Home: How Heaven and the New Earth Satisfy Our Deepest Longings

by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick

Heaven Is the Home You've Been Waiting For
In this world of fear, trials, and loneliness we often feel adrift--like we're still searching for a place where we can truly make ourselves at home. There's a longing for something more, something that makes us feel like we belong, something that resonates perfectly with who we were made to be. This longing is no small thing to be brushed off and forgotten--it's a guidepost letting us know we were made for another world. Earth is not our home. But it's close.
What we long for is the new earth, the place God has been preparing for our eternity with him. In "Home," Elyse Fitzpatrick explores heaven and the afterlife, demonstrating that our final destination is not some dull, featureless space in the clouds, but rather a perfected earth. It's a real, physical place that we'll explore with real bodies. A place of beauty and wonder and free of all death and decay.
No need to chase a bucket list. On the new earth there will be no end of glorious sites and amazing activities, and we'll never run out of time to do them all. Includes questions for group discussion.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Faith, Christian Living, Nonfiction, Christianity, Devotional

240 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2016

About the author

Author of 20+ books on the Christian life and the gospel's impact on everyday living, Elyse is a frequent speaker at women's conferences nationally and internationally.

Elyse's ministry is summed up in these simple words: No fluff, No bricks, just the good news of a crucified and risen Christ.

In 1971 she married her sweetheart Phil and together they raised three children and are enjoying six really adorable grandchildren.

Together they attend Valley Center Community Church in the hills of the North County of San Diego where Phil is an elder.

Reviews

[Jami Balmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! If you have ever wondered what heaven would be like or why we should long for it so much, then you need to read this book. I think every believer needs to put this on their to-read list ASAP. I am so thankful for a deeper perspective on Heaven and longing for it here on earth!

[Jesseca Wheaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a hard one for me to rate. During the first few chapters, I was fairly certain of the fact that the author and I did not see eye-to-eye on quite a few things. I know that not everyone believes the same way about Bible prophecies, so I kinda expected that.
However, I felt like, in a way, the author was saying it was okay to not be content with our lives here, because heaven is ahead.
While I agree to a certain point that God has put in our hearts a longing for heaven, doesn't He also want us to be content with living for Him here on earth?
Paul says in Philippines 4:11 that he has learned it whatsoever state he is in, there to be content. Yes, there is also a place where he says he longs to be present with the Lord, but even than, Paul realized that God's timing was perfect, and God had him on this earth, where he was, for a reason.
God has given us a longing to be with Him, yet at the same time, we are not to be okay with simply being discontent.
I think my biggest fault with the book was that I felt that this was thrown out of proportion.

All that to say, I did really enjoy the last few chapters. Heaven is our perfect home, where there will be no sickness, and no pain! Can you imagine how wonderful that will be?! The last few chapters were filled with hope, and that was so refreshing. After our time on this earth is done, a perfect, eternal, everlasting home awaits up with our Heavenly Father. And there, in Christ's presence, for the first time, we will be whole. Perfect. We will be His.

So yes. While I didn't agree with it all, I did enjoy the book. 3 stars!

~I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review~

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps one of the reasons why God chooses to leave us in this terribly broken world with its various disappointments is to create in our souls a certain dissatisfaction, an insatiable hunger for home. In his sovereign plan, this world is not meant to be our final destination; we're not meant to live with a right-here, right-now mentality, where we expend our physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and relational energies trying to turn this temporal home into the eternal home it will never be.


What do you think of when you hear the word home? For some of us it might not give you the warm fuzzies that it may give others. However, the word home does convey a longing in our hearts. To be accepted, to rest, and love that is not tiresome. This study of heaven and the new earth is an encouragement to the soul because it speaks to those longings.

If you have not read Elyse Fitzpatrick, I would encourage you to do so. She is not fluff but very real in her struggles which she shared quite a bit in this study. More so than any other book I have read from her. I have met her when she spoke at my church in Kansas City. Her sharing of herself explains a few things that I observed. She is a great speaker but one on one, she is very reserved. Her own struggles might be your struggles. I recognized some in myself. It is these struggles that there is a longing for home and encouragement on how to keep our eyes on home and not here. The tension we feel for both places. The unknown and the not yet.

Each chapter gives a glimpse of home, our struggles to see clearly and ends with questions that direct the reader to fix our eyes on what lasts forever. Why of all religions, does our Jesus suffer? What does that mean for you and me? Those that have faith in Christ and respond to his grace and those that walk away? What does heaven mean to me in my failures and loss now?

Our understanding of heaven and the New Earth directs our longings and struggles. It reminds us of what really matters. I also was encouraged by her insight on our pets going to heaven. It is in the immortality of their masters that our pets will have theirs.

