I believe heaven is worth the hell on earth. Our view of heaven is too limited, and we struggle with constant challenges that cause us to doubt. Yet I believe heavenly life with the Savior is going to be amazing beyond prediction. That’s because He is amazing.
My thoughts are on heaven today. I am preparing a lesson for two groups of children, a kindergarten through second grade group, and a third through sixth grade group. I teach a lesson to both groups once a week. I am going to talk about heaven. I don’t believe heaven is on the radar with most kids. Can’t even say it’s on my radar all that much. It’s too out there, in another life. The present life seems a bit too frantic to even contemplate heaven during the daily busyness of living.
Why would anyone want to go to heaven ? Why would anyone not want to go to heaven? We’ve all heard the arguments. There are many opinions about heaven.
What do you think heaven is really like? It’s a good question is it not? We have a scattering of ideas that come from passages sprinkled throughout the scriptures. People have written big books on heaven. I’m wading through Randy’s Alcorn’s life’s study on heaven. A good read and convincing. Yet there isn’t all that much concrete information. There’s conjecture. But, what is it really like? What can we expect? Why would someone look forward to being there? In my lesson, I will talk about what is not in heaven: suffering, pain, sickness, evil, and so forth, and I will talk about what is there: tree of life, book of life, celestial beings, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, homes, gold and jewels, people who have gone on before us, and so forth. Yet, it still can sound sort of tedious or boring.
Is heaven boring? I have an opinion on some of what we may expect. The more I come to love my Savior and Father God, and to experience The Spirit’s life in me, the more I know that it will not be not possible to bored in Heaven. Life starts to get interesting once God takes control. Not boring in the least, contrary to what others may think who’ve not supped at God’s table.
The real reason heaven is so wonderful is that we will see with our eyes what we have by faith believed in our hearts. In my thinking, there is only one true reason that Heaven will be the most amazing place ever. It has all to do with son-ship. In heaven we will be family connected to the Source of all things living. This relatedness to the Triune God will put into our lives full acceptance and love that we only have in limited exposure/measure here on earth. I have this feeling that everything will be brighter, more intense than in this shadowland we call earth. Once we aren’t mortals but immortals, we will rejuvenate and become ALL that we have ever wanted to be. There won’t be the endless striving and disappointments of the earthly journey. I am certain we will be more incredibly ALIVE, more radically FULL, more fully COMPLETE than we can even imagine.
Can you imagine it? What it will be like when our faith becomes sight, when we see our blessed Lord, the scars in His hands, the wounds n His feet, and we know Him in His heavenly presence. I have long felt that the earth in its groaning and suffering, with its struggle under sin’s curse, is like something bound in a closed system. At times there are glimpses into the heavenly realm. For the past few years I have been seeking God with an intense fervor. I want to know God.
At times I experience a joy and fullness that is overwhelmingly beautiful. One time it happened while I was singing in church up in front with the worship team. There was such spontaneous joy inside of me that I could barely contain myself. I felt like shouting and jumping up and down. It felt as if beams of light were radiating out from me. My smile was so big that I probably looked foolish. This happened to me during a time of personal crisis in my life, when I was drawing deep from God’s well. My church is not demonstrative in that way, so I capped it, containing my inner joy. I wonder if that will be the way of rejoicing and worshiping in heaven? I sure hope so.
Heaven will be a “safe house,” a home that is welcoming, serene, loving and radiant. I love it that before Jesus returns to heaven to be with God, He says to His disciples, “In my father’s house are many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you.” We’re “family” in Jesus’ “Father’s house.”
One morning I was writing at the computer after spending a long while in prayer and meditation. I was looking out the kitchen window. The clouds were glorious and I was watching them change shapes. For a moment, just a moment, I saw varied colors transfusing the sky in indescribable colors, rich and bright. Then they were gone. I wondered at it. Was it a glimpse into the heavenlies of God? It was as if I saw through a veil into a place of grandeur. There are many reasons to anticipate Heaven. Just to walk with Jesus will be a miracle of peace and joy. The hell of this earth will fade away into oblivion. Past hurts will lose their hold on us. People who have wronged us will be fully forgiven and enjoyed in renewed relationship.
Jesus says, ” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me.” The Bible is the road map giving us the information. Jesus is the way, the Gatekeeper, we must pass to get there. The Bible is the road map that tells us the directions to Heaven. There is no other way. No shortcuts or bribes or good deeds that will be enough. A person cannot pay their way into heaven. … Not to worry. Heaven is a by-product of a life hidden in the bosom of Christ. We are saved by believing in Christ—-Christ’s redeeming love through His shed blood on the cross. He redeems us and puts us on a new path.
