6
HEAVEN IN JOHN’S GOSPEL AND REVELATION
It is somewhat ironic that John is responsible for providing the church with both the clearest statements of realized eschatology and the richest descriptions of the future state of the people of God in the entire Bible.1 On the one hand, John’s Gospel highlights how eternal life begins in the present for believers in Christ. On the other hand, the book of Revelation elaborates in some detail on the sublime beauty and grandeur of God’s new creation in which believers will one day live. This chapter will explore the distinctive contribution that John makes in his Gospel and Revelation to helping us understand what heaven is and what it is like.
At the outset, it is important to clarify the scope of the study. This chapter focuses on heaven, or more specifically, the final eternal state of God’s people. It is not devoted to discussing eschatology more broadly conceived, including Christ’s second coming, the final judgment, the intermediate state, or the millennium. These things are all important and will be discussed briefly when necessary but cannot all be covered in detail in a single chapter. Only if we keep this limitation in mind will we be able to do justice to the subject of heaven in the books under discussion.
Heaven in John’s Gospel
John’s Gospel presents us with three important considerations concerning heaven. First, John primarily discusses heaven as the present abode of God. Second, John presents eternal life, which Christians generally associate with their future in heaven, as a present reality for believers. Third, John describes the believer’s future, eternal abode as dwelling in Jesus’ “Father’s house.”
Heaven as the Present Abode of God
John primarily thinks about heaven as the present abode and dwelling place of God. This is evident by looking at each instance of the word heaven (ouranos) in his Gospel. Of the sixteen occurrences of the expression heaven in John’s Gospel, eleven clearly present heaven as the presently existing realm of God (1:51; 3:13, 31; 6:32, 33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58; cf. the adjective “heavenly” in 3:12).2 It is God’s spiritual realm that exists alongside the present world, albeit invisible to human eyes. Once, John uses “heaven” as a circumlocution for God (3:27). In some references, heaven as the abode of God seems indistinguishable from the physical heavens (1:32; 6:31; 12:28; 17:1), but the fact that God is spirit (4:24) precludes a one-to-one correspondence of God’s dwelling place to the created heavens. Heaven for John is not simply or primarily “up” but rather the spiritual realm and abode of God that presently exist alongside the created world.
This understanding of heaven is further emphasized by the Johannine dualism of “above” and “below.” Thus John writes, “He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all” (3:31; cf. 1:51; 3:13–14; 8:23). “Above” consistently designates heaven as God’s realm while “below” refers to the earth.3 John’s emphasis on Jesus’ descent and ascent, also described as his coming from the Father and going back to the Father, supports this above/below dualism. Jesus came (descended) from heaven (above) to earth (below) and after his resurrection went (ascended) back to the Father (1:9; 3:19; 5:43; 7:28; 9:39; 12:46–47; 13:1, 3; 14:4, 5, 12, 28; 16:5, 7, 10, 17, 28; 17:11, 13; 18:37).4 These expressions in turn are part of an overarching “journey theme” in John’s Gospel5 and solidly locate heaven as the present abode and realm of God and the place from which Jesus came and to which he returned.
Heaven on Earth? The Beginning of Eternal Life in Christ
If heaven is the present abode and dwelling place of God, something unprecedented took place in Jesus’ life and ministry: heaven came down to earth, and in Jesus the realm above invaded the world below. This is the significance of Jesus’ statement to his disciples that “you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (1:51). It is in Jesus himself that his followers receive an apocalyptic unveiling of heaven, and Jesus is the “new Bethel” where heaven and earth, God and humankind, meet.6 Jesus is the fullness of God’s divine self-expression (1:14–18; cf. 1:1).7
Likewise, when Martha affirms her belief in a future resurrection on the last day (11:24), Jesus astoundingly claims that, in his own person, the resurrection of the last day was present at that very moment and that those who believe in him will experience it at the present time (vv. 25–26). In fact, in John’s narrative Martha represents conventional Jewish eschatology, focused on the future, while Jesus points out the realized aspect. Elsewhere, John affirms that the eternal life of the future new age—heaven—has already begun for those who believe in Jesus (5:24; 10:10; 17:3).8 Thus John represents Jesus as saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (5:24).
This emphasis on the beginning of eternal life in the present—commonly dubbed “realized eschatology”—has led some scholars to conclude that John had no conception of a future heaven where believers would someday live. Rudolf Bultmann and C. H. Dodd, for different reasons, both famously argued that John had no future eschatology, that is, that John did not believe in anything similar to a future heaven for believers but rather held to a fully realized eschatology.9 Bultmann attributed references to a future resurrection (5:28–29; 6:39, 40, 44, 54) to a later ecclesiastical redactor while Dodd conceived of the Gospel’s realized eschatology as a way to deal with the unforeseen delay in Christ’s second coming.10
However, these proposals have not carried the day, and subsequent scholarship has rejected the thesis of a radically realized Johannine eschatology. Instead, it is now widely believed that Jesus taught a form of “inaugurated eschatology” that holds present and future aspects of Jesus’ end-time teachings in proper tension.11 Inaugurated eschatology posits that the kingdom of God, the age to come, and eternal life have already begun through Jesus’ earthly ministry yet still await final consummation at a future time when believers will fully live in the age to come, that is, God’s new creation. In and through Christ, believers have access to end-time blessings, to heaven, and to God’s throne already in the here and now, yet they still long for the future day when their mortal bodies will be completely transformed, and they will dwell forever in God’s presence—the “Father’s house.”
