What About Heaven?

 

Many people have a skewed view of Heaven and Hell.

Because I was in my late thirties when I made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ and trust Him as my Lord, a friend asked me what I had thought about judgment before that. The truth was that I had not thought about it at all. I believed I was a good person on her way to Heaven.

It took some time and study to understand that the only thing “good” about the people  in Heaven will be that they have faith in Christ and His life, death and resurrection as the solution to man’s sin problem. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

Some friends and I are reading the book “Heaven,” by Randy Alcorn.  We are surprised and convicted about how little we know and how little teaching we’ve heard about the realities of Heaven (and Hell) over the years.  Many Christians (myself included) live in the here and now and fail to consider what is to come.

When we were relatively young Christians our children came home from our  Bible-believing church with a new understanding of Hell. It was “separation from God.” They did not think that sounded so terrible. (Somehow their instructor had missed the eternal torment part in the teaching.)

But, within the study of “Heaven” it is becoming more and more clear what a gift it will be to live in the Light of the Lord.

Imagine separation from light, love, mercy, forgiveness, healing, wisdom, joy, and peace (to name just a few of the attributes of God). That is to live with what the Bible describes as “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The worldly view of this seems to be that we will be there with our friends without the judgment of God as we enjoy our sin together.

What the Bible says is that it is “outer darkness” (Matthew 25:30), “the Hell of fire” (Matthew 5:22), “the unquenchable fire” (Mark 9:43), and a “place of torment” (Luke 16:28). As you can see, this will not be a place of joy and fun.

But Heaven is another, much more encouraging place. The Lord is preparing it for His people as we await His coming. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)

This should be enough for any of us to understand that, in Heaven, with God right in our midst all of His protection and provision is assured. He is resurrecting us and the earth we live on for eternity with Him. There will be work, play, laughter, wisdom, and peace and love in abundance. Our imaginations are probably not capable of foreseeing all of the joys we will have there – with God to enjoy our enjoyment!

Unlike the worldly idea that Heaven will be a boring place where all we do is sing and praise God – and there will be plenty of that – there will be abundant life; gardens without thorns and thistles, perhaps sports without anger over bad sportsmanship, scenic views, travel, and books and fellowship to satisfy our minds and hearts. “He is making all things new” (Revelation 21:5, emphasis mine).

It seems that the earthly views of Heaven and Hell have been successfully skewed so that it’s easier to dismiss thoughts about them than it is to consider what the Lord has in store for the believer and the unbeliever. (Score a win for Satan’s deception.) If we are not scared out of Hell by the torment (Luke 16:28), will we be enticed into Heaven by the love, peace and joy offered by God to only those who have put their faith in Him?