Skip to main content

A Heaven To Hope For

Heaven is of some concern to a few people. Most of us just imagine being happy and do not give it another thought. But a few people have expressed concern with the eternality of it; specifically - what will be there and what will we be doing? This week at listened to a great discussion that involved this very issue and it shed some new light on the subject of heaven, so I thought I would pass a few of these along to you.

First, God’s original and very good design was God on the earth, living and walking amongst his creation and his creatures (Genesis 3:8). Revelation tells us that when all of history comes to a close there will be a new heaven and a new earth and that the Lord will once again live amongst his people (Revelation 21:1-4). We also know that the human body which God has given us will one day die, but the promise that comes to us through Jesus is that these same bodies will one day be raised from the dead to everlasting life, just like Jesus’ was.

These two things combined (a new earth and new body) should give us a good picture of heaven. The earth will return to its pristine state of beautiful rivers, mountains, waterfalls, etc and our bodies will return to their original state of wellness and life. So eternity in heaven will not only be living in the presence of Jesus, but will also include many of the same things we enjoy now – picnics by beautiful waterfalls, horseback riding through open fields, evenings of dinner and laughter with family and friends; all good things and all things to look forward to.

Love in Christ,
Pastor Mitch

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Generation of Mark 13:30

At the beginning of Mark chapter thirteen Jesus is leaving the temple area and one of his disciples points out the grandure of the temple buildings. Jesus' remark to that disciple concerns the fact that these buildings will one day be torn down. The disciples question Him further as to the times of these events, and so begins an extended teaching from Jesus on the end times.As Jesus' remarks are drawing to a close, He makes this comment in Mark 13:30: "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place." (NASB) So the reader is left to wonder the meaning of this statement. Either our understanding of generation is wrong, or we are understanding what Jesus meant by "these things" wrong. I think there are at least two solutions. The word for generation (genea: Greek) could mean, as some side column reference Bibles note, "the human race". This is possible, since the events have not all happened and the human race...
15 comments
Read more

By This Time You Ought To Be Teachers

June 1, 2006 Sin has a way of crippling us and it is not as obvious as we might think. Sin is subtle and comes to us in the most gentle of ways. When the writer of Hebrews attempts to encourage the church to remain diligent to the faith he does it by writing a letter filled with warnings. One of those warnings has to do with the connection between disobedience and unbelief (3:18-19). Disobedience is equated with unbelief in these two verses, because Israel did not enter the land of rest by disobeying God, rather they failed to believe that God would keep His word to them. Disobedience is the fruit of failing to hear God’s word. At first this does not seem to apply to us at all. We hear God’s word all week long. Or do we? When sin settles into our hearts it begins to harden our senses (3:13). We do not hear God’s word like we used to and preaching, as well as Bible lessons, begin to sound more like traffic noise from the freeway than words spoken to us from God. The writer of Hebrews re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Confession: An Old Principle Revisited

Originally written on July 24, 2005 On Tuesday The Oprah Winfrey Show aired an episode devoted to people who had suffered tremendous loss at the hands of other individuals. These parties were brought together under the pressure of extreme emotional scaring and anger. When these individuals were in front of each other they were asked to retell their side of the story, recall all of their feelings, admit their wrong doing, and ultimately ask for forgiveness from the individual that they had harmed. This so-called new approach has been labeled as "restorative justice." Oprah called it a radical new approach to emotional healing and was in awe at the success people found who took part in the exercise. What was not brought to the light was the fact that this approach is radical, but it is by no means new. In the New Testament James understood this principle very well. In James 5:16 he states "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you m...
2 comments
Read more