Heaven as a Future Destination: The Father’s House in John 14:1–4
We have seen that John discusses heaven primarily as the present realm and abode of God that exists alongside the present world while remaining unseen by humans at the present time. We have also seen that John focuses on the experience of eternal life in Jesus at the present time as it is mediated through the Holy Spirit in the case of those who believe in Christ in this life. Alongside these emphases, John also briefly describes the future place at which believers will one day dwell as Jesus’ “Father’s house,” describing it as a location with “many rooms”:12
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. (John 14:1–4)
That is the main passage in John’s Gospel that refers to a future place where believers will dwell with Christ. The setting for this passage is the so-called Farewell Discourse (13:31–16:33), where Jesus prepares his followers for his departure after which he will no longer be physically with them. Jesus comforts the disciples by making clear that his departure is only temporary and that it is necessary for him to return to the Father in order to prepare a place for them, after which time he will return and bring them with him. Jesus does not describe his Father’s house beyond noting the large number of dwelling places and the abundant room available for Jesus’ followers.13 This emphasis assures believers that they have a sure and certain place guaranteed for them: “The point is not the lavishness of each apartment, but the fact that such ample provision has been made that there is more than enough space for every one of Jesus’ disciples to join him in his Father’s home.”14 The comfort comes from the certainty that a place has been prepared for believers to dwell with God forever, not by explicit, detailed descriptions of those dwellings. The fact that the site of these eternal dwellings is the Father’s house is enough.
The only other occurrence of the word “room” or “single dwelling” (monē) in the New Testament is found in John 14:23, where Jesus promises that he and his Father will make their home within those who love him. This reference should not be read back into the reference to dwelling places in verse 2, however. Verse 23 refers to God’s spiritual indwelling of believers, which is realized in and through the person of the Holy Spirit, while verse 2 points to the future dwelling of believers with God in a reality external to the believers.15
Because the expression “my Father’s house” refers to the Jerusalem temple in 2:16, some have argued that Jesus is here referring to some kind of heavenly temple. While possible, this connection is tenuous and should probably be discounted for at least the following five reasons.16 First, there is no indication in the present context that the temple is in view. Second, the reference to the temple as God’s house in chapter 2 is fairly distant from the reference to the “Father’s house” in chapter 14. Third, John’s Gospel explicitly presents Jesus himself as the replacement of the temple (see esp. 2:21).17 Fourth, there is in John’s Gospel a remarkable silence with regard to the temple in the second half of the Gospel (chaps. 13–21), most likely because this portion assumes Jesus’ exaltation with God the Father and his replacement of the earthly sanctuary as the proper place of worship.18 Fifth, in agreement with this, Revelation makes clear that there will be no temple in God’s future new creation and joining of heaven and earth (Rev. 21:22).
For these and other reasons, it is more likely that Jesus is describing the final state of believers (“heaven”) as the Father’s extended household.19 It was common in the culture of Jesus’ day for many dwelling units to be combined to form an extended household.20 When a son would marry, it was customary for that son to add to his father’s house so that the entire estate grew into a large compound. As one commentator notes, “He who goes to the Father prepares a place there for those who belong to Him. He establishes them as members of the Father’s household. He makes His home accessible to them as a final place of residence.”21
This proposal is strengthened by the presentation of Jesus as the heavenly messianic bridegroom elsewhere in the Gospel and in Revelation (John 3:29; Rev. 21:2). Jesus’ promise that he would come again to bring his followers to his Father’s house is reminiscent of similar language in Song of Solomon 8:2, where the bride says that she will take her lover to her mother’s house. Jews in the first century would have interpreted a son’s preparing a place and coming to bring people to his father’s house when the time had come as wedding rather than temple imagery.
Summary
John’s Gospel presents heaven primarily as the present abode and dwelling place of God the Father. In and through Jesus’ ministry, heaven is opened and in a very real sense comes down to earth. Through the indwelling and empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit, believers experience eternal life in the present as a foretaste of their final, eternal, joyous dwelling in God’s new creation. What is more, John describes the future state of believers as an extended household, comforting his followers by guaranteeing them a future place in God’s own realm and abode. The heaven where God now dwells, the “Father’s house,” was made known and rendered accessible to humankind in and through Jesus as mediated by the Holy Spirit, and one day in the future believers will have full access to the Father when they forever dwell with him in his house and abode. The book of Revelation greatly expands and sharpens this picture of believers’ final state.
Heaven in Revelation
Just as we saw with John’s Gospel, heaven in Revelation primarily points to the current abode and dwelling place of God, where God’s reign is uncontested and where God presently receives the worship he deserves, in contrast to earth where his reign is continually challenged as others spuriously claim ultimate lordship. In the final climactic vision of the book, John sees the New Jerusalem coming down to earth, symbolizing the joining of God’s realm with the realm of humans in God’s new creation.22 Heaven is not some location out in space or in the clouds where Christians hope to someday live in disembodied form. Christians’ hope for heaven is rather for resurrection and eternal life in God’s new creation, where heaven and earth are joined and God dwells fully in the midst of his creation and his people. This implies both continuity and discontinuity with our present experience of what it means to be human and to live in the world. In God’s new creation, believers will be fully human, perfectly reflecting the image of God without sin and exercising the representative rule of God’s creation for which we were created (Gen. 1:26–30).
