Wanting Heaven
“Jesus is coming back by 2025, y’all!”
Gathered outside in the parking lot of the nearby public school’s gymnasium, we would always pray before going two-by-two to knock on doors to share the good news. This was an impoverished part of the city. We would come back to that same place after a couple of hours and recount what we saw God do. Most people we shared with received prayer and heard the Gospel. A few times we were cursed out and rejected, although it was way less than you would think.
This time of outreach together was very life-giving. After hearing that you should spread the Word of God your entire life, it was so satisfying to finally have brothers and sisters to actually do it with. Sometimes a pair would be significantly late for the debriefing time, and that often meant there was someone who put their faith in Jesus for the first time and got baptized. That parking lot was also a great place to share vision like this: Jesus is coming back! It was 2016.
This was not at all a prediction of the rapture or anything like that. It was a simple statement of fact. He will return. We were seeing God move in ways we only thought possible abroad. We were seeing an amazing faithfulness of His Bride. We had multiplication in view: Instead of a handful of prolific evangelists sharing with many, every believer would share with a handful of lost people. Understandably, a few of those vision casters got overzealous and threw out the number 2025. Here at the end of this year, it looks like they might be wrong. However, for the first time, I started to believe that I could see our Lord’s return happen in my lifetime because I learned that the Great Commission will be completed.
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” – Matthew 24:14
All that needs to happen before the end comes is for all nations to effectively hear the Gospel. Jesus deserves glory from every ethnic group. He will get it. I also started to meditate on the idea that as I “look forward to the day of God,” I could “speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:12). What a bizarre and amazing thought! Our involvement could somehow affect when Christ returns. Maybe He has been delaying His return because His Church has been unfaithful to complete His mission. With heaven feeling more imminent than ever, I ran into a problem internally. I didn’t want heaven.
Instead, I wanted to be married and have kids. I wanted to make money, to be successful, to invent something, to write, to make an album of my own songs … and a million other things. I still want these things. In part, these are good desires, especially to be married and to have a family. I had an older gentleman as a Bible teacher in high school who remarked that Christians often said, “I want Jesus to come back, but I want to be married first.” Understandably so. Sex and romance are powerful forces that have kept humanity going for thousands of years, by God’s design – the desires for them are not so easily set aside. Yet, longing primarily for earthly goods like these reveals an underlying mistrust of what God has planned for us as Christians. C.S. Lewis in Miracles gives a scenario that is helpful: A child innocently asks the question “What is sex?” and his parent gives an age-appropriate response; the child then asks, “Can you eat chocolates while doing it?”
“In vain would you tell him that the reason why lovers in their carnal raptures don't bother about chocolates is that they have something better to think of.”
The greatest pleasure he’s experienced is chocolates, so how could he understand the pleasures of married life? The greatest pleasures we’ve experienced are carnal raptures, so how could we understand heavenly pleasures forevermore? For all of us, and especially for single men and women, this can be a great comfort: We should not fear missing out. It is not a case of pleasures now or never, but rather it is a case of pleasures now or greater pleasures forevermore. God is not holding back.
Here is where Satan can get a foothold if we’re not careful. We still believe deep down that heaven will be boring. If you only think that you will have a floating spirit with wings, sit on clouds, and day after day play the harp, you might think heaven could get boring. This is exactly what Satan wants us to believe. At the same time that I started to sense this, I found Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven, and this was one of his main points. I highly recommend it. These default cultural lies that we picked up from cartoons and misinformed people are not to be trusted, but the Scriptures point to a true version of heaven that is tangible and deeper.
Heaven’s Tangibility
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” – Philippians 3:20-21
Heaven is much more relatable and tangible than you thought, because you will have a body – a real physical body with flesh and bones. Our bodies will be more glorious than they are currently because they will be like Jesus’s. When He was raised from the dead, He could do the normal things from His earlier days: walk, eat food, touch, talk, etc. But amazingly, He could also teleport or walk through walls, disguise Himself, and fly. Imagine the pranks we’ll play on our loved ones and friends. Imagine the ability to explore different worlds. The adventure of Star Trek and Star Wars and the magic of Harry Potter will pale in comparison to what heaven will be like.
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.” – Romans 6:5
The boy who is familiar with chocolates can imagine what even greater chocolates could taste like: sweeter, richer, more butter. In the same way, as we are familiar with earthly life and our physical bodies, we can imagine what greater bodies will be like. There’s more to say on all this, but the gist is that on the very last day, for those of us who have died, our old bones and dust will be raised up and put back together, and we will be made new. We will be raised imperishable, and our mortality will be given the clothing of immortality (see 1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
Heaven’s Everlasting Joy
In a two-year stretch, it’s possible to land a new job or promotion, get married, make love to your spouse for the first time, go on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, hug your newborn, get a new car, and enjoy time with people around the holidays. You are on top of the world. After all, God made this world to be very good. Then later, your friend dies, a family member’s marriage falls apart and they get divorced, your grandmother has a stroke, you get laid off, and your dad gets cancer. This world can feel so incredible at times, but only in short spurts. These joys don’t last very long before you come crashing back to earth. Unfortunately, these sorrows actually increase as you get older. We will watch more and more loved ones get sick and die. We will watch more friends sin grievously and get divorced. This earth cannot produce lasting joy because our hearts long for eternity while death is still a reality. Death is still a reality because sin has not been eradicated. Thank God that it won’t be this way forever, and “forever” won’t be this way at all. Heaven is a place where joy is everlasting, and holiness and purity abound.
“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – Revelation 21:2-4
Heaven starts out with a beautiful wedding that leads to all of us believers starting our new lives with God. He will be our perfect, intimate comforter regarding former things, and He will make sure that those evil things no longer come to pass.
“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” – Revelation 21:22-27
Since this is a highly symbolic book, I think it is right to interpret the lack of sun and moon as an emphasis on how there will be no darkness or evil in the world. The open gate is a symbol of how we will be eternally safe and secure. It will be glorious as kings and countries worship the King of kings. As a college football fan, I like to imagine worship being like some hyped-up crowds of fans rocking stadiums at full volume. Instead of saying “Texas! Fight!” we will all be shouting “Jesus! King!” This will be a regular occurrence. All this will last for all of eternity.
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.” – Revelation 22:1-3
These scenes bring in the Tree of Life from Genesis and the river from Ezekiel to point to how all nations, all people groups, and all lands will be healed by the full arrival of the new Kingdom. Serving God will be so much fun! He is our good Father who gives us good gifts! Soon we will see Him face to face.
Heaven’s Ushers
The depth of the realities of heaven from Revelation and other Scriptures can be mined for ages. The symbolism therein is not exhaustively detailed, so it is our job to get better at imagining the good of what heaven will be and to actively stir our affection for it.
Not only should we long for heaven, but we should actively work toward its coming. As Jesus said early in His ministry, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! We are to be its ushers. We can do this by inviting others into the Kingdom and doing good.
As Jesus said regarding the shrewd manager, “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (Luke 16:9). Peter says God does not want anyone to perish but for everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We need to keep sharing this good news and inviting people to receive forgiveness of sin through repentance because Jesus will get more glory, we will have more friends, eat more barbecue, and enjoy more dance parties in heaven together. In the same vein, we need to keep doing good because we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” – Revelation 22:12
If we don’t long for heaven more than the earthly goods we hope for, then our spirit is misaligned with God’s Spirit.
“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” – Revelation 22:17
The Great Commission is ours to complete, and we have much good to look forward to.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.