Heaven on Earth

The phrase ‘Heaven on earth’ is usually uttered in a secular context to denote bliss or utopia. Indeed, unwittingly retaining a sort of Gnostic paradigm, many if not most Christians seem to find the phrase to be somehow offensive, or even blasphemous – how can Heaven be on earth, when the former is holy and the latter wicked? This state of affairs is peculiar, since the Bible as I see it is essentially a story about – you guessed it – Heaven on Earth.

The theme is introduced in the very first verse of the Bible: “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. In the creation process, there is no distinction between natural and supernatural; nature is brought into existence through super-nature. The substance of Genesis, in turn, is echoed in the book of Revelation, where we see a New Jerusalem descending from Heaven to Earth. In between the beginning and the end, we have the life of Jesus himself, who came from Heaven to dwell in earthly form, descending into the bosom of the earth, and then ascended back to Heaven.

On either chronological side of Jesus, we see more hints of Heaven colliding with earth. In the Old Testament, there is the Jewish temple/tabernacle, which contained the presence of God on earth. Heaven and earth have been torn asunder thanks to sin, but nevertheless we see a remnant of the divine remaining amongst the profane. In the New Testament, we ourselves have become the temple, with the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Although we still await the time when Heaven and earth will be reunited, spiritually speaking we are already there.

The Lord’s Prayer, which is directed to “our Father in Heaven”, contains the curious phrase, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”. Clearly, Jesus thought that Heaven-on-earth was an important agenda – one which He came to set, and which he wanted us to continue pursuing.