Our sense organs 45

Man in heaven:
sharing the glory
of Jesus
A student approached me after a presentation in
the city of Mainz, Germany. I noticed her determination
to get an answer as she said, “You’ve
just been talking about time and life after death.
But what is eternity exactly?” I was surprised to
be asked this question by such an attractive
young woman. She was so full of life, why didn’t
she just postpone the question as many other
people do? I said to her, “I’m interested to know
why this question is so important to you.” She
replied, “I was recently diagnosed as having a
hereditary heart condition. As it stands, the doctors
have given me just a few more years to live.
So you see, I have to know what eternity is.”
I immediately realized that this was neither a
theoretical, nor a quibbling theological question,
but a very existential one. I was moved by the
clarity and decisiveness with which this young
woman was looking for an answer to this fundamental
question. Before I could answer her she
made it clear what she didn’t want to hear.
She said, “I can imagine what hell is like. I have
read Sartre, and he described it in one piece quite
evocatively: people are locked in a room and cannot
understand each other. They can never leave
the room. Never. That is hell. I can imagine that. But
what is heaven like? That is what I would like to
know.” She continued, “And please don’t tell me it ’ll
be singing Hallelujah or praising God unendingly. I
can’t imagine having to sing forever. Nor do I desire
to praise God continually for the rest of eternity.
But I know eternity is our goal in life. It has to be
something I can look forward to.”
I tried, in my answer, to describe heaven as a
place full of joy and love. She interrupted me
right away, “That is not precise enough for me.
How could I rejoice in a place where there is
nothing but joy? One can only feel joy as such
when one has experienced its opposite, sadness
or anger.”
The young woman challenged me to examine the
question more intensively and to answer exactly,
according to the Bible. I will never forget that
conversation, as it led me to shift the focus of
my presentations to the theme of heaven. What
a blessing it would be if more people asked such
specific questions about life after death!
At the end of our conversation, she said, “Why is
so little preached or written about eternity? Why
do most sermons only deal with this life? People
are being denied something crucial.” She was
right, and because of that encounter in Mainz,
I have included a chapter in this book which deals
with the question of life after death in detail.
The young woman spoke of both heaven and hell.
We, too, will deal with both places, as Jesus preached
vigorously and repeatedly on both subjects.
What about hell?
During the Vietnam war, a minister went to comfort
a dying soldier. The soldier knew he had only
minutes left to live, only minutes before he
would be faced with eternity. There was only one
question burning in his soul: “Minister, is there a
hell?” The minister’s answer was a clear, “No.” The
soldier’s reply was equally clear: “If there is no
hell, then we don’t need you here at all. You
should just go home! But, if there really is a hell,
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