Heaven Is it worth the wait Heaven Is

Heaven… Is it worth the wait?

Heaven: Is it worth the wait? “When I was a boy, the thought of Heaven used to frighten me more than the thought of Hell. I pictured Heaven as a place where time would be perpetual Sundays, with perpetual services from which there would be no escape. ” David Lloyd George

The Far Side by Gary Larson

Billy Joel, “Only the Good Die Young” And they say there's a heaven for those who will wait Some say it's better but I say it ain't I'd rather laugh with the sinners Than cry with the saints The sinners are much more fun You know that only the good die young

"For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse. " Isaac Asimov

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth – A “heavenly” city comes to earth “The ‘new Jerusalem’ …does not remain in a ‘heaven’ far off in space, but it comes down to the renewed earth …So heaven and earth, now separated, will then be merged: the new earth will also be heaven, since God will dwell there with his people. ” Anthony Hoekema

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth – A “heavenly” city comes to earth – A renewed earth

Skagit Valley tulip farms

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth – A “heavenly” city comes to earth – A renewed earth Indeed, the Lord will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody. Isaiah 51: 3

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth – A “heavenly” city comes to earth – A renewed earth “They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. ’” Ezekiel 36: 35

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth • Paradise: A stop along the way pairidaeza: Persian for an enclosed garden, park, or orchard

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth • Paradise: A stop along the way “The idea of a walled garden enclosing a carefully cultivated area of exquisite plants and animals, was the most powerful symbol of paradise available to the human imagination [of the biblical writers], mingling the images of the beauty of nature with the orderliness of human construction. ” Alister Mc. Grath

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth • Paradise: A stop along the way • A greater paradise “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God. ” Revelation 2: 7

Sheol (Hebrew) Hades (Greek) Abraham’s side; Sheol Paradise Presence of the Lord

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth • Paradise: A stop along the way • A greater paradise Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 2 Cor. 5: 6 -8; Phil. 1: 23

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth • Paradise: A stop along the way • A greater paradise I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago— whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man— whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. (2 Corinthians 12: 2 -4)

Is it worth the wait? • Heaven on Earth • Paradise: A stop along the way • A greater paradise Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1 Cor. 15: 51 -52; cf. 1 Thess. 4: 13 -18

Is it worth the wait? • • • Heaven on Earth Paradise: A stop along the way A greater paradise Millennial Kingdom: Davidic Paradise New heavens and new earth

Progressive Unveiling of Heaven 1. Sheol (OT) Paradise, waiting the 1 st coming of Messiah 2. Present Heaven, presence of the Lord Paradise, waiting and worshipping 3. Post-rapture Heaven Waiting and worshipping in resurrection bodies 4. Millennial Kingdom Fulfillment as we rule with Christ 5. New Heavens and New Earth Heaven on a renewed earth, our true home

Application 1. Do you know your destination? 2. Do you long for heaven? 3. Study and meditate on your heavenly home

Heaven resources Note: these are listed in order according to “ease” of reading, beginning with the easiest and moving toward the most “theological” • “Heaven : Better by Far”, J. Oswald Sanders, Discovery House Publishers, Distributed by Thomas Nelson, 1993 • “One Minute After You Die”, Erwin W. Lutzer, Moody Publishers, 1997. • “Heaven”, Randy C. Alcorn, Tyndale House Publishers, 2004. • “Death and the Afterlife”, Robert A. Morey, Bethany House, 1984.