2006-08-09 - Summer Questions

2006 #12 ~ Heaven's Menu

Leviticus 11:22, "These of them you may eat; the locust in its kinds, and the devastating locust in its kinds, and the cricket in its kinds, and the grasshopper in its kinds."

Today's question: "My friend and I have an ongoing discussion about whether there will be real food to eat in Heaven or just spirtual food. Please enlighten us on this subject."

I admit that I mused a little respecting your question, and considered some of the outrageous answers I could give. I will keep them on hold. As we tell others about the love and mercy we have found in Christ, we should always make sure that we tell them that in Heaven, everyone will eat Ice Cream only, and not gain a pound, but the only way to enjoy that (and Heaven) is through Jesus. OK, so one outrageous answer there, but it does give a slight window into the true nature of Heaven. In Heaven, there will be no struggles, but peace among all the saints. In heaven we will not undergo sickness, depression, pain, or sin. Heaven will be, simply put, Heavenly. Irrespective of what our "food" or sustenance will be like in Heaven, we can be sure we will enjoy it. If weight has been a struggle for you in this earthly life, it will not be a struggle for you in Heaven. Those who struggle with anorexia or bulimia in this life will not have those issues in Heaven.

I am going to answer your question simply by saying that I don't think that there will be, as you put it, "real food" in the manner that we are accustomed to enjoy here on earth. But, my answer is speculation. I don't like to speculate respecting Heaven. 1 Corinthians 15:50 tells us, "Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable." We will not have mortal, fleshly bodies in Heaven that are perishable and need to be sustained by food in heaven. Food is a gift from God (Psalm 145:15), and in whatever manner food or no food exists in Heaven, it will still be attributed to the grace and mercy of God usward.

However, our need to eat food is recognized in Genesis 1:29, 30 and that is before the fall into sin. So Adam, even when he was sinless, needed to eat. We see Christ, in His resurrection body (Luke 24:41-43), asking for something to eat, and eating a broiled fish. It may be that our resurrection bodies can eat, and even will eat real food, but we really can't say for certain, one or the other, without diving into areas that we are unqualified to delve into. We can say with certainty, that in Heaven there will be no want, or lack of food if it is needed. We can say that there will be no gluttony. In Heaven, the extremes that we see and experience here on earth, as a result of sin, will be laid to rest in Christ and exist no more.

There is nothing wrong with speculating about Heaven. In fact, it is probably healthy to do so. We should anticipate joyfully our future promise of freedom from sin, and part of that anticipation is thinking about what it might be like. We need to be careful not to advance or consider our speculations to the point of fact. There are some things that Scripture does tell us about Heaven, and in those things we can believe in faith. Things that Scripture is unclear on we may wonder about, hope concerning, but always realize that we don't speak of these things with certainty or assertion as truth.

I would encourage you to continue to have discussions, like the one you gave us, with your friend. It is healthy for us to talk of spiritual things, and I hope that I have given each of you some verses you can kindly (and in fun) thump each other with. There are at least two questions respecting Heaven, that have become major issues of debate in the church over the last several hundred years. One is, "Will the sins of the righteous be published (made known) in Heaven?" The other is, "Will we know each other in Heaven?" I am not going to jump into either of those here, but somewhere in the mass of devotionals over the years, I have touched on both.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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