Heaven has a character

When we think about heaven, our minds naturally turn toward its beauty. We imagine a world without sickness, pain, sorrow or death. We think about the promise of the resurrection, the presence of God, the return of Christ and the restoration of all things. The Bible gives us glimpses of that future:

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

What a promise. But heaven is more than a beautiful place. Heaven has a character. The kingdom of God operates according to principles that are completely different from those that govern much of our fallen world. It is founded upon love, truth, holiness, righteousness, humility, mercy and selflessness. These are not merely rules posted on the walls of heaven. They describe the character of the King.

This is why the subject of character matters so much. If we think of heaven only as a location, we may think that the only question is whether we will be allowed to enter. But if we understand heaven as the eternal home of God and His people, a deeper question arises: What kind of people will be at home there?

The character of the King

Jesus came to reveal the Father. Philip once said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8). Jesus answered:

He who has seen Me has seen the Father.

Jesus was not saying that He was the Father. He was revealing something profoundly important: the character of God was being displayed in the life of Christ. When we see Jesus showing compassion to the suffering, we see something of God’s character. When we see Him forgiving sinners, refusing to retaliate against those who mistreated Him, standing firmly for truth, or praying for those who crucified Him, we see God’s character.

On the night before the cross, He took a towel and a basin and washed His disciples’ feet. Then He said:

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

When we see Him surrendering Himself at Calvary, we see the depth of God’s love. Christ did not merely come to tell humanity what God is like. He came to show us. And then He calls us to become like Him. Paul writes:

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Notice the language. Not merely informed about Christ, associated with Christ, or forgiven by Christ. Conformed to the image of His Son. That is character transformation.

Stephen gives us a glimpse of it in a man. Brought before the council on false charges, he was so calm that those who watched him “saw his face as the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). When the stones began to fall, he knelt and prayed, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7:60), words that echo the prayer of Jesus on the cross (Luke 23:34). He had not become Christ, but Christ’s character was visible in him, even in his death.

God’s image must be restored

The story of humanity begins with God creating mankind in His image:

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him.

Something happened to that image when sin entered. Humanity did not cease to be valuable. Human beings did not cease to be God’s creation. But sin distorted what God had created. Love became mixed with selfishness. Humility gave way to pride. Trust gave way to suspicion. Truth became mixed with deception. Self-control was replaced by sinful desire. The human heart became divided.

The Bible’s description of the human condition is therefore much deeper than saying that people occasionally do bad things. Sin has affected what we are. That is why salvation must involve more than the forgiveness of individual acts. God intends to restore what sin damaged:

And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.

There it is again: the image. God created us in His image. Sin damaged that image. Christ came to redeem us, and through Christ, God begins restoring His image in us. This is why character is not a side issue in Christianity. Character is part of the restoration.

John looks ahead to the day when that restoration is complete, and he links it to the life we live now:

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Heaven is not simply somewhere we go

We need to be careful about how we think about eternal life. It is easy to imagine salvation as something like this: I have sinned. Jesus forgives me. One day I die. Then I go to heaven. There is truth in that hope, but it is incomplete. The gospel is not merely about changing our address. It is about changing our lives.

Jesus did not come simply to rescue us from the consequences of sin. He came to rescue us from the power of sin and to reconcile us to God. He came to give us a new heart and His Spirit, to teach us how to live and to restore the image of God in us. Paul therefore says:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

That is not merely a statement about our future destination. It is a statement about our present transformation.