One day an older man was speaking to a student about his future plans. He asked the young man, “Tell me, what are your plans after you graduate from law school?” The young man said, “I would like to get a job with a good firm and start making some money.” The older man said, “Sounds good. Then what?” “Well, then I would like to get married?” “Sounds good. Then what?” “I would like to start a family, have some children, put my kids in good schools, and have enough money to eventually get a second home.” “Okay. Then what?” “After I have worked for a while, maybe I could come to a point where I could retire. Then, if my health were good, my wife and I could travel around the world.” “Then what?” “Maybe we have some grandchildren. I’ve heard grandchildren are fun.” “Then what?” “I would pass my money down to my children, hoping that they will have as comfortable life as I have had.” “Then what?” And the young man was puzzled.
Most of us don’t think this far ahead unless the doctor tells us we have only months to live. Have you ever thoughts about what’s next for you after this life? William Shatner has thought about his death. In fact, a Philadelphia Inquirer article from 2004, spoke of the famed actor from Star Trek. Reflecting on the death of legendary actor Marlon Brando, Shatner said he began to really think about death: “I’m so not ready to die. It petrifies me. I go alone. I go to a place I don’t know. It might be the end. My thought is that it is the end. I become nameless and I spent a lifetime being known.” It’s amazing how celebrities influence us even when they offer no special insight into a topic.
This morning I want to speak to you on, “What is Heaven Like?” Disclaimer: I have NOT been to Heaven. And, there’s a great deal I don’t know about Heaven. Heaven speaks to the need we all have for ultimate hope.
1. Look Forward to Heaven
Death is a one-way door to give your entrance into a personal welcome of tremendous joy or the first wave of gloom and regret. Hell is your default destination and getting to Heaven is a choice. For those who follow Jesus Christ, Heaven maybe as near as your next week.
Some of you maybe with the angels of Heaven before the sun sets this evening.
1.1 Christ Followers Go to Heaven
If you follow Jesus Christ by embracing His Son’s death & resurrection on the cross, all of this is true for you. Our citizenship is in Heaven: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Philippians 3:20) Our names are written in Heaven: already: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Our treasures are stored in Heaven: “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20) Out eternal homes will be in Heaven: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2) You have an inheritance in Heaven: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” (1 Peter 1:3–4) People from every nation will be in Heaven: “And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation…” (Revelation 5:9)
1.2 Seeing the Face of God
But the best thing about Heaven is that we will see God. Many of us know the name of Neil Armstrong because he was the first man to walk on the moon in July 1969. At his funeral service in September 2012, Eugene Cernan said of Armstrong, “As you soar through the heavens beyond even where eagles dare to go, you can now finally put out your hand and touch the face of God.” You don’t have to be an astronaut to see the face of God, only a Christ-follower.
“And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me” (Job 19:26–27)! Job says, “My own eyes will see Him.” After worms have eaten Job’s skin, he will see God. This is the beatific vision is here - the Vision of God. Remember, Moses could not look at the face of God and live. But now, His people will bask in the presence of God Himself.
Howard Thurman, who was a great African-American scholar and minister in the middle of the twentieth century and pre-civil rights movement. He gave a lecture on life and death in the Negro spirituals in 1947 at Harvard. When he gave the lecture some 70 years ago, many African-American adults knew plenty of people who had grandparents and even parents who are slaves. During their tragic ordeal, they would sing of hope, justice and the future promise of rest heaven offers. I want to share a statement from Thurman because it shows us the everyday kind of power that focus on heaven brings. He essentially says, “The facts, however, make clear [this sung faith] served to deepen the capacity of endurance and the absorption of suffering. The [spiritual songs] taught a people how to ride high in life, to look squarely in the face those facts that argue most dramatically against all hope, and to use those facts of heaven, of hell, of judgment day, as a raw material out of which they fashioned a hope the environment with all its cruelty could not crush…”
Not many of us will ever suffer through anything as degrading as the suffering endured by many slaves in generations past. Still, we can pull from the same spiritual resources that powered them through some of the worst forms of injustice and suffering known. Focusing on Heaven can power through even the most difficult of days. You will be satisfied. You will be home at last. Your wandering is over. Your restlessness is over.