Heaven (ouranos)
The Greek word for heaven, ouranos, occurs fifty times in Revelation and refers to either the present dwelling place or abode of God (3:12; 4:2; 5:3, 13; 8:1; 11:13, 15, 19; 12:1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12; 13:6; 14:17; 15:1, 5; 16:11; 18:20; 19:1, 11, 14; 20:1) or the present sky or physical heavens (6:13, 14; 8:10; 9:1; 11:6; 13:13; 16:21; 18:5; 20:9, 11; 21:1). In several places, it is ambiguous and hard to determine which of these two referents is intended by the term (4:1; 10:1, 4, 5, 6, 8; 11:12; 14:2, 7, 13; 18:1, 4; 21:2, 10). This matches what we observed concerning the Gospel of John and raises an interesting point of contrast with the contemporary common use of “heaven” opposite “hell” to describe the final state of believers or where Christians go when they die.
Ouranos is never used to describe the final state of believers in the Gospel of John and Revelation but always refers to either the present abode and realm of God or the physical sky and heavens. Because of this fact, our exploration of the final state of believers in Revelation will not be based on a word study of ouranos but will require an examination of the symbols, figures, and allusions to the future life of believers throughout the book. The remainder of this chapter will proceed in three stages. First, I will examine the culminating visionary account of the final state of believers in 21:1–22:5. Second, I will examine other allusions to the future life of believers in God’s new creation throughout the book. Finally, I will conclude by looking at the rhetorical force of the visionary descriptions of the final state of believers (“heaven”) in Revelation.
John’s Final Climactic Vision: New Creation (21:1–22:5)
The final state of believers receives its fullest description in Revelation in 21:1–22:5, which structurally consists of two mutually interpreting visions of God’s new creation and the New Jerusalem (21:1–8; 21:9–22:5).23 Because of the great deal of overlap, these two final visions will be discussed together. Bracketing out questions of the nature of the millennium, it is clear in the narrative that God’s new creation is preceded by the bodily return of Christ, the resurrection of all the dead throughout history, and the final judgment (19:11–16; 20:11–15; cf. 1:7).
Despite the highly figurative description of believers’ future state in these final visions, it is possible to register several definitive affirmations.24 The future life of believers in their resurrection bodies will entail life in God’s new creation; the direct presence of God with humanity; the permanent removal of all the pain, sorrow, and suffering of the present world; ultimate security, safety, and protection; and a reversal of the effects of the curse and the fall.25
The New Creation (21:1). The final state of believers is preeminently described in Revelation as their resurrected life in God’s newly created (or re-created) earth: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (21:1; cf. Isa. 65:17; 66:22). God is praised throughout Revelation because he created all things (Rev. 4:11; 10:6; 14:7). By extension, the celebration of God’s power and ability to create is also a celebration of his power and ability to re-create. When we affirm our belief in God’s creation of the universe, we are affirming our belief and hope that he will one day re-create it. God’s new creation is also anticipated by visions of judgment throughout Revelation. The seven seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments figuratively narrate the dissolution and destruction of the present cosmos (de-creation) in anticipation of God’s final and glorious re-creation of heaven and earth, where everything that corrupted the first creation will be absent.26 God’s creation of a new heaven and a new earth points to a newness in quality (usually indicated by kainos) and not in time (usually indicated by neos).27 These two Greek words for “new” can be synonymous depending on the context, but the unfolding visions stress that the use of kainos in 21:1 points to the qualitative newness of God’s new creation.28
When the vision of the future contained in Revelation 21:1 is compared with Paul’s description of Christians as “new creation” in 2 Corinthians 5:17, an important truth emerges. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the future, new creation seen by John has already broken into the present, old creation. Those who are united to Christ by faith (symbolized by baptism) become part of this new creation even as they live in the broken, fallen old creation: this present world. Christians therefore live in the midst of tension and conflict. Although believers definitively belong to the new creation, have been filled with God’s Spirit, and are being inwardly transformed day by day into Christ’s likeness, we still live in this broken world filled with temptation, sin, suffering, pain, and death and long for final consummation at the return of Christ. Revelation 21:1–22:5 does not describe the new creation inaugurated by Christ in which believers presently partake but the final perfection, completion, and life of God’s people in his newly (re)made world.29
God’s Direct Presence with Humanity (21:3). The preeminent characteristic of God’s new creation will be his direct presence with his people with no distance or separation. “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (21:3).30 The significance of the descent of the New Jerusalem (v. 2) is interpreted to be that “the dwelling place [skēnē; tent, tabernacle] of God is with man. He will dwell [skēnoō] with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (v. 3). The use of the Greek noun skēnē (along with the verb) recalls the incarnation and John’s statement that “the Word became flesh and dwelt [skēnoō] among us” (John 1:14), signaling the fulfillment of God’s promise to tabernacle with his people in the wilderness (Lev. 26:11–12) and of the prophetic vision that God’s dwelling place [kataskēnōsis, LXX] would one day be among his people forever (Ezek. 37:27).31 Throughout the Gospel of John and Revelation, the dwelling of God is in heaven in distinction from earth, but in God’s new creation these two distinct spatial realities merge. God’s dwelling is now with resurrected people on a newly created earth.
