Book Reflects Author's Passion for Knowing What Heaven Will Be Like
by Randall Murphree
July 9, 2004
(AgapePress) - Will I still be me in heaven? Will I remember things I did on earth? Will I be aware of what's still happening on earth? What about my crowns? How do I store up treasure in heaven? Will Mom and Dad recognize me when I get there? All these questions and more are addressed in Randy Alcorn's In Light of Eternity (1999, WaterBrook)."Oh, he's too heavenly minded to be any earthly good!" Like me, you've no doubt heard or used that old epithet to describe more than one person you've encountered. However, the truth is we've been duped into thinking we can't know much about heaven, thus anyone who thinks and talks about it a lot is considered a little fanatical.
Alcorn admits that his interest in heaven has become both a passion and a hobby that began when his mother was dying in 1981. "Each day, I would read to her the last two chapters of Revelation," he says. "I was thinking, 'This is where she's going; so what's it like there?' That motivated me more and more to find out what the Scriptures say in this area."
Alcorn's passion and insight motivated me to read In Light of Eternity. First of all, I heard him speak on the subject at a weekend seminar last year. I've listened to tapes of those sessions, and continue to find the subject more and more intriguing. Second, I figured this quick read (small book, 164 pages) would be great preparation for the author's more extensive study on heaven in a new title to appear this fall. Finally, Alcorn has become my favorite writer over the past few years. Anything he writes -- fiction and nonfiction alike -- teaches, challenges and convicts me in my faith journey.
In this little volume, Alcorn writes that he once heard a pastor say, "Whenever I think about heaven, it makes me depressed. I'd rather just cease to exist when I die." That poor pastor perceived heaven as a boring place where he'd float among the clouds and play a harp for eternity.
Nothing could be further from the truth, according to Alcorn. Forget Alcorn -- make that according to the Bible. Yes, the Bible says a lot about heaven and what it will be like. Alcorn encourages believers to read it and take to heart what we can know about heaven. It can make a difference not only in how we perceive our future, but also in how we spend our present.
Author Randy Alcorn | | |
Our hearts "cry out for eternal realities, for what will last, what really matters," writes Alcorn. He cites Ecclesiastes 3:11, which affirms that God has "set eternity in the hearts of men." So why not learn about the place God is preparing for His children's eternal home?Heaven is a recurring theme for Alcorn, founder and head of Eternal Perspective Ministries. Even in his novels -- notably Edge of Eternity, Deadline and Dominion -- he has characters who die and go to heaven. While he fills in some details, he is careful never to create anything that departs from biblical principles.
In Light of Eternity points out that heaven is an actual place that Jesus has traveled to and from (John 6:33, Acts 1:2). It affirms that heaven is a city (Hebrews 11:16; 12:22; 13:14). These are among the countless details Alcorn pulls from Scripture to help readers realize how frequently the Bible talks about heaven.
He says many people who think they can't know much about heaven cite 1 Corinthians 2:9 -- "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." But, the author points out that the very next verse says, "but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit." And a lot of what God has revealed is clear, black-and-white, obvious, right there in His Word.
Alcorn's heart is simply to get at the truth -- not to paint a pie-in-the-sky, mystical, inaccurate picture of clouds and harps, but to point readers toward the biblical picture of heaven. Both In Light of Eternity and the Bible can teach us a lot about heaven. Reading both will surely encourage us to look forward to it.
Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.
