Promises About Heaven

The pastor was talking to a group of young children about believing in Jesus and going to heaven.

At the end of his talk, he asked, "Where do you want to go?"

"Heaven!" they all piped up.

"And what do you have to do to get there?"

"Die!", one boy yelled

Heaven is a promise that many of us hold on to. Especially those aging in life, they find hope sitting back and resting in God’s promise of life everlasting in Heaven.

The Bible has much to say about Heaven, so much so that we could spend all day naming and examining the Scriptures and still not cover it all. So, today I want to discuss 4 promises that pertain to Heaven and what awaits us there. All of these promises are rooted in Revelation 21, so we will be spending the majority of our time there.

We will be with God!

Jesus makes a promise to the thief on the cross next to him that extends throughout the rest of history- today, he would be with Jesus in paradise. Throughout the Scriptures, in passages such as Rev 21 and 2 Peter 3 we read that Heaven is built around the presence of God. This is a recreation of the Garden of Eden- when God walked freely with Adam and Eve and all was perfect. In the same way, Heaven is a place of full fellowship with God.

An elderly couple passed away and found themselves at the pearly gates. Peter was there to welcome them. First he showed them their mansion. The man overwhelmed by the sheer luxury of it all asked, "How much does this place cost per night?" Peter replied, "Sir, this is Heaven, it doesn’t cost anything." Then Peter took them to the dining room where table upon table was piled high with the most delicious foods you could imagine. Again overwhelmed by the glory of it all the man asked, "How much for the meals?" Peter said, "You forget, this is Heaven, it’s free." Peter then took them out back where they saw a fantastically beautiful golf course. As the man stood there open-mouthed Peter said, "Now before you ask, there are no greens fees, this is Heaven, everything is free." The man looked at his wife and said, "You and your confounded bran muffins, I could have been here 10 years ago!

Some people think that the streets of gold, the pearly gates, or the angelic atmosphere will be the best things about Heaven, but for the true follower of Jesus, those are not even close. Paul put it this way in 2 Cor 5:1-2

English Standard Version Chapter 5

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling

Paul speaks of a kind of groaning- a longing for a place that we have never been; but the place we are supposed to be. Bart Millard of MercyMe stated it this way in their song “Homesick”

I close my eyes and I see your face If home's where my heart is then I'm out of place Lord, won't you give me strength to make it through somehow I've never been more homesick than now

It is hard to fathom that in many ways we can be homesick for a place we have never been, but it is not really the place, is it? No, it is the presence- the presence of God, that we were made to be in.

There will be no sin in Heaven

Our world is a fallen and broken world- the effects of that sinfulness and brokenness are everywhere. There is not a day that we do not see the effects of sin in this world. From the weather, to sickness, to violence- the effects of sin are all over this place.

Not only that, but ever single human being we see, talk to, interact with, has sin in their lives. Some hide it better than others, but we all have it. But listen to what Rev 21:8 says about Heaven “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Or Revelation 21:27 “ But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Can you imagine? NO SIN. The things from your past that sometimes creep up and cause you pain and anxiety- GONE. The tendencies like anger, jealousy, or pride that keep you from fully being like Christ- GONE. The pain, violence, sexualized behavior that we see on the news, read in the paper, and see in the streets- GONE.

Don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of these Scriptures that should be heavy on our hearts. When we read that people who practice these kinds of sins will not enter Heaven, our hearts should be heavy. The thought of anyone being cast off from the presence of God should hit us like a ton of bricks. However, the other side of that reality is that we will not wrestle with sin anymore, and that sounds amazing!

There will be no crying and no pain

In Rev 21:4 we read that God will wipe every tear from our eyes and there will be no death, no pain, no sorrow. This is really a natural extension of the triumph over sin.

How much of the pain, how many of the tears, how much of the sorrow we experience is a result of sin? The pain in your back? Part of the breaking down of your body because of sin. How much of the sorrow that comes between you and your loved ones is a result of sin? The tension and stress that comes because of the strain of sin.

Joni Eareckson who became a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident nearly 30 years ago has experienced more than her share of pain and heartache.

She says that “heaven has become my heart’s home, the place where I will finally belong.The place where I will get a brand new body.” Heaven is the place where there will be no more tears, pain or sorrow. She goes on to say, “In the world’s finale something so glorious is going to happen that it will atone for every single tear we’ve ever cried. God is going to give us the key that will make sense out of what now seems to be such senseless suffering. Heaven is going to be a place of no more disappointment, no more grief but joy. Heaven’s joy

After all, we must remember that pain and sorrow are never God’s best for us. God’s plan is for our blessing, our flourishing, our peace and wholeness; so it makes complete sense that tears and pain are gone! We are living in the fullness of God!

Let’s think through this in a practical sense- death. Perhaps there is nothing else in life that brings so much sorrow and tears as the death of a loved one. How many times do we hear someone say around death- especially a death that is hard to understand- it was God’s will. Friends, death is not God’s will- death was not God’s idea. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden death was not part of the deal. No, death entered the human story when Adam and Eve sinned at disobeyed God- death entered the human story as a result.

The Heaven that is now, will not be our Eternal Place

Okay, so follow me here, because for some people this promise might be unfamiliar or new.

The Bible teaches that when we die we go to heaven to be in the presence of God. In 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Paul writes this:

English Standard Version Chapter 5

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

There are only 2 modes of human existence- alive and away from Christ or dead and present with him. So, the moment that a believer dies we are taken to heaven to be in the presence of God. There is no in-between, no staging period- nothing like that. So rest assured, if your loved one has died and they were a follower of Jesus then they arrived in the presence of God in Heaven as soon as they left this Earth, and they are still there now.

However, according to both Revelation 21 that we began with today and 2 Peter 3:13 this is not the eternal home we will posses.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

When the fullness of time is here and all things are completed- God is going to make a new Heaven and a new Earth- in many ways it will mirror the creation story in Genesis. This new Heaven and new Earth will be our eternal home with Christ.

Think of it this way- a couple wants to build a new home, so they buy some land and begin working on their new house. Meanwhile, the market heats up and they decide to list their new home on the market to make sure they sell it for a good price, and the old home sells QUICK- much faster than the new home can be built. So, they take out a rental for a few months. Clearly not their permanent home, but a nice place to reside until their new place is complete.

Some of you may know this about me- but I was born cross eyed. When I was around 6 I had corrective surgery to adjust the muscles in my eyes to make my eyes straight- or at least as straight as possible. Now, some 30 years later, I have what is called Disassociated Vertical Disorder- a form of a lazy eye. Basically, one of my eyes tends to wander upwards, while my other eye stays focused on what I am intending to look at. Not handy when it comes to pictures and focusing on important things, but can I tell you that sometimes I pray that my life is a little more like my eyes. That while part of my attention is focused on the here and now, I want another part of my life to look upwards.

When Sir Winston Churchill was making his funeral preparations he had a few special requests. He asked to be laid in state in the heart of London at St. Paul’s Cathedral. He requested that his casket be placed under the massive dome in the center. Churchill then requested that two trumpeters be stationed on each

side of the balcony that circles the dome. It was his wish that at the close of the service the trumpeter

on one side play taps. But when he was finished he wanted the other trumpeter to play reveille.

Churchill knew that death was not the end but really the beginning of something wonderful and unimaginable.

Thanks to the Christ of Christmas, a new and beautiful day will dawn when we close our eyes in death.

We will leave this life and enter into our Father’s heavenly home. In the midst of life’s disappointments, trials, heartaches we need to remember that we are not home yet. Heaven is our home.