In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Miss Watson attempts to persuade Huckleberry to behave by explaining to him the difference between heaven and hell. Huckleberry responds with the following observation:
Now she had got a start, and she went on and told me all about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was to go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it. But I never said so. I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said, not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.
But it’s not just Huckleberry Finn that had that kind of view of heaven. In his book about heaven, Randy Alcorn tells the story of an English vicar. When asked by a colleague what he expected after death, he replied, "Well, if it comes to that, I suppose I shall enter into eternal bliss, but I really wish you wouldn’t bring up such depressing subjects."
And then there are these words from George Bernard Shaw:
Heaven, as conventionally conceived, is a place so inane, so dull, so useless, so miserable, that nobody has ever ventured to describe a whole day in heaven, though plenty of people have described a day at the seashore.
Perhaps you can relate to some of those comments. I know that I certainly can. If heaven is nothing more than a place where we sit on a cloud and play our harps day after day, then frankly, that’s not something that I really get all that excited about either. But then I read these words from some of the New Testament authors:
Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one...
Hebrews 11:16 (NIV)
Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,
2 Corinthians 5:2 (NIV)
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:1, 2 (NIV)
What was it that allowed these authors to have such an excitement about heaven? Or perhaps the more relevant question is why don’t we who are followers of Christ share that same enthusiasm and anticipation?
I’m convinced that the reason is that we really don’t have a very accurate picture of heaven. Instead of going to the Bible to get our ideas about heaven, we are all heavily influenced by the pictures of heaven that we get from the culture around us.
How many of us have gotten our ideas of heaven and angels from the movies? The familiar plot exists in every one of these films: Heaven is a place you have to earn by accomplishing something after you die. Every one of the lead characters all have some serious character flaws. And, of course, they all die in some freak accident, and a man in a spotless white suit comes and tells them they can’t go to Heaven yet because they have one last mission to perform back on Earth before they can earn their wings. They return to Earth, perform their good deed and then they stroll into Heaven to the sounds of the Heavenly choir singing Handel’s Halleluiah.
Bookstores are burgeoning with accounts of near-death experiences and encounters with angels. Many of these are unbiblical and misleading, full of false doctrine. They imply that those who don’t know Christ will be welcomed into Heaven, contrary to what the Bible clearly teaches. Just because someone thinks he saw Jesus or an angel in a near-death experience doesn’t mean it’s true.
For instance, one of the most popular books on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble is a book titled 90 Minutes in Heaven, written by a Baptist pastor named Don Piper. After being involved in a serious car accident, Piper was pronounced dead at the scene, but 90 minutes later when a pastor at the scene prayed for him, he came back to life. A portion of the book details his experiences in heaven during that 90 minute time period. Although the book is certainly not as blatantly unscriptural as many of the other near-death experiences that have been written about, there are still things in his book that just don’t line up with what the Bible teaches about heaven.
And then there are the greeting card companies that perpetuate this picture of heaven as a place where we sit around on clouds playing our harps. And how many jokes about heaven have we all heard that begin with St. Peter meeting someone at the gate?
Our goal over the next four weeks is help all of us get a better understanding about what the Bible teaches about heaven. While the Bible has much to say about heaven, there are some aspects of heaven where we have very little information from the Bible. So Dana and I are going to be very careful to limit our teaching to those areas where the Bible gives us clear evidence about the nature of heaven.
Perhaps you’re wondering this morning why we’re going to spend this amount of time focusing on heaven. Maybe you’re one of those people who are worried about being “so heavenly minded that you’re of no earthly good.” But perhaps the words of C.S. Lewis are helpful here:
It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one.
Frankly the much larger danger is that we are so earthly-minded that we are of no heavenly or earthly use.
Let’s begin this morning with a passage that will be our theme passage for our series on heaven:
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 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.
Philippians 3:20, 21 (NIV)
When it comes to our citizenship, most of us consider ourselves to be citizens of the United States. But if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, your real citizenship is actually in heaven. The whole concept of citizenship was very important in Paul’s day. For instance, we see that the fact that Paul was a Roman citizen had a very significant impact on his ministry – in some cases protecting him from physical harm, and ultimately, leading to his imprisonment in a jail in Rome. Paul’s Roman citizenship, as well as our citizenship in the United States, is based on three common aspects that define that citizenship.
