There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you. ( John 14:2-3)
Much has been written about the lack of "interest" in heaven by modern Christians. To switch the old adage, have we become so earthly minded that we are of no heavenly good? Jesus told us in today's reading that there is more than enough room in His Father's house for all of us. He was as certain of his return -- "I will come and get you" -- as He was of His departure -- "I will only be with you a little longer. " How certain of this are you?
I am in the midst of reading the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It is a fascinating book that encourages Christians to use biblically inspired imagination to fuel our understanding and longing for heaven in the same way our Christian forefathers once did.
In his book, Alcorn wrote this of modern believers: "I believe there's one explanation for why so many of God's children have such a vague, negative, and uninspired view of heaven: the work of Satan. Satan need not convince us that heaven doesn't exist. He need only convince us that heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence. If we believe that lie, we'll be robbed of our joy and anticipation, we'll set our minds on this life and not the next, and we won't be motivated to share our faith. Why should we share the 'good news' that people can spend eternity in a boring, ghostly place that even we're not looking forward to?"
What is your impression of the above quote? Do you see any truth in his statement?
Would the Father have put in place a plan of salvation for us were there not something "worth it" for believers on the other side of death? Would he have sacrificed His Beloved Son if heaven were simply the "default destination" for all people? Do we long for and teach our children about what is promised in eternity for those who know that Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life?" Are we any less invested in our earthly existence than those around us that deny the realities of both heaven and hell?
Those questions are worth thinking about today as we ponder the reading from John 14. If we are not looking forward to heaven, than we certainly have misunderstood what was waiting for us in hell. And if we don't tell those we love about the certainties of either heaven or hell when we die, then we should not be surprised when they are not interested in learning about "the way, the truth and the life."
Anyone who believes Christ's death and resurrection did not deliver us from anything or prepare the way to anywhere, does not believe the words of Jesus himself. And for those of us that profess faith in Him, maybe we could spend some time thinking about the place that He has prepared for us. If we are harboring a secret fear that heaven does sound a bit boring, let's confess that. We can ask the Holy Spirit to create in us a holy, reverent, God-inspired longing for our eternal home.
And finally, let's ask God to give us the courage and passion to proclaim the words of Jesus that have become so controversial: " No one can come to the Father except through me."
I am in the midst of reading the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It is a fascinating book that encourages Christians to use biblically inspired imagination to fuel our understanding and longing for heaven in the same way our Christian forefathers once did.
In his book, Alcorn wrote this of modern believers: "I believe there's one explanation for why so many of God's children have such a vague, negative, and uninspired view of heaven: the work of Satan. Satan need not convince us that heaven doesn't exist. He need only convince us that heaven is a place of boring, unearthly existence. If we believe that lie, we'll be robbed of our joy and anticipation, we'll set our minds on this life and not the next, and we won't be motivated to share our faith. Why should we share the 'good news' that people can spend eternity in a boring, ghostly place that even we're not looking forward to?"
What is your impression of the above quote? Do you see any truth in his statement?
Would the Father have put in place a plan of salvation for us were there not something "worth it" for believers on the other side of death? Would he have sacrificed His Beloved Son if heaven were simply the "default destination" for all people? Do we long for and teach our children about what is promised in eternity for those who know that Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life?" Are we any less invested in our earthly existence than those around us that deny the realities of both heaven and hell?
Those questions are worth thinking about today as we ponder the reading from John 14. If we are not looking forward to heaven, than we certainly have misunderstood what was waiting for us in hell. And if we don't tell those we love about the certainties of either heaven or hell when we die, then we should not be surprised when they are not interested in learning about "the way, the truth and the life."
Anyone who believes Christ's death and resurrection did not deliver us from anything or prepare the way to anywhere, does not believe the words of Jesus himself. And for those of us that profess faith in Him, maybe we could spend some time thinking about the place that He has prepared for us. If we are harboring a secret fear that heaven does sound a bit boring, let's confess that. We can ask the Holy Spirit to create in us a holy, reverent, God-inspired longing for our eternal home.
And finally, let's ask God to give us the courage and passion to proclaim the words of Jesus that have become so controversial: " No one can come to the Father except through me."
3 comments:
Thanks Karen! I'm in the middle of "Heaven" too. I got it for Christmas & have been reading it off & on since. I especially like to read it on days when this world seems too hard. Hope.....
Terri
Interesting that you should bring this up. I just read something about this by a well known pastor amongst us-- our former Pastor Rick Bridston, who offered me a sermon about some of this. He relays a story about a young person who commented once to him that Heaven sounded boring.
I wonder if we get that from some descriptions we have read of us all floating around in white robes and all we will want to do is worship. Maybe that is it. Maybe we will be in such a different state that this will seem really exciting. Now, I have nothing against worship, so I do not want the BLB worship teams etc. to get all in a state. What I am trying to point out, is that so many have tried to describe it and it sounds, shall I say, placid.
But how can that be? In this same piece I was reading by Pastor Bridston, he went on to talk about a book he was given by a parishoner called "90 Minutes in Heaven." It was about a Pastor who was in a head-on collision and pronounced dead by parimedics. Another pastor came on the scene of the crash and went and prayed over his body adn the Lord brought him back. But for 90 minutes he was somewhere else and clinically dead. He describes a bit of this experience with "reserve and caution" and states " I peered through the gate yearning to see what lay beyond...My feeling has heen that once we are actually in God's presence, we will never return to earth again , because it will be empty and meaningless by comparison. "
Bridston goes on to say: "If we find God boring, it's only because of our ignorance and unbelief. God is the source of all wisdom and beauty and wonder and love and joy. There is nothing more interesting then God!"
Well-- now I get it. How could God and thus heaven be boring! Stupid me. While we sit here and ponder being without our favorite music, movies, games and hobbies-- where do we think the ideas came from? Duh!
So maybe-- it will be an awesome place-- better then anything we really can imagine!!!! Yes-- I think that is the ticket we want.
Yes, I can think of all of the people I know who do not really like "worship" as it is defined in the modern church. If you don't like to sing, then you must not really like to worship, is how they feel. Obviously, worship in heaven is more than singing, or maybe in heaven everyone likes to sing!
I think another issue is that the bible says that we won't be married in heaven. If we are not married, then does it mean that there are no relationships at all? That I won't know my spouse or get to see my parents or wait anxiously for my kids to arrive? Because God has made us so relational, if we assume that there aren't relationships in heaven, then that also makes it sound boring. But what if there ARE relationships, only they are as God intended without the presence of sin or evil, jealousy or insecurity?
We think of all the things we love to do - knit, golf, fish, hunt, garden - and think that heaven would be boring if we could not do our favorite things. But what if we DO get to do them, or if God has created something even better than what we know?
I, too, have so many questions. But in the presence of the Almighty, we can only assume that BORING is one thing that heaven won't be.
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