The Hope of Heaven
Summer Growth Series 07/15/2007 AM
The Hope of Heaven
ME: Hello, and welcome to New Life. We are in a summer growth series. That means that we are going to be dealing with some topics during the next few weeks that are going to be centered on Bible doctrines and will probable include more in-depth teaching.
The first topic that we cover was called sanctification or holiness. Last week we talked about what happens when you die. As a believer or an unbeliever there are several things that happen after you die before you get to your final destination. So I started walking you through the process of what the Bible says will happen.
The first step is death. Death is the separation of the spirit and the body. The second step is called the Intermediate State. This is the time between death and the resurrection of the body. This intermediate state is not with the body. So in this intermediate period those who have died in Christ are present with Him in their spirits, but they have not experienced the final resurrection which takes us to the rapture.
The rapture is a meeting in the air with the Lord. Believers will both come with Christ from heaven in their spirits and be raised from the dead in their bodies. The last day is portrayed as a time when the spirits of the returning saints are reunited with their resurrected bodies. Those who are in Christ will be caught up together with them in the air. That takes us to the next step which is called the judgments. Believers will be judged at the “Judgment Seat of Christ” and nonbelievers will be judged at the “Great White Throne Judgment.” Two separate judgments, two separate groups of people, one judge.
After our judgment each one of us will spend eternity in either one or two places: heaven or hell. Today we are going to talk about heaven.
WE: There are a lot of questions about heaven. Is it real? If it is real, then how do I get there?
What is it going to be like? Watch this man on the street interview where people answer these questions. What we do know is it; if you are a believer heaven will be your eternal reward, your eternal home. So let’s see what else the Bible has to say about heaven.
GOD: The Bible teaches that there are three heavens. Turn to 2 Corinthians 12: 1-4. The first heaven is the atmospheric heaven. The heaven immediately above and surrounding the earth. The second heaven is the planetary heaven or the starry heaven. The third heaven is God’s dwelling place and is also called paradise. This is the present dwelling place of all believers who have died and gone to heaven.
Heaven is the dwelling place of God and the elect angels. It is an actual place. It was created by God and He is preparing a place for you in it. John 14:1-4
14 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going." NIV
The Bible also teaches us that we will spend eternity on a new heaven and a new earth. The old heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire.
2 Peter 3:10-13
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. NIV
Now go to Revelation 21. This book is a description of the end time things God showed to John. Even John himself seemed to have a hard time describing everything he saw and heard with human language. Chapters 21 and 22 give us some indication of what the new heaven and new earth will be like:
There will be no sea. Rev. 21:1 About 70 percent of the planet is covered in ocean. Ninety-eight percent of the water on the planet is in the oceans.
There will be a new Jerusalem. Rev. 21: 2
This city will be the Tabernacle of God, God’s dwelling place with His redeemed people. Rev. 21:3
There will be no tears, sorrow or pain there. Rev. 21: 4
There will be no more death. Rev. 21: 4
The city will be filled with God’s glory and presence. Rev. 21: 10-21.
There will be no sun or moon for God’s glory is the light of the city. Rev. 21: 23-26
No unrighteous or unholy person shall ever enter this city. Rev. 21: 27
To sum it up, heaven will be a place of surpassing beauty and light, a place of rest, there will be fullness of knowledge, it will be filled with joy. It will include a life of service, a life of abundance, a life of glory, and a life of worship and it will never end because the power of sin will have been broken through the victorious return of Jesus Christ.
YOU: What does this mean to you? It means you need to be ready, you need to be prepared. He has promised us that He has prepared a place for us and that He is coming back to get us. How do you get ready? John 3: 16 says that God so loved the world that He gave. What do need to know to become a Christian? You need to know that God loved and that God gave. The verse goes on to say that He gave His only Son to die for you. What do they need to do? Two words. Believe in then receive.
WE: If you will accept the price that Jesus Christ paid for you your sins, live a holy and vigilant life then you cast know that there is a heaven and that you will spend eternity there with God. You can live a life of hope. You can live a life of peace. You can live a life of faith. You don’t have to fear death because as a believer to die is to be with the Lord. That is our future and heaven is our blessed hope.