Ephesians 4:8-10; Hebrews 11:39-40
Intro: What would a series on Heaven be without a few “Gates of Heaven” stories? 3 men died – a doctor, a school teacher, and the head of a large HMO. Each was called forward. The Doctor first.
“What did you do on earth?”
I healed the sick, and if they couldn’t pay I would do it for free.
“You may go in.”
Next was the teacher.
“What did you do on earth?”
“I taught educationally challenged children.”
“You may go in.”
Next was the HMO chairman.
“What did you do on earth?”
He hung his head and said, “I ran a large HMO.”
He was told, “You may go in, but you can stay only 3 days.”
The OT calls it Sheol, the NT Hades. It’s a word that likely means “place of the unseen dead.” It’s usually spoken of as being down or in the heart of the earth. After all, that’s generally where we place the body of someone who has died. It’s where the Rich Man and Lazarus went when they died. It was also visited by Jesus when He died. As Peter preached about Jesus in Acts 2:27, He quoted from the 16th Psalm, a Messianic Psalm about Jesus’ resurrection:
Acts 2:27
…you will not abandon me to the grave (Hades), nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
Acts 2:31
Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave (Hades), nor did his body see decay.
Jesus told the thief on the cross, today, you will be with Me in Paradise.
In Lk 16, we looked at Hades, a holding place with 2 parts: a place of great comfort, and a place of great suffering, with a big chasm between the 2. This is before Jesus died and rose.
We’ve talked about Heaven as it will be: there’s going to be a New Heaven, a New Earth, New Jerusalem. There in Revelation 20 and 21 we can read about what Heaven is going to be like! That’s for eternity. That’s the end of the book.
Here’s something we haven’t really looked into yet: today, right now, what is Heaven like? If I were to die in Christ today, where would I go? I step outside and get run down by a car in the parking lot, what can I expect? And what about people I know who have died in Christ? What’s life like for them right now?
Today, we’re going to look into what the Bible tells us about Heaven as it is right now – let’s call it “intermediate Heaven.” “Wait!” you say, “How can there be a temporary Heaven? Isn’t God eternal?”
Yes, God is eternal and unchanging. But God changes what’s around Him, including Heaven, His dwelling place.
We know that because, in John 14, Jesus told His disciples that He was going to Heaven to “prepare a place for them.” We know that because in Rev 21 God says He is making everything new. We know that, because people are going to be added to Heaven. Heaven, as it is right now, is not Heaven as it will one day be.
Just like it’s going to change, there was a day in human history when Heaven underwent a change. I want us to understand that change and what it means for our lives right now.
I. Separation before the Cross
Hebrews 11 lists the great heroes of the faith – all of the things they accomplished by faith, and how God was blessing their faith. At the end of the chapter, it says,
Hebrews 11:39-40
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
All these great heroes – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses – are commended for their faith, yet they didn’t receive what God had promised. They died. So what happened to them when they died? Well, they went to Sheol, to Hades, to the Paradise part of it, to wait for something better. They were in a place of comfort, but it wasn’t as good as it was going to become. God had something better planned.
All these OT heroes were living under the Old Covenant. They were living under the Old Covenant Law – one that God said He would one day replace. It was a system of works, of animal sacrifices that never took sin away.
Hebrews 10:1-4
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
So, clear through the OT, there are all of these people of faith who offered sacrifices, but those sacrifices were never really a cure for sin – just a reminder of it.
It’s time we take it seriously. Sin separates us from God. So, these godly people, good as some of them were, died without a real cure for sin. Ro 3:25 says “…in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished…” That separation from God was still there when they died and went into that place called Sheol, even though they were in the Paradise part of it, in the place of comfort. There was still a separation from God created by their sins. That’s why they still didn’t receive what was promised. What was promised was life forever in the presence of God that couldn’t happen until that sin barrier was removed.
Hebrews 10:11
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
Separation. Too often, we’re casual about sin and what it does. We don’t recognize the way it destroys our relationships with people we love. We fail to acknowledge the way it places a barrier between us and God – one so solid it will take the shedding of blood for it to be removed.
Then along comes Jesus to break down the barrier.
II. Changes With The Cross
Ephesians 2:13 -
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
When Jesus died and rose again, there was a change in the Heavenly realm. Jesus not only died and visited Hades, He also rose again in victory over death!
In the centuries around the time of Jesus, military victories were celebrated by big parades. A Roman military commander would be honored with a parade called a “triumph” for his achievements. Included in that parade were not only the victorious soldiers, but also the shamed prisoners of the defeated army led along in chains. Sometimes there were also former prisoners who were freed by the conquest.
When Jesus died on the cross, what appeared to be a crushing defeat was quickly seen to be a huge victory. Jesus had died, and apparently went to Hades – to the Paradise part of it, where that very same day the thief on the cross was also received. Jesus Himself was still separated from the Father. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, just like He said He would. On the morning that He arose, in the Garden, He told Mary Magdalene,
John 20:17
"Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
He was not abandoned to Hades. His body did not undergo decay. And Jesus led a victory parade in the Heavenly realm. Paul describes it for us in
Ephesians 4:8-10
This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)
For all of those years before, Hades had held its people apart from the full presence of God – captive because of sins that were not yet forgiven. Suddenly, the work of Jesus on the cross changed that.
