Presentation 55
Presentation 55
Introduction
One reason why those who believe in Jesus Christ should not be troubled by
adverse circumstances is that they have a home in heaven. However, today
when we begin to talk about heaven many people switch off - for them it is
not an interesting subject! This was not always so.
There was a time in the history of the western world
when people took great delight in thinking and
speaking about heaven. Richard Baxter the Puritan
preacher and author of “The Saints Everlasting Rest”
is reputed to have spent an hour each day meditating
upon the glories of heaven! But today, in our secular
age such people are branded impractical escapists
who ‘live with their head in the clouds.’
Presentation 55
Thoughts of Heaven
Heaven is far more interesting than we naturally imagine and it is likely to
become increasingly interesting to us as we grow older. D. L. Moody tells of a
man who when young thought of heaven as a great shining city, filled with
domes and towers, and populated by millions of unknown angels. Then his
little brother died. After that he thought of heaven as a great shining city,
filled with towers and unknown angels,
but now with one little fellow he knew.
When a second brother died there were
two he knew. Acquaintances died. In time
one of his children went to be with Jesus.
Thereafter the man seldom thought of
towers and domes. He thought of those
residents whom he knew, and his interest
in heaven intensified. Are you like that?
Presentation 55
Thoughts of Heaven
But it is not only as we grow older that we should find heaven interesting.
If we are Christians, we are going there some day. Surely we should be
interested in the place where we will spend eternity! Many years ago my wife
and I prepared to go to Iran, a country about which we knew very little. And so
we read books and poured over maps and gleaned as much information as we
possibly could. We asked,
“How big is Iran? What are its customs, history
and ethnic groups? What is the climate like?
What is the state of the church and what were
its needs? What things should we take with us?”
How much greater should the Christian's interest
be in the place where he will spend eternity
with the Lord?
Presentation 55
A Real Place
The first thing to notice is Jesus taught that heaven is a real place. That does
not mean that even with the help of biblical imagery and symbolism that we
can visualise it adequately. When the Bible describes heaven as ‘a city whose
streets are paved with gold’ it is communicating the idea
of permanence - gold of something precious and valuable
that does not rust or deteriorate.
Similarly, there may not be as many harps as we might
think in heaven. These too can be thought of symbolically;
so, while they point towards reality, nevertheless they
may not themselves be that reality.
Presentation 55
A Real Place
This does not mean that heaven is less than a real place. In his address in the
upper room Jesus did not describe heaven, but he did call it a place to which
he was going, from which he would return, and to which he would one day
take all whom the Father had given him.
The word "heaven" is used in three different ways in the Bible. It is used of
what we would call ‘the atmosphere’, the heaven of birds and clouds. It is also
used to describe ‘space’, where stars
and planets are found, sometimes
also called "the firmament."
Finally, it is used to describe the
home of God. It is this real place
just like the other places - about
which these verses are speaking.
Presentation 55
A Real Place
This idea creates difficulty for some. First, it is argued that God is spirit.
He has no bodily form and therefore heaven should be thought of as a state
or, an invisible spirit world. It is true that God is a spirit; he doesn't have a
visible form. He's not the old man with the long white
beard who appears in a many Christian paintings.
But Jesus does have a body! And he has become man
for all eternity. Angels also have bodies. So do we,
not only in this life, but also in the life to come.
If this were not so, the teaching in scripture
about the resurrection of the body would be
meaningless!
Presentation 55
A Real Place
The resurrection body of Jesus, which is a prototype for ours, possesses
qualities that we do not yet have. His resurrection body could move through
closed doors. It could vanish and then reappear. It was also capable of eating
and drinking!
Jesus’ body is not a ghostly apparition! It is a true body and
as such must be localised. Heaven is where Jesus is now
and the place where we will have bodies just like his.
Presentation 55
A Real Place
The second reason why some people have difficulty thinking of heaven as a
real place is as a result of scientific observation. The first Russian cosmonaut
came back to earth claiming that God and heaven were unreal for he found no
evidence of them during his trip through space. Today, no one using a gigantic
telescope has ever seen anything like heaven.
Indeed, it is argued that if Jesus had ascended into
heaven beginning in A.D. 30 and if he had
accelerated until at last he was traveling
at the speed of light, he would not yet
have reached the farthest star, let
alone heaven, wherever that may
be located!
Presentation 55
A Real Place
How then are we to imagine that heaven is a real place, that Jesus went there,
and that he is coming again to take us to be with himself?
