To Be Determined 7/12/15
Revelation 21-22:6, John
14:1-14
Ask the congregation:
Where have you seen heaven on earth?
Today’s sermon is about
heaven. It is a one week break from our
Summer Sermon Series Praise the Lord with Symbols. I had a nice conversation with one of you and
this topic was on your mind. Heaven is
our future because of the grace of the Lord.
So, in the leisurely pace of summer, and also in an ever increasing
hopeless world, let us place our minds square before the reason for our
hope. The Bible says, “everyone who has in them the hope of
Christ’s coming, purifies themselves, just as they are pure” (I John 3:3)
Today’s sermon is about what
the Bible says about heaven. You need to
throw away the medieval images of individuals on their own clouds playing their
own harp. This is not our destiny
according to Scripture.
There are four main things we
will explore today:
1.
an overview of Heaven
from Genesis 1—Revelation 19.
2.
The consummation
of human history: the judgment
(Revelation 20)
3.
The New Heavens
and New Earth, as described in Revelation 21-22
4.
The call before
us from heaven
Our overview of heaven will
take us through the Creation Story, Jewish understanding of the afterlife, the
first advent of Christ, and the call upon our lives to follow Jesus.
The Creation Story
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth. One of the basic principles of heaven is that
it is a part of God’s creation. God
is. God is eternal. That which is made is not eternal. Yet humankind has a special place in the
creation. God said “let us make man in our image, in our likeness”. Male and female are created, and humankind
was made in the image of God. “God blessed them and said to them, ‘be
fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of
the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Christian theologians find fascination that
God said “let us”, and see the idea of community deeply embedded in the
creation and human story. God’s plan,
from the beginning, is for humans to reflect the image of God, to be in
community, and to be caretakers of the earth.
Jewish Understanding of the Afterlife
Over the generations, Jewish
hope looks to the coming of the promised Messiah. The Messiah will be sent from God to overcome
all the wrong in the world, and rule with justice. This Messiah will make Jerusalem
Heaven is referenced over a
hundred times in the Hebrew Scripture.
It is the place where God dwells (with the Temple
Hebrew Scriptures also affirm
the idea of resurrection. Resurrection
was a common idea throughout religion and history: an old, core foundation of
the story of life.
The First Advent of Christ
Jesus comes from God to be
and do the will of God the Father. Jesus
lives perfectly, full of grace and truth.
He is the way, the truth and the life. He rejects the will of the crowds to become a
political leader, shocking some who had become convinced that the Messiah would
have to overthrow the power of Rome
The Call to Follow Jesus
As Christ’s followers, our
lives take on his story. We are called
to become like him, which includes dying to ourselves, and having God’s Spirit
live within us. We are to let Christ’s
power be displayed in our words and actions.
We are to do God’s will, not our own.
As his followers, we find fellowship (togetherness) with other
believers. We find community for the
journey of life. Our bodies will also
one day rise from the dead, and enter everlasting life.
You might be saying: I know these things. I’ve heard this before, but what does it have
to do with Heaven? The truth is: if heaven is for real, and what Scripture
says about it is true: it will be
forever. Our earthly lives are but a
blink, a snap of the fingers, here and gone.
Yet, whatever the span is, is enough time to shape our lives for what
will really last. God’s plan is for us
to live forever. Will we accept that
plan? I hope that decision for you is
not To Be Determined.
The second main thing I want
to say today is about the Consummation of
Human History: the Judgment.
The Scripture gives evidence
that those who die before Christ’s second return experience two images: Paradise and
rest. But both images are temporal. After all, Revelation speaks about a New
heaven. It seems to replace the current
version. History and creation will be
transformed by the power of God, not by our own power or goodness, and
certainly not by our own evolution.
Immediately before our
morning reading about heaven is Revelation 20, which speaks of the final
judgment. At that final judgment, the
dead will be raised, and join the living to stand before the presence of
God. They will give account of their
lives. You and I will give account of
our lives. Scripture speaks of three
main entities that will be judged: every
moral creature, cosmic forces, and the creation itself.
