Identity—what's My Future? (2)

Last week I began a 2-part series that deals with our identity and how that affects our identity.

Not just our identity, but our attitudes and behaviors.

You see, if we are assured of our destiny, our eternity —and that only happens when we are IN CHRIST — we will live very different lives.

Repentance of our sin that separates us from God and, by faith, receiving the forgiveness that comes through Christ.

Surrendering control of our lives to God.

… These acts change us.

Instead of living in the fear that THIS is all there is, we will live lives of confidence.

We will BELIEVE the scripture I posted on Facebook and Instagram this morning:

Isaiah 41:13 (NLT) [Where God says… ] For I hold you by your right hand— I, the LORD your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.

God is holding us by the hand and walking us THROUGH this life into eternity with Him.

And along every step of this walk He is with us to help us with any and all situations.

What a change that makes in who we are and how we live our lives!

Although it would drive them into a fit of rage, I feel deep sorrow for anyone who tries to live this life without God.

Like the woman this past week who contacted us through Gloo .

What we received said:

I visited the Churches Care website and would like to talk to someone about struggling with a relationship in my life.

Now, I went to the web site and I know she filled in her name and cell number.

She then selected her need from a pull-down box and Gloo, using AI, turned her response into a complete sentence.

But still, she was responding to a Churches Care ad.

In response to her expressed need, Gina contacted her saying:

I am sorry you have been struggling with your relationships. The first and most important relationship to work on is the one with you and our Heavenly Father. Once you are in good relations with our Heavenly Father all other relationships will fall into place. Do you have a relationship with the Lord?

To which she said…

I never mentioned anything about religion and I'm not a religious person. That's the problem with Christians. You guys think everyone is like you when that's not true. [some initials- smh, and then] Never mind I'll fix it myself.

See that’s the thing, her response to us indicates she really does need God’s help.

And yet she won’t receive it.

So she and millions upon millions like her, live lives of brokenness and pain.

Alienated from the God who loves her deeply.

The God who is stretching out His hand to her as she may be going under for the third time.

But, rather than accept that hand, she slaps it away as she goes under and drowns in her brokenness.

How truly sad!

But being IN CHRIST, changes all of that.

Our identity is changed from broken to healed and whole.

From being in pain to walking in joy, peace and love.

From, as Hebrews 10:27 (LSB) … a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.

To what Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3–6 (LSB) [when he said] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,

Thank God, for our living hope!

Now remember, it wasn’t all that long ago that I reminded us that BIBLICAL hope is different from the world’s hope.

The world’s hope is a wishy-washy, maybe kind of hope.

But, BIBLICAL hope is a confident expectation that God will do what He says He will do.

A Hope for Eternity

So, in BIBLICAL hope, we who are IN CHRIST, live this life seeing heaven by faith, considering the reality of heaven and thinking more and more and more about it.

As Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT) … God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

This morning, let’s look deeper into the wonders of this eternity God has planted in our hearts.

Lets think about “Seven Wonders of Heaven.”

The wonders of heaven are infinite and therefore impossible to count, but let’s just think about 7.

Remember one of my anchor verses from last week?

Colossians 3:1–2 (NLT) Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

C.S. Lewis said, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”

So, think about…

1. The Wonder of Heaven’s REALITY.

What I mentioned last week.

It bears repeating:

Heaven is a REAL place.

Heaven is not like Peter Pan’s “Neverland.”

Heaven is not a place of make-believe and fairy tales.

Rather, heaven is beyond our imagination, greater than your wildest dreams, and best of all—HEAVEN IS REAL!

Throughout the Bible heaven is spoken of as a real place.

•Colossians 1:16 (NIV) For by Him [Jesus] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.

Heaven is just as real (MORE so?) as the earth Jesus created.

Jesus often spoke of heaven as a real place.

•Matthew 18:18 (MsgB) “A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven.”

•Luke 15:7 (NIV) “. . . there will be more rejoicing in heaven… ”

•John 6:38 (MsgB) “I came down from heaven.”

Heaven is real!

God has made the wonder of heaven’s reality known to us.

We can live in the midst of the disappointing and aggravating realities of this present world because heaven is real!