Some quotes I found encouraging.
Justification by social media is one of the primary reasons that Facebook exists. And the other one is our intrinsic desire to envy. We've lost sight of our true Home, and are trying to find satisfaction and justification where it will never be found.

The sovereign God has made us to be in Christ and once we see him as he is, then we'll see all things-including sin for what they are. God won't need to restrain us from sin. Sin will have absolutely no appeal. It will be, literally, unthinkable.

Heaven reminds us that all things will be new and that familiarity breeds contempt. We need to always be reminded of our awe in what God has done and what he is doing. Each truth presented will encourage you to persevere in the hope of our deepest longs being filled.


A Special Thank You to Bethany House Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

[Doreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think we all need to read a book about heaven once in a while. It is easy to forget that this world is NOT our home if we’re believers. It’s so easy to get comfortable here and even to be afraid of dying because of all we’ll miss here. It’s good to be reminded that this world offers us only a smidgen of the glories that await in heaven and on the new earth.

This book is very readable and encouraging. It stoked the fires of my longing for heaven. I needed that. I especially appreciated the chapter on suffering. Fitzpatrick writes, “The primary reason the Spirit gave us portraits of the world to come is to comfort us in the midst of our suffering. Life in the New Earth is only good news to those for whom this old earth no longer promises satisfaction” (page 144). As I write this, I have good friends who are going through severe life-threatening trials. When death is imminent (and even when it’s not), it helps to keep our eyes fixed on what awaits us. My 16 year old son has had five open heart surgeries. He has always had a robust view of heaven and it helped him face three surgeries in four months without any fear. He asked me when we heard some bad news, “Are you afraid I’m going to die? I won’t feel any pain while I’m in surgery. And if I die, I go to be with Jesus in heaven.” Because of his suffering, he longs for heaven more and thinks about it more and it has changed his outlook on scary things in life. I think very few of us get this perspective on our own; this book can help the rest of us, including me, to change how we look at heaven and suffering.

We have so many misconceptions about heaven. We think it will be boring. We imagine floating on clouds, playing harps, or singing all the time. We think we’ll be leaving everything from this world behind. These things couldn’t be further from the truth. This book briefly walks through what the new heaven and new earth will be like. It points us to what will satisfy the longing we each have for a real home….where we are loved and where we belong and are fulfilled and satisfied. It paints a glorious, exciting picture.

Thank you to Bethany House for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. I was not required to make it positive. This is a great book and I would highly recommend it.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utterly beautiful, unusual, biblically sound, hopeful book. Reading it, in conjunction with studying 1 & 2 Thessalonians (with their emphasis on the hope of Christ's return), set my heart on what it will be like to not only be in Jesus' presence, but to spend forever with a glorified community, in a glorified creation.
This book expanded my vision for what's to come, helped me explore difficult passages that have previously left me confused (and sometimes frustrated), and brought me to worshipful tears. I read it slowly, mostly because I did not want to finish it! And I will definitely read it again.
Her use of Scripture was laudable, as was her use of quotes by such writers as GK Chesterton, CS Lewis, NT Wright, JI Packer and more. In fact, there are several title in her bibliography that I'm ready to read now that I've finished her book.
This is essential reading for every believer. Not because it gives you "How to live the Christian Life" in however many easy steps, but because it clarifies and strengthens the hope that you have in Christ, in all that God has promised to us, and in the joy and glory that awaits us in His presence.

[Emily Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book both inflamed and soothed my ache for the new world, for Jesus, for home.
Highly recommend.

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the introduction and scope of this book; however, it didn’t deliver what it set out to, in my opinion. It seems that many of the chapters were the author speculating on what heaven will be like, taking an image out of Revelation, but unfortunately not giving the Biblical background necessary to properly understand the image. For example, she talks about heaven being a city and then explains why we should or can love cities. But, she doesn’t trace the theme of the city of Zion throughout Scripture. Doing so would have shown that the reason heaven is a city is because the city of Zion, or the New Jerusalem, was chosen as the symbol of God dwelling with His people. So much bigger than why we should be glad that heaven is a city.

[Lisa Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beside the fact that this book cover is vibrant in colour and stunningly enticing in looks, Elyse paints a gorgeous word imagery of hope in our future, as Christians, in eternity (HOME).

Throughout the book Elyse strives to layout doctrine in a creative, but solid theological way, to help readers set their eyes on things of Christ and not of this world.

She models Koinonia in her transparency and lays bare her love and great hope in the Lord.

