I need to re-think my idea of heaven. I know that any description of heaven is incomplete and relies heavily on symbolic images, but I have discovered that there is something (or rather someone) important missing from my own imagined view of the life to come.
The idea which has always appealed to me is that heaven is the reality and this world a mere shadow of it. Or, if you like, heaven is three dimensional and in colour whereas life today is, in comparison, merely two dimensional and monochrome. In other words I picture heaven as a more solid, more real and altogether 'greater' version of earth. There will still be all the things that make life on earth so good, but they won't be tainted by sin or sorrow.
And what is wrong with this picture? It barely leaves room for God, let alone Christ. It is possible to see heaven as some idyllic paradise where God does little more than set things up and leave us to get on with enjoying eternity. It is possible to see Christ as little more than a glorified gatekeeper - he is the one who opens heaven up for us, but again just leaves us to enjoy it.
There are plenty of Biblical images of a wonderful heaven which awaits us - a great feast; a peaceful mountain; a holy city - but if we are to take seriously the whole Bible, then what about those passages which remind us that all things were made by and for Christ? All things, in heaven and earth, have been given to him. How can a Christian view of heaven not include Christ at the centre? Heaven must be more than a place where God's creatures feel good. It must be a place where we live in perfect relationship with Jesus, our Lord, our Saviour and our Friend.
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