to know about heaven.
But here are some tidbits you may be interested in, especially if you hope to dwell there in the near or distant future.
In heaven, we will not be confined by time or space. In fact, time is a dimension created only for us Earthlings. In heaven, will not have to wait in line at the airport if we want to visit our cousins across the ocean. Rather, we will be able to communicate with others freely, without restraint. I would say it’s sort of like sending 100 e-mails to 100 different people at once, in full hologram, but without having to type anything. J
Ever wanted to watch every cable TV station simultaneously, including foreign language channels? This type of ability seems much more likely in heaven (not that there are any TVs up there).
What we know for sure is that our ability to process information will be greatly enhanced.
“…the Bible indicates that the glorified human intellect enjoyed by the saints in heaven has a phenomenal ability to process information, dwarfing anything we are capable of in this life. This is shown by the fact that, on Judgment Day, we will review every act of our lives” and of others, according to Catholic Answers (see catholic.com)
In heaven, we are promised we will see our loved ones who passed away on Earth.
In heaven, questions we’ve always had will be answered.
In heaven, we will experience the eternal wedding feast.
Everyone in heaven will love us and care about us, and vice versa. Nobody will have a single complaint about us. We will have no doubts that their love for us is sincere because the moral, spiritual state of all will be apparent to all, with the saints and martyrs having the highest degrees of glory shining through them, and with nobody at all having the slightest selfish or jealous thought left in them.
In heaven, we will not have to work to put food on the table or to pay bills. We will not have to do mundane things like take out the trash or empty the dishwasher.
But there will be things to do.
If there is “work,” it will only be of the most amazing, most fulfilling, most creative kind.
If you always felt your true calling was to paint or dance or do something more, then perhaps that’s what you’ll be doing in heaven. What we know for sure, is that nobody will be working for self gain or selfish glory. In heaven, we will be ultimately fulfilled and perfected, sharing our gifts in the way we were made to. We will know what we were designed for.
Ironically, the more we labor for God on earth, and the more we give up our own ambitions in order to focus on others, the more fulfilled we will feel in heaven.
DIFFERENT REWARDS IN HEAVEN
For, in heaven, there are different rewards for different people.
John 14:2 “In my father’s house, there are many mansions.”
St. Augustine and other Church Fathers said that the many mansions refer to different levels of reward in heaven for different levels of merit acquired by believers on Earth.
St. Thomas Aquinas agreed, writing: "The more one will be united to God the happier will one be."
The Catechism of Trent puts it this way: [For in my Father's house, says our Lord, there are many mansions," in which shall be distributed rewards of greater and of less value according to each one's deserts. He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly: and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings]
“ Now this I say: He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly: and he who soweth in blessings shall also reap blessings.” [2 Cor 9:6]
Just as a person who longs and waits to be reunited with a spouse during a war, we on earth have been separated from the One who loves us more than anyone else (due to the fall of Adam and Eve). Our final destiny and fulfillment is with God. True and everlasting happiness can only be possible with Him. This is what our lives are leading up to. This is what we are supposed to be preparing for by being loyal to Him in all that we do. If you ever feel restless, it’s because you are not yet with Him.
We will see God face to face the minute we enter heaven.
It’s not really worth the time imagining what heaven is like. God tells us it is so great we just don’t have the capacity to envision it.
*Will we have our physical bodies in heaven?
Yes, on the Last Day, when Jesus comes to Earth to judge the heaven and the earth, we will be reunited with our glorified bodies. Before then, our souls will be in heaven, separated from our bodies, which will later rise. Or our souls will be in purgatory, being purged from any remaining sinfulness before entrance into heaven.
*Where is heaven, anyway? Well, we know it will be in a definite location. Some theologians think God will destroy the current universe and create a new heaven. Others say God will completely remake the existing Earth into a heavenly one.
*Will we still be married to our spouse? No, but we believe we will maintain a special relationship with him or her, and with all friends and relatives. Although we will not be married, we believe we will be even closer to our spouse and other family members than on earth. We will have deeper love for each other, as well as a deeper love for our family members and friends. We will be overjoyed to see them there.
*How hard is it to enter heaven, according to the Bible?
"...how hard is it for them that trust in riches, to enter into the Kingdom of GOD? It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of GOD." (Mark 10:24-25)
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow is the Gate and straight is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)
"Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth...But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven: where neither the rust, nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through and steal." (Matthew 6:19-20)
*How does one enter heaven?