How do we respond to this criticism? If, as some argue there is no material,
spatial heaven, then the Lord Jesus Christ could not have ascended into it in
his body and so we must abandon the idea of a bodily resurrection, salvation
and all that goes with it, which is most of Christianity!
Why must we try to shackle the Creator in this way?
Not only is God not limited to the speed of light
but he is not obliged to locate his heaven
within our observable universe!
Presentation 55
Our Heavenly Home
Secondly, note that Jesus is describing a heavenly home. In his book, 'A Place
for You', Paul Tournier, tells of a young man whom he had once counselled.
He came from an unhappy home and developed a deep sense of failure - first
there was his failure to reconcile his estranged parents and then his inability to
settle down into any one place. The young man said, "Basically, I'm always
looking for a place - for somewhere to be."
He verbalised the basic desire of the
human heart. It is the desire to have a
genuine place of our own, a home, a place
where we belong and know ourselves to
belong. Many people never find this place
and spend much of life as restless wanderers.
Presentation 55
Our Heavenly Home
This helps us understand why these verses capture the attention of so many
people. It is not that they tell us so much about heaven or even about life
beyond the grave. They do not! The book of Revelation contains far more
verses describing heaven. Why then is John 14 so popular?
Surely because of the image of home is found
here. We long for a home - and in these
verses Jesus calmly and simply assures
his own that they have one.... Do not
even our children love to sing,
'I've got a home in glory land that
outshines the sun’?
Presentation 55
Our Heavenly Home
Think of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from their garden home in Eden because of
their sin. Cain, after murdering his brother ‘wandered the face of the earth’
aware of his ‘homelessness’. After the flood, man sought to build a great
tower at Babel in his search of permanence that would enable him to be
independent of God. In response God scattered mankind
and so again they are made homeless.
This, then, is one of the great motifs in
the book of Genesis. Sin brings alienation,
and one aspect of alienation is that men
and women lose their home. They are a
wandering people.
Presentation 55
Our Heavenly Home
Then we find that God promises Abraham a home that stretches beyond even
the land of promise. His eyes were fixed not on an earthly home (important as
that is), but beyond that to something infinitely more wonderful. We read,
“he looked for a city with foundations, whose builder
and maker is God" Heb. 11:10.
Earthly homes are necessary and valuable, but they are
not permanent, the basic need for a home [going back
to Eden] is fully met only when the Lord Jesus himself
prepares a home for us in heaven. Every Christian
knows in his heart that this world is not his home.
Now this glorious reality is not to be confused
with escapism.
Presentation 55
Do You Have A Home?
Do you have a home? Are you one for whom Jesus has gone to prepare a place
in heaven? D. L. Moody told of a man of great wealth who was dying and he
sent for his lawyer to make out his will. His little girl aged 4 did not understand
what death meant. Her mother told her that her father was going away to
another land; the little child then asked him, "Daddy, have you got a home in
the land you are going to?"
The man was caused to evaluate his life for he had
spent all his time and energy accumulating great wealth.
In this life he had enjoyed a grand home, but now he had
to leave it! He had no assurance of a home in heaven!
Have you a home to go to? Jesus says that he has gone to
prepare a place for all who trust him. Apart from Jesus’
work on the cross no one can enter heaven.
Presentation 55
Do You Have A Home?
Jesus told a parable of the kingdom of heaven based on a wedding feast. The
feast was prepared and the invitations sent. On arrival the guests were issued
with a special wedding garment to wear. One guest refused the garment. In his
view he did not need this particular provision. He was happy with the clothes
he was standing in. Faced with this stubborn refusal, the host had the defiant
guest escorted from the premises. He was denied a place.
Heaven is a place of holiness, and Jesus’ death
on the cross qualified him to provide wedding
garments, what the Bible calls ‘robes of
righteousness’ for all his people.
None of us are fit to enter heaven as
we are but clothed in Jesus’
righteousness we are welcomed.
Presentation 55
Do You Have A Home?
Some foolishly think they can earn God's approval, or merit access to heaven
by the good things they have done. They parade their best efforts around and
say, 'I’ll get there under my own steam. I did such and such for my community,
my church, my charity. I've earned my place. I don't need to be saved! I won't
humble myself by discarding trust in my achievements in order to wear a
righteousness that someone else has earned'.
The meaning of Jesus' parable is clear those who trust in their
efforts rather than in God’s provision of Jesus’ righteousness
deny themselves entry to heaven. Are we quite sure that we
have a home to go to? If not then we can make sure! It is a
matter of recognising our own goodness is inadequate,
repenting of our sin, seeking God’s forgiveness and trusting
him to clothe us with Jesus’ righteousness.
Presentation 55