From a biblical perspective,
every human has one life, which is followed by our standing before God. We are responsible for all of the life given
to us, and in a post-resurrection world, we are responsible for how we have
responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Have we joined in making Jesus known as Lord and Savior? We will be rewarded according to our
works. The Bible clearly says that it is
faith in Christ, not our works, that allows us to live forever. The Judgment is about giving account of what
we’ve done for the glory of God, and our works validating our belief. We will be rewarded according to our
deeds. This is good news for all of
us: every word, every deed, can give God
glory. This is good news for all of
us: we can make our whole life about
giving glory to God. By putting God first
now, we judge ourselves through our attempts to live a holy and pleasing life
before God, so that God’s pronouncement, which will be clear and decisive,
speaks to what we’ve already built for him.
In researching the final
judgment, I want to offer a few thoughts from Stanley Grenz in his thorough and
insightful book Theology for the Community of God.
1.
The creation
needs to be judged because decay exists, and this was not God’s intent for the
creation. The creation longs to be
liberated, according to Paul in Romans 8, and God’s judgment will liberate the
creation (pg. 816)
2.
Humans need
judgment. We were created for community,
and we have divided ourselves from God, neighbor and earth. Judgment will ultimately rescue us from
ourselves, and bring us back to God’s true will for us.
3.
All humankind
will be judged by their conformity to the will of God. (820) The
judgment “will indicate the extent to which our individual histories reflect
and incorporate the meaning of God’s history”.
4.
Hell is not the
place where all the rebels get to hang out and party. What a cosmic deception straight from the
devil. Hell is isolation. It is the absence of community. Originally reserved for the devil and his
minions, people who choose hell choose everything that they weren’t created
for: death, not life, isolation, not
community, distance, not closeness.
5.
“Judgment is the Spirit’s
radical perfecting of the community we now share” (845). There is a sense in which we experience
heaven on earth. There is strong
biblical evidence that we will know each other, and enjoy each other in the
life to come, in a never-ending existence.
But to get there from here, we have to go through judgment. Judgment is God’s decisive act against all
sin and wrongdoing, so that goodness and life return to their place as the
norm.
What I’ve shared so far is necessary to help us think of heaven. Heaven is the presence of God in its fullest expression. After human history, with its breakthrough by Jesus Christ, and after the consummation of history in the final judgment, we then see the new reality: the true and full expression of everlasting life. In an interesting use of words, we see the New Heaven and the New earth “for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away”.
You heard Revelation read. This particular chapter is the culmination of John’s vision, but also is the ending of Holy Scripture, with only a brief epilogue following these delightful words.
Our third goal today is to offer a few observations from the new heavens and the new earth.
·
Heaven is “seen”
by John. It isn’t just spiritual. It isn’t just mental. It exists.
·
The absence of
the sea in the new heavens seems to imply that all which separates will not be
part of that great day.
·
Heaven comes to
earth. God dwells on earth with his
people. Most people miss this.
·
The future is
brilliant—literally. We won’t need
natural light.
·
Heaven is built
upon human history: The 12 tribes and
Apostles are given special place on that day.
·
The most valued
elements of earth are but things used for walls and streets and entry ways. We walk on the gold, histories most sought
after element.
·
Nations still
exist in this vision, only, existing for their true intent of blessing others
and God.
·
Heaven has the
river, trees, fruits, leaves. Creation
isn’t something to be forgotten. It is
good and will endure because God made it.
·
There is the
perfect balance of city and creation in the vision
·
There will be no
more curse. A quick side note: I’ve heard from several people over the years
about how, or why, would we want to live forever. What will we do? No more curse. Think of all that you love, or will come to
love, without any of the effects of sin.
·
God’s presence
will rule.
·
God’s servants
will reign forever. There is work to be
done on that great day, freed from the power of sin, we will then do what God
wants done.
The final part of today’s
sermon is The call before us from heaven.
Revelation invites us to
thirst for God, now. We are called to
overcome evil, now. We are to move away
from all that leads to the second death, the death of the spirit, now. In doing so, we see little glimpses and have
brief moments of heaven on earth. We
come to taste and feel and see the real future.
Paul writes: Now we see dimly,
then we shall see face to face.
In closing, a quote from G.C.
Berkouwer, from his book The Return of Christ
“The new earth is never a
strange and futuristic fantasy, but a mystery that penetrates into this
existence and will make itself manifest there, where steadfast love and
faithfulness meet, where peace and righteousness kiss each other, and where the
lines that seem blurred to us now will come clearly into focus.”
In other words, To be
determined, but with early results in, the future looks, and is, good!
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