We must have faith, hope, and love. We must understand that it is not our own merits, but Christ’s, that allow us to inherit eternal life. We must say yes to God’s grace, which calls us to detach ourselves from the things of this world…money, power, fame, popularity and other earthly pleasures….and to help the least of our brothers, loving others more than ourselves. Finally, Jesus promised eternal life to those who eat His flesh and drink His blood. (see John 6:54)
Those still attached to worldly things cannot enter heaven.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
“Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them "renounce all that [they have]" for his sake and that of the Gospel.335 Shortly before his passion he gave them the example of the poor widow of Jerusalem who, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.336 The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven.
“All Christ's faithful are to "direct their affections rightly, lest they be hindered in their pursuit of perfect charity by the use of worldly things and by an adherence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical poverty” (paragraphs 2544, 2555)
What does Claire find fascinating about theologians’ descriptions of heaven?
Well, I’m glad you asked. First, God the Father does not have a body, so we will not see him with our physical eyes, but rather in some more intense and all-consuming way.
So, what I find particularly fascinating are theologians who say God will actually be connected to our minds.
Rev. William G. Most writes: “…Pope Benedict XII defined that when we see God, there is no image at all in between Him and us. How can that be? St. Thomas Aquinas made the obvious addition: If there is no image, then God must join Himself directly to our intellect to do the work of an image. That really is seeing "face to face."
Now, this sort of vision is possible only for a creature that is part divine. Within the Blessed Trinity there are two infinite streams of knowledge and love. Chapter I of St. John's Gospel tells us that the Father speaks a Word. That Word is not the quickly passing vibration of the air that our words are. No, it is substantial and it fully expresses Him. It is a Divine Person, the Word, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. That is the infinite stream of knowledge, that IS a Divine Person. Between these Divine Persons there arises equally infinite love. Again, that love is no mere vibration, it is substantial, it is, again, a Person, the Holy Spirit, who IS the love of the Father for the Son, and the Son for the Father. [“Catholic Apologetics Today” by Rev. William G. Most, p. 159]
It must be a great place. No one ever comes back to tell us about it.
We will only be a reflection of His grace....
I do not care what I will be then....I only want be with my Savior Jesus.
Yes they have. Read about Near Death Experiences. NDEs
One book which I have read is by Dr. Jeffrey Long which has statistics that cut across religion, race, age, culture on these NDEs. The title of his book is “Evidence of the Afterlife.” It’s a great read.
Another book is “90 Minutes in Heaven” in which a man was dead foro 90 minutes and then came back to life because someone was praying and singing for him. I haven’t read that one, but I have read Long’s book.
I recommend it.
The only place where Socialism works?
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
3 Do not have any other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
When you say it’s all about “Him” - are you referring to the Author of the First Commandment?
My advice is to recognize that Scripture tells you all you can comprehend rather than trying to elaborate on what you can’t comprehend anyway. Speculation about the afterlife leads to things like someone making up an entirely new religion based on what they think makes for a logical afterlife rather than sticking to Scripture.
I remember there was this book about this kid and I think I had seen a FR thread somewhere about him being in Heaven for a short time.
But it is sure nice to get a preview of Heaven, just like a movie preview.
Thanks for the ping
B U M P
I guess the best place to read about what heaven is like is in the Bible, and what i read is most likely not to be taken literally, for instance streets of gold and all of that.
So i don,t have any idea what heaven is like and will have to admit the only reason i would have for wanting to go there would be that i don,t want to go to hell, what ever that is.
And whats more i don,t think any one on this earth knows and i don,t think we are supposed to know.
But it is sure nice to get a preview of Heaven, just like a movie preview.
Yes they have. Read about Near Death Experiences. NDEs
Worship me and I will make you king or queen of the entire earth and all of heaven.
Why? Please explain it.
You forget that God DOES give the gift of dreams, as the Bible says, the two Josephs, both of the OT and NT is proof.
Plus visions, as seen with John with what would become the NT book of Revelations.
Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are one and the same, separate and together.
The answer to your question is.....YES.
And when he came back he told his mom that his sister (a miscarriage) said “Hi.”
Is that the story? He was only four years old and they had never told him about the miscarried child.
Please read that book with all the doctor’s statistics and then you tell me.
I see what you mean, but I just can’t see how people find wiggle room in the First Commandment. To me it is a trans-historical, immutable warning to mankind to beware of our own temptation to create earthly manifestations and pluralities of divinity of one sort or another and worship them.
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