In the old creation—this present world—such direct access to God would prove fatal to sinful humanity. The Israelites had to keep their distance from Mount Sinai in order not to be consumed; only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and no one had seen God at any time (John 1:18; cf. 1 John 4:12). Because Christians are part of God’s new creation right now in the present, we are indwelt by his Holy Spirit and, according to the book of Hebrews, have confident access to approach God in prayer because of Christ’s sacrifice, but because we are in this old creation, God is not directly dwelling among us. In God’s new creation this will not be the case, and God will dwell directly with and among his people.
How is it that Christians celebrate the presence of God in their midst in this old creation, yet, according to Revelation 21, God’s presence with his people is a yet future reality? God’s presence with his people in the present is through his indwelling Spirit. An imperfect illustration may be drawn from human relationships. Most people have experienced times in life when they are geographically separated from loved ones: betrothed, spouse, children, parents, or close friends. There are many ways in which we may communicate, encourage, and express our love to others long-distance through the phone, the Internet, Skype, video conferencing, or e-mail. I suppose some people even still send letters through the post office. All these means of communication and “presence” are wonderful, but they are not the same as being directly face-to-face with loved ones: greeting and hugging them at the airport terminal or bus station or seeing them pull into the driveway and get out of the car. It is great to talk on the phone, but it is far better to talk face-to-face.32 In God’s new creation his dwelling place (heaven) will not be separated from mankind; rather, God will directly dwell with his people.
The Wiping Away of All the Pain, Sorrow, and Suffering of This Present World (21:4). Revelation 21:4 contains one of the most powerful images in Revelation and perhaps the entire Bible in its description of the activity of God as he dwells with his people: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” The all-powerful, transcendent, holy creator and ruler of all creation is pictured as intimately and tenderly wiping the tears away from the eyes of his people. God’s presence and direct rule of his people is characterized by love and compassion and not the oppression and brutality that often characterize human power and authority in the present world.
Not only will God bring complete and ultimate comfort to our pain, but the sources of our pain will no longer exist: “Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (v. 4b). Everything that causes tears, suffering, and pain will have passed away with the old creation and will have no place in God’s new creation. God does not just remove sorrow from human existence, but he banishes the sources of pain and sorrow. Death and the “former things” will have passed away. God will make “all things new” (v. 5).
Security, Safety, and Protection (21:9–21, 25). The magnificent and detailed description of the New Jerusalem describes the security and safety of God’s people in God’s new creation:33
But let us pay more attention to the absolute security of the New Jerusalem. The city is perched on a mountain so huge and high that no invading army could possibly gain a foothold on it (21:10). The city-wall is so thick and high—144 cubits thick and naturally as high as the city itself, it would appear, since 144 cubits would not at all be high in comparison with the city’s height of 12,000 stadia—the city-wall is so thick and high that no invading army could penetrate or scale it if they were able to gain a foothold on the mountain (21:12a). Standing guard at each gate is an angel, more than a match for any invader (21:12b). Twelve mammoth stones, interspersed between the gates, support the wall (21:14a). John is not describing an eternally secure place. He is describing eternally secure peoples.34
The visionary descriptions of the city indicate unsurpassed wealth, security, safety, and protection. It has powerful gates and walls, but the gates will never be shut because there will be no night, threat, or danger (v. 25).35 In stark contrast to the dangers encountered by God’s people in the old creation in the form of natural disasters, sickness, and the persecuting power of the evil trinity (the Dragon and the two beasts), there will be no worrying about our own safety and that of our loved ones in God’s new creation. The extravagant wealth contained in the building materials of the New Jerusalem also contrasts with the economic and social deprivation experienced by many of God’s people in the old creation because of their faithful witness to Christ.
The Restoration of Eden and the Reversal of the Fall (22:1–5). God’s new creation in which believers will one day live eternally is described as a restored and perfected Eden.36 Several motifs in these verses allude to the description of paradise in Genesis 2–3: the river of life (Rev. 22:1; cf. Gen. 2:10; Ezek. 47:1–9; Zech. 14:8); the Tree of Life (Rev. 22:2; cf. Gen. 3:22; Ezek. 47:12); and the removal of every cursed thing (Rev. 22:3; cf. Gen. 3:14–19; Zech. 14:11).37 These connections indicate that God’s new creation will entail a restoration of all that was lost when humanity originally rebelled against God. When humanity rebelled against God, they were removed from the garden so that they could not eat from the Tree of Life and live forever, but in God’s newly created world without sin, people have full access to the Tree of Life.
Humanity’s rebellion resulted in a cursed and broken world that groans and longs for freedom from corruption (cf. Rom. 8:19–23).38 The world, paradise, became a corrupt place filled with broken, sinful, selfish people who use, hurt, and oppress one another. Revelation declares that in God’s new creation everything cursed as a result of mankind’s rebellion against God will be completely removed.39 Verse 3 of the well-known Christmas carol “Joy to the World” captures the hope expressed in these verses:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.40
Revelation 22:5 concludes with the promise that God’s people “will reign forever and ever.” Thus, humankind will finally and fully be able to fulfill the purpose for which we were originally created: to represent God as his image in representatively ruling his creation (Gen. 1:26–28).
