Imagine There’s a Heaven

Scripture — 1 Corinthians 2:9-10; 15:58 (NRSV)

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him”— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Devotion

In the fall of 1971, John Lennon released a new single in the United States, featuring his song “Imagine.” It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, a striking achievement for the singer who had recently left the Beatles. But, in time, “Imagine” only grew in its popularity. It’s estimated that the song has been sold over 21 million times since its release. Moreover, in 2001, a poll by The Observer honored “Imagine” as the greatest single of all time. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine recognized “Imagine” as the third greatest song of all time. By 2021, Rolling Stone demoted “Imagine” to number 19, still an impressive rank. (In case you’re curious, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” was lauded as the top song.)

From the beginning, “Imagine” has been controversial. It’s not hard to understand why. The song begins:

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin’ for today
Ah
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
You
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Though Lennon’s vision of “all the people livin’ life in peace” is compelling, his imagining that “there’s no heaven” and “no religion too” didn’t exactly excite Christians and others who worship God.

“Imagine” was popular when I was in junior high school. I loved the song even though I was an earnest follower of Jesus. When I sang along with my AM radio, I simply changed the opening line from “Imagine there’s no heaven” to “Imagine there’s a heaven.”

At that time, I didn’t realize how important imagination is when it comes to our understanding and experience of heaven in this age. I was just fixing Lennon’s song so I could sing it. But I have since come to understand that imagination is an essential element of Christian faith, including our beliefs about life beyond this life.

Consider, for example, what we read in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” According to this passage, God has revealed to us what is prepared for us in the future – namely, heaven or the life of the age to come – even though “no eye has seen” these things. The revelation of the future is something we perceive, not with our physical eyes, but with our imaginations.

Scripture encourages us to do precisely what John Lennon rejects—namely imagining that there is, indeed, a heaven. Now, as I have noted earlier in this series on the redemptive imagination, imagining heaven is not a matter of making it up all by ourselves. Rather, we fill our imaginations with what God has revealed to us about the life of the future.

Critics of Christianity often claim that our belief in heaven detracts from our concern for this world. Lennon thought that the way to world peace and unity requires us to “imagine there’s no heaven.” Sadly, it’s true that some Christians become so “heavenly minded” that “they’re no earthly good,” to quote a familiar cliché. But those who allow their imagination of heaven to weaken their concern for this world miss the point. In 1 Corinthians 15, for example, we have one of the most extended and explicit presentations in Scripture of what will happen to us in the age to come. Yet, after hearing the good news of our future immortality, we read this: “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (15:58). Our convictions about heaven do not weaken our commitment to this earth. On the contrary, they energize our earthly efforts by reassuring us that our “labor is not in vain.”

Thus, when we imagine that there is a heaven, when we envision the day when God’s justice has rolled down completely, when the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord, when all of our brokenness has been healed, when God’s peace fills the earth, and when the world does indeed “live as one,” to quote John Lennon, we are inspired and compelled to live today in light of the future that permeates our imagination. We will be committed to “livin’ life in peace” today because we look forward to the all-encompassing peace of God’s heavenly future.

Banner image by Frank Mckenna on Unsplash.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Our Work Is Not in Vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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