Songs about Heaven and Jesus' Return

Growing up around Gospel music in my church and family, I used to be so intrigued by the themes of Heaven and Jesus’ Return that seemed to dominate and were so prevalent in many of the songs I heard. I could list a hundred songs off the top of my head that had something to do with one or both of those themes. And as I got a little older, I thought maybe those songs were just beloved because they were nostalgic. Maybe they represented a certain “eschatological framework,” if you will, that fostered “escapism” in the ranks of many evangelical, fundamental Christians and so forth. I thought that while I can appreciate my heritage, maybe we have moved on to a better and brighter day and that’s why we don’t sing those songs anymore.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christ-the-Redeemer

Amidst all the growth and success and innovation of the twentieth century, there were great pains felt across the globe that did not exempt the Church. While the Church in America did indeed experience a “hay day” of cultural acceptance and massive revivals, it came at a great cost. Many of these songs about Jesus’ Return and Heaven were written during such trying times as the Great War, “the war to end all wars,” World War I; then the Spanish Influenza, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the rise of communism and the Cold War, and finally the war in Vietnam, which became the last major war in a decades-long, worldwide lifestyle of great loss on a regular basis.

Having processed a lot of this in my own heart and mind, I am convinced that the real motivation behind the writing and the singing of those songs has far less to do with escapism and far more to do with a clinging to the blessed hope of resurrection for all those who are in Christ. Maybe we have moved on from singing so many songs about Heaven because we have become comfortable here on Earth with our contentment with the culture and satisfied way of life. I think those old songwriters and the singers who sang the songs were serving as reminders for the people of God to keep eternity in mind. And I believe there must come a time in your life as a believer where you have lost so much in this side of eternity that you really do look ahead to “what’s next” with greater expectancy than “what’s left” in the here and now.

This ugly virus, the havoc that it is wreaking, and all its far-reaching effects including the isolation from one another is actually quite scary. Yet it serves as a startling and sobering reminder that WE WERE NOT CREATED TO LIVE IN THIS CONDITION FOREVER.

On this Maundy Thursday as we move toward Good Friday and into Resurrection Sunday, may we all pause to remember Christ’s death, reflect on his burial — a period of isolation where the disciples thought all Hope was lost, — and then fully embrace and celebrate Christ’s victory over Death, Hell, and the grave!

The work of Christ on the cross has made a way for the redemption of not only our hearts and souls but also our bodies and, in fact, all of creation, itself. Right now, the world is passing away just like our bodies are slowly passing away. But one of these days — and it’s not escapism or the fear of an escapist mindset that would compel me to say this, but it is the very foundation and hope of the Gospel — one of these days, we will rule and reign as kings and priests to God in the new creation. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4).