News Health: Heaven is Physical

Read time: 2 minutes

January 04, 2026

On October 26th, I asked how you envisioned Heaven. Many of you have theologically robust views of Heaven and pointed me to amazing resources to study. More still confessed doubt, confusion, and guilt around their lack of knowledge or excitement for Heaven. 

I’m going to spend a few weeks dismantling my biggest misconceptions of Heaven.

Happy Sunday,

“A spirit does not have a flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Resurrected Jesus in Luke 24:39-40

Misconception 1: Heaven is a spiritual, non-physical realm
For much of my life I imagined people “floating” in Heaven because I viewed it as an unimaginable spiritual non-place. 

And yet, Scripture uses physical language to describe Heaven. There are repeated references to physical things in Heaven: scrolls, clothes, buildings, cities, trumpets, and yes… harps. Jesus went to great lengths to show the physicality of His glorified body, asking His disciples to touch Him and feed Him. In Revelation 21:1, John does not see the coming of a spiritual non-place but of a “New Earth.” This current earth is quite physical, so why would we assume the New Earth would not be?

When I finally allowed myself to imagine Heaven as physical, my excitement for it exploded.

Instead of closing my eyes and picturing ghosts in a cloud-based city, I opened my eyes and imagined what this earth—which was once perfect—would be like without sin.

If you like to curl up with a good book by a fire, good news: you can in Heaven (if there are scrolls, why not books?). And that book’s plot will be more engaging and more glorifying to God, the blanket softer, and the fire more crackle-y! If you’re missing a spouse or friend or child, good news: you’ll get to hold them again, work with them again, swing them around again. And then they can grab your hand and drag you to all the amazing Heavenly places they’ve discovered.

Critics say that Scripture uses physical terms because that’s what we can understand—that it’s all metaphor and that we long for it only because it’s familiar. But what if the descriptions we get of Heaven are accurate? What if we long for a physical Heaven because that’s what God made us for? What if it’s only in a redeemed body on a redeemed earth with our resurrected Savior that we can experience the everlasting joy Heaven promises? 

For me, the evidence and argument for a physical Heaven is much stronger.

What do you think?
Jason

If you want to learn more about Heaven and have 30 minutes, watch the end of this sermon by Tim Mackie (of BibleProject fame).

Next week: I’ll be addressing my misconception that the present Heaven is our final home.

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