Glimpsing Eternity: The Hope of Heaven
What Will Heaven Be Like?
Text: John 14:1-6
Introduction: We’ve heard many stories about what heaven is like. Most of them mention pearly gates and an angel who is standing by to interview those who seek to enter. Perhaps you’ve heard this one. It’s the story of a man named Fred who upon his arrival had just this kind of experience. He was quite timid and wasn’t sure what to do, but eventually he made his way to the entrance to heaven where an angel stood by the gate. The angel explained that before he could be admitted, he must share a purely unselfish, kind deed he performed for someone on earth. Fred thought about it for a minute and then said, "Oh, yeah. I think I’ve got one you might be interested in. One day I was walking alone and I came upon a little old lady who was being mercilessly harassed by a huge guy who was standing beside one of those great big motorcycles. He was verbally abusing her and I began to think that he might even do something worse." "What did you do?" asked the Angel. "Well, I just stepped right up and pushed over the motorcycle just to distract him. Then I kicked him real hard in the shins and told the old lady to run for help." "Amazing!" said the Angel. "That’s not all," continued Fred, "While he was grabbing his shin, I hauled off and gave the guy a great shot right to the gut with my fist." The angel looked at the man, took into account that his slight build and timid nature and began to question the authenticity of his story. "Just when did you perform this heroic deed?" Fred took one look at his watch and replied, "Oh, about two or three minutes ago." WELL, I DOUBT IF THIS IS WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN WE DIE, BUT IT SURE IS FUNNY! AS CHRISTIANS, HOWEVER, IT WOULD BE WISE FOR US, IN A SERIES ABOUT HEAVEN, TO ASK THE QUESTION, "WHAT WILL HEAVEN BE LIKE?"
I. The Intermediate Heaven. When a person dies there is a temporary separation of the body and the soul (See 2 Corinthians 5:8). This is true even of unbelievers who will one day be resurrected to face God’s judgment (See John 5:28-29). Theologians have come to call this the intermediate state. It is that time prior to the resurrection of our bodies, but after our deaths when our souls are with the Lord (See Revelation 6:9). So what will this temporary state be like for us, when we are with the Lord, yet still awaiting the resurrection of our bodies? Here are a few thoughts for you to consider from Revelation 6:9-11, a passage which describes those who have been martyred for their faith and are awaiting God’ final judgment and the resurrection from the dead.
A. They are able to express themselves so that they can be heard by others ("They called out in a loud voice"--Verse 10).
B. They are aware of time ("How long"--Verse 10).
C. They have an audience with God (They address Him as "sovereign Lord, holy and true"--Verse 10).
D. They have a deep concern for justice ("Until you judge the inhabitants of the earth"--Verse 10).
E. They have memories of their lives on earth ("and avenge our blood" -- Verse 10).
F. They still have their individuality ("each of them was given a white robe--Verse 11).
G. They probably have some sort of physical form (It assumes they were able to put on the white robe--Verse 11).
H. They are aware of God’s sovereign plan ("they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed--Verse 11). There is nothing in this text that leads us to believe that this type of experience is limited to only those who have been martyred for their faith. As a matter of fact, many of the same conclusions can be drawn from the story of the Rich Man, Lazarus and Abraham in Luke 16:19-31. Application: What does this mean for us? Well, first it means that your believing family and friends who have preceded you in death are doing very well, abiding in the very presence of Christ and awaiting the fulfillment of all things. Second, it means that you have this same hope to look forward to. I want to be careful not to take this too far, but it seems to me that if believers who have died are with the Lord, and the Lord is with us, then it might be that we can ask Him to let them know how we’re doing. I have to confess that I have done this with regard to my mom.
II. The Resurrection of the Body (See 1 Corinthians 15:16-21). Because Christ has been raised from the dead, Christians have the certain hope that we, too, will experience a similar resurrection. When Christ returns He will raise from the dead the bodies of believers who have died and change the bodies of those who remain alive, reuniting all of us with our souls (See Romans 8:23-24). This passage tells us that Jesus is the "first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep." The Apostle Paul borrowed this illustration from the agricultural world. Just as the first fruits of the ripening crop show what the rest of the harvest will be like, so Christ’s resurrected body shows us what ours will be like. God will not, as some assume, create new permanent bodies for us in heaven. Otherwise there would be no need for our old ones to be resurrected! Here’s what we know about our resurrected bodies from 1 Corinthians 15:42-44.
A. They will be raised indestructible (See 1 Corinthians 15:42). They will not wear out. They will be in every bit as good a condition after a billion years as they will be when we first receive them (Contrast this with what Paul has to say about our current bodies (See 2 Corinthians 4:7).
B. They will be raised in glory (See 1 Corinthians 15:43a). We have the assurance that our humble bodies will be raised to be like Christ’s glorious, resurrected body (See Philippians 3:21). As a matter of fact, the point in time when we receive our new bodies is called by theologians the glorification of the believer. It represents the final act of redemption by God on our behalf.
C. They will be raised in power (See 1 Corinthians 15:43b). The reason the angel rolled away the stone from in front of Christ’s tomb was not to let Jesus out, but the disciples in! His body was not subject to the same physical limitations as ours.