Some of you enjoy the poetry of John Donne. He was a man who was living in London during the Black Plague, which killed tens of thousands. Thinking perhaps he was soon to die as well, he wrote: “I shall rise from the dead. . . . I shall see the Son of God, the Sun of Glory, and shine myself as that sun shines. I shall be united to the Ancient of Days, to God himself, who had no morning, never began. . . . No man ever saw God and lived. And yet, I shall not live till I see God; and when I have seen him, I shall never die.”
The most astonishing sight we can anticipate in Heaven is not streets of gold or pearly gates or loved ones who have died before us. It will be coming face-to-face with our Savior.
1. Look Forward to Heaven
2. Look Forward to the New Heavens & New Earth
The Bible tells us there is a present heaven but also a future heaven: “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away…” (Psalm 102:25–26)
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Luke 21:33)
The Bible tells us that the present Heaven will pass away. To be sure, both the present Heaven and the future Heaven is Heaven. For wherever the throne of God is and His presence is Heaven. Again, when you pass away, you move immediately to the present Heaven. But eventually, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, every deceased believer will be resurrected and they will spend their eternity in the future Heaven.
2.1 A New Earth
But focus on this: the Bible teaches that beside the New Heaven, there will also be the new earth.
“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.” (Revelation 21:1)
The Bible teaches us that the future Heaven is an entirely renewed creation where God will unify heaven and earth. Unless God has switched dictionaries, the New Earth will be a planet. The new earth will be this earth only with the Curse removed. Heaven and earth will not be separated as they are now. Heaven and Earth will be joined together.
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)
When we think of our future in Heaven only as living up above, we have reduced the scope and the size of God’s work of redemption. God doesn’t just want to save a few individuals; instead, He will restore all of creation to its original purposes. The New Earth will be a planet with streets, rivers, cities, streets, and houses. Everything will be changed, even nature itself. No pollution, no crime, and no poverty. This world is our home after all. Our world has been devastated by sin but God has plans to make everything right. God has plans to reconcile, redeem, and restore. God aims to recover, return, renew and resurrect. Think of the New Earth with me for a moment. Our world has food, arts, music, and culture. Now imagine a world where all this happens and the Curse is removed! “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new’” (Revelation 21:5a).
Knowing about our future home in heaven transforms our bucket lists. Many of you have either watched or know about the 2007 movie, The Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nickolas. The two men meet in a hospital after both have been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Freeman’s character is a family man and a mechanic who has lived on a budget which Nicholson’s character is a billionaire. Much of the movie is about the two men fulfilling their “bucket list” dreams. A bucket list is what you want to accomplish before you “kick the bucket” because you think you’ll never have chance to do this again. Now, if this life is all there is, this makes perfect sense. But Christians have a whole different perspective. The revolutionary news of Heaven is God has given us a glimpse that this life is not all there is. You don’t have to finish out your “bucket list” here. Instead, you have a whole other eternity to check off all your God-given desires of adventure in life’s sequel!
2.2 Jesus, the Preview
Remember the resurrected Jesus is the preview of Heaven for us. Just as God raised Jesus on Easter, He will raise the entire universe. Jesus is a preview of this. Whenever He performed a miracle, it was a preview of what’s to come. A man born blind, made to see again – a preview of God’s restoration to come! Jesus’ resurrection is simply an appetizer for the full course meal of the New Heavens and New Earth restored!
On July 30, 1967, Joni, a teenage girl went with her sister to a beach on the Chesapeake Bay and suffered a diving accident that rendered her quadriplegic: “I was fascinated to discover that one day I would no longer be paralyzed but have a new glorified body. Immediately I began imagining all the wonderful things I would do with resurrected hands and legs. Swim a couple of laps. Peel a few oranges. Sprint across fields and splash into waves, scale a few rocks and skip through meadows. Such thoughts enraptured me, and sitting there, in a wheelchair and unable to move, I began to sense a longing, a rising echo of that heavenly song about to stretch wide open my heart’s capacity for joy. I could tell my heart was, once again, ready to break for joy.” Joni talks about making appointments with others believers when they are together in Heaven. You might say, “Let’s spend some time together skiing and talking together.” Or, maybe might say, “Let’s ride horses together sometime on the New Earth.”
