John 14: 1-3 1 “Do
not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My
Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told
you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be
with me that you also may be where I am.
If we believe
that human beings were created to live forever, it should be important to find
out what happens when we die and if there are preparations that we need to
make before we die. If we believe in God and in the Bible, life after death is
one the major themes of scripture.
Most of us
even though we believe in heaven have very little idea about what its like,
what we do, where it is and our relationships there.
The vast majority of Christians see heaven as an out of body spiritual
experience where we float around on clouds, play a harp and have a never
ending church service.
As I began to
research this topic over the past several weeks, I have been astounded to
learn how much the Bible does talk about heaven and how different it is then
the typical stereotypes.
The
scriptures speak of heaven in three different ways:
There is the atmospheric heaven – look up and see the sky and sun and moon and
stars and speak of them as the heavens. Limited in our scope.
There is the cosmos
heaven – with the advent of powerful telescopes, we have been able to
see things in the universe we couldn’t before – galaxies – vastness of
God’s creation. The Psalmist says: the
heavens declare the glory of God.
There is the
celestial heaven – the dwelling place of God – the eternal home of
believers. Stephen saw the heavens open and Jesus standing at the
right hand of the father. Our father who art in heaven. The word heaven is used in different contexts throughout
scripture.
There are
three different perspectives about heaven in the Scriptures.
One – there are certain things we
know for sure. John
14: 1-3
Two: - there
are things hinted at which people
can interpret in different ways: What does it mean that there will be a new
heaven and a new earth- spiritual or literal?
Three:
there are certain things we just
don’t know. Where exactly is heaven? Will there be golf in heaven?
Will I like
beets in heaven?
But what we
do know shows us that we are headed for the most exciting, fulfilling, and
meaningful adventure we have ever known. In light of that, we must hold firm
to the things the Bible teaches for sure; we can debate/discuss about the
nature of things hinted at but we should not make them a matter of fellowship
with another believer and we can forget the things that are impossible to
know.
Here are some
things we know:
One:
Satan wants to blind our minds to the realities of heaven.
Rev.
13:6 “He
opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His name and his dwelling
place and those who live in heaven.”
Satan slanders God’s person,
God’s people and God’s place. He
can’t convince us that heaven doesn’t exist so he tries to convince us it
will be boring. Satan is a liar and will try to deceive, confuse, and bring
disharmony among the people of God.
Two:
The things pertaining to heaven are spiritually discerned.
In I Cor. 2:9 says:
“as it is written, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him – but God has
revealed it to us by His Spirit.”
The doctrine
of heaven is not developed in just one chapter explaining it in detail, there
are snippets of its meaning throughout scripture and it is like putting
together a giant jigsaw puzzle – but when the picture is complete – it is
quite amazing.
Since we
can’t experience it yet with our senses, we must recognize it as a spiritual
reality and trust the scriptures are true.
Third: Heaven will be better in every area of life than we enjoy on earth.
Hebrews 8: 3-6
As I have
shared with you before, Hebrews explains to us that the new covenant of grace
is greater than the covenant of the law. Talks about the coming of Christ, he
says: these are just a copy or a shadow of what is in heaven.
a. new
bodies no bulging
middles or balding tops; no cellulite or thunder thighs; no cancer, heart
problems, deformed bodies or useless appendages.
In this world our bodies are under constant decay
gradually lose their vitality and strength. Phil.
3: 20-21 “will transform our
lowly bodies so they will be like his glorious body.”
Bodies destroyed by fire, disease, or decay will be quicken by the
spirit of God into new models.
Don’t know
exactly what they will look like but according to I Cor. 15 they will be
imperishable and uncorruptable by sin.
b. new heart Psalm 51:10 even
though we have been cleansed of our sins by the blood of Christ, we still live
in a fallen world – we have temptations that beset us; still have emotions
that sometimes get the best of us; we still groan to be released from those
things that so easily trip us up.
In heaven we
will have a perfect love for God and people. The process of refining that
began with our conversion will be completed by Christ at the resurrection. A
heart not tainted by greed, lust, prejudice, ill will, jealousy, or any of the
other destructive emotions that surface.
c. new
mind I Cor. 13: 12 “now I
know in part, then I shall know fully even as I am fully known.”
Some of you
have children, family members or acquaintances that have mental problems.
I have a granddaughter that is autistic.
Mental issues are the result of the fall and the curse and will be with
us until the second coming of Christ. We
are told in Phil. 2:5 to have the mind of Christ – we try but we can never
quite get there. In heaven
we’ll get there. The mysteries
of mankind will be made known. Heightened sense of understanding, knowledge
and wisdom.
Fourth:
there is an intermediate state between death and heaven.
So what
happens when I die? Russell Byrun in his book on Christian Theology states:
“Between the close of the present life
and the beginning of the final state, the spirit is in a condition different
from that of this life or that beyond the resurrection. The fact of an
intermediate state is certain”
Jim
Lyon: “When you die, you will immediately be translated into a new,
wonderful, fully conscious reality with Jesus.”
As I have done this
research, it has sharpened my understanding of heaven. Long held beliefs even
if they are wrong are difficult to dislodge. People don’t change their minds but they do make new
decisions based on additional information. I hope you will keep an open mind
as we go though this series.
