Scot McKnight - The Heaven Promise: Engaging the Bibles Truth About Life to Come

Praise for

The Heaven Promise

Im genuinely excited by The Heaven Promise. With so many fascinated by the conversation of heaven and even near-death experiences, McKnight calls us to see heaven through the lens of Scripture and the redemption story of God in Christ. Its both theologically robust and very accessible. This book speaks to pastors and leaders in the church as well as to parishioners in the pews. What a gift!

R EV . E UGENE C HO , senior pastor, Quest Church, and author of Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World?

This bookgrounded in solid research and biblical interpretationactually stirs up a longing for heaven. Its a busting up of stereotypes and misconceptions. Thank you, Scot McKnight, for painting a picture of a place I would actually love to be for eternity!

N ANCY B EACH , leadership coach with Slingshot Group, and author of Gifted to Lead: The Art of Leading as a Woman in the Church

What a terrific book! Scot lays out the great questions about heavenWhat will it be like? Whos going there?and seeks to address them with biblically grounded wisdom.

J OHN O RTBERG , senior pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, and author of All the Places to Go

Fanciful visions and imaginative opinions of heaven are all around us. Thankfully Scot McKnight moves us beyond the realm of wishes to the great promise of heaven given us by God. With wit, care, and fine biblical insight, this book offers a clear understanding of the hope we have for life with God in a heavenly kingdom far better than we can imagine. The Heaven Promise is a gift to the church.

V INCENT B ACOTE , P H D, director, Center for Applied Christian Ethics, Wheaton College

I serve in a community where hopelessness and resilience coexist and the constant reality of death looms daily. Hope and clarity about heavens promise are truly needed to empower the church, especially among those most affected by these realities. Scot McKnight helps the church to realize Gods truth about the life to come. This brings hope for us in the now.

P ASTOR P HIL J ACKSON , MD IV , associate pastor of Lawndale Christian Community Church; lead pastor of The House, Christ-Centered Hip-Hop Worship Service; and founder and chief visionary officer of the Firehouse Community Art Center

Scot McKnights timely words help us understand the importance of Gods Heaven Promise at a time when the worldand the churchis reeling from one tragedy after another. His biblical approach firmly grounds the imagination, reminding us that God is All in All. I agree with Scot that everything hinges on the resurrection of Jesus, and that means not only the heaven to come, but also the way heaven people live now. We cannot know everything about heaven now, but what we can understand makes us want to say with the apostle John, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

D R . K ENT B RANTLY , Ebola survivor and co-author of Called for Life

B OOKS BY S COT M C K NIGHT

The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others

Embracing Grace: Discovering the Gospel that Restores Us to God, Creation, and Ourselves

Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today

The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible Fasting

One Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow

The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited

Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church

A Fellowship of Differents: Showing the World Gods Design for Life Together

T HE H EAVEN P ROMISE

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked ( KJV ) are taken from the King James Version. Scripture quotations marked ( WEB ) are from the World English Bible.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

Trade Paperback ISBN9781601426291

Hardcover ISBN9781601426284

Ebook ISBN9781601426307

Copyright 2015, 2016 by Scot McKnight

Cover design by Kristopher K. Orr

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McKnight, Scot.

The heaven promise : engaging the Bibles truth about life to come / Scot McKnightFirst Edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 9781601426284ISBN 9781601426307 (electronic) 1. HeavenChristianity. I. Title.

BT846.3.M348 2015

236.24dc23

2015017200

a_rh_4.1_c0_r2

For my aging parents:

Alex and Lois McKnight,

who think about Heaven

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

T HE B OOK OF C OMMON P RAYER

Visit a local bookshop or Google heaven, and you will quickly discover that heaven is an intense human-interest story. In fact, a shelf or two of books about heaven are published each year. Add to these the stories of near-death experiences, and we have the makings of Hollywood movies about heaven.

Many are asking what I call The Heaven Question: Is there a heaven after we die or not? That question, of course, leads to others, such as: Who will be there? Will I be there? What will heaven be like?

But others are asking an entirely different question: Shouldnt we be focusing on life now and living for the kingdom now and making the kingdom more of a reality now?

That question must be answered with a firm yes, but before we move on, we have to get a stronger grip on what the Bible means by the word heaven. Once we do, not only can we be firm in our yes, but we can also learn how Heaven people ought to live today.

Talk about heaven excites the imagination of many people, some of whom just might surprise you.

Surprising Places

Some Children, an Atheist, Authors, a Movie Star, and Questions

Guesses, of course, only guesses. If they are not true, something better will be.