As my other anchor verse from last week said:

Hebrews 11:13–16 (NLT) All these people [heroes of the faith] died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

The great heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 along with many, many millions more who have preceded us into eternity, believed in the promise of God — they believed in the reality of heaven.

Do WE believe in the promise of Jesus?

I also read last week: John 14:1–3 (LSB) “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Let’s fix our attention on wondrous REALITY of heaven.

5. The Wonder of Heaven’s OPEN INVITATION.

As we “set our sights” on the reality of heaven, we need to realize that...

Not only is heaven real, it is exclusive.

Heaven is a members only club—a prepared place for a prepared people.

But the membership fee has been paid for us; God has opened the door of heaven to all who would come in through faith in His Son Jesus.

Romans 10:9 (NLT) For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

No one can buy their way into heaven; we can’t earn the right to be admitted.

But, God has given an open invitation for anyone to be admitted into heaven—through Christ.

Everyone will one day die, but not everyone who dies will go to heaven.

Only those who die with faith in Christ will enter heaven.

Remember again 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV) 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, [4] and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, [5] who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

God has offered an open invitation to heaven.

Oh the wonder of heaven’s open invitation!

2. The Wonder of Heaven’s ENVIRONMENT.

Since we are IN CHRIST and have accepted our free invitation to a real heaven, what will we find there?

We will find the awesome wonder of heaven as a real utopia—a perfection we can only begin to imagine in this world.

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV) … , as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Revelation 21:27 also tells us that heaven is a place of absolute purity, free from evil and sin.

Revelation 21:27 (NIV) Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Not only is heaven free from sin, but it is also free from the consequences and penalty for sin.

In heaven there will be no pain, sickness or death.

Heaven will be free of war, crime, poverty, and accidents.

All the things that make us say, “Life’s not fair” will be gone forever!

Nothing this world has to offer compares with heaven.

Heaven is unlike anything we have ever known in this life—oh the wonder of heaven’s environment!

3. The Wonder of Heaven’s PERMANENCE.

Someone has said “All good things must come to an end.”

That someone has never thought of heaven!

Heaven will endure without end.

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV) Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

As we have already read TWICE in 1 Peter 1:3-5 heaven is that “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade”

It is permanent.

Has life got you down?

Do you grow tired and weary at the end of the day?

Think about it over and over and consider the wonder of heaven’s permanence.

4. The Wonder of Heaven’s ATTENTION.

And then, what do you think those living in a place like heaven think about?

I’m talking about God and the angels?

What has captured their attention?

Those who have left this life may not be paying attention to us — but God and the angels are.

Heaven has focused its attention on you and me—upon the salvation of all humanity.

It is amazing to think how such a perfect place as heaven would have any interest in a place as messed up as where we live.

Oh the wonder of heaven’s attention; not only upon those lost in sin BUT ALSO upon those victorious in faith!

Jesus said in John 6:38-40 (NLT) For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do what I want. [39] And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the last day. [40] For it is my Father’s will that all who see His Son and believe in Him should have eternal life—that I should raise them at the last day."

Luke 15:7 (MsgB) [He said… ] Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

Hebrews 12:1–2 (NLT) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

So when we feel like giving up, throwing in the towel.

When life gets us down and we don’t have the desire or energy to even get out of bed.

Remember. Heaven has noticed! God’s attention is focused upon us!

When we think about our destiny—when we remember heaven— (and we need to think about heaven more than we do!) we can be renewed with strength for daily living because heaven is not ignoring us.

Oh, the wonder of heaven’s attention — on us!

6. The Wonder of Heaven’s INHABITANTS.

Then, think about the wonder of heaven’s inhabitants.

God has made it possible for you and me to be among the inhabitants of heaven.

The redeemed from all the ages will be there.

We’ll meet the heroes of the faith of whom we have read through the pages of the Bible.

We’ll meet those down through the ages who have lived—and died for Christ.

Loved ones who have died before us will be there—family, friends, pastors, and Sunday School teachers—they will all be there.

Of course, angels of all descriptions will be there too!

We will join archangels, Cherubim, seraphim, angelic messengers, angelic warriors, and all the other ranks of angels before the throne to worship our Lord!

