In Sunday school today, we explored the idea of what heaven might be like. What we think about it, what popular culture thinks about it, and what the Bible says and doesn't say. Here are some topics:
These express an idea: "If heaven means leaving what I love, then why would I want to go there?"
There is only one answer to that question: Do you trust God to give you something that meets and exceeds your desire for the sun?
Do you trust him to give you a connectedness and a closeness that is so compelling, that your joy in heaven will be equal whether or not your family is there? Do you trust that heaven will be interesting and fulfilling for you, if for no other reason that you trust that he loves you and wouldn't prepare a place for you to spend eternity where you'd be bored?
Even bringing up the "Will pets be there" question, like I did before, shows that I have this fear of heaven. Theoretically we do trust God to take care of us - the problem is, we can't imagine a light that would be more comforting than the sun, or a group of people we could feel closer to than our families. And in our limited minds, if we can't imagine something better than what we have, it must not be better. God might think it's better but he doesn't know how joyous it feels when it's sunny out.
We are afraid of heaven because we're afraid of the unknown, even if we know the unknown will be better than the known. This life has beautiful things and a lot of ugly things, but at least it's familiar. Leaving the ugly for something even more beautiful - on a journey alone and possibly unfamiliar - does not sound like the joyous beginning of eternity. If I had the opportunity to live in a luxurious resort in the Bahamas on the condition that I leave my family and spouse and friends, no way would I do it!
So the bottom line question is, "Do I trust God?"
I know that's a conviction question, so here is an encouragement.
We're told over and over in the Bible that the church (or body of believers) is the bride, and God is the groom. The bride repeatedly leaves the groom (that's what sin is), and the groom keeps redeeming and forgiving her (that's grace.) Eventually the groom will come and take the bride and dwell with her for eternity, and that's heaven.
(Someone in our Sunday School class said this today and I'm paraphrasing:) "If you're married, you remember the yearning through engagement just to be with your beloved, and when you are with your beloved you don't care about anything else. In heaven, we (the bride) are with our groom (God), dwelling together, and the excitement compared to an earthly marriage will be magnified infinitely. The honeymoon never ends. You'll never reach a place where you are thinking about anything other than your groom."
- Sun. Isaiah 60:19 promises that God will return and live with his people, at which time "The sun will no more be your light by day." Revelation 21:22 says the same thing. One woman expressed being uncomfortable with this idea, because the sun is such a beautiful, central joy in this world.
- Pets. I spoke on the idea of pets going to heaven in an earlier post. Whatever we believe about it, we have to admit it's a concern people have - "why would I want to go to heaven if my pet can't be there?"
- Family, spouse, friends. Another disturbing thing about heaven is Matthew 22:30: We won't be married to our spouses in heaven. And if you're single, well, better find a husband on earth because you're going to be a virgin for eternity unless you get some now.
- Another family fear: If I go before those I love, I'll just be waiting around for them in heaven. It'll be lonely and boring. And even worse, if those I love are unbelievers, I'll be separated from them for eternity!
- Work: I am extremely talented at ______ (for example, being a doctor.) I won't be a doctor in heaven because there's no sickness in heaven, so what am I going to do? What's the point of all this training and practice if eternity is going to be spent playing the harp and walking around a nice city?
These express an idea: "If heaven means leaving what I love, then why would I want to go there?"
There is only one answer to that question: Do you trust God to give you something that meets and exceeds your desire for the sun?
Do you trust him to give you a connectedness and a closeness that is so compelling, that your joy in heaven will be equal whether or not your family is there? Do you trust that heaven will be interesting and fulfilling for you, if for no other reason that you trust that he loves you and wouldn't prepare a place for you to spend eternity where you'd be bored?
Even bringing up the "Will pets be there" question, like I did before, shows that I have this fear of heaven. Theoretically we do trust God to take care of us - the problem is, we can't imagine a light that would be more comforting than the sun, or a group of people we could feel closer to than our families. And in our limited minds, if we can't imagine something better than what we have, it must not be better. God might think it's better but he doesn't know how joyous it feels when it's sunny out.
We are afraid of heaven because we're afraid of the unknown, even if we know the unknown will be better than the known. This life has beautiful things and a lot of ugly things, but at least it's familiar. Leaving the ugly for something even more beautiful - on a journey alone and possibly unfamiliar - does not sound like the joyous beginning of eternity. If I had the opportunity to live in a luxurious resort in the Bahamas on the condition that I leave my family and spouse and friends, no way would I do it!
So the bottom line question is, "Do I trust God?"
I know that's a conviction question, so here is an encouragement.
We're told over and over in the Bible that the church (or body of believers) is the bride, and God is the groom. The bride repeatedly leaves the groom (that's what sin is), and the groom keeps redeeming and forgiving her (that's grace.) Eventually the groom will come and take the bride and dwell with her for eternity, and that's heaven.
(Someone in our Sunday School class said this today and I'm paraphrasing:) "If you're married, you remember the yearning through engagement just to be with your beloved, and when you are with your beloved you don't care about anything else. In heaven, we (the bride) are with our groom (God), dwelling together, and the excitement compared to an earthly marriage will be magnified infinitely. The honeymoon never ends. You'll never reach a place where you are thinking about anything other than your groom."
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