Visions of God’s New Creation throughout Revelation
In addition to John’s final climactic visions of God’s new creation in Revelation 21:1–22:5, there are brief descriptions of the final state in 7:15–17 and 11:15–18 and allusions to it in the letters to the seven churches in the promises to believers who overcome (2:7, 11, 17, 26–27; 3:5, 12, 21).
The description of the innumerable multitude before the throne in 7:9–17 possesses temporal ambiguity and seems to describe the state of deceased believers in the presence of God throughout the church age and the final state of believers in God’s new creation.41 However, the description of the believers, particularly in verses 16–17, connects this vision with the final state of believers as described in 21:3–6: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (7:16–17). Believers will not experience the hunger or thirst associated with deprivation in this present world; they will have access to springs of living water; and God will be present in their midst to wipe away every tear.
The events associated with the blowing of the seventh trumpet and the final advent of Christ’s kingdom are not narrated but rather assumed and celebrated in song (11:15–18). This hymn celebrates the coming of Christ’s eternal kingdom on earth (God’s new creation, not the millennial kingdom) and allusively refers to the return of Christ, the resurrection, final judgment, and eternal salvation:42
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. (11:15b)
We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. (vv. 17b –18)
The description of God as the one “who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4, 8; 4:8) is here stated as “who is and who was” because at this point in the visionary narrative, God has come to his creation.43 This coming corresponds with the establishment of Christ’s eternal kingdom on earth (11:15b). The “time for the dead to be judged” refers to the final resurrection, and “rewarding your servants” points ahead to the description of God’s new creation discussed above.
Revelation 21:7 contains a promise that “the one who conquers will have this heritage” (or “will inherit these things”). This promise likely refers to the things just mentioned in verses 1–6 but likely also has a broader referent and includes each of the similarly worded promises to the conquerors in the letters to the seven churches earlier in the book.44 Most of the initial promises are explicitly fulfilled in the visions at the end of Revelation:
Eating from the tree of life (2:7 = 22:2), not hurt by the second death (2:11 = 21:7–8), the hidden manna and the white stone (2:17 = 19:9), a bright stone and the morning star (2:17, 28 = 21:11, 18–21, 23; 22:5, 16), name in the book of life and acknowledged before the Father (3:5 = 21:27), bright garments (3:5 = 19:7–8, 21:2, 9–10), a pillar in the temple (3:12 = 21:22–23), participation in the New Jerusalem (3:12 = 21:2), the name of God written (3:12 = 22:4), and sitting with Christ on his throne (2:26–27; 3:21 = 20:4; 22:3–5).45
The initial promises at the conclusion of each of the seven letters anticipate the final consummation that is finally described in 21:1–22:5. They emphasize the same points discussed above: life in God’s new creation will entail God’s direct presence, the removal of all sorrow and pain, ultimate security and protection, and a restoration of Eden and reversal of the curse.
The Rhetorical Force of “Heaven” in Revelation:
What Do These Visions Do?
Revelation does not provide visions and descriptions of the final state of believers in God’s new creation just to provide Christians with information and to satisfy their curiosity. These visions are intended to affect and change the readers and hearers: they do something. Visions of the final state of believers in Revelation function as comfort and encouragement, motivation and warning, and invitation.
Comfort and Encouragement. Believers in Asia Minor at the end of the first century who refused to participate in emperor worship and other local rituals and expressions of worship at the pagan temples experienced social ostracism, economic deprivation, general persecution, and possible martyrdom.46 There has been some discussion concerning the extent of Roman persecution of Christians in Asia Minor at the end of the first century, because there is no extant edict against Christianity from Domitian’s reign.47 Had the persecution already begun, or was it only anticipated? The recent martyrdom of Antipas at Pergamum (Rev. 2:13) supports the contention that real persecution had begun, at least on a local level, and the messages and visions of Revelation assume that persecution will intensify for those who bear faithful witness to the lordship of Christ and refuse to compromise with the surrounding pagan culture.
To believers suffering persecution and experiencing difficulty for their faithful witness—from the first century through the twenty-first—the visions throughout Revelation of the final, eternal state bring great comfort and encouragement. The present experience of deprivation, loss, poverty, pain, ostracism, and death in this old creation is contrasted by visions of eternal joy, security, wealth, inclusion, and blessedness in God’s new creation. God’s promised great eschatological reversal—where the last will be first and the first last—comforts believers in the present, often in the midst of intense persecution, while we wait for the return of Christ, final consummation, and the day when God will personally and individually wipe every tear from our eyes.
Motivation and Warning. These visions of the final eternal state not only provide comfort and encouragement but also function to motivate and warn. All the blessings associated with life in God’s new creation are promised to those who overcome or conquer (21:7). These visions function to motivate believers to overcome the Beast, sin, and temptation to compromise in order to avoid persecution or advance economically and socially. The promises to the ones who overcome function as an overarching theme for the entire book and embody the main rhetorical theme of Revelation. The book as a whole represents a massive prophetic-apocalyptic exhortation to believers designed to motivate them to overcome, endure, remain faithful, witness, and not compromise. The book motivates this overcoming endurance through visions of the future, God’s kingdom, heaven, eternal reward, and life in God’s new creation—and their opposite, eternal punishment. God’s message to the church rings out loud and clear. You must overcome! Do not grow weary in your obedience and witness! Do not compromise with the sin, lust, and idolatry of your surrounding culture! Overcome!
