What if you died and woke up in a heaven without Christ? Can there even be a Christ-less heaven? I’m sure many people today would prefer it that way. But might a heaven devoid of Christ actually be something else?
I was first taught about Christ by my mother. For all its theological problems, Christ was also taught to me at my two Roman Catholic Schools. Nevertheless I drifted off into the New Age. Even so I retained a longing for Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, He wasn’t to be found there.
During those desert years I came across a popular book by Helen Greaves, who claimed to be in psychic contact with dead Anglican Nun Frances Banks. This nun allegedly communicated the conditions of the after-death realm she found herself in. There was no Jesus in sight. Apparently He was too advanced and had moved to a far-off dimension. According to Greaves’ contact:
I must stress that so much of the old theology of the Christian Churches is at fault. It must be a rare occurrence, I imagine, for any newly-arrived soul in this world to find himself ‘at rest in the arms of Jesus’.
Greaves was either deluded or in contact with some being other than Banks, or both. The premise is demonic in origin. Paul clearly told the Philippians:
But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better Phil 1:23
In C. S. Lewis’ story “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” the Christ-figure Aslan tells Lucy and Edmund that they would never visit Narnia again. Lucy responds:
“It isn’t Narnia you know. It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?”
The best parts of the Narnian Chronicles were always the ones where Aslan turned up. Narnia without Aslan would be just another interesting realm. It was Aslan who made Narnia very special for me.
I sensed something of Lucy’s loss when the main characters from the “Lord of the Rings” left The Gray Havens in a ship headed for the West. I felt Sam’s anguish and emptiness as he bade goodbye to Frodo and Gandalf. How could Rivendell be the same without Elrond? The fair land of Lothlórien would gradually feel joyless without Galadriel and Celeborn. This is largely because J. R. R. Tolkien imbued these characters with Christ-like qualities. One couldn’t help but grow to love them.
Yet all these examples are pale fictional shadows of the ultimate joy in our relationship with Jesus Christ. I like what John Flavel wrote in The Fountain of Life:
Christ’s primeval state was of matchless happiness, if we consider the persons [of the Trinity] enjoying and delighting in each other. God is the fountain, ocean, and center of all delights and joys – ‘In your presence there is fullness of joy’ (Psa. 16:11).
In his Morning and Evening Devotions, Surgeon cites Samuel Rutherford:
“O my Lord Jesus Christ, if I could be in heaven without thee, it would be a hell; and if I could be in hell, and have thee still, it would be a heaven to me, for thou art all the heaven I want.”
A heaven without Christ is no heaven. Heaven is where Christ is. Wherever Christ is, we also find the Father and the Holy Spirit. This truth is vitally important! We are promised the same fellowship and joy in eternity, as the Trinity currently enjoys and enjoyed in eternity past.
But as it is written: “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. 1 Co 2:9
Maranatha!
P.S. If you have the time, I recommend reading Michael Reeves’ article Delighting in the Trinity. Also listen to his talk The Trinity: The Secret to Joyful Christianity.
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