The Lord's Prayer 2: ...Who Are in [The] Heaven[s]...

 

…Who Are in [The] Heaven[s]…

NASA/ESA/THE HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM

Heaven, or “the heavens”? Both…and, actually. Primitive understanding about our immediate environment was that we lived in a three-tier system, comprising Heaven (or the heavens), the Earth, and “under-the-earth.” The heavens (of which the number varies according to texts and traditions) included the immediate sky above us, as well as the firmament of stars and planets, including the sun and moon with their particular functions, as providers of light in the daytime and night-time, and separating “Night” from “Day”, in the further universe.

Although the heavens and the earth are our particular concerns, for “under-the-earth,” various ideas persisted (and persist!), but Jewish tradition had this as a  place of the dead awaiting either resurrection to “eternal” life, or permanent death: “Sheol” in Hebrew, “Hades” in Greek. (The Hebrew word seol [l/a.v], "Sheol, " refers to the grave or the abode of the dead  Psalms 88:3 Psalms 88:5 ). It is, then, a place of “nothingness” and silence. The New Testament uses the word Hades where the Old Testament reads Sheol, and additional interpretations claim Hades as a place of torment. Jesus is said to hold the keys of Death and Hades (Rev. 1:18) both of which are to be consigned to the “Lake of Fire”. 

Well, all this metaphorical language has caused us no end of problems, not least the erroneous idea of a place called “Hell” which, in fact, is not a Biblical word at all! (And Pope Benedict XVI once wrote: Why are you bothering with Dante and his vision of Hell? Don't you know Hell is empty or at least almost empty? (Pope Benedict, in Spe Salvi 45-47,)) For now however, we will focus on Heaven and what that means in the “Lord’s Prayer” as well as for us Wayfarers, following Jesus.

In Nehemiah 9:6, we read, “And Ezra said: ‘You are the LORD, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. To all of them you give life, and the host of heaven worships you.’” In making a distinction between the heaven(s) and the earth, the Bible develops a consistent conclusion: “The heavens are the LORD’S heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings.” (Psalm 115:16). In this regard, nothing has changed since the days of the Garden of Eden in terms of the distinctive spaces and jurisdictions. 

In his book Simply Christian, Tom (NT) Wright makes this point: “Heaven…is God’s space as opposed to our space, not God’s location within our space-time universe.” So, the first and most essential point for us to grasp and not let go of is that heaven is not a place as we humans understand “place” to mean: a physical location. Rather, heaven is God’s dimension. We shall see later when we consider the “Kingdom of God/Heaven” why that matters so very much. For now, though, I am very grateful to the work of Science-Fiction writers and filmmakers for prophetically and perfectly revealing and explaining to us how other dimensions of existence are possible, how they interact with “our” dimension and the significance of the differences. I am also indebted to scientists and their research into Quantum physics for expanding even further the bounds of possibility. Indeed, how amazing is it that we live in a material, “three-in-one” dimension, which interacts with God’s spiritual Three-in-One dimension! (And, as we shall see, the next phrase of the “Lord’s Prayer” unites them (Heaven and Earth) in our prayer and our purpose).

Heaven as a dimension (and God’s space) is not only different from ours but far superior. We get an idea in such phrases as “God is in heaven and you’re upon earth; so, let your words be few.” (Eccles 15:2),  “This is what the LORD says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool…’” (Is.66:1), and to put all in perspective, Psalm 103:19 states, “The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.” The fact that our Father is in heaven should therefore be of particular comfort and reassurance to us; except that it isn’t – or not quite! By persisting in pagan and theist concepts that have insisted upon a separated and mutually antagonistic definition of the relationship between heaven and earth, we have promoted the lie that God is distant from us, disappointed in us and disgusted by us. That view is certainly reflected in Old Testament writings as mankind came to terms with ideas like sin and guilt; separation, and grief; spiritual and material; righteous and unrighteous; Godly and un-Godly. Just so. But…BUT! Jesus! Jesus’ death on the Cross and subsequent resurrection changed everything.

The Gospel makes it so clear that it was only the blindness and ignorance of sin (and our fear of the necessary consequence, death) that made us believe we were ever alienated from God in the first place. Although we lived as people “who were not a people,” and were certainly banished from The Garden for our own good, our heavenly Father had already taken care of it. Jesus is “the Lamb of God, slain before the foundation [fall] of the world.” Moreover: “God loved the world [cosmos] to such an extent that he gave his only Son, so that everyone, believing in Him, should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) Yes, but read on: ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world [cosmos] to condemn the world, but in order that the world may be saved through Him.” (JN 3:17) It was why Jesus could preach and teach that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand; it is within/among you.” 48 hours after his excruciating death by crucifixion, Jesus rose from the dead and everything changed. Heaven and earth were forever united in Him. “For God,” writes Paul, “was in Christ, reconciling the world [cosmos] to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” (2 Cor. 5:19)

We are also in Christ, and Christ in us. (“Christ in [us], the hope of glory.”)

Artistic image of Solomon's Temple

The Temple was established as the meeting place of God and humanity, the place where heaven and earth encountered one another and related. Paul was obsessed with the Temple metaphor! Our bodies, he asserted, are a Temple of the Holy Spirit. God, Three-in-One - Father, Son and Holy [Mother] Spirit - lives in all of us! To those of us who are awake and have believed and received (a passive verb – so done to/for us, not active on our part!) the good news (gospel) and the Truth of the finished work of the Cross in us, we are, therefore, enabled to be actively children of God, and if children, heirs also of all that is promised in Christ. That includes free access to the “higher” (greater, richer in quality!) dimension of heaven. We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his marvellous light. We have been moved from temporary, rented accommodation in Death Valley, to our mansion in heaven. Paul asserts: “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” (Eph. 2:6) Everyone! Our job as ambassadors of the Kingdom and “ministers of reconciliation” is to alert everyone to this truth. That we have failed in this through theological lies along with deadly doctrines and dogmas (the “traditions of men”) should be cause for repentance (changing our minds) as well as urgently engaging with God to accept and  become who we are - in practice and not mere theory – that will subsequently change the world.

Next time, we will discuss the coming (and coming of) the kingdom of heaven, and the doing of God’s will - as in heaven, so also on earth.

Go well, fellow Wayfarers.