May 25, 2006

Highway to Hope

In 1989 Newsweek Magazine conducted a poll to find out what Americans believed about heaven. They found that 94% of those contacted believed that God exists; quite interesting in light of the late 1970's teaching that God is dead. They also found out that 77% of those people contacted believe that there is a heaven, and three-quarters of these persons rate their chances of getting there as good to excellent.

What the people believed about heaven varied greatly. For most, the attraction of heaven was the thought that they would be reunited with family members who have died. Some looked forward to seeing God. Most expected heaven to be a continuation of their earthly life, but without the wars, diseases and other inconveniences that cramp their present pursuit of happiness.

For those contacted, heaven tended to take on unique features in relationship to the circumstances that the people were experiencing. For those financially comfortable, heaven seemed to be like an endless vacation, with every amenity provided and every need met. For those living in war-torn areas, heaven will be a place where there is no more war; no more atrocities. For those financially destitute, heaven will be a place where there will be a safe comfortable place to sleep and warm-sufficient food to eat. For AIDS patients, heaven will be freedom from pain. For pediatric cancer patients at Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center, heaven will be "a place where they will no longer have to listen to Dad and Mom cry and fight, a place where they won't have to come to the hospital for chemotherapy treatments." For the very elderly, heaven is a "place of rest," because their bodies are tired…very tired.

Is this what heaven is? Is it merely a continuation of what we already have? Is it a change in our circumstances; a relief from that which we have endured on this earth? Or, is it something much different? One of the New Testament writers has told us that heaven is much different from this earth: "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."

In this second article about Our Eternal Destiny, I would like to speak with you about the Hope of Heaven and the Highway to Get There.

THE HOPE OF HEAVEN

We have the hope of heaven because this world is not our home. There are two Scripture passages that immediately come to mind as this consideration is begun. The first passage is 1 Peter 2:11, "dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul."

An alien is someone living in a culture that is not their own. He is there with the permission of that country's government; a permission that can be revoked at any time. The United States sends many aliens back to their home country, and many Americans have been deported as unwanted aliens from other countries. The apostle Peter was saying to his readers in this verse that we are not to get too comfortable with this world, and not to be doing the things that this world does because this is not our home! We are intruders in a foreign culture; intruders who have been allowed to live here for only a short period of time. One day, soon, our VISA will be up, and we will have to leave. God will take us home where we belong!

The second passage is Hebrews 13:14; "Here (on this earth) we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." The old Gospel chorus said it so clearly,

"This world is not my home, I'm just a passin' through,
My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door,
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore."

It is the knowledge and understanding of our short life-time on earth compared with eternity in heaven that enables us to make the decisions that God wants us to make and live the kind of life that he wants us to live.

We have the hope of heaven because heaven is not simply a dream; it is a reality. Webster's new World Dictionary defines hope as "a feeling that what is wanted will happen; desire accompanied by expectation." That is what we constantly see in our daily lives: "I hope that it won't rain today…I hope that I will get a couple of days off to paint the house…I hope I pass the test." None of these require that they be grounded in reality; there are merely desires that may or may not come true, for there is no absolute certainty upon which they depend.

Biblical hope, however, is much different, for it is grounded in reality. It is grounded in God who is true and whose promises are sure. The writer of Hebrews stated it this way, "God did this so that we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf"
(Heb 6:18-20a).

Jesus told his disciples in the Upper Room the night of his arrest, that he was going to His Father's house, to prepare a place for them and that he would return (John 14:1-6). That is exactly what he did; paying the price for our sin, becoming our high priest, and because of that we have the reality of our forgiveness and our eternal destiny.

In addition, we have the hope of heaven because it looks beyond daily life. Our hope of heaven is not some cold calculated confession to a creed; not simply words, a statement to which we give mental assent. It is a living hope. The apostle Peter said it this way,

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ form the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:3-5).

This is what we have; this is where we are headed, but the question remains, "how do we get there?" What is the means, the way, by which God brings us to our eternal home.?

