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[Kitsch]

And please provide sources.

[jimwalton]

Heaven is a spiritual realm that is not tainted by sin and is where God's presence dwells (Ps. 11.4; 14.2; 18.13, etc.). The Bible only ever discusses heaven in abstract and metaphorical terms because it's not exactly something we can easily understand. It's very different from our physical world. It is not really a place at all. It is nonmaterial. It's not a part of our universe. And it doesn't "contain" God. It is the nonmaterial spiritual locus of God's presence. As such, then, heaven is also seen as sort of an ideal existence.

The term "heaven" is usually mentioned in the Bible in one of two ways. On one hand, it's the throne that God rules from (Ps. 11.4; 14.2; 20.6, etc.). The main idea is that God's presence and righteousness is there in full force. Jesus often talked about God's kingdom (often in the Gospels). God is always being worshiped there, by angels and other spirit beings (Isa. 6.1-3; Rev. 1.12-16; 4.2-11, and others).

The truth is, Biblically speaking, Heaven is NOT our ultimate destination. Earth is. Jesus didn't come to lead us away from Earth and off to Heaven. He died physically and was raised back to life as something new, but still physical (different from what we understand as physical, however). Revelation talks about how there will be a New Heaven and New Earth in the end (Rev. 21.1-5), that God will dwell here on Earth just as he dwells in Heaven, and that we will live (in resurrected bodies like Jesus's) on the new Earth (Rev. 21.3; 22.1-5). So the common equivalency between heaven and the afterlife is a bit of a mistake. Heaven was being used in this sense to refer to God's kingdom in general, but it became twisted into this idea that we would just leave Earth and spend eternity in Heaven. That's not biblical. There is some evidence in the Bible that suggests that the souls of God's people dwell in Paradise between the time of death and New Earth. But we can only really guess what's going on there. Our ultimate destination is a new (perfected in some way, but still physical) Earth (Rev. 21.3; 22.1-5; Rom. 8.18-25, esp. 21).

Summarizing, in the OT, "heaven" was a throne on top of the dome that they called the firmament, and God sat on that throne. By the time we get to the Gospels, Jesus speaks of it as the place where God rules over his kingdom—a more abstract reference than anything we see in the OT. By the time we get to Revelation, heaven is the "ideal" place where God, his purposes, his people, and eternity merge. God's people will spend eternity on a renewed earth, not "in heaven".

As far what it will be like for those who are there, let me approach it this way. For the most part, we don't get tired of life. We find meaningful relationships, meaningful education, meaningful interest pursuits (hobbies and fun), and meaningful work. And we go day after day, never thinking "I want this to stop." The only thing that makes life miserable is (1) the misery, and (2) old age that interferes with our meaningful relationships, education, interest pursuits and work. We would never want it to stop, especially if (1) we were meeting new and interesting people and growing in our relationships, (2) able to keep learning things that made life interesting, (3) able to pursue more and different interesting hobbies and fun, and (4) work that made us feel something significant. I've known people who got to the end of their lives and weren't anywhere near boredom, but wanted life to just keep going. People like Walt Disney and Steven Jobs are examples of that, but there are millions more examples of people like that.

Heaven is a place of growing interest. In Luke 19.11-27, Jesus tells a parable about "when the kingdom of God appears." Many people believe that he's talking about heaven and hell. In the story, people in "heaven" are rewarded with jobs and responsibility, much like we have here on earth. Since the book of Revelation describes heaven as being on this earth (Rev. 21.2), and it describes heaven as a city (Rev. 21.10), it makes sense to me that life in heaven will be filled with productive labor, meaningful activity, great relationships, and lots to do. It certainly won't be sitting around playing harps. That would kill any of us.

Watchman Nee wrote, "Heaven is not a place of inactivity, but we shall be called to a greater work." The reward for responsibility is more responsibility. To him who has, more will be given.

Isaiah 65 makes it sound like people will build houses (v. 21) and do work that is productive and fulfilling (23). Zechariah 14.16 makes mention of worship, as does much of Revelation. Matthew 25.14-30 also mentions "I will put you in charge of many things."

In a speculative vein, what if God starts creating again (Rev. 21.1, since it is his nature), and there are more worlds to explore, and new worlds to explore, and every day something new is popping up (since God is infinite in his creative nature) to do, see, and enjoy? It's a fascinating prospect—a God of infinite creative ability letting loose again for our continual enthusiasm and inspiration.

I actually think that Anne Rice tried to deal with these thoughts in her "Interview with a Vampire." It seemed to be about "What would it be like to live forever?" The ability to live for centuries took its toll on the characters, and we see them wandering in and out of interest and boredom, abusive and meaningful relationships, self-loathing and self-motivation. In essence, I think the book was about how meaningless life can be when it is founded on self-orientation. Interestingly, shortly after writing the book, Anne returned to Catholicism where she wrote several stories about Jesus, finding a whole different orientation to life that changed its purpose and inspiration. (To be fair, I believe that she has once again deserted the faith and describes herself as a secular humanist.) My point is, however, that life grounded on self-orientation too easily lapses into boredom and fear, but life grounded in an eternal Dimension (God) that knows no bounds or limitations only finds one fulfillment after another, and a continuing stream of interest and inspiration. That's what heaven will be like.