D. They will be raised a spiritual body (See 1 Corinthians 15:44). Our bodies will be able to do many of the same things we can currently do (eat, speak, walk, etc) with a few extras throw in. One of these is the possibility we will able to travel from place to place effortlessly in our resurrected bodies, just as Christ did (See Luke 24:31). Illustration: Eric Stoneberg was about 30 years old when he was diagnosed with ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It is an incurable and fatal neuromuscular illness affecting approximately 30,000 people in the United States. Slowly the afflicted person loses the ability to use his muscles until finally, the strongest muscle in the body, the heart, gives way to the disease resulting in death. When Eric was nearing the end of his life and could no longer even sit up in a bed, I asked him, "If God gave you the choice of living on with this disease or dying and going to heaven, which would you choose?" He looked at me and without moving his lips murmured, "I’d choose to die." You see Eric and I had talked about the resurrected body that he would receive someday from His Lord, and nothing about his human body had such a strong appeal to him that he would choose it over one that will someday be raised indestructible, in glory, in power and a spiritual body.
III. The New Jerusalem (See Revelation 21:1-2). Just as our resurrected bodies are recreated from our earthly bodies, so the New Heaven and New Earth will be recreated from the present ones. On this new earth there will be a holy city, the New Jerusalem. The Bible tells us something of its size and construction as well as what life will be like for us as we dwell there for eternity.
A. The Size of Heaven. It will be 1500 miles high, wide and long (See Revelation 21:16). Some people believe that this might be symbolic language just to help us appreciate the amount of room that God has prepared for those who will be heaven. This is possible, yet it seems to me that if the Apostle John, in relaying a vision given to him by an angel during a tour of heaven (See Revelation 21:9-10), was trying to make that point, he could just say, "It’s really big!" It makes little sense that he would provide exact dimensions unless they are accurate. So let’s assume that this is the size of the New Jerusalem. This means that the foundation is roughly 763 trillion square feet, or about the size of 1/2 of the United States. If there are levels or floors in this city, and each one is about 20 feet high, then there are about 396,000 of them. If you want to take the time to multiply 763 trillion square feet times 396,000 then you get estimate the amount of room available. Any more math beyond what I have done would give me a headache, but you get the point. There is more than enough space for every follower of Christ who has existed and will exist throughout human history (See John 14:1-6).
B. The Construction of Heaven. In the book by John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Hopeful finally see the city of God. They are completely overwhelmed. All they can say is, "If you see my beloved, tell Him I am sick with love." It was so beautiful, this dwelling place of God that they could not look directly at it. What did they see (See Revelation 21:11-27)?
1. The saw a city illumined by the glory of God (See Verses 11, 23). There will be no moon or sun to light our way, because the Bible tells us that God is light (See 1 John 1:5) and His Son is the light of the world (See John 8:12).
2. They saw a city surrounded by a great high wall with twelve massive gates, three facing each direction. These are positioned to limit access to only those who enter the right way (See John 14:6). In addition they would serve to remind us that the Gospel is for all men (See Verses 12-14).
3. They saw a city that was prepared for believers who have lived throughout history. The gates were named for the 12 sons of Israel, while the foundation stones were named for the 12 apostles (See Verses 12-14).
4. They saw a city adorned with precious stones and with streets of gold (See Verses 18-21).
5. They saw a city that unlike the old Jerusalem had no temple, because the Father and the Son are the temple (See Verse 22).
6. They saw a city that never shut its gates because there was no fear of an invading enemy (See Verse 25).
7. They saw a city that could never be corrupted by sin (See Verse 27).
8. They saw a city that had a river running down through the middle of it called the River of the Water of Life and on both sides the Tree of Life. There will be no more death in heaven. The curse will itself be cursed (See Revelation 22:1-3). Application: Are you looking forward to heaven? May your first glimpse and everyone thereafter cause you to cry out, "I am sick with love.".
Conclusion: Knowing he would die soon, a rich man had all his assets converted into gold bars, put them in a big bag on his bed, draped his body over the bag of gold, and then, much to his surprise, fell asleep. He dreamed that he was standing at the gate of Heaven. Saint Peter met him there and with a puzzled look on his face said, “Well, I see you actually managed to get here with something from earth! But unfortunately, you can’t bring that in.” “Oh please, sir,” said the man. “I must have it. It means everything to me.” “Sorry, my friend,” said Saint Peter. “If you want to keep that bag, then I’m afraid you’ll have to go to, you know, the other place. You don’t want to go there, believe me.” “Well, I won’t part with this bag.” “Have it your way,” returned Peter. “But before you go, would you mind if I looked in the bag to see what it is that you’re willing to trade eternal life for?” “Sure,” said the man. “You’ll see. You’d never part with this either.” Saint Peter looked in the bag and with a puzzled look on his face said to the man, “You’re willing to go to hell for...pavement?” At this, the man abruptly awoke from his dream. Much like the character Scrooge from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, he immediately took his great wealth, began distributing it to the poor and made the decision to follow Jesus. Heaven is much too good to be abandoned for pavement!
