Longing For Heaven

Intro:

In the last 9 months, God has called home 6 members of our church family…

Dave & Carol Blake

Elaine Caswell

Becky McMeeken

Melode Lahuis

and most recently…

Craig Caswell…

Each one of those names represents far more than a name on a list.

They represent…

people we knew,

people we loved,

people we worshiped with,

laughed with,

prayed with,

and served beside.

And with each loss,

we have felt the pain of separation.

We have watched families grieve.

We have felt the absence when we see an empty seat.

We have been reminded again that

life is brief,

death is real,

and eternity is near.

But for the believer, death is not the end.

God promises us in His Word that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

So while we grieve, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

Our sorrow is real, but so is our hope.

Our tears are real, but so is heaven.

And I can tell you, for me personally, and I am sure for others as well… these losses have caused us to think more deeply about heaven.

What is heaven really like?

What are our loved ones experiencing right now?

Will we know one another there?

What will we do for all eternity?

And how should the hope of heaven affect the way we live today?

There may be no subject that produces more questions, more curiosity, or more imagination than the subject of heaven.

And for the next few weeks, we are going to take time together to consider what God’s Word says about this subject in a mini series that I have entitled “Longing for Heaven”.

But as we begin this series, we need to establish one important truth:

we are not going to build our understanding of heaven on guesses,

traditions,

popular stories,

emotional experiences,

or human imagination.

We are going to build our understanding of heaven on the Word of God.

Some of you may remember that after Dave and Carol Blake had passed away within a month of each and then finding out that Elaine Caswell was very close to passing as well, I had Pastor Steiner fill in for me one Sunday morning…

He briefly spoke of Heaven that morning and in doing so, he made a comment that has stuck with me…

He said “If God would have revealed, in His Word, everything about Heaven… and we had the ability to fully understand how glorious it really is… Then we would have a hard time keeping ourselves from jumping in front of train just so we could be there right now.”

So, God has not told us everything we may want to know about heaven, but He has told us everything we need to know.

With that in mind, I wanted to start this series with the words written by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2…

(Read vv.9-13)

To put this in a nutshell… Paul is basically stating that spiritual truth cannot be discovered merely through

human wisdom,

imagination,

or experience.

The things of God must be revealed to us by God Himself.

Meat:

And one of the first truths God has revealed is that the longing for something beyond this life is not strange or accidental.

God Himself has placed that longing within the human heart.

Meaning that….

Our view of Heaven involves…

1. A Natural Longing

There is something within the human heart that knows this life cannot be all there is.

Even people who do not believe the Bible often wonder and speculate about what happens after death.

Every culture throughout history has developed some idea of eternity, paradise, or an afterlife.

The Greeks spoke of Elysium,

the Norse imagined Valhalla,

Eastern religions speak of reincarnation or nirvana,

and other cultures have pictured a spirit world or paradise beyond the grave.

The details differ, but the longing remains.

Why is that?

Because God has placed it within us.

1.1 Eternity is in Us

King Solomon wrote in…

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NASB95

He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

In other words, God created us with an awareness that there is more to our existence than the few short years we spend on this earth.

We were created in the image of God.

We are not just physical beings.

We are spiritual beings,

created to know God,

worship God,

enjoy fellowship with God,

and live in relationship with Him.

That is why regularly think about eternity.

That is why people ask things like…

What happens when we die?

Is there really a heaven?

Will I see my loved ones again?

Is this life all there is?

Those questions come naturally because God has placed eternity within the human heart.

John MacArthur once said that “our awareness of God, our moral sense, our love of beauty, our desire to worship, and our fascination with eternity all remind us that we were made for something greater than this temporary life.”

Now, that does not mean every person understands eternity correctly.

It simply means that there is an awareness within us that death should not be the end.

Something within us resists the idea that a person lives for a few years, dies, and then simply ceases to exist.

We sense that we were made for more.

We were created for eternity.

