Impact Week Fourteen

Purpose

Let me make one thing clear: I do not personally spend much time in study about heaven and hell or life after death. This topic is well out of the reach of what you might call a comfort zone. It is the exact contrast of Israel’s history, my favorite biblical subject matter, and what we have been covering the past three weeks or so. Now I have certainly read Revelation all the way through, and I’ve heard countless teachings on it and our future as believers. But I do not devote much of my personal study time to the subject. That’s of course changing since we’re discussing it.

So what led us to this point? Honestly, I’m still scratching my head as to how heaven got mixed into the conversation about Saul. But here we are. So for the few weeks, we’ll go over two extremely different places – Heaven and Hell. There’s a lot to cover, so I’m not even sure how long we’ll be on the subject because I do want to give you a complete picture. But instead of discussing the topic from my limited knowledge like we did last week, we’ll look at some very specific and key scripture references. I’m giving you those references so you can take them home and read them on your own. You need to know that there is a lot of teaching on the subject, and as Christ said, many will be deceived in the last days. That’s why it is so important that you know scripture and that you weigh everything I say, and every teacher against the Word of God. If something doesn’t sound right, it’s probably because it isn’t. It’s up to you to discern and use your Bible to determine if something is in fact accurate or if it’s been skewed, watered down, or completely falsified.

Heaven Part I

1. Heaven is indescribable

Tell me if this has ever happened to you. You’ve just seen this movie that you really enjoyed. You’re talking with your best friend and you’re doing your very best to describe the movie to him. But he’s just not getting it. Something about the plot doesn’t make sense to him. Or maybe it just doesn’t seem like that great of movie to him, and you’re standing there trying to convey through your words and expressions just how truly awesome it was.

Guess what? Heaven is much the same. It is indescribable. Language, any language, not just English, falls short. The very fact that it doesn’t exist in this physical world, but rather on a supernatural plane, means that it’s not bound by the laws and limitations of this world. We have a few hints and teasers strewn throughout the Bible. But ultimately, we can’t really comprehend heaven until we get there.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “However [Paul speaking], 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’”

2. Heaven is home to God, and the only way we can get there is through Jesus Christ.

John 14:1-6 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house [talking about heaven] are many rooms [some translations say mansions]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And 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. 4You know the way to the place where I am going." 5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Despite what other religions and philosophies may try to tell you, Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to the Father and to heaven. We live in a society that will tell you that you can believe whatever you want to believe, that ultimately, if you believe it, it's true to you and for you. Post modernism teaches that if Draven believes that chair is red (even though we know full well that chair is olive green), it's true to him. You need to know that Christ is absolutely the only way to the Father. You can't find God through Buddha, Muhammad, Gandhi, or even Moses (Moses had an incomplete picture, as did everyone before Jesus came on the scene). You find God through Jesus Christ and Him alone. Follow Christ and the Word of God, believe in Him, give Him your heart, and you will find yourself with God when you breathe your last breath.

3. As Christians, to absent from our physical body is to present with God.

2 Corinthians 5:1-7 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

What you can draw from that is that heaven is our home. We were never meant to be apart from God. If you’ll recall, in Genesis, Adam and Eve were in paradise. The Garden of Eden was exactly how God intended life on earth to be. It was their decision to sin that broke the fellowship they had with God. So now while we live here on earth, our spirits are not content, something deep within us groans and longs for that constant fellowship and communing with the Father that is only experienced fully in heaven, our true home.

“If that’s true,” you might ask, “then why am I still here? Why am I not in heaven?” The short answer is, not everyone has heard. There is still a large population of the earth that is clueless to who God really is or what His Son did for us. God has chosen to use us to reveal Himself. Christ gave us what we call “The Great Commission” in Matthew 28 – we are to go into every nation – we have yet to reach that goal. Until we do Christ will not return to the earth to establish His kingdom on earth. Only the Father knows when Jesus will return to the earth. God has plans for you while you still live on this earth. Let me quickly show you a short passage from Philemon.

Philemon 1:21-26 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.”