The Hope Of Heaven

Sermon for Suites by the Lake – June 27, 2009 – The Hope of Heaven

Romans 1: 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made…”

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

Psalm 91: 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

The world is drenched with God. How do you feel about that statement? For most of us, it’s a matter of perspective. We might only rarely feel that way. We may have a more cynical view based on our experience. Some of the pain we’ve lived through and the pain we’ve seen around us has impacted our ability to see life as it is.

But I contend that the world is drenched with God. I say that because I see that. I see that because, like many of you, I choose to look at life through eyes of faith. And of course our choices have a huge impact on our lives.

The good thing is that it’s NEVER too late to change our minds, it’s never too late to open new doors. As long as we have breath we have the capacity to embrace new things, new ways of living and new ways of seeing life.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. She was the wife of poet Robert Browning. She wrote this:

Earth is crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God.

But only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit around and pluck blackberries.

The world, drenched with God. Earth crammed with heaven. The earth and everything in it is God’s. The heavens declare the glory of God. God IS love.

If this is the case, and I believe with all my heart that it is…if this is the case then what does this suggest for each of us about our lives and our eternities?

Life is rich, richer than we realize. It is rich with the richness of God who is love. The world is full of lush green trees and beautiful flowers. Beautiful natural art to be found in valleys and mountains.

Fantastic and fascinating creatures roam the earth and the seas. Love blossoms each spring. All of these are gifts to us from the hand of a loving and caring Creator who knows each of us intimately.

He knows you because He created you in your mother’s womb.

I’m going to ask ______________ to read from Psalm 139:13-18:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand”.

You are known and loved by God, who made you and knows you and loves you and WANTS you to be with Him forever. God’s love is real, and it is tangible when our hearts are open. That’s why Jesus said it is so important to be, in many ways, like children. Children are open-minded, open-hearted and open-handed.

Earth is crammed with heaven. The world, drenched with God. Will we open our eyes to see it?

God’s love is real, right here and right now. My own life changed forever when I first opened my mind to the possibility that there might be a love in this universe so great and grand and majestic. Something in me came alive when I heard that God Himself knows me and cares about me.

Something happened when I heard that God’s love is so huge and profound that He sent His only Son to earth to reveal what God is really like to humanity, to teach us and to heal us and then, in one final act of unsurpassable love, God’s Son went to the cross so that you and I could forever know and live in a love relationship with the God of Creation.