This motivation to endure is accompanied by severe warnings: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (21:8). At first, the mention of punishment in the lake of fire may seem out of place, being surrounded by descriptions of the eternal happiness and bliss of God’s new creation, but the inclusion of verse 8 makes perfect sense when it is remembered that these visions of God’s new creation were not given to provide information to the intellectually curious but to motivate obedience and warn those who are tempted to compromise with the Beast.48
The function of this verse as a warning to Christians who are tempted to compromise is evident from the first word of the “vice list”: “the cowardly” (deilos). There are many vice lists throughout the New Testament, but none of them begins with, or even includes, deilos. This term is particularly suited to describe those professing Christians who are tempted to turn back in the face of persecution and buckle under pressure in order to avoid tribulation or just to advance economically and enjoy upward social mobility. The mention of deilos highlights Jesus’ exhortation to the churches: you must overcome.49 Cowardice will keep people from overcoming and will make them compromise with sin and deny Christ when persecution strikes, as persecution surely will. This note of warning designed to motivate believers to overcome is echoed in verse 27: “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Invitation. Finally, these visions of God’s new creation function as an invitation to the reader to join God’s people and experience future life in God’s new creation, an invitation for all who are thirsty to come: “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (22:17).
This invitation is based on God’s promise in 21:6 and the description of the water of life flowing from the throne of God in the New Jerusalem (22:1–2; cf. 7:17; Isa. 55:1): “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment” (Rev. 21:6).
With these promises and invitations, the visions of God’s future new creation in Revelation function evangelistically to call any and every reader, all those who are thirsty, to join the people of God and experience God’s promised blessings. This invitation goes out to believers as well, exhorting them to persevere with the hope of full and final satisfaction in God’s new creation.50
Do Believers Go to Heaven When They Die?
Before concluding this chapter, I want to briefly address a practical issue raised by this study. Is it biblical, at least on the basis of the Gospel of John and Revelation, to speak of believers’ “going to heaven” when they die? As we have seen, heaven is never used in the Gospel of John or Revelation to describe the final state of believers or the place where they will spend eternity. Rather, we are told that believers are going to spend eternity in their resurrected bodies on God’s new earth. Nevertheless, little harm is done by the popular usage of the word heaven to describe where believers go when they die.
While believers will enter God’s presence upon death even prior to the final resurrection,51 the preeminent characteristic of future life in God’s newly created world is the direct presence of God among his people. The present cosmological distinction between heaven as God’s present abode and the physical earth will be removed, and thus heaven and earth will be joined.52 God’s realm and abode will be the same as that of believers on earth in his new creation.
In this way, it is legitimate to speak of the future state of believers as “life in heaven,” as long as Christians are also taught that this does not entail hope for disembodied existence at some remote place but concrete, bodily, resurrected dwelling on God’s new earth, where he will permanently live with his people. It will be life in the Father’s house, that is, the new creation. In that future state, redeemed humanity will not be inactive but will continue to fulfill God’s original mandate to rule his creation as his representatives made in his image (Rev. 22:5; cf. Gen. 1:26–28).
Conclusion
Both the Gospel of John and Revelation consistently employ heaven (ouranos) to describe either the present abode and dwelling place of God or the physical sky and heavens. The Gospel of John makes a distinctive contribution by emphasizing the joining of heaven and earth in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ and the present experience of eternal life available to believers through the Holy Spirit. Revelation makes a distinctive contribution by describing God’s future, eternal, new creation as a permanent joining of heaven and earth whereby God’s dwelling place and abode will merge with that of man’s and will result in his direct presence in and among his people.
This life in God’s new creation, the Father’s house, will be characterized by God’s presence; the absence of death, sorrow, and pain; complete security and protection; and a restoration of Eden and removal of the curse. In the absence of sin, humankind will be equipped and enabled to fulfill God’s original mandate for humanity in his image to representatively rule his creation. These visions in Revelation of God’s new creation are designed to comfort, encourage, motivate, warn, and invite its readers to repent, join God’s people, persevere, and inherit the promises. May we respond appropriately to this prophetic-apocalyptic exhortation, because “these words are trustworthy and true” (Rev. 22:6).53
1 See Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum, and Charles L. Quarles, The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2009), 810–14, for arguments in support of the common authorship of John’s Gospel and Revelation.
2 See the brief overview in Peter Toon, Heaven and Hell: A Biblical Theological Overview (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1986), 8–10.
3 For a discussion of John’s worldview, including “above” and “below,” see my A Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters, BTNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 275–92, esp. 287–88.
4 For more development of this theme see my The Missions of Jesus and the Disciples according to the Fourth Gospel (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998), chap. 3.
5 See ibid., 126.
6 D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), 163–64; Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2004), 84–87; Ben Witherington, John’s Wisdom (Louisville, KY: Westminster, 1995), 72.
