Hollywood keeps talking about Heaven. So why don’t Christians?

When the film Eternity landed on streaming platforms last month, it reminded me of something slightly embarrassing: our culture seems more interested in heaven than the Church does.

From series such as The Good Place (pictured, above) and Souls to movies that include Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Hollywood can’t stop telling stories about what happens when this life ends. Christians, meanwhile, barely mention it. 

Moments like this offer Christians a natural opportunity to talk about eternity with God. Yet, if we’re honest, many of us aren’t that excited by heaven. 

That was me. After watching The Good Place, a close friend became convinced that eternity would be boring and meaningless. I knew that couldn’t be true - God is infinitely creative, wise and loving. But my own picture wasn’t much better: being with Jesus and singing worship songs 24/7. Admittedly, that second part didn’t sound very exciting.

The problem was simple: I didn’t know the Bible’s vision of heaven.

Heaven isn’t just a future destination; it’s a present reality breaking into the world

One grey November day, I finally picked up a book about heaven. Something clicked: I realised I’d been homesick for a restored, physical world my whole life. You likely have too. I wondered why, after more than a decade as a Christian, I’d never truly learnt about heaven.

Many of us picture it as a distant place for disembodied souls who exist in the blissful presence of Jesus. But in Surprised by Hope (SPCK), theologian and Premier Christianity columnist Tom Wright calls this the intermediate state - undoubtedly beautiful but not the fulfilment of the gospel.

The ultimate hope, he (and other contemporary theologians) argues, is a renewed, physical world where resurrected humans live fully embodied in God’s direct presence. In other words, we’re selling ourselves a thin version of the good news and hope that Jesus himself proclaimed!

So, what does the Bible actually say?

The Bible isn’t about humans escaping to heaven, but about heaven coming to unite with earth - culminating in “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). 

Theologians such as The Bible Project’s Tim Mackie suggest it’s more accurate to think of heaven not as a distant place, but as a dimension of reality where God’s will is perfectly carried out. This may sound abstract, but the implication is radical: heaven and earth can, and do, overlap.

Genesis presents Eden as such a space - a place of God’s presence where humans were called to co-rule and bring flourishing, beauty and civilisation. 

But human sin tore them apart. Rage, jealousy, lust, fear and shame colonised the human heart and distorted humanity’s rule over creation. The rest of the Bible tells the story of God confronting sin and bringing heaven and earth back together, fulfilled through Jesus.

Fully human and fully divine, Jesus became the meeting point of heaven and earth. As he forgave sins, healed bodies and calmed storms, Jesus announced that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:17). This is the gospel: God’s rule has entered the world to restore creation and confront sin.

No wonder Hollywood is obsessed with the afterlife; creation is homesick for heaven

On the cross, Jesus dealt with the power of sin that kept heaven and earth apart. In the resurrection, he became the first piece of new creation - a preview of what will one day happen to the whole world, including our bodies (1 Corinthians 15:20; Romans 8:21–23).

Now here’s the part we really don’t talk about enough.

Those who trust in Jesus become “God’s temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16) - living places where heaven and earth meet and flow out to recreate earth. Heaven isn’t just a future destination; it’s a present reality breaking into the world through ordinary people. We’re invited to co-rule with God, bringing healing, beauty and order into a broken world.

And this still isn’t the end of the story. The full reunion is yet to come.

Revelation 21 doesn’t show humans escaping earth, but “the holy city…coming down out of heaven from God.” Earth isn’t abandoned but restored. James Paul writes in What on Earth is Heaven? (IVP) “everything that is evil will be destroyed, while everything that is good and beautiful and true will be purified.” Even the good we do now carries eternal significance.

We will co-rule with God forever - creating, exploring, building, learning and stewarding his world. Relationships will be healed of fear and insecurity and expanded into a perfect, joyful community centred on God. We’ll experience all the best parts of human life, without the brokenness.

Now, this is a heaven worth talking about! 

Why is this relevant now?

The biblical vision of heaven offers the greatest hope imaginable. Our hunger for justice, healing, love, peace, forgiveness and purpose isn’t random - it’s a homesickness for heaven. The gospel promises God will meet these longings in full, beginning right now. Every beautiful sunrise, wholesome meal and meaningful conversation is a foretaste of what’s to come.

As Christians, we have a divine purpose: to bring the kingdom of heaven into every corner of human life and creation, trusting that everything good, beautiful and true will be carried into eternity.

No wonder Hollywood is obsessed with the afterlife; creation is homesick for heaven. The real mystery isn’t why the world keeps talking about heaven - it’s why the Church so often doesn’t.