Heaven

So after blogging about Hell yesterday I felt as though I ought to consider Heaven as well. I mean, who wants to think about Hell and Hell alone? A really cool thing happened in church today: Our pastor at the Chilliwack Alliance decided to speak about Heaven. This is probably the best sermon I have ever heard. I have to share the things that Pastor Leon spoke of today, because it gave me so much hope.

Let’s start from the beginning: In the book of Genesis we learn that God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden before ‘the fall’. After the fall, Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden for their choice of disobedience. Mankind was originally created with “unlimited potential”, so it’s no wonder that we feel so unfulfilled and limited here on earth. Plainly put, mankind was separated from God and the entire World was cursed with him. Pastor Leon biblically suggests that the only way for us to be restored, is through a re-creation of Heaven and Earth. How does this work? Peter explains: “But the day of the Lord will come like at thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:10-13). What is Peter saying here? Leon suggests that since “Fellowship with God was broken in Eden, Heaven is a return to the original Goals of Eden”: It is God’s way of restoring what is broken.

I find it interesting, how our tendencies are to blame God for this present human condition. People get mad and rage against life and God. I have done this myself actually. Whenever something would not go my way or tragedy would strike, I believed that God somehow was messing up or neglecting us. I was too proud to consider that maybe he has a plan for this mess on Earth. Lately I am learning that God sees our hurt and our sufferings: “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18) and not only that, but Jesus himself was, “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (Isaiah 53:3). He not only sees our pain, but he came down from his throne and experienced it with us. The Bible is not just a book of wisdom, or an instruction manual of how to live life: it holds the story and plan of the world: “ ‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you’, declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back from captivity” (Jeremiah 29:11-13). I challenge you to look into the things that God promises us today.

Back to today’s sermon, Pastor Leon expressed the difficulty that we have as fallen beings, to understand the concept of Heaven: Heaven truly is, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived-the things that God has prepared for those who love him”( 1Corinthians 2:8). Leon pointed out that even John, the writer of Revelation, probably had great difficulty in explaining what he saw when God revealed his plans of restoration to him. The book of Revelation can still draw us a picture of what Heaven will be like: “Then I saw a ‘new heaven and a new earth’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21: 1-5).  These verses in particular give me so much hope and joy. Consider this: we will be who we were made to be in Heaven. We will be the complete beings and will be walking in constant fellowship with our Creator.

What are we to do with all this information? How do we become recipients of the Grace of God? Leon reminds us that, “Entrance into heaven depends on what you have done with Jesus Christ, the Saviour here on earth”. Pursue God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength and he will not be far away from you. In fact, he pursued you first: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20). We can never get to Heaven by being a ‘good person’: In fact, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah: 64:6). The only way is through acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved” (John 10:9). Leon’s conclusion was: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

PS: Thanks Pastor Leon, for walking me through this again. I needed it now more than ever.