7 Köstenberger, John, 25–27, 40–50.
8 “Life” and “eternal life” are used interchangeably throughout the Gospel. See 1:4; 3:15–16, 36; 4:10, 14, 36; 5:21, 24–26, 28–29; 6:27, 33, 35, 40, 47, 48, 51, 53, 54, 57–58, 63, 68; 7:38; 8:12; 10:10, 28; 11:25–26; 12:25, 50; 14:6, 19; 17:2–3; 20:31.
9 Rudolf Bultmann, The Gospel of John, trans. George R. Beasley-Murray (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1971); Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, trans. Kendrick Grobel (New York: Scribner’s, 1951, 1955), 2:75–92; C. H. Dodd, “The Kingdom of God Has Come,” ExpTim 48 (1936): 138–42; Dodd, “The Background of the Fourth Gospel,” BJRL 19 (1935): 329–43.
10 Bultmann, Gospel of John, 261; C. H. Dodd, The Coming of Christ (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1954), 6–7.
11 George R. Beasley-Murray, Gospel of Life: Theology in the Fourth Gospel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1991), 1–14; Beasley-Murray, “The Eschatology of the Fourth Gospel,” EvQ 18 (1946): 97–108; Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, 2 vols. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003), 320–23; Darrell L. Bock, “The Kingdom of God in New Testament Theology,” in Looking into the Future: Evangelical Studies in Eschatology, ed. David W. Baker (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2001), 32–33.
12 Other references that indicate a futuristic eschatology include 5:28–29; 6:39–40, 44, 54; 11:23–26; 12:48; although these references do not focus on heaven.
13 The idea that these rooms or dwelling places indicate mansions has made its way into hymnody and common conceptions of heaven, but there is little good evidence to support the notion that we will have mansions in heaven. The concept of “mansions” comes from the Latin word mansio through William Tyndale’s 1526 translation of the NT into English from the Latin Vulgate. The Latin word refers to a stopover place and did not carry the meaning of large, luxurious quasi-palaces associated with mansions in the English language today. The Greek word monē simply means “room” or “single dwelling.”
14 Carson, Gospel according to John, 489.
15 R. H. Gundry, “In My Father’s House Are Many Monai (John 14:2),” ZNW 58 (1967): 68–72, inadequately recognizes this point. See the critique in Carson, Gospel according to John, 488–89.
16 See, in particular, J. McCaffrey, The House with Many Rooms: The Temple Theme of Jn. 14,2–3, Analecta biblica 114 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1988), 63.
17 See my “The Destruction of the Second Temple and the Composition of the Fourth Gospel,” in Challenging Perspectives on the Gospel of John, ed. John Lierman, WUNT 2/219 (Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 2006), 69–108.
18 See esp. ibid., 106; Köstenberger, Theology of John’s Gospel and Letters, 433. See also Paul M. Hoskins, Jesus as the Fulfillment of the Temple in the Gospel of John, Paternoster Biblical Monographs (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 2007).
19 Contra N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), 150, who argues that monai is used here to describe the intermediate state because it “is regularly used in ancient Greek not for a final resting place but for a temporary halt on a journey that will take you somewhere else in the long run.”
20 McCaffrey, House with Many Rooms, 50–51, discusses how “father’s house” designates a (patriarchal) family in the Septuagint (Gk. translation of the OT) and extrabiblical literature.
21 Gottlob Schrenck, “patēr,” TDNT 5:997.
22 Cf. Wright, Surprised by Hope, 19, who writes, “God made heaven and earth; at the last he will remake both and join them together forever. And when we come to the picture of the actual end in Revelation 21–22, we find not ransomed souls making their way to a disembodied heaven but rather the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth, uniting the two in a lasting embrace.”
23 For detailed discussion of these visions with an emphasis on the OT background see William Dumbrell, The End of the Beginning: Revelation 21–22 and the Old Testament, Moore Theological College Lecture Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1985); David Mathewson, A New Heaven and a New Earth: The Meaning and Function of the Old Testament in Revelation 21.1–22.5, JSNTSup 238 (Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 2003). Also useful, though requiring critical discernment, are Bruce J. Malina, The New Jerusalem in the Revelation of John: The City as Symbol of Life with God (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000); and Eva Maria Räpple, The Metaphor of the City in the Apocalypse of John, Studies in Biblical Literature 67 (New York: Peter Lang, 2004).
24 See G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 1040, concerning the figurative nature of these visions.
25 These visions, particularly that of the New Jerusalem, figuratively portray the perfected community of God’s people, but several elements that will be discussed below extend beyond a description of resurrected believers to describe the new world in which they will live. Cf. Robert H. Gundry, “The New Jerusalem: People as Place, not Place for People,” NovT 29 (1987): 254–64; Beale, Book of Revelation, 1041.
26 This is the significance of the absence of the sea in God’s new creation (21:1). The sea in the ancient world commonly symbolized chaos, evil, turbulence, and insubordination (cf. Job 38:8–11; Ps. 89:9; Isa. 57:20). See Bruce M. Metzger, Breaking the Code: Understanding the Book of Revelation (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993), 99; Grant Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 730–31; Beale, The Book of Revelation, 1042.
