Heaven will not be a long church service! (---Sigh of relief!---)

I'll have to admit that the thought of Heaven wasn't too attractive to me as a young child.

Of course, I understood that Hell needed to be avoided for obvious reasons. But, Heaven ... well ... what's so great about a long worship service that never, ever, ever, ever ends? I've been in some worship services that only lasted an hour or so but they felt like eternity. Imagine them actually lasting for eternity! Ugh!

Then, God revealed some truths to me in His Word. I realized that while Heaven is a literal place, it's really about the relationship. I came to realize on a very deep level that God made me for Himself and my ultimate joy could be found in relationship with Him (adapted from St. Augustine). The sheer, incomprehensible joy of Heaven will be found in satisfying our longings by getting caught up in the incredible presence of God and experiencing His goodness to us.

Further, I came to realize that Heaven is in fact a literal place. It's not some 'spiritual' place 'out there' somewhere. It's a literal, physical locality as real (more real!) than our present life experience. It hit me that Heaven was going to be on a brand new earth with new stars, sun(s), moon(s) and whatever else God chooses to put in outer space for us to admire from the new earth. (Revelation 21-22 describes this place.)

This morning, I was reminded that there's coming a day when God will destroy everything with fire. This earth. Our sun. Our moon. The stars. The other galaxies. Whatever is out there, it's going to be toast. But, in its place, God is going to recreate a new earth with all of the stars and whatever else He chooses to put in outer space. That will be our new "Heaven" that we will inhabit forever.

2 Peter 3:11-13 (New Living Translation)
"Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness."

What will it be like to live on an earth inhabited by folks who love each other and love God? What will it be like to have no need for keys (no one will steal from others)? What will it be like to go for hikes with no fear of being attacked by wild animals? What will it be like to enjoy work and leisure with absolutely no anxiety? What will it be like to satisfy our deepest longings as we enjoy our God? What will it be like to never, ever experience the guilt or consequences of sin?

I can't wait to find out!!!

Removed from Eden

This morning, as I have again recently started my yearly journey of reading through the entirety of Scripture, I came across Genesis 3:22-24. Here’s how the New Living Translation reads:

 

²² Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” ²³ So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. ²⁴ After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

 

At first glance, it would seem that it was a God filled with anger that threw Adam and Eve out of the Garden. It would seem that he was furious when He placed a mighty angel with a fiery sword at its entrance to guard it against their intrusion. But this isn’t the case at all.

 

It was a gesture of utmost compassion. When Adam and Eve sinned by taking of the forbidden fruit, they brought death upon themselves and all living things. (They immediately died spiritually in their relationship with God and they began to die physically until the day when their bodies would eventually be laid to rest in the ground.) Further, they brought a curse upon all of creation so that none of it exists in its perfect form as it did in the beginning.

 

However, it wasn’t creation with which God was ultimately concerned. Compared to the vast expanse of God’s creation, He was primarily concerned with the two small specks on planet Earth called Adam and Eve. In the verses preceding our text, God killed an innocent animal, stripped off its skin and clothed Adam and Eve as an illustration of the death His own Son would one day die to clothe those who would believe in His righteousness.

 

Further, in our text, God banished Adam and Eve from the utopian Garden of Eden where they would eventually die after a life of pain and struggle. This, however, was an act of unspeakable compassion on God’s part.

 

Only Heaven knows how unbearable it would be to live forever in our present condition in a broken creation. Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, we live in a world were disease spreads, children go hungry, friends and loved ones die, natural disasters persist, thieves steal, murderers kill, governments oppress, etc. As good as this life can sometimes be, it has more than its share of pain. Wouldn’t it have been a curse to allow Adam and Eve to remain in the Garden and eat of the tree of life so that they could live forever … in our world as it presently exists?

 

No. God wouldn't allow such a thing. He removed Adam and Eve from the Garden to keep them from eating of the fruit that would enable them to live forever in this world … so that they could eventually die. If they were followers of Him, they would have something infinitely better waiting on them in a new place called Heaven that would remain forever perfect. And there is a tree there that they and we will be able to eat from freely … the Tree of Life (Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19).

 

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