Multiply Christian Church

It’s a question for the ages: “Where do people go when they die?” Thankfully, for the Christ-follower, the answer is Heaven - a place to be with God for all of eternity. But, where exactly is Heaven? Who gets to go there? What will Heaven be like and what will we do? These are questions that can be answered in the Bible. Join us for a special eight-week series that will provide hope for the believer, as we discover more about our Heavenly home.

What will we look like in Heaven?

“[The body] shall be of that size which it either had attained or should have attained in the flower of its youth, and shall enjoy the beauty that arises from preserving symmetry and proportion in all its members . . . overgrown and emaciated persons need not fear that they shall be in heaven of such a figure as they would not be even in this world if they could help it.” - St. Augustine

What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

Looking at nature and creation, can we still doubt that God is capable of giving us a unique and glorious body? One that has continuity and yet is different.

1. The earthly body is perishable, but the resurrection body is imperishable.
2. The earthly body is dishonorable but the new body is glorious.
3. The earthly body is weak but the resurrected body is powerful.
4. The earthly body has a natural body, but the resurrection body is a spiritual body.

What is sown will be raised. There is continuity. You will not become someone that you are not.

So, what will our resurrected bodies look like?
Like you, just perfected.

Matthew 8:11 (NASB) 11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven…

Revelation 22:2 (NASB) 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

Luke 24:36-42 (NASB) 36 While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”42 They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it before them.

“This issue caused the spilling of much theological ink, especially during the Middle Ages…By the late thirteenth century, the church’s emerging consensus was this: ‘As each person reaches their peak of perfection around the age of 30, they will be resurrected, as they would have appeared at that time-even if they never lived to reach that age.’ Peter Lombard’s discussion of this matter is typical of his age: ‘A boy who dies immediately after being born will be resurrected in that form which he would have had if he lived to the age of thirty.” The New Jerusalem will thus be populated by men and women as they would appear at the age of 30…but with every blemish removed.” - Alister McGrath

What should I do with the things I have learned in this series?
1. Live for Jesus. (John 14:6)
2. Love others who need this hope. (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 12:28-31)
3. Look at life through an eternal lens. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
4. Long for our heavenly home. (Philippians 1:23)