In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus promised that the meek would one day “inherit the earth.”  We read these familiar words but their significance can be illusive.  Ponder Jesus’ promise here and compare it to your image of what Heaven will be like.  Does it look anything like inheriting the earth? 

We hear Jesus say that the meek will on day “inherit the earth” and somehow we pass over the comment without allowing it to challenge our preconceived notions about our eternal future.  Jesus spoke of the eternal inheritance of the believer in terms of the most solid thing we have ever known - the earth.  Yet, for some reason, we envision a non-physical, non-material inheritance.  We envision a harp and a cloud.  Why is this?

To find an answer to this question we must go back before the time of Christ, to the age of the great Greek philosophers.  A key tenet of Plato’s teaching was the idea that the material world was intrinsically evil, in contrast to the non-material or spiritual realm, which was thought of as intrinsically good.  Therefore, according to the perspective of the ancient Greek philosophers, death was to be welcomed as a deliverance from evil, in as much as it provided an escape from the physical Universe.  And so, the afterlife was thought of in non-physical terms. 

The perspective of Plato and the other Greek philosophers has exerted a tremendous amount of influence on Western thought over the centuries, including the Western Church.  So much so, that most Christians today envision everything spoken of in the Bible about Heaven and our eternal future as non-material.  This belief is held despite the fact that the Scriptures clearly promise a bodily resurrection, a return of a risen Christ to the earth, and a final renewal of the heavens and earth (Romans 6:5; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 22:20). 

After redemptive history is complete, God will return to His original plan.  The Bible begins in Genesis with God creating the heavens and the earth, and ends in the book of Revelation with God creating a “New Heaven and a New Earth” (Revelation 21:1-3).  The Apostle Peter affirmed this when he wrote, “In keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2Pet. 3:13).  God’s original intent, which was perfect, will be perfectly fulfilled. 

Come and join us each Sunday as we explore the tremendous implications of these truths.  What will our lives be like in Heaven?  Will there be animals there?  What will our relationships be like?  Will we ever be bored?  Will there be arts, entertainment and sports?  How about crafts and technology?  We will tackle these and many more questions and seek to answer them from the pages of Scripture.  You might be surprised at how much you can know about your eternal home.

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