Heaven Is A Big Deal

I hear that many people aren’t terribly interested in going to heaven. They think it’s either sitting on fluffy clouds and being bored, or it’s just a theory that really has no substance.

I hear that there are even Christians that don’t look forward to it because they basically think the same thing! (Check out this link: http://www.epm.org/store/product/heaven/ )

This is a real problem.

Heaven is all about having a living, vibrant relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So the whole matter all stands or falls with the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. If you’re a Christian, look carefully at what I’m going to say, because if you’re skeptical about heaven, these thoughts might help. If you’re not religious, or you have a different belief, check out some things you may have never seen. Consider carefully the following:

Jesus of Nazareth was a true historical person.
Jesus often said things that made people either angry or confused. My point is that if you haven’t studied the New Testament writings, you’re likely basing your notions of him on ignorance. You might be buying into the foolish notion that he merely taught people to love one another.
Jesus taught that there is a hell where people will be forever cut off from the possibility of heaven or paradise.
Jesus taught that he was the one and only Messiah, who could rescue people from being separated from God, and literally give them a free pass into heaven. (This very idea, of course, offends many people, but you can’t escape it in the documents that witness to his words and deeds.)
Even though he never said the words, “I am God”, many things Jesus said were tantamount to his making this claim.
The miracles he did, the courage he showed in the face of evil, and the compassion he demonstrated toward the downtrodden, consistently demonstrated his absolute uniqueness in the human family. (He was sine qua non – without peer.)

The idea here is to begin to lay a foundation of truth about Jesus Christ and the meaning of life. God created you and me “in his image”. The first couple, Adam and Eve, had a wonderful relationship with God in what we might call the “first heaven – the first paradise”, the garden of Eden. But a severe break in this blissful friendship took place! And with that breakup came disease, doubt, fear, guilt, estrangement and much more. In a word, man was cut off from this first heaven. Guess what happened.


God Knew the Need and Made a Plan
One of the very first things that happened was that God addressed the truth of this evil. And almost in the same breath He began to plant in Adam’s and Eve’s minds that their “heaven” could be restored. That’s the meaning of the words in Genesis 3:15. (Immediately God gets down to business with a positive, healing plan.) It was, admittedly, a shadowy promise, And even though they didn’t comprehend it then, His word was given. And it began to actually take fleshly substance when an animal was sacrificed for the man and his wife to have clothing! A life had to be taken in order to restore life. Sin and separation were attached with a cost. This “foreshadowed” the sacrifice of a Life in the future that would have infinitely more value than an animal. This future sacrifice would re-open Paradise and Heaven, but that wouldn’t be understood for quite some time.

There is much that could be said about how God called Abraham and gave him the covenant promise. We could speak of Moses, the tabernacle sacrifices and the Ten Commandments. But meanwhile, you’re wondering about Heaven.


Sin Separates

In this “fallen world” man’s sin separates him from God and Heaven. The door to paradise got locked tight. And we got “locked up” too: humanity became wrapped in the iron chains of sin, death, and the devil! We were imprisoned by sin, slaves to our lusts. (Some of the liturgies help us confess this in its manifold aspect: “We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed.”)


Jesus is the Key for Reconciliation

Jesus was somewhat like the sacrificial animal that had to be given up. He was the great “Lamb” of God, the life God put forward as the answer to our spiritual death. Jesus was the key to unlocking heaven.

God sent His Son, Jesus the Messiah, into the world at the right time, the Bible says. Why did He wait so long? We have some answers to that, but the main thing is – its good for us He did send Him, because Jesus’ death blasted open the gates to Heaven! And now when people look to the solution God put out there instead of their own self-made utopias and nirvanas, what a powerful and amazing thing they discover!

Heaven opened up when Jesus died. The curtain of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was torn in two, symbolizing what really happened: man could have friendship with God again! And when Jesus burst out of the tomb on the first “Easter”, people saw him and gave their eyewitness accounts (see the NT documents). But guess what else! Not only was the transcendent Heaven open to “mortals.” He brought heaven down to us. It became as close as the nose on your face. How could that possibly be – you say? Read on.

You might recall that Jesus not only healed people, cast out demons and pronounced the forgiveness of sins, but he taught a lot about “the kingdom of God”, and “the kingdom of Heaven.” These phrases are constantly cropping up in the gospel accounts!

Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual poverty, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for standing up for the right thing. The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Be sure that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in Heaven their angels always are gazing at the face of my Father who is in Heaven.

And then he blasted some with this: “Woe to you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who want to enter to go in!

Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit from Heaven as the “guarantee” that those who trust God and follow Christ will actually inherit all the great things he promises. Those who look to God’s solution to the great calamity (sin and the fall from grace) get the Holy Spirit to actually live in their bodies. Now, the Holy Spirit is only one. There are a lot of spirits but only one Holy Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit lives in you and you trust the God of Heaven, you get God, and you get Heaven. (After you die, Christ will raise you from the dead and welcome you into eternal bliss with Him at the exact time the Father has determined.) And this is especially great for those who suffer a lot on earth for the name of Christ. It does not go unnoticed by Him who sees all things.


The Final Sorting Out

So – heaven is coming – as truly as Jesus is coming in judgment, and every eye will see him and all the tribes will wail and moan because they’ll wish they had listened.
And when He comes in power and glory – “on the clouds of heaven” – with billions of people seeing Him at the same moment, He will judge all the nations. Every single solitary person will parade in front of him and He will separate them out, like a shepherd sorting out sheep from goats.

To some He’ll say, “Enter this fabulous paradise I’ve prepared for you. Enter my joy. You haven’t seen the half of it. I’ve been looking forward to having you as my special guest for all of eternity.” My friend, that’s going to be Paradise to an exponential degree. And the best of it will be that we will always be with this One who gave everything up so that we could live.

And then, yes unfortunately, there will be the other side of the matter. He will say to many, “Depart from me. I never knew you. We weren’t friends before; we aren’t friends now. There’s another place for you, a place of eternal torment.”

Stumbling or Building

Now if that sounds offensive, it is. The problem is, things can be both offensive and true at the same time. That’s what Jesus Christ is. Some people stumble over him. Others build upon him and get Paradise and Heaven. Because not only is He offensive and true. He is also good.

If you’re riding the fence of indecision, jump off it and get into His camp. Ultimately there is no fence, only a dividing line.