I found this book a light in my present darkness. Christ is sufficient ~Psalm 131

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is different from any other I've read on our eternal home. Rather than giving descriptions of what it will be like, Fitzpatrick desires that we have a deeper understanding of and a deeper desire for our eternal home.

She asks us to recognize our homesickness. She shares her own disrupting experiences of life being turned on end, causing her to focus on heaven. She clarifies misunderstandings about heaven. She explores the resurrection of Jesus and what that tells us. She relates the characteristics of the Garden of Eden to our final home (such as animals). She imagines what the New Jerusalem will mean to us. She reminds us that the sight of His face will wipe out our bucket list. She also writes about the possible role of the congregated church in being a “thin place.”

I really like Fitzpatrick's emphasis on what heaven will mean to us. That makes us long for it more than mere descriptions would. I also like her writing about what we can do now to prepare for our future home. Nothing we do here is in vain, she writes. We can even hasten His day by living godly lives (2 Peter 3:11-14). And I like that she reminds us that our future home is ours by grace alone.

There were a few surprising ideas in this book. Fitzpatrick relates a hiking experience and then thinks of hiking the New Earth, never getting tired or sick. That the New Earth would have mountains and canyons is not something I've thought about. Another thought provoking idea was about worship. We find no command to Adam and Eve to worship. Fitzpatrick concludes that before sin, everything Adam and Eve did was worship. She proposes that all we do on the New Earth will be worship, such as hiking.

Fitzpatrick says she has written this book to make us thirst for heaven like never before and prepare us for living our life here, always keeping our life there in view. She has certainly convinced me of how deeply satisfying our future home will be.

If, with every passing day, you long for heaven more and more, this book will stir up that desire in you. Perhaps you don't long very much for heaven. Perhaps you have been trying to numb your desire to live somewhere other than in this sinful world. I highly recommend this book as it will reveal to you the believer's deeply satisfying future home.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.

[Susan Feaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure I have ever struggled quite so much with a book review as I have with this one. Home. How Heaven and the New Earth Satisfy Our Deepest Longings by Elyse Fitzpatrick was not at all what I expected. Although, having said that, I'm not sure exactly what I expected. I'm still not certain that I can say I liked this book. Nor can I say I disliked it. I guess that all goes back to it just not being what I expected. I can say that it provided food for thought. And the fact that I'm still thinking about it is proof, on some level at least, that the book is a success.

"Home" is our only hope in this life - the hope that Jesus promised when He promised to come and take us unto Himself where will see Him and be completed by Him. But we're not "home" yet. So writes Fitzpatrick, as she then proceeds to paint a portrait of what life will be like there, even as she challenges us to live here with there in view.

Written in a very conversational tone, Fitzpatrick shares incidents from her own life to illustrate why there is within us a longing for "home", challenging the reader not to lose sight of "home" even as we are bogged down in this journey called life.

Fitzpatrick uses passages from Scripture to establish a description of the "home" we were meant to occupy. She challenges readers to think deeply about what the eternal "home" will look like. Are we expecting something akin to an idyllic Thomas Kincade painting? Does that line up with the descriptions in Scripture?

Whether or not you agree with her conclusions or her theology, Elyse Fitzpatrick's Home challenges you to dig into the Scriptures to clarify what you believe. Book clubs or Bible study groups who use this book will likely have some lively discussions!

Bethany House Publishing Group provided me with a free copy of Home by Elyse Fitzpatrick in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Rebecca Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think sometimes we are so busy trying to make our homes on earth happy that we forget that we weren’t made to be on the earth eternally. Instead of focusing on the here and now, we should focus on the there and then. But, how much do we know about Heaven and the New Earth? Do we have the right perspective on what our eternal home will be like? That is the subject of Elyse Fitzpatrick’s new book Home: How Heaven and the New Earth Satisfy Our Deepest Longings.

In this book, Fitzpatrick takes on the topic of eternity and we can view it. She examines the Biblical foundation of heaven. She talks about the New Earth that will be created after the Millennium. Sometimes she speculates with details. Other times, she refuses to speculate on what aspects of Heaven and the New Earth will be like.

There are many things about this book to love, and much of the book is grounded in scripture. Sometimes interpretations of specific scriptures in relation to prophecy differ depending on our own faith background and way of interpreting the Bible, and I feel like Fitzpatrick does and excellent job dealing with her interpretations of scripture. There are many places where I agree, and a few places where I disagree, but I still feel like this is an excellent book, and a worthy read.

