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So what will heaven be like?  In one sense, as I explained last week, the other parts of heaven don’t really matter; what matters most is God.  If you’re not making effort to get to know him now, what makes you think you’ll want Him in eternity?  If heaven to you is primarily about the reunion with loved ones, the absence of pain and suffering, or anything else, I would question whether or not you really know God.  Those are all great things, but if God is not there, the rest of it will not matter.

So what do we know about heaven?  According to the Bible, it’s a two stage process.  The first stage, called paradise or the present heaven, is where God dwells, and where those who have been saved by Jesus Christ go when they die.  It’s where believers rest from their life and await the renewal of all things.  It’s a dimension that is rarely seen by those on earth (Elisha and Stephen are two examples), but those in heaven can see what is going on on earth.  The second stage is the renewed heavens and earth, when the people of God, the new Jerusalem, descends to earth in resurrected, immortal bodies, and the dwelling of God is with men forever. 

This morning I want to give a picture of what heaven/the new heavens and earth will be like by discussing one metaphor that is used often in the Bible, and that is the metaphor of a wedding.  I’d like to look at this today and ask what we learn about heaven from this metaphor, and how it informs our faith and relationships today.