Fiction as a Foretaste of Heaven

By Jessica Hendricks

Words are simple. To many people, they are merely a means to an end of sharing information. However, I’m a firm believer that words hold much more power than simply communicating ideas. In recent years, I’ve noticed a theme throughout my life of just how much words mean to me personally. 

From the moment I learned to hold a pencil – wrongly, I might add – I have loved to write. Birthday cards, diaries, memory journals, and everything in between have always captivated me. Tucked away in my closet, you’ll find bins upon bins of old notebooks from every year of my life. Writing my thoughts, feelings, and experiences has not only helped me make sense of the world, but also allowed me to share pieces of my heart with others.

So, you can imagine how I felt when at an early age I was first introduced to books – especially fiction. One of the first “big girl” series I ever read, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, captured my heart since the first time I opened The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. These were some of the first books that transported me to another world and allowed me to connect with characters.

Have you ever read a book that’s brought you to tears, made you throw it across the room, or changed something in you? Words alone have power – but when paired with imagination, emotion, and adventure, that power multiplies and the possibilities are endless. Fiction lets us escape reality while simultaneously sharpening how we perceive it. When we lose ourselves in an author’s world, we return to our own with new eyes.

Consequently, when we go a step further and let fiction intersect with a Christian perspective, something even more beautiful happens. We begin to see both the real world and imagined ones through a lens of God’s truth, goodness, and creativity. For me, the biggest impact Christian fiction has is its ability to point to the hope of heaven. In Narnia you can talk with animals, step through portals, and dance with trees – how much more magical and wondrous will heaven be? 

In His creativity and grace, God invites us to imagine. He allows us to use words to build new worlds, creatures, and stories inspired by His original work of creation. As we steward this earth, we also get to explore new ideas and realms through words and the gifts God gives us. As a result, the hope of heaven and a fully resorted creation is stirred within us. 

Each of us is created with a sense of imagination, creativity, and adventure – but the truest beauty comes when we align our imagination with God’s ways, works, and wonders. Fiction, at its best, highlights the wonder of God’s handiwork and points us toward what is good, true, and beautiful. It points us to what’s to come – our final glorification and the restoration of all creation. 

So the next time you find yourself lost in a fictional world, Christian or otherwise, take a moment to consider how it can point you to what is good, true, and beautiful in God’s eyes. Allow the ideas, words, and wonders to stir hope in you and remind you of the anticipation we share for eternity with our Creator. 

Jessica is a writer who loves all things outdoors, active, and shared with the people she loves. She is passionate about storytelling because the truth of God’s Word has shaped her life, and she hopes her own words will point others to Him.