“And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” (Revelation 21)
Basically allot of precious expensive stones and gold decorating the place, but in a world where wealth is of no issue much of these precious stones are pretty useless other than being pretty eye candy to look at for an eternity. Also it said that people will keep their current bodies, there will be no hunger or need to sleep and no pain and suffering. What exactly do you do all day?
For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them (Revelation 7:15)
It is difficult to grasp just how long an eternity is. It’s forever and ever. It doesn’t end. Look at our lives now, we have computers and games, we have phones and apps, we take photos and share them with others – Heavens seems void of all modern technologies and is filled with stuff that seemed very desirable in the old age where gold and stones were wealth sought after. Could you image living eternity without your phone, electricity and spending all that time praising God?
Sleep is a very nice thing and an enjoyable experience especially when you are tired. Sex is also an amazing thing, but there will be none of that in Heaven. There will be eating and great feasts, not sure where the food will come from in terms of slaughter and grow houses, but I think it will just manifest ( God is Almighty After all)at least we will have that.
Personally for me this would be Hell – walking through golden streets and praising God for most of my time. I think the only reason why heaven is the place people want to be is because burning in Hell for an eternity is the only alternate. So yes Humans were given free will, but if someone holds a gun to your head and tells you that you have 2 choices: 1. Give me everything OR 2. I shoot you – Then you don’t really have a choice…
I am the artist for this piece you have here and when I created this it was the intent to show how wonderful Heaven would be versus Hell. The broken wall that one is looking through would be what we have now...incomplete lives. We are meant to be children of God and to do His will. For many it is not about the "options" but a matter of choice due to the love for God. Just as parents love their kids and kids their parents (in most situations) so should we want to be close to him for the purpose of the love, grace, mercy, and sacrifice He has shown us. He gave us life after all...what more is needed? As such since I do not condone the manner of thought you have and you are using this image without my consent I will ask that you please remove it so that it can do what it was intended for and who it was intended for. Thank you and I don't mean to offend but that view that life here is better is not the way to view this at all. We all love life and cherish life here but there is suffering here as well and that is not something one would have in Heaven. What is the worth of a cell phone, electricity, etc. compared to everlasting love? There is no comparison and it is a very scary and dangerous road thoughts like this article can lead.
ReplyDelete