Have any of you ever been to Hawaii? I would definitely say that is a bucket list place for me to visit After all, don't they describe Hawaii as a paradise with its amazing and dramatic landscapes, beautiful flora, and warm 80-degree breezes? The definition of paradise would support that claim: “an ideal or idyllic place or state.”
If I were to describe my personal paradise, it would be a lake house in the mountains with canoe rides taking in all the beauty of God’s creation or smelling the pines and mountain air while taking walks in the woods. That would be my dream paradise…
I have also created a paradise of sorts on one of my and my husband’s favorite walks. It’s a boardwalk that goes through woods down to a pond. I have called it my sanctuary; as soon as I enter the gate, I have a rule that we aren’t going to talk about what we need to do or things weighing on our minds. We will just be present and enjoy the beautiful surroundings through sight and sound. Recently, we have been treated to the hoots of a barred owl. My favorite, of late, is whenever we walk down to the deck that overlooks a small swampy area, we hear a big bullfrog literally go “Ahhh!” and then see him leap into the water. It makes me laugh every time and, in fact, I’m chuckling now as I recall it.
Everyone’s paradise looks a little different. An ideal or idyllic situation for you might be different for me.
But God has a paradise prepared for His beloved children that is beyond anything we could ever imagine. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man. The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Yet the Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
So why does Paul speak in the past tense as if we are already in heaven? He gives us the answer in Ephesians 1:3, which says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”. Not only do we have the spiritual blessing of a future home with Jesus in heaven, but He has blessed us in the here and now with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Paul goes on to say in Ephesians 1:18-19, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”
So, is it possible then to experience heaven on earth? To have that ideal or idyllic state in a fallen world?
Let’s take a look at how that is possible:
Heaven Resides Inside of Us
When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit sealed us with the promise of heaven. Not only that, but He came to reside inside of us. It is this power within us that will one day raise us from the dead to join Jesus in heaven. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have received as a gift from God, and that you are not your own?" You might wonder how this helps us experience heaven on earth. When we are in constant communication with the Lord through prayer and Bible reading, we become so in tune with the Spirit within us that we walk as a heavenly being, namely walking in Christ Jesus.
As such, we will experience what Jesus promises in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Now that sounds like heaven on Earth: “rest for your souls.” When we come to Jesus with our whole hearts, we will experience the Holy Spirit's prompting to seek after Him and all His ways.
As the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6:20 reminds us, “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” Everything we do in life affects our bodies. What we ingest (whether food or drink or other), what we look at, what we hear, and how we treat our bodies in general. Depending on what that looks like will determine our life experience. If we are treating our bodies as the world does, we will have a worldly experience, which usually doesn't go well. If we are honoring our bodies as God has called us to, we will enjoy the heaven-on-Earth experience of “rest for our souls."
John W. Peterson’s lyrics articulate best how we experience heaven on Earth:
“O what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget; After I’d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met. O what a tender, compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart; Shadows dispelling, with joy I am telling, He made all the darkness depart.
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul, (filled my soul)
When at the cross the Savior made me whole; (made me whole)
My sins were washed away and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul! (filled my soul)”
Spiritual Eyes
If we all went through life looking at the world around us and the sin that has overtaken it, we would say we are experiencing hell on Earth rather than heaven. That’s why, especially now, we need to look at the world through spiritual eyes. In doing so, we will still be able to experience heaven on Earth despite the state of the world.
God’s Word reminds us that there is truly nothing new under the sun. When you read in the Old Testament about some of the horrific sinful things that were done back then, you see that people have been sinning for centuries and centuries, but as we continue reading and meditating on the Scriptures, we can also have an understanding of the why behind those events and how the Lord used them for His divine purposes. God is not the author of sin, but He is sovereign and rules over all. Nothing happens outside of His will, and we can take comfort in that.
So the next time you see news that is upsetting or even horrifying, look to the Scriptures with spiritual eyes. Allow the Word of God, where truth is found, to be the lens for filtering and processing your emotions. There, the Lord will meet you and calm your heart. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Now that sounds like heaven on Earth!
Live in the "Already Not Yet"
God's Word tells us we are just sojourners here on Earth. This is not our permanent home. We have a heavenly home that Jesus has gone to prepare for us. John 14:2 says, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
The best practical application I can give for experiencing heaven on Earth—living in the "already not yet"—is the example of going on vacation. If you are like me, once you’ve chosen a destination and picked the dates, the months or weeks leading up to it go that much easier because you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. On hard days, you dream and look forward to your vacation, and it somehow makes the difficult days more tolerable, easy even. Or, for those of you who have experienced pregnancy, as the baby grows in your belly, you dream about the day you will finally hold your little one. You are preparing a room for the child and dream about when they are finally at home with you in the nursery. If you are having a bad day at work but suddenly feel the baby kicking, it reminds you of the joy that will come one day soon when you hold that precious little one, and then the worries of the day melt away.
We can experience heaven on Earth by being in tune with the “kicks” of the Holy Spirit when His still, small voice speaks comfort and peace over us through His Word or brings Scripture to our remembrance, reminding us of the joy that is ours both now and forevermore.
Not only that, but we have all the promises in Scripture about the “permanent vacation paradise” we have to look forward to in heaven and can live in that hope. Isaiah 65:17-18;25 says, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create… The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.…” Dwell on these passages and you will experience heaven on Earth.
May we all experience heaven on Earth as we wait in hope for that great day when Jesus returns to bring us to our home in glory.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Yuri_Arcurs