Citizenship is defined by:
• Common borders
Our borders physically define the country of which we are a citizen. The most common way to become a citizen is to be born within the borders of a country. That is how most of us become citizens of this country and probably how Paul had attained his Roman citizenship.
• Common language
Although the people within the Roman Empire spoke many different languages, one of the purposes of encouraging people to become citizens was to work toward a common language. Here in the United States, one of the things that unites us as a people is our common English language. That is why those who come here from other countries must learn at least basic English before becoming a citizen.
• Common culture
Culture includes elements such as our form of government, our history and our customs. Both in the Roman Empire and in the United States, these are common factors that unite citizens. Those who want to become citizens of our country must demonstrate knowledge of our government and our history in order to obtain their citizenship.
So, since we are citizens of heaven, it seems that it is incumbent on us to understand the borders, language and culture that define our heavenly citizenship. Let’s begin by defining its borders.
WHAT IS HEAVEN?
A 2003 survey of American adults by the Barna group revealed that 76% believe that heaven exists but their views about what heaven is varies greatly. Of those who believe in heaven, here is how they described it:
• A state of eternal existence in God’s presence – 46%
• An actual place of rest and reward where souls go after death – 30%
• Just “symbolic” – 14%
So let’s see what the Bible says about those issues. The first thing we learn about heaven is that it is the:
• Abode of God
Even if you go to a secular dictionary, almost every dictionary defines “heaven” as the “abode of God.” That is a definition that is very clearly confirmed by the Scriptures. Here is just one of those passages:
but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries...
Daniel 2:28 (NIV)
The Bible also reveals that heaven is a:
• Physical place
According to the Bible, heaven is not just a state of existence or symbolic. It is a physical place. We already saw that in our passage in Philippians when Paul wrote:
...we eagerly await a Savior from there...
This is very clearly a reference to a physical return of Jesus from a physical place where he now dwells. That is certainly consistent with what we have learned in our journey through Ephesians where Paul writes that Jesus has been raised up to the right hand of the Father in heaven. There are also a number of other passages that make it quite clear that heaven is a physical place. These words of Jesus certainly confirm that:
In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 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.
John 14:2, 3 (NIV)
While on this earth, Jesus was a carpenter who built houses and right now he is in heaven preparing a physical dwelling place for His followers. During our Night of Worship on June 8, we are going to spend some time looking at the Biblical description of that place, which is described in Revelation 21 as the New Jerusalem.
WHERE IS HEAVEN?
In the NIV translation of the Bible, the word “heaven” and other forms of that word are used over 600 times. Although there are a number of ways that the word “heaven” is used, there are three primary uses of the word and it is crucial that we understand how the Biblical writers intended to use that word in order for us to have a Biblical view of heaven.
• Three major uses of the word “heaven”:
Before we look at a detailed description of each of these three aspects of heaven, let me give you a word of warning. There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that in any way describes different levels of heaven that are to be obtained based on our works. Unfortunately, there are some groups that call themselves Christians that have used some of the verses we’ll look at to teach that we will be assigned to one of three levels in heaven based on how we live our lives here on this earth. But that teaching is a result of not properly understanding how the Biblical writers use the term “heaven”.
o First heaven = atmosphere
The first heaven is the atmosphere which is necessary for our survival here on this earth. The first reference to this first heaven is found in the creation account in Genesis:
Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."
Genesis 1:20 (NASB)
As it is used by Moses here, “heaven” very clearly describes the atmosphere around our earth – the place where the birds fly.
o Second heaven = space
Again, we find the first use of the word “heaven” to describe this second heaven in the creation account:
And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
Genesis 1:16, 17 (NIV)
The use of the word “heaven” here is very similar to the way the Psalmist often used the word to describe the place where the stars and the associated planets and their moons are located.
While both the first and second heavens are described frequently throughout the Scriptures, our focus for these next four weeks is going to be on the third use of the word “heaven”.
o Third heaven = the dwelling place of God
We can most clearly see how the word “heaven” is used in this way in one of Paul’s letters:
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.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (NIV)
The context of this passage makes it quite clear that the third heaven is the dwelling place of God. As we’ll see more clearly next week, there are two “stages” of this heaven. There is an intermediate state where believers immediately go to be in the presence of God when they die. And there is the ultimate, final state, which is the New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21.