“Animals in Heaven,” you ask. Yes, why would God throw away one of the most beautiful things He’s created? But we’ll get into this more in a couple of Sundays.
Eternal life means enjoying forever the finest moments of life on Earth the way they were intended. Since in Heaven we’ll finally experience life at its best.
2. Look Forward to the New Heavens & New Earth
3. Look Forward to Ruling Over Creation
What are we going to do in the New Heavens & New Earth? Headstones in graveyards are quite intriguing. 17th century English poet, John Dyden wrote this on his wife’s tombstone: Here lies my wife: here let her lie! Now she's at rest, and so am I.
But more seriously, listen to one woman’s idea of Heaven:
Here lies a poor woman
Who was always tired,
For she lived in a place
Where help was not hired.
Her last words on earth
Were Dear friend, I am going
Where washing ain’t done,
Nor sweepin, nor sewin.
Everything there is
Exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat
There is no washin of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems
Forever are ringing,
But having no voice,
I’ll get rid of the singing.
Don’t weep for me now,
Don’t weep for me ever,
I’m going to do nothing
Forever and ever.
Well, that’s not heaven. While Heaven is a place of rest, Heaven is not a place where we do nothing. We will work together, laugh together, and rule together.
3.1 Work
In the last book of the Bible and the last chapter of the Bible, we discover this description about Heaven: “No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.” (Revelation 22:3)
The Bible says the people who are in Heaven will be servants and servants will serve! The people in Heaven will have things to do, people to talk to, and places to go. Remember work isn’t the Curse but work became harder because of the Curse. There will be nothing boring because there will be no more curse. So our work will be pleasant; we will enjoy every minute of it.
Think of your most enjoyable times of work and creativity here now on earth. Now consider how great your work will be when the Cruse is removed! You will never have any disappointment in your work.
If you are an amateur astronomer here, imagine exploring the New Heavens and the New Earth! One Christian astronomer believed in his second life, he would go from world to world continuing his study of the heavens. If the present heavens tell the glory of God, why wouldn’t the future New Heavens not also tell the glory of God as well?
You maybe a police officer, a judge, or an attorney. Or, you might serve as a nurse, a doctor, a lab technician.Certainly your fields of work and occupation will not be needed in the New Heavens and the New Earth. But just as God has commended gardeners, builders, and artists inside the pages of the Bible, so you shall your gifts in the future Heavens and Earth. You will never struggle with your performance for everything you will do will never fall short of perfection. You will perform your every task with a renewed mind and in your resurrected body, which will be a marvelous constructed body capable of doing so much more. You will be full of energy and your mind will constantly have a desire to discover.
3.2 Enjoy One Another
Jesus Himself said, “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven… (Matthew 8:11). Can you imagine the dinner conversations we will have together around the table? Think with me about fascinating conversations you will have with many of the redeemed people down throughout time? Consider how your mind, minus the Curse, will engage in every field in the future – no field will be too difficult for you including anatomy and physiology, calculus, and neurology. Yes, but even more, you will converse with everyone of your loved one who have trusted in Jesus Christ. Everyone of your family and friends who embraced Christ will be there for you to enjoy. Not one of your believing family members is lost just because they are dead. Instead, you have simply lost contact with them. I can hear the laughter even now.
3.3 Rule
“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’” (Luke 19:17–19)
We know there’s the a city called the New Jerusalem. Evidently, there are other cities or perhaps God has broken down this very large city into smaller ones. And He will place His servants over the cities. I don’t pretend to understand all of it, but the Bible promises those who have trusted Christ in this life, the opportunity to rule over the New Earth in the next life. Ordinary, humble Christ-followers ruling under the reign of Jesus Christ.. think of it.
Conclusion
You have not reached your peak. Heaven is your life’s goal. Heaven is your reason for going on.
