Sermon Tone Analysis

I believe that one of the most beautiful sights in all of the world is watching a Sunset over the grand canyon.

Amanda took me there almost 10 years ago as a seminary graduation gift.

It was a perfectly clear June night and you could see for miles.And I remember thinking as that sun hit the horizon sending light across the sky, “Heaven meets earth.”

It was gorgeous.

Now here’s the truth, I could tell you about it but it would do it justice.

I could show you a picture we took, but that wouldn’t do it justice.

I could try to explain the science of color and light about how the light refracts through our atmosphere and that might put you to sleep.

The truth is there are some things that you can’t experience through the words of someone else.

You have to experience it for yourself.

That is what heaven will be like.

No words can truly describe it.

No theology can lead you to an experience.

None of us are going to get there and think, “Yep, just how I imagined it.”

Let me get this out of the way.

This sermon will not do heaven justice.

Our information related to heaven is limited.

In fact we know more about what heaven won’t be like than we know what it will be like.

What we know about heaven is sufficient for us to be confident in it’s reality.

God has a special manifestation of His presence there.

(His throne is there.)

Those who die in Christ will be there until the resurrection

There will be joyful activity in heaven.

Heaven, as it currently is, will one day give way to the New Heaven and New Earth.

However, we need to let the Bible tell us about heaven.

For many Christians we have allowed our image of heaven to be shaped by pop culture and the supposed “near death experiences” of a few people who have made a lot of money telling their story.

So before we start here are a couple things that the Bible teaches us about the nature of heaven.

Heaven is a real place

God has a special manifestation of His presence there.

(His throne is there.)

There will be joyful activity in heaven (; ).

Those who die in Christ will be there until the resurrection (The Bible talks about a few specific people in heaven, Enoch, Moses, Elijah, the thief on the cross; probably many others by simple assumption)

There will be joyful activity in heaven (; Revelation 4).

What happens in heaven now, has an impact on earth.

(Jesus intercedes for us; )

Heaven, as it currently is, will one day give way to the New Heaven and New Earth (Revelation 22).

The overarching narrative of the Bible is not about getting people into heaven, but about reuniting heaven and earth (The Tabernacle; Jesus walking the earth; ).

In the Beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, there wasn’t the separation between the spiritual heaven and the earth.

In , the Bible talks about God walking in the garden.

In the beginning, the spiritual reality of heaven overlapped the physical reality of the world.

But sin quickly separated heaven from earth; man from God.

And all of creation has been groaning for restoration.

And the whole of

Creation groans for the reunification and glorification of heaven and earth.

We too grown for reconciliation between God and us and between us and others.

Every human being on earth senses a connection between God and themselves.

Even staunch athiests get so angry with regard to a higher being they claim doesn’t exist.

So the Bible looks forward to the final restoration of creation and heaven.

Nearly every time heaven is mentioned in the Bible, it is closely tied to the endurance of suffering here on earth.

Its not hard to see that, when we look at Creation and at fallen people, we acknowledge that there is a problem.

Heaven is given as an encouragement to God’s people that this life is not the end, but there is a reward coming for those who endure.

Jesus talked a lot about heaven when talking about the tough times that lay ahead for His disciples.

Paul on the other hand talked a lot about heaven with regard to how he viewed his own suffering and why he wasn’t bent on vengeance on his enemies.

And perhaps Paul had no greater relational problems than with the church he started at Corinth.

They say you always hurt the ones you love.

A better saying would be that “The greater emotional connection, the more opportunity for getting hurt.”

But Paul uses his problems with the Corinthian Church and his desire for reconciliation with them to transition to his understanding of heaven and his desire to be reconciled to God.

Transition to the Text:

Between the time Paul started the Corinthian Church to the writing of 2 Corinthians is likely less than 10 years.

There was a schism in the relationship between the Apostle Paul in the Corinthian Church.

It was painful because the church seems to have rejected Paul in favor of better more powerful apostles.

Paul was poor, experienced suffering, he was unimpressive and they were beginning to be exposed to more impressive leaders.

We read more about that in Corinthians is a letter to establish their complete reconciliation but to explain that suffering and poverty are not a sign that you aren’t a good Christian or have some secret sin in your life for which God is punishing you.

Suffering and poverty in Paul’s case is evidence that he just doesn’t care all that much about what the world says is important.

Paul is living for heaven.

3 sections:

Reconciliation (1-7)

The encouragement to renewed generosity for the Jerusalem Church.

(8-9)

Paul Takes on his remaining opponents.

(10-13)

The paradox of the cross challenges are worldly values.

God values humility and weakness because His love and power were made known through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

At the same time the cross transforms through the Spirit.

Jesus’ life of sacrifice becomes our own.

While the Corinthians have criticized Paul for his worldly troubles, Paul reminds them and us that this life is ultimately a shadow of what is to come.

In fact, he goes so far as to tell us that we should be more inclined to let go of this life and go on to be with Jesus…that would be better.

And through this, we get a small picture of what heaven is like.

Let’s read.

Rev 4:1-

2 cor

A couple misconceptions about heaven:

There is no such thing as soul sleep.

We don’t have a spiritual coma waiting for resurrection.

Absent from the body present with the Lord.

We don’t exit time.

It’s not entering eternity.

We don’t die and then wake up after everything is done.

There is a period of waiting in heaven for the resurrection.

It will likely fly by because time flies when you’re having fun.

Heaven is a real place, but it’s not the end place.

Big Idea: Long for the Heaven while living on Earth.

1. Heaven gives us Hope.

(4:16-18)

Explanation: It’s hard to ignore that so much of the Bible speaks about the hard things of life.

Really no one gets an easy pass.

It’s hard on for even the greatest of Bible hero.

And it seems that the bigger the Bible character, the harder the life.

Paul had a rough ministry and for this reason many of the Corinthians scorned him.

When someone preaches by word and example that the Christian life is hard, this might cause you to not want to be a Christian.

This is why those who preach that God wants your life hear to be happy, healthy, wealthy and easy are so prevalent.

And it’s these types of false teachers that the Corinthians church has been taken in by.

Paul wants them to hope not in what they have on earth, but what awaits them in heaven.

Paul cares little for earthly things when heaven is going to be so great.