THE HIGHWAY TO GET THERE

Mankind runs from the inevitable. People will do almost anything to extend their lives for one hour, one day, one month. That which is the great leveler of all mankind is feared by most of mankind. For some, the fear is because of the event itself; what they will experience, what they will feel. All of their control and efforts have come to an end, all their supports are gone, and they must go through this alone. For some the fear is because of what lies on the other side; what if there is life beyond this one? What if what they had heard was true? What if there is a heaven and a hell? What will they say…what will they do…where will they go? Much of mankind fears death and does everything possible to avoid it.

God, however, views death much differently than mankind. He said that death is a gift that belongs to us. The apostle Paul said that death was one of the possessions of the Christian:

"for all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God"
(1 Cor 3:21-23).

It is only by this gift, death, that we can have the gift of eternity. Rather than taking our wealth from us, death introduces us to the true riches of eternity. In exchange for poor health, death gives us a right to the Tree of Life that is for "the healing of the nations" (Rev 22:2). Death temporarily takes us from our friends to introduce us to the land in which there are no "good-byes." Man sees death as a monster; God sees it as a minister. Man sees death as a horror; God sees it as a highway to bring his children home.

God says that death is a departure. On the Mount of Transfiguration Moses and Elijah were speaking with Christ about His departure (exit), which he was soon to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem (Luke 9:31). Jesus has gone on ahead of us just as he said that he would. In the Upper Room Jesus told his disciples, "where I go, you cannot follow me now; but you shall follow later" (John 13:36). The day for their departure would also come. Both the apostle Peter (2 Peter 1:15) and Paul (2 Tim 4:6) spoke of their coming deaths as departures.

God says that death is a restful sleep. Sleep is such a beautiful picture of death, for while the body rests everything else continues to live, to exist, to function. We see this in Jesus' description of Lazarus' death; he said, "our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep" (John 11:11).  We also see it in Isaiah 57:1-2,

"The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death."

God says that death is collapsing of our tent. Paul describes it for us in
2 Cor 5:1,
 

"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Our body is like a tent where our spirit dwells; a temporary structure. The tent is OK for a short time but not as a permanent residence. Storms come and wreak great damage to the tents; repairs are needed, but eventually they must be replaced. These bodies, these tents that we live in, certainly need repair, a seam to be sown, a hole to be patched, a new piece of fabric here and there. But eventually repair and patching are no longer enough. The tent is collapsed, no longer usable and death comes! A tent reminds us that we are only travelers on this earth; en route to our final destination. Someone wisely once said of life, "we should not drive our stakes in too deeply, for we are leaving in the morning."

God speaks of death as the sailing of a ship. The apostle Paul said in
Philippians 1:23,

"I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and to be with Christ, for that is much better." The word "depart" in this verse conveys the idea of loosing an anchor.

Whether we are at sea, with the sea anchors helping us face the fierce gales, or anchored in the safety of the harbor, our anchor is the Lord Jesus Christ. But then, in God's special time, our ship will sail from sight, and those on this shore will say, "there she goes." Immediately on the other shore the cry will ring out, "here she comes."

God speaks of death as going home. Jesus refers to this in John 14:2-3,

"In my Father's house are many dwelling places. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

The apostle Paul writes, "to be absent from this body is to be at home with the Lord" (2 Cor 5:6-8). Wherever one may travel during the course of a week or month, it is always good to come back home. The old adage is so true: "be it ever so humble, there's no place like home". Dying is simply God taking our hand, guiding and protecting us along the way and taking us home to be with him.

CONCLUSION

This world is not all that there is. It is merely an instant in time that flees as quickly as it begins. Before us lies an eternity; where mankind will live forever in Hell or in Heaven. If we have repented of our sin and trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, our eternal home will be heaven. If we have not repented of our sin and trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, our eternal dwelling will be Hell. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36). The Highway to both of these is death; the physical death of our bodies.

Go to Part I
of this series