And because of that…

1.2 Earth Cannot Satisfy Us

Because God created us for eternity, nothing temporary can completely satisfy the human heart.

Yes, there are a numerous amount of things that bring us a temporary form of satisfaction…

Our families,

Our friendships,

Our homes,

Our work,

laughter,

food,

music,

beauty,

and many other blessings.

And we should enjoy those gifts and thank God for them.

But the reality is, that even the best things in this world do not last.

Every possession eventually wears out.

Every accomplishment eventually fades.

Every body eventually grows older.

Every earthly pleasure eventually comes to an end.

Every relationship, unless the Lord returns, will eventually face the pain of separation.

That is why even in our happiest moments, we may still sense that something is missing.

Because deep down we know, that all this world has to offer, is temporary…

So that leaves us with a natural Longing…

1.3 Beyond This Life

We long for a place where everything wrong will finally be made right.

We long for perfect justice because we see so much injustice around us.

We long for perfect peace because we live in a world filled with conflict.

We long for lasting joy because every earthly joy is temporary.

We long for perfect love because even our closest relationships are affected by weakness, misunderstanding, and loss.

We long for a world without sickness, pain, sorrow, and death.

What it boils down to… is that, we are longing for what was lost when sin entered the world.

Adam and Eve were created to enjoy perfect fellowship with God in a world untouched by sin, suffering, or death.

But sin changed everything, and now we feel the effects of the fall all around us.

Funerals, sickness, suffering, and separation remind us that this world is not the way it was meant to be.

That is why grief often deepens our longing for the promise that we find in Revelation 21:4

Revelation 21:4 NKJV

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

And it is not just that we long for this place called Heaven… we also long for the One who is there preparing our place…

Paul described it well in…

Philippians 1:23 NKJV

For I… desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

The greatest glory of heaven will not be its beauty, its peace, or even reunion with those we love. The greatest glory of heaven will be the presence of Jesus.

Heaven is heaven because Jesus is there.

So when we long for heaven, we are ultimately longing for Christ…

to see Him,

worship Him,

and remain forever in His presence.

That longing is natural because God has placed eternity within our hearts.

But, the unfortunate truth is that, our understanding of heaven is not always accurate, because sin has affected the way we think about spiritual things.

Which means that our view of heaven involves…

2. A Sinful Distortion

The longing for eternity is natural, but the conclusions people draw from that longing are often wrong.

We looked at Ecclesiastes 3:11 which tells us that God has placed eternity within the human heart.

But Romans 1 tells us that fallen people suppress, exchange, and distort the truth God has revealed.

That is why nearly every culture has some idea of an afterlife, yet those ideas differ so greatly.

The longing is present, but sin distorts the picture.

And one of the main things that sin distorts, is the distortion…

2.1 Of Our Thinking

Sin affects more than our actions; it also distorts the way we think.

Romans 1:21 NASB95

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Because of sin, people do not naturally see God, eternity, or heaven clearly. Instead of humbly accepting what God has revealed, we often twist the truth to fit what we want to believe.

That is what happened in the Garden of Eden.

Before Adam and Eve sinned, they enjoyed fellowship with God.

But after they disobeyed, guilt and shame distorted their thinking.

Rather than running to God, they hid from Him.

Humanity has been doing the same thing ever since.

We know there is a God.

We sense that we are accountable to Him.

We know there is more to life than what we can see.

Yet because of sin, people often resist those truths rather than submit to them.

Sin distorts our understanding of God’s holiness, and it also distorts our view of sin.

I believe this has contributed to a softening of the gospel in many churches—making it less about repentance and faith in Christ and more about embracing whatever makes us feel comfortable.

That is why people can have a sincere longing for heaven while still holding completely unbiblical ideas about it.

The longing may be real, but sin distorts our thinking and understanding.

It also leads to a sinful distortion…

2.2 Of Personal Creations

When people reject the truth God has revealed, they do not usually stop believing altogether. Instead, they begin creating their own version of spiritual truth.

