I am convinced that most people completely misunderstand heaven. As a result, most people completely misread the Bible. I wrote an entire book about this, which I cannot recap here, but a brief explanation is necessary because Jesus speaks frequently about heaven in the Sermon on the Mount.
Modern Christians associate heaven with the afterlife. It’s the “good place” that dead souls go who are right with God. Therefore, heaven is understood to be a distant, disincarnate realm that is inaccessible to us right now, but that we hope to enter sometime in the future when our bodies reach room temperature.
If this is our understanding of heaven, it will profoundly influence our interpretation of Matthew 7:19-20, where Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Many assume Jesus is calling us to a form of delayed gratification. In other words: “Rather than enjoying life now on earth, serve God and his kingdom, and you’ll really be well off after you die.” These verses from the Sermon on the Mount are then used to compound another erroneous idea not found in the Bible: that heaven is full of mansions and material rewards for the righteous.
This very popular teaching is flawed from top to bottom, but it begins to go off course with a false understanding of heaven. When Jesus speaks about “heaven,” which is more accurately translated as “the heavens” (yes, it is always plural in the Bible, despite our English translations making it singular), he is talking about a present, accessible reality, not a distant celestial realm for the dearly departed.
Therefore, when he calls his followers to “lay up for yourselves treasures in the heavens,” he is not inviting us to make deposits into a trust fund that we may access after we die. Dallas Willard captured Jesus’ intent more accurately in his book, The Divine Conspiracy:
“The treasure we have in heaven is also something very much available to us now. We can and should draw upon it as needed, for it is nothing less than God himself and the wonderful society of his kingdom even now interwoven in my life . . . Eternity is now ongoing. I am now leading the life that will last forever. Upon my treasure in the heavens, I now draw for present needs. If, with a view to my needs in this life, I had to choose between having good credit with a bank and having good credit with God, I would not hesitate a moment. By all means, let the bank go!”
To grasp what Jesus is saying, we must recognize the heavens as something available and accessible to us right now. This changes our understanding of the contrast he is making. Amassing treasure on earth will give us a good reputation with others, allow us to borrow money easily, and generally make life easier. But, Jesus says, these things are not guaranteed, and earthly treasures are temporary at best. But the treasure we can accumulate in the heavens is a communion with God himself. By investing our energy and attention there, we gain access to the infinite resources of his character—including his power, grace, love, and strength—which are available to us right now and forever more.
Daily Scripture
Matthew 6:19–24
Hebrews 12:22–24
Weekly Prayer
From Martin Luther (1483–1546)
O God, graciously comfort and tend all who are imprisoned, hungry, thirsty, naked and miserable;
also all widows, orphans, sick and sorrowing.
In brief, give us our daily bread, so that Christ may abide in us and we in him forever, and with him we may worthily bear the name of ‘Christian.’
Amen
