Almost Heaven or Paradise

It is interesting to observe how many times we hear heaven or paradise mentioned in our daily lives. John Denver sang a song titled “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” which began with the words “Almost Heaven.” It was a song about West Virginia. I have been to the town of Paradise, Michigan, and I remember a wide variety of songs that talk about being in paradise, such as Tony Bennett’s “Stranger in Paradise.”

The fact is that all of these references to heaven or paradise are misguided as far as being an accurate description. West Virginia is beautiful, but poverty, black lung disease, and unemployment are issues that make the state less than heaven for many residents. Paradise, Michigan has its share of mosquitoes and cold weather. Songs about paradise or heaven are statements about a temporary condition or hope.

In reality, what we all desire is freedom from all those things that make life on Earth less than heaven or paradise. Tragically, many people follow a religion or teaching that promises not freedom from all the negatives but the fulfillment of the pleasures of Earth. Physical gratification of any kind is not heaven.

The biblical portrayal of heaven is unique. In heaven, time ceases to exist, and all things of the material world come to an end. (See Hebrews 9:25, 1 Corinthians 15:24, and 2 Peter 3:10-12.) If space/time and matter/energy disappear, then all the negatives that exist in the physical world go as well. Revelation 21:4 describes it well: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Heaven will be so much better than “Almost Heaven.” Our present concept of heaven or paradise will be just an ancient memory of the distant past.

— John N. Clayton © 2019