We have often heard the only
physical things in heaven are the scars on our Lord’s body, but this is
actually wrong. In addition to our Lord’s scars we have Christ’s physical
resurrected body, which could be seen, felt, and required food. Note also,
Enoch and Elijah were both translated to heaven in their physical bodies. And
then there is Moses who, with Elijah, appeared physically with Christ on the
Mount of Transfiguration. So where did Moses get his physical, after death,
body? Good question! This physical visitation by Moses demonstrates that God,
at least sometimes, creates intermediate bodies for dead saints in heaven to
inhabit prior to the bodily resurrection of the dead. This opens the more
likely possibility that all the saints in heaven have intermediate physical
bodies.
When Jesus said, “Today you will
be with Me in Paradise”, He was using “Paradise” as a synonym for heaven.
Paradise is from the Greek paradeisos meaning a “walled park” or “enclosed
garden”, and is used in the Septuagint to refer to the Garden of Eden. Paradise
does not refer to wild nature, but rather nature under cultivation. God said, “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the Tree of Life, which
is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” The same physical Tree of Life which
was in the Garden of Eden and will one day be in the New Jerusalem – the New
Heaven -- on the New Earth, is currently in the present (intermediate) heaven. And...
We will one day eat its fruit! The “Third Heaven”, the abode of God,
which lies beyond the Hemisphere (first heaven) and Firmament (second heaven),
is called “The Paradise of God” by the Apostle Paul.
Jesus ascribed physical
properties to Heaven and Hell in His account of the rich man and Lazarus –
where He refers to heaven as “Abraham’s Bosom” -- including their physical
form. To interpret this passage strictly literal suggests thing that are not
taught anywhere else, and to interpret it strictly figurative makes it
difficult to understand the message... the value of all its details. I do not believe
every detail of this passage is literal; rather that Jesus was painting a
picture for us. I believe Jesus intended for us to picture people in the
afterlife as real humans with physical form, thoughts, and capacities – with identity,
memories, and awareness – and to envision Heaven and Hell as real places, all of which is substantiated in
other scripture.
We should not assume the
numerous scriptural references to physical objects in heaven are figurative
language. That our resurrected Lord now
dwells in Heaven is an indisputable fundamental article of the Christian faith.
And, He dwells there in the same physical body that He had on earth -- a body
that ate and drank, and could be touched and felt – the same body that will one
day return to earth: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come
in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” So we know there is
physical substance in heaven – Christ is there in physical form – and can
assume the numerous other references to physical forms and objects in heaven
are literal rather than figurative. The present heaven, though
intermediate in the sense it is not the “New Heavens” associated with the “New
Earth”, is, none the less, a physical place. When Stephen seen the heavens open
and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, our Lord was standing on something!
AS REAL AS RAIN
(Lk. 23:43; Rev. 2:7; 2 Cor. 12:2, 4;
Lk. 16:19-31; Acts 7:54)
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