Taking A Virtual Vacation

I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.   John 11:25

The Resurrection tells us that heaven is not merely a spiritual experience or virtual tour. It is not that some spiritual capacity within you survives death in a shadow of the life you now know. All of you will be redeemed!

Imagine that you’re planning to take the vacation of a lifetime in Hawaii. But just before you leave, you fall down the stairs and break just about every bone in your body. In cartoon style, you wind up in the hospital, bandaged head to toe.

You cannot go to Hawaii—your body’s just not up to it. But you have a friend who is a wizard with computers, and he says, “Don’t worry; I’ll take you there anyway. You’ll have the time of your life. I’m going to take you on a virtual tour of Hawaii!”

So he brings in his laptop and sets it up on your bed. Sure enough, you can see Honolulu from different angles. He gives you a pair of headphones, and you can hear the sounds of the ocean. Then he places a little pad on your collar, and you can smell the flowers as you see them on the screen.

Your friend is excited, and you’re grateful that he’s gone to all the effort, so you thank him. “It’s beautiful,” you say. “I just wish that I had been able to go.”

“What do you mean?” he asks. “You have gone! You saw Hawaii, heard its sounds, and smelled its scents. What more could you want?”

Your friend is a computer geek, so you humor him. But your body is stuck in the hospital, and whatever he says, you ain’t been there! You may go there in your mind or in your imagination, but if your body doesn’t go, you haven’t really gone.

When Christ returns in glory and gathers his people, every believer will be there, not only in mind but also in body. Not just some spiritual capacity within you will enter heaven—you will be there, rejoicing in the presence of God. Grasp the resurrection of the body more clearly, and you’ll have a greater anticipation of life in heaven.

For further reading, see John 11