Going up? - II

Have you ever heard someone refer to something as heaven before? For example, I was eating at a restaurant one time and I can remember hearing an older lady behind me exclaiming that the pie she had eaten was, “heavenly.” In passing the phrase may not matter at all, but the more I thought about it the more important it became.

People are very likely to compare enjoyable things on this earth to heaven. Ever heard of the phrase, “like heaven on earth?” No lie, I have heard people compare a clean bathroom to heaven before. As the world becomes more cultured our idea of heaven seems to become less. Heaven no longer means a paradise in the future, but a brief moment of comfort here.

Polls conducted asked people how they believed that they would get to heaven. The number one answer was, “be a good person.” The people surveyed were not all Christian, and not all of them believed in God. When they were asked what they believed heaven would be like the majority responded by saying, “Heaven will be a bunch of clouds that we can sit on while we talk to all of our family.”  The general consensus was that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. The real picture of heaven is painted with a completely different brush, by a completely different being.

Romans 3:20 – “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is knowledge of sin.”

Well, there went the traditional American way to heaven. Biblically, there is no deed that we can do in our flesh that is good enough to make our sins disappear. Being a good person by our standards is being a filthy rag by God’s.

Romans 3:23-24 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is Jesus Christ.”

If we can’t earn it then it has to be given to us. Grace is a gift un-earnable by any means. Imagine that your grandma had given you a present on Christmas. Then you immediately pull out your wallet and try and reimburse her for the gift. How would that make your grandma feel? When people believe that the path to heaven is paved with good deeds they keep pulling out their “good will wallet” and try to pay God for the gift of Jesus. However, there is no amount of “moral money” that can make up for the perfect gift we have been given. The only thing you can do is accept the gift and its ensuing redemption. 

Revelation 21:4 – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed.”

In North America death is the second biggest fear reported by studies. Death is viewed as a consequence of life, rather than a reward. When fear replaces faith we can no longer look forward to death. Have faith that that every pain and suffering you have ever had will be washed away when you die. Death isn’t this overwhelming accumulation of everything bad on this planet. Death is the first bite into a sweet dessert that you had to wait for. As a Christian, Death is a reward not a consequence.

Philippians 1:21 – “For me, to live is Christ and die is gain.”

Death may sound scary but the reality is that 10 out of 10 people will die. While we’re alive our whole goal should be to glorify Christ. Death is the reward that God gives us where we can be freed from the bondage of sin. So when you go and talk to someone about Christ the worst thing that could happen is that you die. If you die you are given the ultimate reward! Ifso-facto no matter what you do you WIN!