So where is this heaven then, if it is indeed a physical place? Let’s look at one more passage that will give us some insight into that:
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
Revelation 4:1 (NIV)
Where is the third heaven? It is up.
I know you were looking for a little more detailed answer to that question, but frankly, that’s all the Bible gives us. In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes that he was “caught up” to the third heaven. And in Revelation, the voice of Jesus commands John to “come up here.” All I can tell you is that when I die, I’m going to go up to wherever God is and that I’ll be in His presence immediately.
Let’s look at one more aspect of this third heaven that is often confusing.
The “third heaven” and “paradise” describe the same place.
There are only three places in the Bible where the word “paradise” is used. This word comes from a Persian word which described a royal garden. We’ve already seen one use of the word in 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul very clearly equates “paradise” with the “third heaven.” The other familiar use of that word is in Luke 23, when Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Jesus in “paradise” that very day. The third occurrence is in the Book of Revelation:
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:7 (NIV)
When we put these three passages together, there is no doubt that paradise is just another word to describe the third heaven, the abode of God. It is clearly not some intermediary place where people go to either await their fate or try to do further good deeds in order to earn there way into heaven. Jesus told the thief on the cross that he would be with Jesus immediately upon his death. And certainly no one would argue that Jesus had to go to a place where He would have to await his final destiny or otherwise earn His way into heaven.
I really like this description of the difference between the three heavens that I found this week:
The first heaven we see by day, the second heaven we see by night, the third heaven we see BY FAITH.
HOW DO I BECOME A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN?
When Paul wrote that our citizenship is in heaven, he was certainly not writing to everyone. So what are the requirements for citizenship in heaven?
• Two ways to become a citizen
In both the Roman culture of Paul’s day and in the United States today, there are essentially only two ways that one can become a citizen:
o Be born a citizen
That’s the way that almost all of us became citizens of the United States. Because we were born in this country, we automatically became citizens. But as we’ve clearly seen in our journey through Ephesians, not one of us is a naturally born citizen when it comes to our citizenship in heaven. Paul described our natural citizenship in Ephesians 2:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:1, 2 (NIV)
Because we are sinners, we are naturally born into the kingdom of darkness which is ruled by the ruler of the kingdom of the air – Satan. So there has to be another way to become a citizen of heaven.
o Naturalization
Naturalization is a process in which one commits to conform to the borders, language and culture of the country that they want to become a citizen of.
For instance in order o become a citizen of the United States a person must meet these requirements:
• Be at least 18 years old.
• Have lived in the U.S. as a legal resident for at least 5 years.
• Be of good moral character and loyal to the U.S.
• Be able to read, write, speak and understand basic English.
• Have basic knowledge and understanding of the history, government structure and the Constitution of the U.S.
• Be willing to take an oath of allegiance to the U.S.
In order to become a citizen of heaven, a person must also go through a similar process. Although there are no age and residency requirements, Jesus has established the requirements to become a naturalized citizen of heaven. There are a number of places in the Bible that describe those requirements very clearly, but since we’ve been journeying through Ephesians, let’s go back to a familiar passage from chapter 1 that describes the requirements:
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-- to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:13, 14 (NIV)
Jesus has actually already done for us everything that needs to be accomplished for us to become citizens of heaven. The “gospel of our salvation” that Paul refers to here is what he describes throughout the first chapter of Ephesians. God chose us and pre-destined us to be adopted as His children. Jesus redeemed us through His shed blood on the cross and the Holy Spirit sealed us as the guarantee that we will one day get to experience our true home in heaven. The only thing that we have to do is to believe. But it is far more that just an intellectual assent that is required. We must be willing to trust completely in the finished work of Jesus as the only possible way to become a citizen of heaven. And then we must also yield the control of our life to Him and allow Him to be the Lord, or master of our lives. That is absolutely the only way to become citizens of heaven.
In a little over a week, Mary and I will embark on a vacation. And while we’re gone we will stay in a condo that is owned by someone else who will rent it out to us. But that condo will never be our home. But you know what, the house that many of you will come to this afternoon to be part of our baptism celebration, really isn’t our home either. That’s why the Bible describes the followers of Jesus Christ as “aliens” and “strangers”. Our house is really nothing more than a motel room we occupy on the way to our true home, which the Carpenter from Nazareth promised He would prepare for our arrival. And on the day we die, we won’t leave home. We’ll actually arrive there.
