I think it is possible to speculate responsibly, especially about the future Heaven, in that the resurrection of people and the resurrection of the earth itself suggests many things that may well be possible on the New Earth. But no one should claim them with certainty. For instance, in the Heaven book I say it is possible that God could have us travel and explore new planets and galaxies in the new universe. That is speculation, but it is in keeping with what we already know about the universe God has created and the way the minds and hearts of people are wired.
An eternal, physical, earthly existence is fully consistent with what we know about resurrection bodies. Jesus ate and drank, walked, talked, taught, and cooked fish for His disciples. He said to them, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39). We are told our resurrection bodies will be like his (Philippians 3:21). This is not speculation; it is revealed truth. Based on these facts we know to be true about the nature of humanity in this life and the resurrection, and about this Earth and the New Earth, it is no stretch at all to say human beings could play golf and every other sport on the New Earth in their resurrection bodies. That’s just a logical extrapolation grounded on what the Bible tells us. To claim we know resurrected people will play golf is to go too far. But reasonable Bible-based speculation about the possibility of resurrected people playing sports on the New Earth is very different from saying, without any biblical support, that there are rainbow colored unicorns in the present Heaven or that people there have halos.
Here’s a full excerpt from my book Heaven about the limits and value of using our imaginations. And here are several blogs I did in past years about “visit to Heaven” books.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
