Heaven – it is not what most people think
Illustration
The two professors stood nose to nose as they shouted at one another. “The craters on the moon are the result of volcanism,” cried one. “You are an idiot,” screamed the other, “the craters on the moon are the result of meteor impact.” This scene played itself out all across campus; time and time again you could hear these two debating that which could not be proven. Most certainly there were indications of meteor impact on the moon, but then, there was just as much evidence for volcanic cratering. It wasn’t until we began sending spacecraft to the moon that the debate was ever settled. What a wonder, it turned out that some of the craters are the result of impact and some are the result of volcanism.
How often we only see what we want to see. One professor could only see indications of impact and the other professor could only see indications of volcanic activity. Isn’t this the same attitude we often display when studying scripture? We have a preconceived notion of what we believe, and then when we go to the bible all we can find is scripture to support our position. Somehow, we are completely blind to any scripture that contradicts or does not support our pet belief.
Sermon
Probably one of the most messed up Christian concepts is that of heaven. In fact, our final destination is not even heaven, as most envision it! In reality, we are destined to spend eternity on earth … the new earth. Yes, we will live in ‘heaven’; heaven as it exists on the new earth.
We will exist as physical beings with form and substance, and not as some amorphous energy form. After all, the Lord Jesus Christ will transform our earthly body to be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21) Our transformed bodies will be capable of eating and drinking in heaven. (Matthew 26:29)
Our eternal existence will be in the new heaven and new earth where the former things shall not be remembered nor come into mind. (Isaiah 65:17) Our eternal existence, which differs from our temporary spiritual abode (paradise), will be a perfect earth that is totally removed from the old earth.
So, just exactly what will we be? We will look like human beings because we were created in the image of God and we know that the way Jesus was resurrected is the same way we will be resurrected. You could write a book about our existence after death; our waiting in paradise for the return of Jesus and then our spending eternity working for Jesus in the New Heaven and New Earth. Let's just consider just a few points about our eternal existence, 'heaven.'
1. In heaven we will be different than we now are here on earth. Paul said: “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52)
a. We will not be earthly flesh and blood
b. We will be immortal (Imperishable)
c. WE WILL BE CHANGED
2. We will have spiritual bodies in heaven. When Paul was questioned with: “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” he told the people that our old earthly body dies and goes away so that we can get a new body. He said: “There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. … So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. … It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. … As was the man of dust (Adam), so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven (Jesus), so also are those who are of heaven. … Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:35-49)
a. We will be changed into spiritual bodies.
b. We will be resurrected into a body like Jesus was resurrected in.
3. We will be like the angels. Remember, Jesus said: “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” (Mark 12:24-25)
a. We will not be husband and wife in heaven
b. WE WILL BE LIKE THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN
4. When we are born again Jesus no longer considers us male or female. Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:5-6) From now on, therefore we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians3:27-28)
a. Salvation is spiritual and it cannot be tied to any ritual controlled by man.
b. When a true believer is baptized into Christ they essentially die to this world and are raised into a new relationship with Christ. (Those in Christ will never die!)
c. As a transformed being (born again) our flesh may still have its gender but in reality, from a spiritual perspective, we have no gender: neither male nor female.
5. We will also have a new mind and a new way of thinking. When we are born again we do not receive the spirit of the world; when we are born again we receive the Spirit of God, which enables us to understand what is written in scripture. Paul said: “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:12-14)
a. We can only understand a little bit about heaven and what we do understand must be spiritual discerned.
b. The average person will reject the truth about heaven because it does not agree with their earthly way of thinking.
6. As spiritual beings, locked into an earthly body, our flesh is constantly at war with our spirit. Paul told the Galatians: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” (Galatians 5:16-17)
a. Our flesh wants us to fulfill its lusts and to entertain its way of thinking.
b. Earthly things like family, health, wealth and happiness dominate the thinking of the Christian who is ruled by his or her flesh.
c. When we want to take earthly ties into heaven it may be more of a fleshly desire than a spiritual desire.
7. Yes, scripture always refers to angels as male. We need to re-examine our third and fourth points: ‘neither male nor female but like angels.’
a. I do not believe there is any scripture that does not refer to angels in the masculine gender. In fact, the feminine form of the Greek word for angel does not even exist. I also feel confident that there is no reference to angels in the neuter form. Thus, we must assume that the God Head, Angels and born again Christians will all be of the same ‘gender’ in heaven.
i. Angels are always referred to in the masculine
ii. Angels are always referred to as ‘sons of God’
iii. Angels are never referred as feminine
iv. Angels are never referred as neuter
v. Angels always appear to humans as males
b. Born again people are referred to as sons of God.
i. … for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (Galatians 3: 26-27)
ii. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.(Matthew 5:9)
Conclusion
We need to throw away all the old traditional misconceptions about heaven. To start with paradise is where the born again exist in spiritual form until Jesus returns and we are resurrected. Most people call paradise heaven and confuse it with our eternal existence. In eternity, after the resurrection, we will be in an imperishable physical body and we will be given a job to do. I don’t know exactly what it will be, but I do know my position of responsibility in heaven will be determined by how well I labor for Jesus in this life. (Luke 19:11-28 and Matthew 25:14-30) I also know that I will receive eternal rewards based on my earthly service. (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) Thus, our eternal existence, what many call heaven, is not a cloud, a halo and a harp … thank God!
There are two other prevalent misconceptions we need to dispel with in our closing of this sermon. First, we will have eternal physical bodies, which scripture gives a male gender, and second, the old earth is totally done away with both physically and in our memories. (Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13)
1. First, we must remain true to scripture and acknowledge the apparent existence of a gender in the kingdom of God! There is an overwhelming amount of scripture, spanning thousands of years, that tells us we will be of the masculine gender in the Kingdom of God, the new earth; ergo, what we refer to as heaven. Scripture does not give any indication that procreation exists in the kingdom of God, which supports the notion that there is no need of male and female genders. We must admit that bible writers could have used the male gender, in reference to the kingdom of God (heaven), because they could not fully understand the kingdom of God. Even if this is true, we should never take the liberty of going beyond the written word. This means we must say we will be masculine in heaven or simply say ‘I don’t know’!
2. Second, we must remember that it is foolish to hold onto earthly desires because everything earthly goes away. John Wrote: Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:1-4)
1) Not one single vestige of the existing earth will survive the final judgment.
a. Grandpa’s house will not exist
b. Mama grave will not exist
c. Every lost friend and relative will not exist
2) God will physically live with the saved.
a. We will have a new home
b. Some of our saved friends and relatives may be with us
c. We will probably have new friends
d. For certain, God will be right there with us
3) No sorrow. The new earth and new heaven will be perfect, this means:
a. We will not grieve over lost friends and relatives.
b. We will not grieve over the old earth and the things we had in it.
c. We will not grieve over old relationships.
d. We have a new spiritual body so there will be no aches and pains
P.S. I am of the opinion one of the contributing factors to Christendom having so many immature and shallow people is because we have failed to spend sufficient time teaching about our eternal existence. I do not believe our traditional view of heaven give people a sense of urgency in building a servant-master relationship with Jesus.