Continuing on in Romans 1… Paul says…

Romans 1:22–23 NKJV

Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

v.25…

Romans 1:25 NKJV

who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…

Sin distorts the mind so badly that humanity exchanges the truth of God for a lie.

Rather than worshiping God as He has revealed Himself, people create a “god” who is more acceptable to them…

a god who agrees with their opinions,

approves of their choices,

and never confronts their sin.

And when people create their own god, they also create their own heaven.

They imagine a heaven that reflects their personal desires rather than God’s revealed truth.

It becomes a place where everyone is accepted,

no one is judged,

sin has no consequences,

repentance is unnecessary,

and God’s holiness is rarely considered.

In many people’s minds, heaven is simply an improved version of this life.

It is filled with everything they enjoy,

everyone they love,

and nothing that makes them uncomfortable.

But a heaven created by human imagination is not the heaven revealed in Scripture.

We often hear people say things such as:

“My God would never judge anyone.”

“I believe everyone eventually goes to a better place.”

“I cannot believe a loving God would send anyone to hell.”

“Surely, if someone is sincere and lives a good life, God will accept them.”

Those statements may sound comforting, but comfort does not determine truth.

God does not become whatever we imagine Him to be, and heaven does not become whatever we would prefer it to be.

A god created in our image cannot save us, and a heaven created by our imagination cannot give us eternal hope.

We must allow Scripture to correct the heaven we have imagined and replace it with the heaven God has revealed.

Because when people reject God’s truth and build their beliefs on personal imagination, the result is not harmless speculation—it is falsehood.

(Just click the slide, don’t read the point)

2.3 Resulting in Falsehood

And no matter how comforting that falsehood may sound, it cannot change the reality of eternity.

There are countless books, testimonies, and personal stories from people who claim to have seen heaven or experienced the afterlife.

Some of those stories are emotional.

Some are vivid.

Some even use Christian language.

But they frequently contradict one another.

One person describes heaven one way, while another describes it completely differently.

One claims there is no judgment, while another describes some form of accountability.

One says everyone is welcomed, while another says only certain people enter.

They cannot all be true.

And more importantly, whenever a claim contradicts the clear teaching of Scripture, it must be rejected.

Falsehood is dangerous because it can give people a false sense of security.

If someone believes that everyone automatically goes to heaven, why would they see any need to repent?

If someone believes that sin has no eternal consequences, why would they recognize their need for a Savior?

If someone believes that sincerity is enough, why would they place their faith in Christ?

A false view of heaven eventually produces a false view of salvation.

And that is why this matters so deeply.

Which brings us to our 3rd point…

Our View of Heaven Involves…

3. A Necessary Discernment

Again, there are many voices speaking about eternity.

There are books written by people who claim to have visited heaven.

There are stories of near-death experiences.

There are movies,

television programs,

social media posts,

and personal testimonies…

… that offer detailed descriptions of the afterlife.

But we have to realize that…

3.1 Not Every Story is True

And I may catch a little flack here… However…

One of the mistakes people often make is assuming that a powerful story must be a truthful story… for example… popular books like…

Heaven Is for Real

or 90 Minutes in Heaven,

or movies based on near-death experiences,

… which present vivid and emotional accounts that many people accept as fact simply because they are compelling.

The truth is… … A person may sincerely believe something happened and still misunderstand what they experienced.

We have to remember that…

Our memories are not perfect.

Our emotions are not infallible.

Our minds can be influenced by illness,

medication,

trauma,

dreams,

fear,

and our imagination.

We also have to remember what John said in…

1 John 4:1 NASB95

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Meaning that…

Something can feel spiritual without being from God.

Something can sound comforting without being true.

Something can use the name of Jesus without accurately representing Him.

So then…

3.2 Every Claim Must be Tested

Again, John said to “…test the spirits to see whether they are from God”…

That doesn’t mean we automatically reject everything…

But we are not to blindly accept everything either…

He tells us to test it.

