Heaven

20^th July 2008

When I talk to people, it seems that almost all of us - Christians and non-Christians - have an opinion about what happens after we die. Some think we just stop existing. Some think we come back to life on Earth as a cow or a camel or a hippopotamus or an aardvark. Some think we all go to heaven. Some people think that some go to heaven and some don't.

You probably have a belief about these things. But I'd like to ask the question: where do you get that belief from? Why do you think it's true? After all, we haven't died, so now experimental data is available to us. Do you believe what you believe because someone told you? Why should they be right? Or do you believe it because it's what you want to believe? That makes as much sense as believing that I'm a millionaire or a Premiership footballer. The fact that I'd like it to be true doesn't make it true.

As a Christian, I have my own opinion. But I do at least have a reason why I believe what I believe. I believe that there is a heaven, and I believe that not all of us get to go there. And the reason I believe these things is that the Bible tells me that they're true. I've learnt to trust the Bible. Over the 35 years or so that I've taken the Bible seriously, I've found that its teachings are far better than my own opinions in all sorts of ways. The Bible has helped me through life, and has proved dependable, even when I haven't.

The Bible says that Heaven is where God lives. I expect we'd all agree with that. The Lord's Prayer starts:

Matthew 6v9
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name"

And Heaven is now where Jesus lives. Right at the end of Jesus's time on Earth, after His resurrection, he taught and prayed for His disciples for the last time:

Luke 24v50-51
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

Hebrews 1v3
The Son [Jesus] is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

What's Heaven like? We get some idea from Bible passages like Revelation 4v1-11. But even with these passages, it can be hard for us on Earth to imagine exactly what life in heaven will be like, but the Bible says that the church is the "heavenly Jerusalem". To those in the church, God says:

Hebrews 12v22-23
You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men.

The church doesn't always feel like that, if ever. It's made up of very imperfect people. But when it's working well, it does give us the best picture we can see on Earth of what Heaven is like. It's full of praise to God, full of joy, full of peace, welcoming, kind and genrous. The church has a huge responsibility to represent God and Heavenly life, on Earth. And we should apologise to God and to those outside the church for how much we fail to do this.

But in Heaven, God's people will be free from sin, and we will be be full of praise, goodness, joy and peace. The church on Earth isn't perfect by a long way. We're a work in progress. God is working on us, and He hasn't finished yet. But He will!

Most of us would agree, and the Bible certainly teaches, that some people will go to Heaven and some won't. Who deserves to go to Heaven? If Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao and Pol Pot went to heaven, we'd think correctly that it was unjust. They were sinful men. But who's to say who's pure enough to go to heaven and who isn't? Are you pure enough to go to Heaven?

I'm convinced that Heaven is real. But I'm also convinced that I don't deserve to go to Heaven.

But I'm also convinced that I am going to Heaven.

Peter, while writing to Christians, said:

1 Peter1v3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has paid the price for my sin, and has won the victory over death. That's why they call it "great mercy". Through faith in Jesus, we can be forgiven, and we can enter Heaven, even though we don't deserve it.