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Introduction
This week,
amidst the dreadful winter weather and some disappointments with
Mogul Mania being postponed or canceled, I thought I’d draw
our thoughts to the other end of the emotional spectrum and talk
a little bit about heaven.
If I could say there is one thing that distinguished the early
NT church from the modern version of church it would be their
seemingly ever conscious awareness of the eternal realm. Like
us, it is not likely that this focus came naturally as the NT
writers repeatedly reminded the churches to keep their attention
on eternal things not on earthly things. Nevertheless, it does
seem that heaven was a very present thought in their day.
In some ways I can understand why that may be moreso for them
than for us. Let’s take a church in the year 60 A.D. ...
it would have only been about 30 years previous that Jesus had
walked the streets of their world and performed indisputable miracles
before their very eyes. At that point in history, even the youngest
citizens were only one generation removed from being Jesus’
contemporary. Likely there were not many people who hadn’t
either seen those miracles or knew people who had.
In those times, where changes in lifestyle were measured in multiple
generations not in months, the news of Jesus’ impact and
his messages of the kingdom of heaven would be considered very
recent events being only 30 years previous. Heaven, and the eternal
presence of heaven, would still have been a major theme in the
church doctrine. It likely graced the parchment of every sermon
as it did the epistles written by the apostles to the churches.
That focus, that subliminal awareness, is a major distinction
of the NT mindset. Our modern lack of awareness is a grave departure
from NT theology.
In our modern
world, even in our modern church, the topic of heaven is usually
something reserved for funeral messages and consolation during
severe trials or illness.
What if I asked you “when was the last time you can remember
thinking about heaven in any contemplative way?” How many
of you, if you can even remember the last time, would say that
it was probably at someone’s funeral. And it is likely that
the closer to you the person who dies was, the deeper your thoughts
of heaven were.
Here’s
another question that I want you to answer; first, just off the
top of your head, then, give it some thought and see if your perspective
changes as you think about the question more fully.
When you think of heaven and eternal life, does that seem like
a topic about the future or the present? How many, off the top
of your head, would answer “future”?
That is the distinction between the historic church mindset and
the modern church mindset. The historic church considered heaven
and the eternal state as a present tense thought. Eternity does
not start the day you die. The heavenly citizenship of God’s
people starts for each of them the moment that they believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour ... NOT the moment they
die. ETERNITY EXISTS RIGHT NOW!
Listen to
the present tense language of these passages ...
1
Peter 3:21-22
It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone
to heaven and is at God's right hand-with angels, authorities
and powers in submission to him.
Phil
3:20-21
20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior
from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables
him to bring everything under his control, will transform our
lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Can you imagine
how your life would change day to day if heaven ... the present
tense of the eternal state ... was a subconscious thought in every
day life.
How would that change your life?
- change your moods?
- change your priorities?
- change your spending habits?
- change your pastimes and hobbies?
- change your ability to sleep or your fear of tomorrow?
- would you worry more or less?
- be more or less angry? anxious? peaceful? excited?
- would you be lazier about your day or more energetic?
Can you imagine
heaven being in the background of every thought?
I know my world would be different. Not that I don’t often
say to myself ... this isn’t really going to matter in the
long run. But I don’t ALWAYS say that. Sometimes picky little
things that aren’t going to matter tomorrow loom larger
in my mind than they should.
I generally find that the older people are, the better they seem
to be at being able to spot the things that really won’t
matter in the long run. Perhaps the older we get, the more we
think about heaven. Or perhaps a better way of putting it would
be to say that the older people get the less they think about
this earth. I’ve found that people older than me generally
have a better perspective in that regard. And, you know, it’s
always been that way. When I was thirty, people in their 40’s
seemed to have a better view of things; now that I’m approaching
40 people in their 50’s and beyond seem to have a better
take on life that way.
My uncle, who is quite an accomplished carpenter, knew how to
put things in perspective. Although he was very very good at fine
details in the woodwork that needed careful attention to detail,
he also knew when the time wasted on fine details wouldn’t
add any value to the structure of buildings. I specifically remember
working with him at framing a couple of rooms in my house ...
I was worried about the exact fit of the studs on one particular
corner piece and was taking far too much time measuring and remeasuring;
thinking, pondering, and worrying about some detail that was going
to be hidden inside the wall anyway ... he came over to me, probably
wondering why I was being so slow and he said “just nail
it the way it seems to fit best ... nobody will notice it from
the highway anyway.”
Isn’t that the truth. Sometimes, in this life, we get so
focused on the fine details of our day and we get so close to
the situation that we don’t take time to back up and get
the big picture. If we did, we’d realize, it doesn’t
even really matter ... “nobody will notice it from the highway
anyway.”
What if heaven was our big picture at all times. Can you imagine?
I wish I knew
more about heaven. I wish there was a whole book in the Bible
devoted to drawing a realistic picture of heaven for us. But there
isn’t. I have come to believe that heaven is not something
that we can realistically relate to while here on earth. At best,
the Bible gives us little word pictures to give the essence of
what heaven is like ... Jesus very often taught “the kingdom
of heaven is like ...” He often gave an pictorial analogy
of what it was like so we could imagine it ... something for us
to at least get a hint of in our finite little minds. But it is
never a complete description.
Paul wrote that there were inexpressible things in heaven ...
2
Cor 12:2-5
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to
the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body
I do not know-God knows. And I know that this man-whether in the
body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows- was
caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that
man is not permitted to tell.
Jesus tried
to unravel the misconception that the Pharisees held, believing
that the kingdom of God was a location or a tangible visible place
where the human senses could fully dissect it and understand it.
He tried to get them to realize that this earthly body is incapable
of knowing heaven fully, yet the hint of heaven resides deep within
the human spirit. We are all born with the hint of heaven within
us...
Luke
17:20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God
would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come
with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,'
or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
In all of
this, I do not want us to think that since eternity is a present
reality that there is nothing greater than this waiting for us
after our death. That would be the exact opposite of what I want
us to realize. Instead, the ever present thought of eternity should
help us to put into perspective and keep in perspective the very
temporary value of so many things that we place far too much emphasis
on ... and THE VERY ETERNAL VALUE OF SO MANY THINGS WE PLACE FAR
TOO LITTLE EMPHASIS ON.
There will
definitely be a time what all that is temporary will be completely
destroyed and all that is eternal will remain in it’s purest
form ... that is what we long for. Paul wrote ...
2
Cor 5:1-5
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. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with
our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not
be found naked. For 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.
Lights darkened
... a couple of minutes in the dark just to imagine heaven ...
not as in the future, but heaven now, and heaven near ... try
to imagine that ...
Song “I
Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me
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