Joy

“[Christians] have all their good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by [Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave]. [God] is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased [through His death on the cross]. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their life, their dwelling-place, their ornament and [crown], and their everlasting honor and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which [Christians] are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. [And here’s my favorite part] The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast." -Jonathan Edwards

What’s Edwards trying to say? What was the Psalmist trying to say? They’re saying that God is the gift of Heaven. Not some extension of earthly pleasure but God! He is the gift of Heaven!

That’s why Christianity is so radically different. No other worldview says this! Take just two other worldviews for example. In Islam, part of the satisfaction in Heaven for some is sex with 72 virgins. And in Mormonism, if you make it to the highest Heaven, you can become a god yourself and can have your own planet.

But here’s the thing: most major worldviews, including Mormonism and Islam and even Christianity talk about eternal life.

But what is the point of eternal life if you won’t be satisfied? What is the point of having 72 virgins if sex doesn’t ultimately satisfy us here on Earth? What is the point of being a god and having your own planet if power and material goods don’t satisfy us now? All it means is that we’ll be left sorely unsatisfied in the scope of eternity.

That’s why Christianity is so radically different. It is the only worldview that posits and infinitely great satisfaction to your eternal desires.

Only the infinite God of the universe can satisfy us.

You were made to know and love God.

If you try to find your true satisfaction in something other than Jesus, then you are putting a burden on those things that only Jesus can bear. If you are a non-Christian and are feeling unsatisfied, it’s because you are trying to satisfy yourself will something other than Jesus.

Think about the first time you got over 100 likes on Instagram. Think about how good that felt.

I know that’s a funny example but you know it’s true. That satisfaction fades quickly and next time it takes even more likes to satisfy you.

Think about that pornographic image you looked at when no one else was around. It felt good in the moment but in 5 seconds you were left wanting more. And each time you had to up the ante more and more just to feel the same level of satisfaction. It never leaves you feeling satisfied.

Or think about the weight you put on your relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend. We can put so much earthly stock in them that we actually search for our satisfaction in them more than we do Jesus. We’re placing a weight on our significant other than no one but Jesus can bear. No matter how great our girlfriend or boyfriend is, they will always leave you feeling unsatisfied.

Any good and pleasurable thing that you try to satisfy yourself with in this life is but a ray of light when God is the sun. It’s is a stream when God is the ocean. Any amount of good and true pleasure in this life is but a shadowed reflection of the pleasure and satisfaction found in Jesus.

That’s why we feel so unsatisfied when we try to satisfy ourselves with anything other than Jesus.

Heaven is a perfect test case of this. In Heaven we will be perfectly free to sin and yet we never will because we will be so satisfied by Jesus.

We don’t come to Jesus to get fire insurance from Hell or a better version of earthly pleasure, we come to Jesus to get Jesus!

Heaven will be miserable

We assume Heaven will be this incredible place (which it will), but if we treasure something other than Jesus in this life, if Jesus isn’t our ultimate treasure in this life, and Jesus will be all we have in Heaven, what makes us think that we’ll enjoy Heaven?

If you’re not treasuring Jesus as your all tonight, what makes you think you’re ready for Heaven?

For many of us, when we seek Jesus, we are seeking Him to get something else out of Him rather than seeking Jesus for Jesus! How messed up is that? Many of us have been in relationships where people have used us to get something out of that and we rightly condemn that, but then why are we so ok with it when it comes to Jesus?

You may have grown up in church and if you’re honest, you find Jesus boring. I want to invite you to seek Jesus afresh tonight. We don’t even know the thousandth degree of Jesus’ glory and beauty.

When we get to Heaven we will feel as if we’ve only been told half the truth because Jesus will be so much greater than we could ever imagine.

Our job as Christians is to seek Jesus and to become more like him. We are meant to reflect His glory.

What’s the best way to prepare for the glory of Heaven and the glory of Christ?

The best way to prepare for glory is to gaze upon glory.

In Heaven, we will be so ravished by the love of Christ and so in awe of His beauty that we won’t want or need anything else.

We should all be able to pray the prayer of the Psalmist in Psalm 27:4 when he says:

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”- Psalm 27:4

There is only one way to Heaven

Share the Gospel and Plead With Students to Treasure Christ and Cling to the Hope of Heaven

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