I also found that I really agreed with the main thrust of the book. We have a longing and a hole in our hearts that we can’t fill and that longing is one for eternity. We long for the earth to be made whole (or recreated). Those moments of sadness and discontent that we have here in this life are meant to be there. We have them because of the eternity and longing for it that God has placed in our hearts. Just coming to that realization is worth the time taken to read this book.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephanie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad Bethany House has blessed me with non fiction as well as fiction books to read and review. I truly have to make myself read on fiction nowadays. I will be honest I truly like inspirational books that are not deep ( use the Bible for that) and are more for daily devotion and encouragement. The first few chapters were a bit tough for me to read as I did not always agree with the author's viewpoint. However, I do like to be challenged to evaluate my faith and beliefs. I did so much enjoy the author's analogy of heaven being a paradise, more like a garden than a sky full of clouds. Never thought of that before when I thought of heaven. I did find great encouragement from chapters like seven and eight, particularly personal stories of suffering but still had eyes on God and hope for a home for him in heaven. Like I said earlier use my Bible as my guide but was encouraged by these verses the author used when talking about the joy that we will find in heaven. Such as Isaiah 35:4-10.
There will Nebo more night Revelation 22:5. The last thing that truly tugged my heart is No more tears. God himself will wipe away every tear. Revelation 21:3. Did I agree with or enjoy every word in this book? The honest answer is no. But was I challenged to search the scriptures and ponder on what our heavenly home would be like? The answer is yes. I am also praying I develop more of a ️love and need to read non fiction books. Although I love to escape to the fiction world, my brain as well as my heart need some dosages of reality and my mind needs to be challenged by such questions like this author raised. What will our home with God be like? In her words, our new home will be a paradise. A place where there will be no more stress, sin, shame, or suffering.

[Julie D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books on heaven that I've read! It takes a look at heaven from a different perspective - emphasizing why we feel a homesickness for our true home.

I know I have feelings of longings for my true home. Once we know the Lord, our longing to be with Him becomes a very real thing. This book answers all those feelings I've always had and also answers a lot of questions about heaven I've wondered about.

I love how Biblical this book is and how she reaches deep into Scripture to give us a beautiful picture of heaven. I also love how she shares stories from her own life and gives us a feeling that she's a friend sharing coffee and discussing how hard this life is but how great heaven will be.

I just couldn't put this book down. I highlighted and re-read things that really touched my heart and that I had never known or realized before about our heavenly home.

I really think this is a book that everyone should read. It will give you a different perspective about how wonderful heaven is going to be, why we feel the homesickness that we do, and give us a true hope for our future with the Lord. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars.

*This book was provided to me for my honest review by Bethany House

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, Wow, Wow!! As a child, I was raised in a church family. We never missed a Sunday or Wednesday night, unless we were sick. There were many times when I would sit in the church pew wishing I could stay there and not have to go home. Not that my home life was bad, I just really enjoyed being at church, singing with the congregation and worshiping God. I was raised in the Church of Christ, we didn't have music with our songs, we didn't have dancing, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy it all the same. I've always enjoyed A'Capella singing, and I wonder if this isn't why? Thinking about biblical images all over the Scriptures, and stretching our imagination to grasp the glories that waits for us, Elyse makes us picture our true and lasting Home, which Christ will give us when he comes again.

[victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are all had been feeling homesick when we have to go away from Home. This book is very touch my heat in many way. We are also feel loneliness fear in the world that we all have to live with and try to survive for living that make you feel safe and comfort like you home even some time you have to change the job or place that you are living and you wish to be happy but the thing is not just to make its everything easy like that. This book wrote it down beautifully with the love of God had been provide where is the real home for everybody. This book will fill full all the answer. I highly recommend for everyone .

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home explores what Heaven will be like. Fitzpatrick brings together scripture and commentary in a way that helps you understand the future for believers and begin to know what it's like to long for heaven. I learned a lot and think this will be a book to reread several times before I fully grasp everything that Fitzpatrick explains in these pages.

For more of my review, please visit: http://betheproof.org/legacyliving/ho...

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Blake Western · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author explains that the reason we have a sense of longing, a sense of incompleteness is that we are not at home yet. She urges the readers to look beyond our present state to the time when we will be finally home. She effectively uses some of her personal experiences as well as statements made by C. S. Lewis to explain her thesis.

[Nancy Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was blessed in that reading this book draws my thoughts more to the reality of eternity - and the promised inheritance God holds in trust for us who believe in Him. Thinking about the new heavens and the new earth bring such joy! My only negative comment is that I think in some places the author has said "it is so" where really, scripture hasn't exactly said "it is so".

[Mindy Burnham Hedvall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this read. It's one I can see myself picking up just for encouragement in my every day life. A lot of hard work went into this so its jam packed with quotes and history and Biblical context that make it more like a commentary than a light read but I loved it nonetheless.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books on Heaven are difficult to evaluate, because much is often left to speculation. For that reason, I’m undecided in my review.