27 Beale, The Book of Revelation, 1040.
28 Metzger, Breaking the Code, 98, rightly notes that “whether John would have us think of the new heavens and new earth as a transformation of the existing order, or whether this present cosmos will come to an end and a new creation will replace it, is not quite clear. In any case, the word new used by John does not mean simply another, but a new kind of heaven and earth. The new creation will have some continuity with creation as we now know it, yet it will be radically different.”
29 Contra M. R. Mulholland, Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1990): 314–16; and J. Nelson Kraybill, Apocalypse and Allegiance: Worship, Politics, and Devotion in the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2010), 169, 176, who argue that these visions partially describe the church age.
30 The covenantal nature of this language is evident throughout the OT. Cf. Gen. 17:7; Ex. 6:7; 29:45; Lev. 26:12; Num. 15:41; Deut. 29:13; 2 Sam. 7:24; Jer. 7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; Ezek. 11:20; 34:24; 36:28; 37:23, 27; and Zech. 8:8.
31 Cf. Joseph L. Mangina, Revelation, Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2010), 239.
32 For a Johannine example, see 2 John 12: “Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.”
33 Vern S. Poythress, The Returning King: A Guide to the Book of Revelation (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2000), 190.
34 Gundry, “New Jerusalem,” 260.
35 So George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), 284–85. Contra M. Rissi, The Future of the World: An Exegetical Study of Revelation 19.11–22:15, SBT 23 (London: SCM, 1972), 74, who argues for a form of universalism based on the open gates.
36 This is in keeping with the common Jewish apocalyptic understanding that the end time will reflect the beginning. Test. Dan 5:12 notes that at the end the “saints will rest in Eden.” Cf. Barn. 6:13, where it is said that God “will make the end like the beginning.” See Beale, Book of Revelation, 1103, for further background discussion. Gordon D. Fee, Revelation, New Covenant Commentary Series (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2011), 289, writes, “Then . . . in 22:1–5 the city itself evolves into a kind of restored Eden, so as to embrace not just a restored Israel (with a ‘new Jerusalem,’ which has no temple) but a renewed earth as well.”
37 Connections with Genesis 3 are evident elsewhere in Revelation, particularly in Revelation 12, which connects with Gen. 3:15 around the shared themes of woman, Serpent, seed, and warfare or enmity.
38 Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 191, draws attention to these verses in Romans and notes that John’s vision of God’s new creation “envisions the salvation of the whole of creation, not only the redemption of individual souls.”
39 Metzger, Breaking the Code, 102.
40 Isaac Watts, “Joy to the World,” 1719.
41 Beale, Book of Revelation, 443, writes, “The scene in Rev. 7:9–17 does not only portray God’s protection of Christians on earth or only the final reward of the church living only at the climax of history. Vv 13–14 portray the overall process of those who persevere and enter into and begin to participate in the enjoyment of God’s presence and eternal blessings” (emphasis original).
42 Space precludes discussion of the structure of Revelation, but the description here following the sounding of the seventh trumpet along with the angel’s promise “that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled” (Rev. 10:6–7) seems to demand some version of recapitulation or parallelism, at least with regard to the seventh seal, trumpet, and bowl. For a detailed discussion see Köstenberger, Kellum, and Quarles, Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown, 831–45.
43 See the helpful discussion of this phrase in Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, New Testament Theology (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993), 28–30.
44 Osborne, Revelation, 739.
45 Ibid., drawn from Beale, Book of Revelation, 1058.
46 For detailed discussion of the seven churches in the first century see W. M. Ramsey, The Letters to the Seven Churches in Asia, rev. ed. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994); and especially C. J. Hemer, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia in Their Local Setting (Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1986).
47 See in particular Köstenberger, Kellum, and Quarles, Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown, 815–23; and David A. deSilva, Seeing Things John’s Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (Louisville, KY: Westminster, 2009), 29–64. See also Adela Yarbro Collins, Crisis and Catharsis: The Power of the Apocalypse (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1984), 84; Leonard Thompson, “A Sociological Analysis of the Tribulation in the Apocalypse of John,” Semeia 36 (1986): 147–74; J. P. M. Sweet, Revelation (London: SCM, 1979); Hemer, Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia; Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, The Book of Revelation: Justice and Judgment (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985); and Jan A. Du Rand, “A Socio-Psychological View of the Effect of the Language (Parole) of the Apocalypse of John,” Neot 24 (1990): 351–65, esp. 355.
48 Fee, Revelation, 295.
49 Osborne, Revelation, 741, highlights the explicit contrast drawn between those who overcome and the cowardly.
50 For the inclusion of God’s people in the addressees of this invitation see Beale, Book of Revelation, 1149.
51 See the depictions of believers in passages such as Rev. 6:9–19; 7:9–17; 12:10–12; 13:6; 14:13; and 15:2–3. Cf. Charles H. Giblin, “The Millennium (Rev 20.4–6) as Heaven,” NTS 45 (1999): 553–70, who discusses each of these texts among others under the rubric of “vertical eschatology” (555).
52 James L. Resseguie, The Revelation of John: A Narrative Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 253, notes, “In the old order God dwelt in heaven; in the new order God tabernacles with his people. The three-level world is in the process of collapsing into one world, removing the separation between heaven and earth, between God and his people.”
53 I am grateful to my research assistant Alex Stewart for his help in preparing this essay.