Real Hope: Back to Basics - Heaven & EarthSample

The Union Of Heaven And Earth

We’re familiar with the idea of heaven and earth as two separate spaces. In Matthew, we hear the ‘kingdom of heaven’ referenced as a way to distinguish that space from the ‘realm’ of earth. We can think of heaven as a spiritual dimension where we go when we die and earth as a physical dimension that we’re in right now.

What we might not be so familiar with is that the union of these two dimensions is what the story of the Bible is all about. At the moment of the fall, we saw Eden, with the goodness, justice, and beauty of heaven, filled with sin, injustice, and ugliness. As a result, it was sealed up. Heaven and earth were separated. They were too different and God too holy. In the Old Testament, God created glimpses of what it looks like when heaven and earth are reunited. The tabernacle and the temple are places that facilitated this; however, it was Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice and the gift of righteousness (cleansing us of all sin, injustice, and ugliness) that removed the barrier between earth and heaven and created a place where we can walk with God. NT Wright says, ‘Jesus’s resurrection is the beginning of God’s new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord’s Prayer is about.’

Jesus taught us to invite the union of heaven and earth when we pray, ‘Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' Even though the earth is still filled with sin, injustice, and ugliness, we can become a meeting place or ‘temple’ through the power of God’s Spirit and be a part of bringing more of heaven to earth than ever before. One day the victory that was won with Jesus’ death and resurrection on the cross will finally be complete.

Written by LUCY WEIL

Want more? Check out the Real Hope Conversations Podcast and delve deeper into our conversation about Heaven and Earth. Available wherever you listen to podcasts.