Revelation 5:11-12 (NIV) Then I [John the disciple Jesus loved, the Revelator] looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. [12] In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"

I’m looking forward to one day being WITH the inhabitants of heaven—the saints of old, the angels, BUT THERE IS ONE INHABITANT OF HEAVEN I WANT TO SEE MORE THAN ALL THE OTHERS COMBINED.

I WANT TO SEE THE LORD! JESUS WILL BE WITH US IN HEAVEN.

Oh the wonder of heaven’s inhabitants!

But, oh the greatest wonder of all — seeing Jesus.

As 1 John 3:1–3 (MSG) What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who He is or what He’s up to. 2 But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows [fully] how we’ll end up! What we [do] know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see Him—and in seeing Him, become like Him. 3 All of us who look forward to His Coming, stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own.

7. Finally, Think about the Wonder of Heaven’s PRAISE!

Revelation 19:1 (NIV) After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.”

The song Amazing Grace says:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’ve first begun.

Ten Thousand years to sing God’s praise?

And we think thirty minutes is a long worship service!

Folks, if we lived more than 100 years, this would just be a really short choir practice.

We are preparing for an awesome time of praise in heaven to sing of and shout about God’s goodness—His mercy and His grace.

The praise of heaven is not about us—OUR PRAISE IS FOR AN AUDIENCE OF ONE!

Perhaps you have a difficult time imagining the wonder of heaven’s praise.

Hearing me tell you that we are going to spend eternity giving praise and honor to the Lord you’re likely to think that would get boring after awhile.

Doesn’t God have anything else for us to do?

Let me suggest two possible reasons for our difficulty

Difficulty both now and thinking about offering God endless praise in heaven.

First, maybe it’s hard to imagine worshipping for eternity when we have never experienced the slightest amount of worship here.

Maybe that is because we try to lift up dirty hands in praise to God.

Psalm 24:3–6 (NLT) Who may climb the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. 5 They will receive the LORD’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. 6 Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob. Interlude

Worship isn’t real when we have sin in our lives.

God knows it, and deep down we know it too.

Let’s not hold on to our sin; let’s confess it.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We will find worship is much easier when your hands are clean.

Maybe we haven’t experienced worship here because we are terrified to all any emotion in our worship.

A couple of decades ago, in March of 2002, I and another pastor attended the PPW.

There were a lot of great and inspiring preachers.

One who really stands out in Mark Rutland.

In the course of helping us preachers he said something that has stuck with me all these years…

Mark Rutland

What is true for preaching is also true in worship.

Some of you are at odds with your emotions — you are afraid to do anything more than think about God.

Oh, please do that!

But don’t be afraid to also engage your emotions.

At the same time, don’t let it ONLY be emotions.

In Mark 12:28–34 (LSB) [we read that] … when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he recognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31 “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; 33 AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.

Let’s not be afraid to love...

God with our heart and soul — engaging the emotions

God with our minds — digging into the Word, getting to KNOW God more and more

God with our strength — lifting our hands, raising our voice, as the Holy Spirit moves, dancing before Him, bowing before him, kneeling, prostrating ourselves before the One who is all worthy.

And in so doing on earth, we will be preparing for an eternity of worshipping Him in heaven.

A Second reason, we may have a hard time imagining worshiping God for eternity is simply because we don’t know Jesus the way HE wants us to know Him.

Worship is the place where we can behold the beauty of His majesty and glory.

The more we know about the Lord, the easier it is to offer Him the worship of which He alone is worthy.

We were created to worship.

How much time are we spending getting to know Jesus?

In heaven we will know Him in ever increasing ways—each day will be a discovery of His glory with a new opportunity to worship Him.

Oh the wonder of the worship of heaven.

Thankful for the Wonders of Heaven

This morning, as the worship team comes back to the platform, let’s lift up thanks for the wonders of heaven.

If you have a need…

You have questions about your relationship with God.

You are struggling with some situation in your life.

I will be up front to pray with you.

Others will come and pray with you.

But, let’s end this service ascribing to Jesus all the worship He deserves.