This book would best be read as a hard copy to more carefully digest it rather than simply listening to the audio version as I did.

[K B · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better works on the culmination of God's Kingdom and its coming to earth in culmination of all His promises.

[Jamie Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be writing my review for my blog this week and post it by Friday.

[Cameron Barham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A readable guide for those new to the topic.

[Hanna Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. It gave so much to think about in regards to heaven, the new earth, and our hope we have in Christ's resurrection.

[Adam]

Unfinished. Some good stuff, but too chatty, too "Christian living."

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything is laced with longing because we are made for another world

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

She takes some pretty big leaps, but she does admit she knows she's taking leaps.

[Aprille J · Rating 1 out of 5]

I will admit, during the first four chapters, as I listened, I was hooked and drawn into believing the eternal future as she presented it. But somewhere around Chapter 5, I began having a LOT of questions. Things she said that were not really making sense. I was struggling to wrap my brain around things that seemed - honestly - too good to be (humanly) true. The adage “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is,” came to mind. And yet, we know that when it comes to our eternal future, the opposite is the case: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Problem 1: The lack of concern in the caveats

I see her admit that she’s going to be making a lot of assumptions that stretch the imagination. On first reading, I can appreciate that. However, she seems to feel that because no one has been to heaven and returned, that all her speculations are okay - that she doesn’t really have a responsibility to share Biblical truth as presented in Scripture. Rather, pragmatically, she assumes that because she tried to do something impossible, Jesus will just laugh and it will all be okay. Will God laugh if He and the future He has prepared for us is misrepresented, just because someone was trying to do something good?

Problem 2: Assumptions presented as true

At the beginning of the book, she states, When I am speculating (and know it), I will tell you. (Ch. 1)

Yet throughout the book, she makes claims presented as truth with no Scriptural basis - things she assumes or speculates. Sometimes, she will follow up with a quote from another theologian or Bible teacher, but rarely with a Scripture that can support her claims.

Problem 3: A humanistic, self-focused approach to our heavenly future

She really makes this abundantly clear in a statement she makes in Chapter 10. Here she is discussing prayer, but she says this:

Of course, since we’ll have all eternity to do whatever our hearts may desire, we won’t worry there at all about whether or not we’re going to lose a special opportunity.

It was when I heard this statement that all of my concerns started clicking. Her use of imagination does more to bring God down to human level than it goes to fix our minds on a heavenly future where God is at the center.

Problem 4: Direct contradictions with herself

About our earthly personalities: To claim that God will not completely transform our personalities has no basis in Scripture. It’s an assumption that she makes.

My pastor says often, “We must know God as He has revealed Himself in His self-disclosure. Otherwise, we risk worshiping a God of our own imagination, and that is idolatry.”

While Elyse let’s her human imagination whisk her away, then assumes Jesus will laugh at any errors with her because, “Well, I tried!,” I fear that what she has actually done is create a heaven of her own human imagination.

Ought we not know HEAVEN as God has revealed it to us in His self-disclosure? If we add to that, are we not creating a heaven of our own imagination?

I admit, the details that God has given us in Scripture might be considered scant, but that’s what He chose to give us. Is it not enough? I don’t see writing clinics and hiking trips in Scripture. I don’t see interviews with Michaelangelo or laughing with Jesus.

This is bringing God and our eternal future down to our human level, rather than studying it for what it is as God has disclosed to us. I think this is dangerous, because we can end up making God and his glorious gift of heaven into something that is reduced to “all eternity to do whatever our hearts may desire.”

[Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Everything you’re experiencing now, even those things you’re sure will satisfy, are nothing more than fickle shadows sure to disappoint. Most Christians know that what we long for can’t be found here. Like Abraham, we recognize that we’re ‘looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). Even though we’ve been taught this, we still spend our lives searching for something more. When we hear that happiness and permanence are being found in something else, we chase after it—deceived, again and again. We have a terrible time learning that nothing here will satisfy us, that everything here is no more sturdy than a shadow.”

Just a sample of some of the great passages in this book. I was surprised how much this read altered my perspective on everyday life, on fellow believers, and on the church.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book about the place your loved one goes when he or she dies, this is not the book for you. This is for the Christian who is toiling for the Lord and needs encouragement that the work they do here on earth will carry on into the new Earth. It's a glimpse of what the new Earth will be after those already dead are reunited with those still living and what life will be like living with the Lord in the New Jerusalem. Thought provoking and encouraging but not the book I was looking for after losing my Mom.