Some of you
believe that this intermediate time is soul sleep – you die – wake up –
100 years later in heaven but it seems like a moment.
I believed that for years. It comes from I Thess. 4: 13 when it says
about those who have died: “brothers we do not want you to be ignorant about those who have
fallen asleep or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. We believe
that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with
Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” There is another possibility that I want you to at least be
aware of.
There is an intermediate
heaven – or paradise- or sometimes called the present heaven. This is the
dwelling place of believers between the time of their death and the
culmination of history in the second coming of Christ. Upon
our death, we immediately go into the presence of God in heaven.
II Cor. 5:8
Paul says to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.
Phil. 1: 23
Paul is trying to figure out whether it is better to stay alive and continue
his ministry or to die and be with the Lord and he says: “I am torn – I
desire to depart and be with Christ.”
There is no
evidence in scripture that this intermediate heaven is a place where you can
be purged of your sins – that happened on the cross.
There is no
evidence that this gives one a second chance to accept Christ – it is
appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment.
No evidence
that you can change locations
No evidence
that we can communicate with people in that state.
This present
heaven will be in Christ’s presence, a place of joy where we await the final
redemption of mankind. We will rejoice that our future place in the eternal
heaven is secure.
Why would you
say this: what is the scriptural
evidence?
But there are
several places in scripture where this state is mentioned or implied so we
need to look at it.
In II cor.
12: 2-4 Paul talks a man was caught up to heaven and two verses later says
caught up to paradise.
Todd Burpo
caught up into a heavenly experience.
There is a
story about Lazarus and a rich man who both died – one was buried and found
himself in hell and one was carried to Abraham’s side or paradise.
(luke 16: 22-31). A lot of people think it is a parable but it doesn’t
say it’s a parable – it doesn’t say once upon a time –Jesus normally
introduces his parable with a preamble: the
kingdom of heaven is like . . . or let me tell you a story; but in this case
it simply says there was a rich man. If
it is a parable it is the only parable where the person is given a name –
Lazarus. Is it possible he was a
real person with a real story? Both Lazarus and the rich man were in a state
of consciousness knowing what was going on.
To the thief
on the cross, in Luke 23:43 Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, today you
will be with me in paradise.” 75 times in the gospels Jesus uses those
words: I tell you the truth or I say unto you; in none of those does he say I
tell you the truth today. He says I tell you the truth and then introduces a
truth he wants to tell us. These
examples gives us two characteristics of heaven:
Immediacy
and community.
Rev. 6: 9-11
story of those martyred for their faith – I realize Revelation is a vision
and filled with symbolism and does not always mean a literal interpretation.
But they are pictured in heaven and cry out:
“how long Sovereign Lord, holy and true until you judge the
inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
In the eternal heaven, there will be no such thoughts.
In addition
to those scriptures: there are three
examples of witnesses in referring to paradise.
Hebrews 12:1
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, run with
perseverance the Christian life. Who
are those people? Angels
probably – others who have died in the faith – possibly as well.
Luke 15: 7
and 10 the chapter on lost-ness
and God finding people. Lost
sheep – more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents that over
ninety nine righteous – parable but the implication is there is rejoicing in
heaven over someone coming to Christ. If
this was the eternal heaven, that’s not happening – the context is present
tense happening now, they rejoiced – who?
Doesn’t say but just that they rejoiced.
Verse 10
repeats the principle: this time
it adds: there is rejoicing in
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Doesn’t say the angels rejoiced – there was rejoicing in there
presence. Could it be that those
Matt. 17:3-4
at the transfiguration,
Moses and Elijah appeared to Christ, Peter, James and John.
They weren’t sleeping – they appeared in recognizable yet different
bodily form.
Biggest
impediment to this is that people will say:
for people in heaven to be happy, they can’t know what’s happening
on earth.
God knows
what is happening on earth but it does not diminish his joy. The angels know what is happening on earth and it doesn’t
diminish their joy. Jesus
knows what is happening on earth and it doesn’t diminish his joy. Couldn’t
we in the presence of the Lord be aware of what was happening and have it not
diminish our joy?
God and the
Holy Spirit are still troubled by
events before the completion of heaven.
Acts 9: 4-5
he says: Saul, why are you
persecuting me?
Ephesians
4:30 it says: “do not grieve
the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
There will
come a time when there will be no more grieving, no more tears, no more sorrow
according to Rev. 21:4 - that
time will come when God returns and the dwelling of God is with men.
Joy is not
the absence of pain or suffering. Paul
tells us that. Joy is the ability
to know that my redeemer lives and in the midst of all of this, I have victory
through Jesus. Joy is a matter of
perspective. Those who live
in the presence of Christ in a sinless environment with the rich fellowship of
believers and surrounded by the presence of God will be filled with joy and
there will come a time when all of those earthly emotions will be banished.
You are free
to disagree and I still love you but it gives me great comfort to know that by
grandfather, my father, Lisa, Gary, Don, Brenda and countless others whom I
have known are in heaven looking down on me and encouraging me.
If Jesus is praying for us ever interceding before the throne of God,
why shouldn’t those loved ones be praying for us as well.
I think some
of our friends have gotten in backwards – we can’t pray for them but they
can pray for us. And somehow
through the supernatural presence of Christ, the issues we wrestle with does
not destroy their joy in the presence of the Lord.