Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and
the old earth had disappeared. And the
sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city,
the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully
dressed for her husband. I heard a loud
shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his
people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and
there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said,
“Look, I am making everything new!” And
then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and
true.” And he also said, “It is
finished! I am the Alpha and the
Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all
who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.
Revelation
21:1-6(NLT)
It is common to talk about the things that we will see
and enjoy in heaven – gold streets, gates of pearl, a river of life, and
so-on. I would like for us to
concentrate on some of the things we will NOT see in heaven…some
noticeably-absent human conditions
around God’s throne in heaven:
Quite a few Bible passages[1] give
us the plain picture that heaven is a place of worship. It is something that we are going to do
eternally. On earth our worship is often
distracted by things and people around us who don’t care to worship.
Frankly, the fact that heaven will be filled with
worship is going to upset some folks who don’t think too much of worship here
on earth!
We should do our best to avoid the distractions of
this life as we prepare to do worship in heaven.
Heaven is not going to be a place filled with gloom.
You
will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever. Psalm 16:11(NLT)
I
have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your
joy will overflow! John 15:11(NLT)
Our heavenly home is going to be a place filled with
life – alive with beauty and splendor provided by God. Even the walls of heaven, constructed of
precious stones, gates of pearl, with gold-gilded streets and gloried light
sparkling everywhere will make it an impossible place to be gloomy.
An earthly comparison – when we moved to New Orleans
to attend seminary we lived in a mobile home.
It was a good one, but it wasn’t Heaven.
What made me think of Heaven while we were there, far from home, was
Norwood and Barbara Hingle. They were a
Methodist couple that adopted this lonely bunch of
Brownworth Baptists from Florida. We
were strangers and the Hingle family loved us, fed us, and played with our
children. It was the feeling of being
accepted that took away our depression.
And so it will be in Heaven to a far greater degree;
we are people of joy.
You won’t see Distraction, Depression or…
Heaven is a place of light. A number of passages in Revelation describe
the throne as a place from which the light brightly shines.
Elizabeth and I like our surroundings to be cheerfully
bright. We have it that way at our house
in Thomasville. But not every abode is
cheerful. When I came back from Vietnam
in 1968 we were stationed in Ft. Knox, near Louisville. As a married man I was entitled to live
off-base. As a low-ranking enlisted man
I couldn’t afford much.
We checked out one apartment that two elderly sisters
wanted to rent. It was really one room
in an old rickety house. You shared the
only bath with the sisters. Lighting was
a light bulb that hung by a single wire from the middle of the ceiling. It was held together by masking tape! The floor sloped towards the river. As we looked at that lonely room I saw a
mosquito fly by – he looked like a B-29 looking for a bombing target! The sisters kept their ad in the papers for
the whole time we were stationed there!
It may still be running!
That place was not Kansas, Dorothy…neither was it a
good advertisement for Heaven. The fact
is that God prefers light.
Everything that describes anything apart or different
from God is couched in terms of darkness.
The place outside of heaven is described as the outer darkness. The abyss is a place of darkness. Darkness is the place of stumbling and
falling.
Practice being people of light!
No Distraction, Depression, Darkness, or…
Heaven is a place of truth.
Nothing
evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry
and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of
Life. Revelation 21:27(NLT)
Outside
the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the
idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie. Revelation 22:15 (NLT)
Lying is nearly a universally-accepted practice today;
unfortunately this is true even in Christian circles. A little boy in Sunday School was asked to
define lying for the class. He
said: a lie is an abomination before
the Lord…and a very present help in time of trouble.
Deception is going to be noticeably-absent in
heaven. For now, it is a strange thing
that the One who called himself the Way,
the TRUTH and the Life, has plenty of followers who think telling the
truth, or standing for truth, no matter how costly, is optional!
Deception is going to be missing in heaven…we ought to
practice the way of truth here!
Finally, besides the absence of Distraction,
Depression, Darkness and Deception, you won’t see any…
Above all things Heaven is a place of life, because it
is the place of God. According to Paul’s
protégé, Timothy, Jesus Christ abolished death (2 Timothy 1:10). The Bible is all about life from Genesis to
Revelation:
Then
the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing
from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each
side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with
a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the
nations. Revelation 22:1-2 (NLT)
Then,
when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never
die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:54 (NLT)
You won’t see death in the eternity of God’s new
heaven and earth.
Perhaps my favorite piece of poetry is from the 16th
century by John Donne. I paraphrased
much of it in last week’s message on resurrection. Here is a larger chunk of that work in the language
of 16th century people. The
poet personifies death; he speaks to it as if it had a face – calls it by name:
Death
be not proud, tho’ some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou
art not so;
For
those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst
thou kill me.
For
one short sleepe past, and we wake eternally;
And Death, thou shalt be no more, Death, thou
shalt die.[2]
What can we say about the end of death? Consider the Alpha and Omega. You have probably heard a preacher say those
are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus said that’s his identity. He is the beginning and the ending, first and
last. He also said he gives from the
fountain eternal life.
For the believer in Jesus Christ, the beginning of
life with him is the same as the ending…and the middle. It is life, life, life – all the way!
For the unbeliever, the one who has never trusted in
Christ, the stairway stops at the foot of the cross. In order to enter into God’s forgiveness, you
must come via that cross, because it is only the blood of Christ that cleanses
us from sin.
Today’s word: make
sure you kneel at the foot of the cross.
Notes
Excerpt from Sonnet 10, Holy Sonnets
[i]
Title image: Russell
Brownworth, Thunder Struck Ridge, Blue Ridge Parkway, 2006
