I watched "A Little Bit of Heaven" last night which, for those who haven't seen it, is about Marley (Kate Hudson) finding out she is terminally ill and the process, by which, she restores relationships and makes peace with a life lived to the fullest, although she is very young. It was very touching and a real tear-jerker because one cannot help but think how many times this scenario is played out in real life. It hits very close to home with almost everyone these days who has lost someone they love to a fatal disease.
But,
I could not get over a miserable recurring idea in the plot that "heaven" isn't really a place, but rather a stepping out of time into a large body of water floating for eternity. The image they displayed in this 'encounter' with the afterlife was one floating in a vast body of dark water alone. I don't know about anyone else, but this idea is so disturbing that I wonder if people actually believe its veracity. That would not put me at ease of any fear of death, hypothetically speaking, if I didn't have a faith there was a heaven. In fact, it would strike an overwhelming panic in me to think I would spend eternity in the dead weight, loneliness, and silence of aimlessly floating throughout space.
THANK GOD we have more to hope for than this!
If you don't believe in heaven or hell, allow me to share a few scriptures from the most popular book of all time:
WHAT WILL WE DO IN HEAVEN?
Matthew 18:10 We Will Be Close to God
The Message (MSG)
Watch that you don't treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don't you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?
1 Corinthians 2:9 Our Minds Cannot Fathom Heaven
The Message (MSG)
The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That's why we have this Scripture text:
No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.
John 14:2-4 We Will Live in Community
The Message (MSG)
There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live.
Revelation 5:9-13 People From Every Tribe and Tongue and Nation Will Be There
New King James Version (NKJV)
And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
Revelation 21:4 No Death or Weeping
New King James Version (NKJV)
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.
Philippians 3:20-21 God Will Transform our Bodies
The Message (MSG)
But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF HEAVEN
Revelation 22:1-5 River of Life Yielding Fruit
New King James Version (NKJV)
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Revelation 21:10-21 A Beautiful City of Light
The Message (MSG)
The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light. She had a wall majestic and high with twelve gates. At each gate stood an Angel, and on the gates were inscribed the names of the Twelve Tribes of the sons of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, three gates on the west. The wall was set on twelve foundations, the names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb inscribed on them.
The Angel speaking with me had a gold measuring stick to measure the City, its gates, and its wall. The City was laid out in a perfect square. He measured the City with the measuring stick: twelve thousand stadia, its length, width, and height all equal. Using the standard measure, the Angel measured the thickness of its wall: 144 cubits. The wall was jasper, the color of Glory, and the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. The foundations of the City walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate a single pearl.
The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn't need sun or moon for light. God's Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth's kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won't be any night. They'll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in.
THERE WILL BE ANIMALS
Isaiah 11:6-7
The Message (MSG)
The wolf will romp with the lamb,
the leopard sleep with the kid.
Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,
and a little child will tend them.
Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,
their calves and cubs grow up together,
and the lion eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,
the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
on my holy mountain.
The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.
Revelation 19:11
The Message (MSG)
Then I saw Heaven open wide—and oh! a white horse and its Rider. The Rider, named Faithful and True, judges and makes war in pure righteousness. His eyes are a blaze of fire, on his head many crowns. He has a Name inscribed that's known only to himself. He is dressed in a robe soaked with blood, and he is addressed as "Word of God." The armies of Heaven, mounted on white horses and dressed in dazzling white linen, follow him. A sharp sword comes out of his mouth so he can subdue the nations, then rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the raging wrath of God, the Sovereign-Strong. On his robe and thigh is written, King of kings, Lord of lords.
FIRST, YOU MUST BELIEVE...
Romans 3:23
New King James Version (NKJV)
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
AND...
Ephesians 2:8
New King James Version (NKJV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment