HEAVEN - Your Future Home?

HEAVEN
Your Future Home?

How Beautiful Heaven Must Be

We read of a place that’s called heaven,
It’s made for the pure and the free;
These truths in God’s Word He has given,
How beautiful heaven must be.

In heaven, no drooping nor pining,
No wishing for elsewhere to be;
God’s light is forever there shining,
How beautiful heaven must be.

Pure waters of life there are flowing,
And all who will drink may be free;
Rare jewels of splendor are glowing,
How beautiful heaven must be.

The angels so sweetly are singing,
Up there by the beautiful sea;
Sweet chords from their gold harps are ringing,
How beautiful heaven must be.

A.S. Bridgewater

What About Your Future?

Who can think about the future without considering whether there is another existence after this life? Man cannot escape the thoughts of his state after death, but is inclined to put them out of his mind. He busies himself with the things of this life, placing thoughts of death, heaven, and hell into the distant future (Matthew 24:48, Ecclesiastes 8:11). The reality is, however, that a choice must be made. To do nothing will mean being eternally lost.

There are Only Two Destinies

The glories of heaven, and also the everlasting punishment reserved for the evildoers as described in the Bible, convince us that we must make heaven our eternal destiny. There is a choice to be made if we are to realize this reward. No sin will enter heaven; this is sure. There will be eternal punishment in hell for those who do not find forgiveness for their sins. "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" (Matthew 25:46; see also Matthew 7:21-23).

Heaven - The Home for All the Redeemed

To the redeemed, those who have been washed in the blood of Christ, heaven is a special place (Revelation 7:13-14). It is home. Their desire for heaven is like the desire of the psalmist in Psalm 63:1. His soul longed for God in a dry and thirsty land. To the fleshly, earthly mind, heaven seems a distant, far-off place. To the person born of the Holy Spirit of God, heaven is much closer and real. When the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart and life of a child of God, he experiences a foretaste of the eternal home.

The virtues exemplified by Christ, such as truthfulness, humility, purity, and love, are precious stones in the kingdom of heaven. They are precious to the child of God. As God graces the believer’s life with love from heaven, he is careful to be honest and humble. In this life he walks the golden streets of virtue. His heart longs for the fullness and purity of these Christian graces in the heavenly home (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Heaven - A Place of Light

Life on this earth has many shadows. We often encounter things we do not understand. We attempt to look into the future, but are not able to do so. Even though man has much knowledge, much is unknown. Disappointments are often experienced in our lives. All of this could be described as darkness.

Heaven has only light. It is where God dwells. "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). In His light is perfect understanding. Knowledge will be complete. The past and all events will be totally clear. Those who are saved love light. When men’s deeds are evil, they love darkness (John 3:19-21). In this light, there will be full fellowship between the Father and all those who reside with Him.

Heaven is described as "the inheritance of the saints in light" (Colossians 1:12). Attributes of light listed in the Scriptures are knowledge, holiness, and joy. This light is without interruption - forever! There shall be no night there (Revelation 21:25).

Heaven - A Place without Threat or Sin

"And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie" (Revelation 21:27). Discouragement, disappointment, temptation, and sin are part of the earthly life. They will never enter that beautiful land.

In Revelation 21:4 we read, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." To the Christian, heaven is the fulfilling rest, the completion of the journey. He knows that even as God has wiped away his tears on earth, even so all sorrow will be taken away in the perfection of heaven.

Immortal State of the Saved

Human relations are important to us here on earth. One another’s joys and sorrows touch our emotions. Family ties are meaningful and separation is painful. All of this is a necessary part of our mortal state.

When Jesus returns for judgment, everyone will be transformed. The dead will rise, and the mortal will become immortal. The body that was corrupt, subject to death, will become "like unto his glorious body". "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Philippians 3:21).

In this state, family relationships will no longer carry the same meaning for us. Jesus taught that there will be no marriage relationships in heaven (Matthew 22:30). The emotions of this life will pale in comparison to the joy that will be in the presence of the Lord God. Nothing will blemish the relationship between the saved and the Lamb of God.

The saints shall continually look on things which mortal eyes have never seen; they shall hear things which mortal ears have never heard; and they shall know that which the heart has never thought upon.

Jesus and His Own Will Be Glorified

A day is coming when the Lord Jesus shall appear to all the inhabitants of the earth. Everyone will stand before Him to be judged (Matthew 25:31-34). His true followers, even though they were despised and rejected in their earth life, will be taken into glory (heaven). There they will be able to praise and glorify God without end. There, mortality will give way to immortality. "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory" (1 Corinthians 15:54; see also 2 Corinthians 5:1).

In this life the saints have had many trials, temptations, and difficulties. Through grace, those who have trusted in the Deliverer and persevered to the end will be taken to heaven. People from all lands and of all tongues and ages who have kept the faith will be there. This great and innumerable throng, who have been pardoned from sin and sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, will inhabit heaven (Revelation 7:9-14).

These souls who have been redeemed in this life will be glorified in heaven. How wonderful it will be to experience the marriage of His Church with the Lamb of God. This will be glory beyond compare (Revelation 19:7-9).

Heaven - Beyond Human Understanding

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The glory and splendor of heaven cannot be fully understood or described. Our minds understand the things which we can see and feel. While we understand that heaven is the abode of the soul with God, He has chosen not to reveal all the aspects of that eternal home.

A few glimpses of heaven have been recorded in the Scriptures. The first Christian martyr, Stephen, when being stoned for his faith, "looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55). Stephen, being filled with the Holy Ghost, was given a glimpse of his future home.

Even though much about heaven cannot be explained, we know enough that we, like faithful people through the ages, desire to dwell eternally in the city that God has made. Hebrews 11:10 tells us that Abraham by faith "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Read also Hebrews 11:13-16).

Will We Be There?

Where will we go when life is over? Will we go to heaven? The Spirit of God gently knocks and reminds us to prepare for our eternal future.

We need to recognize our need of God. Through the fall of man in the beginning, man has forfeited (lost) his favor with God. Repenting of our sins and finding forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ can restore this relationship. God then accepts us as just, and pardons us. We thus become children of God through the power of the Word and Spirit (John 3:5; 1:12). The peace that we experience is a foretaste of the fullness of rest that will be ours in that eternal abode. Every soul can have clear evidence in his heart that a mansion has been prepared for him in heaven (John 14:2-3).

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