As It Is in HeavenSample

Day 2: A Glimpse of Heaven:

The Bible uses different pictures to describe what the church should be like—it’s a family, it’s a body, it’s a bride, and it’s a temple. Each of these gives us another way of looking at it. Yet another way of putting it is this: the church should be a taste of heaven on earth.

I’m not saying that it’s going to be a 100-percent accurate representation. After all, this side of eternity, God is building with imperfect pieces! But people should be able to look at the church and get a glimpse of heaven.

So what does that look like? There’s a lot in Revelation about heaven’s physical properties—streets of gold, a flowing river on either side of which stands the tree of life, its leaves meant for the healing of the nations (see Revelation 22:2), and all that. But I am talking more about the nature of heaven than its topography.

We know heaven is where the greatest praise gathering ever takes place (Revelation 5:13). In his vision in Revelation 7:9-10, the apostle John writes of “a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, language, and people, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” What is this? A picture of unity.

We know that there is incredible joy in heaven as well. The good news is; however, we don’t have to wait until we get to heaven to experience it. We can know some of that joy here on earth now. We know that there will be no more pain and sorrow in heaven—only His peace and presence (Revelation 22:3). But we don’t have to wait for that either. We also know that there is complete healing, but through God’s supernatural power, we can experience His healing here on earth too.

Just as in heaven, people of different backgrounds, languages, and nations will be worshiping the Lord our God in unity, and we on earth should as well. In fact, we, the church, should strive to emulate the joy, love, and unity that Scripture uses to describe heaven. How do we do that? First, we have to dig up the roots.