In recent years they have manifested that tendency by
falling for Hollywood’s portrayal of Biblical events. They have fallen for The Passion of the Christ. They have
fallen for Noah. Now they are poised
to fall for another, more insidious movie, Heaven
Is for Real.
Come to think of it, this penchant for all things Hollywood
is not really new. The Ten Commandments
was so well accepted as to cause people to think Charlton Heston really was
Moses. Biblically, it was not all that accurate. At best it was marginally more
accurate than many others.
At any rate, this new movie (based on the book of the same
name) propagates the absurd idea that someone has been to Heaven and returned
to report on the experience. This is nothing more than superstitious nonsense
built on spiritual mysticism and vain imaginations.
If anyone actually HAD gone to Heaven and returned, their
only reports would be of the majesty, excellence and glory of Christ. Instead
they report about their good feelings, their happiness and how comforted they
were. They report about having had fun, received special treatment, and how
much more they understand than they ever did before. That would not be the
focus of one who had entered Christ’s presence.
What does the Bible have to say on the subject?
John 3:13 says, ““No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” And John 1:18 says, “
No one has seen God at any time.”
Some
of the Bible’s writers had visions of Heaven. None had near-death experiences.
Paul and John fall into this category. Micaiah and Stephen had what seemed to
be glimpses of Heaven, but neither described their experiences.
Lazarus
died and John spent a chapter about the event without a word about Heaven, even
after Jesus resurrected Lazarus. Both Elijah and Eutychus died and came back,
but neither gave any description of their experiences, either.
Only three men wrote
about what they saw when they glimpsed Heaven—and the details they gave were
comparatively sparse (Isaiah 6:1–4; Ezekiel 1, 10; Revelation 4–6). All of them focused properly on
God’s glory. None of them reported anything except fear and shame in the
presence of God’s glory.
The issue is
that “Christians” are far too unsatisfied with Christ and continually seek to
add to or somehow verify their Christian experience. They soak themselves in
superstition, secularism, spiritual mysticism and vain imaginations instead of
focusing on the Christ of the Bible.
One who is saved
will have a personal relationship with God through Christ and will need nothing
more to confirm it.
