what do you think heaven is like?

I'm a bit mystified. Is it a sin to feel grief?

Sadness is wiped away by eliminating its root cause. You would be telling the God's truth to say you "eliminated hunger" by furnishing everyone with three square meals a day, but is that the same as disabling the human capacity to notice an empty stomach? And be honest, isn't part of the joy of eating a gourmet meal bringing a strong appetite to the table?

Perhaps this is merely a battle of semantics. But if God can grieve and feel righteous indignation, I want to be able to. Mind you I DON'T WANT REASON TO, but still I would like to share that portion of the image of God. I would hate to think that happiness was blindness to pain. In fact spending eternity with any sort of blindness whatsoever is offputting to me.
 
Well said, John.
Grief is not sin.
And as we are made in the image of God, one supposes that as He can grieve over loss, so can we ...
 
A place that everybody loves,and is just pretty much peace on earth. Plus other stuff you would love to do! It will be awesome to see heaven some day!
 
To me, I think of a soul as a part of G*d, so I find it interesting that people would think that G*d would just allow some of them to eternally be without Him. That would be a punishment for Him as well. Forever is a long time to pay for any crime.

I see a heaven as a place of eternal warmth and light. Kind of like being a part of G*d while also being an individual soul.

Bob
 
EveningStar said:
I'm a bit mystified. Is it a sin to feel grief?

Sadness is wiped away by eliminating its root cause. You would be telling the God's truth to say you "eliminated hunger" by furnishing everyone with three square meals a day, but is that the same as disabling the human capacity to notice an empty stomach? And be honest, isn't part of the joy of eating a gourmet meal bringing a strong appetite to the table?

Perhaps this is merely a battle of semantics. But if God can grieve and feel righteous indignation, I want to be able to. Mind you I DON'T WANT REASON TO, but still I would like to share that portion of the image of God. I would hate to think that happiness was blindness to pain. In fact spending eternity with any sort of blindness whatsoever is offputting to me.
Click to expand...

It's not a sin to grieve, but grieving is a result of sin. If Adam and Eve didn't eat the forbidden fruit there would be no sin and as a result there would have been no grief. But Adam and Eve did eat of the forbidden fruit which brought sin into the world. That's when grief came into the world. It's on Earth where we grieve for our loved ones who didn't know the Lord. Heaven is like our reward after God has called us home. Let me try to illustrate my point. It's like a doctor who's been a doctor for many years, as a doctor he worries whether he's doing his job right and has a lot of stress about his job. But when he reaches a certain age, let's say he's 70 yrs. old, he retires. When he's retired he doesn't need to worry about his job anymore. Like us Christians on Earth we witness to people, and when a friend or family member had died without knowing the Lord, we grieve for them. But in Heaven we're done we're finished, we're with God and all we want is to sing praises to God and to worship Him.
 
Last edited:
The Book says God will wipe the tears from our eyes. If there is no grief, why are we crying in the first place? What you are saying sounds comforting to you, I know, but for those of us who understand the way even life's painful times can shape you, the idea that we would lose the authentic emotions which have defined us is very distressing.

If God wanted a heaven populated with people who could not feel grief, why didn't He make an earth populated with such people and spare us all a lot of heartache? I think in heaven, our griefs will be comforted, this is what the Bible implies by saying God will wipe away our tears.
 
inkspot said:
The Book says God will wipe the tears from our eyes. If there is no grief, why are we crying in the first place? What you are saying sounds comforting to you, I know, but for those of us who understand the way even life's painful times can shape you, the idea that we would lose the authentic emotions which have defined us is very distressing.

If God wanted a heaven populated with people who could not feel grief, why didn't He make an earth populated with such people and spare us all a lot of heartache? I think in heaven, our griefs will be comforted, this is what the Bible implies by saying God will wipe away our tears.
Click to expand...

Our griefs will be comforted in Heaven. That's what I'm saying. When we die and enter Heaven God will comfort us and wipe away our tears taking away our griefs. Therefore, grief will not be in Heaven.
 
Do you think God does not grieve right now? And He is in heaven. I don't know that we can assume there are no griefs once we cross over Jordan. Only that in God's presence, grief is comforted.
 
I think what distresses me is the idea of being unable to sympathize. And unless you understand pain, you cannot sympathize.

I also understand fire safety and know how to evacuate a burning building. I'm hoping I never need to use that knowledge, but I would resent having it taken away from me by force.

Same principle.
 
Good analogy, John. But I think maybe now we are getting close to agreement...
NarniaFan 2007 said:
Our griefs will be comforted in Heaven. That's what I'm saying. When we die and enter Heaven God will comfort us and wipe away our tears taking away our griefs.
Click to expand...
I'm with you.
NarniaFan 2007 said:
Therefore, grief will not be in Heaven.
Click to expand...
I think this is the wrong conclusion to draw from your previous. There is or may be grief in heaven, but God is the solace for it. That's a better conclusion to draw from the idea that God wipes the tears from our eyes ... Heaven will be a joyful place, perhaps the moreso because of the griefs we remember here?
 
Back
Top