Colossians 2:15
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Heaven changed. Paradise was led into God’s presence. All those godly people who had died before, now had the remedy for sin. Hades no longer contains the souls of godly people. It’s strictly a place of torment for the souls of the wicked. Rev 20:14 tells us that after the final judgment, Death and Hades will be thrown into the lake of fire last of all.
Now, imagine how interested all those godly people in Paradise were in the work of Jesus before the cross. Imagine how much they were eager Jesus to succeed and win the victory death.
Then, let’s revisit the transfiguration of Jesus. It’s not long before the Passion Week in Jerusalem. Jesus, along with Peter, James, and John, climb up a mountain together. Suddenly, Jesus begins to shine, brightly. And there, suddenly standing next to Him are Moses and Elijah.
Apparently, they had received a day-pass from Hades. They are talking to Jesus. What about? If you were Moses and Elijah, what would you be interested in? Lk says there were talking to Him about His departure – His exodus - that He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. Faithful men, who are waiting in Hades, were talking to Jesus about the big change they were about to experience too! At some point, Jesus, victorious over sin, victorious over death, led a great victory parade into the presence of God!
Heaven as it is now is different than it was. The souls of godly people have been moved into the presence of God because they are now forgiven through the blood of Jesus. David, and other godly people of the OT could never say that about themselves before. That wasn’t true until Jesus died and ascended, but now it is. Now, Paradise is in Heaven!
So, in II Co 12, Paul talks about being taken up into Heaven, and he uses the words Heaven and Paradise interchangeably. John in Rev 2:7 says that the tree of life is in the paradise of God.
Let’s take a look and see if this concept of Heaven fits with the rest of Scripture. Stephen is being stoned, and God gives him a special glimpse into Heaven as it is now. Let’s look at it…
Acts 7:55-59
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
What Stephen described is a current scene in heaven. He expected to be in the presence of the Lord when He died.
We looked last week at Rev 7, where the souls of righteous people who have died for their faith in Jesus are crying out to God – in His presence.
Paul said in
2 Corinthians 5:8
We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Maybe you’re thinking to yourself, “Oh, that’s interesting. I always kind of wondered what Jesus did when He died. And, it’s kind of nice to know what’s happened with godly people I know who have died, and what I can anticipate when I die.” But, really, what does this have to do with the way I’m going to live this week? I’m glad you asked that!
Applications:
1. Praise God for Jesus’ death! - it removes the sin barrier that keeps us from God’s presence!
No person can learn about the misery of a Roman flogging, can read about the mocking and beating of Jesus, can look upon the cross and ignore the seriousness of sin. The violent nature of the death of Jesus speaks volumes about the serious nature of our sin – your sin and my sin. Every ghastly detail of it that’s recorded for us in the gospels is there to remind us of just how serious a condition we were in. Nothing else would have done it.
1 Peter 1:18-19 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
If you knew you held the cure for cancer in a little, fragile vile, how would you treat it? You wouldn’t handle it carelessly. You wouldn’t speak badly about it. You wouldn’t leave it exposed to damage. You’d treat it like it was valuable!
I have a personal interest in the blood that Jesus shed for me on the cross.
1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
2. Praise God for Jesus’ resurrection – it leaves Death in the dust!
One thing we didn’t attempt to do today is explain in detail the agenda that Jesus kept once He had died. We’re not told a lot of detail. But one thing is very clear: Jesus’ death alone isn’t enough to meet our need. His resurrection is part of the reason we have to praise God this morning.
Romans 6:9
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
While Jesus’ death gives us the means to be forgiven, Jesus’ resurrection gives us certainty that death can’t defeat us. The Savior I serve is the One Who cannot die again. Death has no power over my King! I Co 15:26 says that Death will be the last enemy to be destroyed.
3. Thank God He has a perfect plan
If all of this sounds complex today, we can at least be glad there won’t be an entrance exam into Heaven! Your name is either in the book or it’s not. God has it all worked out, and we don’t have to be able to grasp every intricacy of Heaven to be allowed into it. We know that godly loved ones who have died are in the Lord’s presence today.
Like one little kid said when his SS teacher asked the class “What do you have to be to go to heaven?” You gotta be dead!
God even has told us what will happen for those who are still alive when Jesus returns. Thank God for His perfect plan.
4. Keep in mind that to live in the presence of God is the greatest privilege and feature of Heaven…always.
The greatest heroes of the faith, Abraham, the friend of God, David, a man after God’s own heart, those godly people who loved God and served Him well didn’t receive what was promised. They didn’t get to enter into God’s presence until after the cross.
We’ve sung the song taken from Psalm 27:
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of people I love in Heaven. I’m wowed at the thought of how beautiful it will be. But more than all these good things, the great privilege of Heaven will be living in God’s very presence and our ability to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
Conclusion:
5. Get your head in the clouds
If you’re living for Heaven, it will show up in every aspect of your life.
Set your mind and heart on things above, not on earthly things.
*My thanks and credit to Randy Alcorn and Bob Chambers, who both have authored books by the same title: Heaven. I've frequently used them as references in this series.