Biblical discernment is the ability to distinguish truth from error by comparing everything with the Word of God.

So when we hear someone make a claim about Heaven, we should ask whether they…

align with Scripture,

accurately reflect God’s character,

take sin seriously,

affirm the need for repentance and faith in Christ,

and does this claim point to God’s glory or does it point to the storyteller.

And when it comes to necessary discernment, I cannot stress enough, that…

We must know the truth of Scripture well enough to recognize when something does not agree with it.

Because Scripture is the standard by which every claim must be measured.

Experiences may be misunderstood,

opinions may change,

and stories may contradict one another

… but God’s Word remains true…

Which brings us to… … Our View of Heaven Involves…

4. A Biblical Revelation

Back to our main passage in 1 Corinthians 2…

Paul told us that the things of God cannot be discovered through human wisdom, imagination, or experience.

They must be revealed to us by God.

He goes on to say, that God has done just that…

We have a biblical revelation that has been…

4.1 Revealed by the Spirit

V.10…

1 Corinthians 2:10 “…God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.”

The word revealed means that… something previously hidden has been made known.

We could never discover the truth about heaven on our own.

No telescope can look far enough into the universe to locate heaven.

No scientific experiment can explain what eternity will be like.

No human imagination is great enough to picture the full glory of what God has prepared.

And no near-death experience can provide us with an authoritative description of the world to come.

If we are going to know anything certain about heaven, God must reveal it to us.

The rest of v.10 says…

1 Corinthians 2:10 “… God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”

The Holy Spirit knows the deep things of God.

He knows the mind,

purposes,

and plans of God perfectly.

We do not need to speculate about what God has chosen to reveal.

We can receive it with confidence because the Spirit of God is the source.

And this biblical revelation is…

4.2 Recorded In Scripture

v.13

1 Corinthians 2:13 “These things we (The Apostles of Christ) also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

Scripture did not originate in the minds of men.

The apostles were not writing their own ideas about God, salvation, or eternity.

Second Peter 1:21 tells us that holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit guided them so that what they taught and wrote communicated the truth God intended us to receive.

That means the Bible is not merely a collection of human opinions about heaven.

It is God’s personal revelation written for us…

And it is…

4.3 Sufficient for our Faith

God has not revealed everything we may want to know about heaven, but He has revealed everything we need to know.

There are many questions the Bible does not answer in detail.

God, in His Sovereignty, has chosen not to give us a complete description of every detail.

Deuteronomy 29:29 says…

Deuteronomy 29:29 NASB95

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us… that we may observe all the words of this law.

Some things belong to God alone.

But what God has revealed is sufficient to…

give us hope,

strengthen our faith,

prepare us for eternity,

and teach us how to live as we await our final calling.

Closing:

Scripture tells us that heaven is real.

It tells us that Christ is preparing a place for His people.

It tells us that believers who die are immediately present with the Lord.

It tells us that Christ will return.

It tells us that our bodies will be raised.

It tells us that sin, sorrow, pain, and death will one day be gone.

And most importantly…

it tells us how we can be certain that heaven will be our eternal home.

Heaven is not promised to us because we are good people.

It is not promised to us because we are religious.

It is not promised to us simply because we believe an afterlife exists.

Heaven is promised to those who have repented of their sin and placed their faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said in John 14:6:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father (No one enters Heaven) except through Me.”

God has not told us everything we might want to know about heaven, but He has told us everything we need to know…

and our responsibility is to believe what He has revealed.

I am so looking forward to going through this series with you, because heaven is not merely a subject for us to study—it is the eternal home of every believer.

And as we discover what Scripture has revealed, my prayer is

that our hope will grow stronger,

our hearts will become less attached to this temporary world,

and our desire to live faithfully for Christ will become even greater

… as we long for the day when we will finally be with Him.

Prayer: