Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You

by John Burke

“As we walked into the river it got deeper and deeper until finally the surface of the river was over the top of our head[s], we were still breathing and so then I got the understanding, this is the flowing of the Spirit of God; it is a manifestation of the Spirit of God.”16

God says through Jeremiah the prophet, “They have forsaken me, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Is that why Jesus equated the Holy Spirit with Living Water? “Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’ By this he meant the Spirit” (John 7:37–39). Is it more than

turned and looked back at the shining river flowing on tranquilly. “Frank, what has that water done for me?” I said. “I feel as though I could fly.” He looked at me with

earnest, tender eyes, as he answered gently, “It has washed away the last of the earthlife, and fitted you for the new life upon which you have entered.” “It is divine!” I whispered. “Yes, it is divine,” he said.18

Revelation 22:2 says the leaves of the trees fed by the River of Life ar...

good news for people whose pets were like children to them—it seems in this City, pets are allowed!

Isaiah foresaw God’s heavenly restoration of all creatures: “The wolf and the lamb will live together . . . the calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all” (Isaiah 11:6 NLT). People often wonder if

The LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears

from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.” (Isaiah 25:6–9)

The night before his crucifixion, at the Last Supper, “[Jesus] took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves. For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come. . . . [And you will] eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom’” (Luke 22:17–18, 30 NLT). The ...

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb [Jesus]. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” . . .

Then [one of the twenty-four

elders] said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood...

The Throne Building was huge—beyond my ability to understand . . . several hundred miles wide and at least fifty miles tall, and it had a domed roof. . . . Thousands of steps led up to the Throne. . . . As we began to go up the stairway, I saw hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of people going into and coming out from the Throne. They were worshipping and praising God. . . .

I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

God claims only he can tell what the future holds, and so he used prophets to foretell Messiah’s coming, so we could know he is the One true God. “I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, we found a complete copy of the book of Isaiah predating Jesus by 150 to 350 years, so we know these prophecies were written before the fact (not later altered

Isaiah foretells when, where, and why God will send this Messiah, so we would know when he arrives. History outside the Bible verifies what Isaiah foretold.

In Isaiah 9, God tells us where he will reveal himself. He will come to Galilee in the form of a son of man:

Isaiah says the infinite God will reveal himself in the form of a son of man, come to Galilee, be called “Mighty God,” and establish eternal peace between God and every willing human. He wrote this 680 years before Jesus walked

and taught along the Sea of Galilee—the New Testament writers and extrabiblical history (outside the Bible) affirm Jesus conducted most of his ministry in Galilee.

In 1948, a nation was born overnight! The New York Times announced, “The declaration of the new state by David Ben-Gurion, the first Premier of reborn Israel, was delivered during a simple and solemn ceremony at 4 PM.”3 God foretold all this through Isaiah as a sign to the world: “Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion [Jerusalem] in labor than she gives birth to her children . . . they will bring all your people, from all the nations,

to my holy mountain in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 66:8, 20; ~680 BCE). How do you explain world history in our day, spoken by Isaiah as a sign from God in 680 BCE, foretold by Jesus in 32 CE, yet fulfilled in 1948? This is not mythology, this is not religion, this is history—His-story of a relentless love for you and me. Religion is our attempt to reach God. Jesus the Messiah is God’s attempt to reach us—all of us! All he needs is a humble, willing heart saying, “I want your forgiveness and love, come lead my life.”