We all have our lists. What list is that? Its the "Heaven would not be heaven without _____" list. This is the list that every Christian has as we look around the world and then think, "You know, having God around will be pretty cool and all but I don't think I can be eternally joyful without this thing that I have right now". I've heard some pretty amusing ones in my time and I have some of my own. Heaven would not be heaven without...
1. McDonalds fries. And there, they will always be perfectly salted, not left to the whim of the store manager.
2. The ability to get around the world in minutes, presumably by flying. How can we enjoy the beauty of a new heaven and a new earth without being able to get around on a whim? I imagine grabbing somebody's hand, saying "Hey, lets go see a sunset on a canyon", jumping up into the air and landing after a pleasant jaunt through the skies just on time to see it.
3. Which reminds me, sunsets. Or something in the sky kind of like it. If there is no night, and no light apart from God, there is no sunset. But God can put colors in the sky if he wants. And thats what I want.
4. Healing powers like Wolverine from the X-Men. I mean we will have immortal bodies. Its gotta be something like that.
5. Lightsabers. With man's wisdom, many things are impossible. With God's wisdom, nothing is impossible. Besides, Genesis 3:24 said a cherubim had a flaming sword. The Hebrew word there means to burn, blaze, scorch, kindle, blaze up, flame (not kidding, look it up). Since they did not have Star Wars then, they didn't know how else to describe it. If they had known, the Bible would say lightsaber. Guaranteed.
The truth is, we don't really know what to expect of heaven. We get these images of wings and harps and clouds and golden streets from culture and think..."thats kinda boring..." and we desperately search for what will fulfill our desires for an eternal home. The thing is, what we think about where we are going can be either incredibly motivating or awfully deflating. We desperately want to have an idea of where we are going so that we know we are making the right choice by choosing God now. We want to know if giving up the pleasures of this world is worth it and our hearts need constant convincing.
"'But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever." Jeremiah 17:24-25
Jeremiah is a book that is mostly full of God's judgement on Israel. He lists their offenses often in the book and the judgment God sends is clearly deserved. Here is the interesting thing. This language that Jeremiah uses is parralell language to the descriptions of heaven in Isaiah 60 and Revelation 21 ("the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it"). We know that heaven is a guarantee. We know that Jerusalem will become what is promised in Jeremiah whether the nation obeys at this time or not. God will not break his covenant. And yet he makes this conditional statement, "if you listen to me...".
What I think God is trying to say here is that if we listen and obey him, he will give us a taste of heaven while we are here on earth. Like so many of his other promises, these blessings are promises of double fulfillment, partial fulfillment now and complete fulfillment later.
I am desperately thirsty. Though the promise of heaven is alluring and the reward there tantalizing, it sometimes is not enough to keep me from temptation. This life may be short in view of eternity but our journies are long. We constantly must fight temptations and worldly promises and it so often saps our strength. We need something more than a future blessing and future grace. The amazing thing is, God gives that to us. He doesn't have to but he knows us, he knows our hearts. He knows that we are creatures of desire; he made us that way. He is gracious and wants us near him so he gives, as it is in his nature to give. He does make it conditional though, knowing that the one who obeys him will glorify him as he deserves for his grace, and the one who does not obey will not testify to his goodness.
What does this taste of heaven look like? Well what I know of heaven is this. We will have no need. We will have no want. God will be with us. We will be filled with joy and glorify him for eternity. Whatever that looks like on this earth, I want that. I want to be at peace about putting food on my table because God has provided. I want to get to the point where I want nothing, not because I have bought everything I want but because I am utterly content with what God has graciously given. This thirst, God has promised to fulfill if I obey, so I will obey, knowing that I will experience something amazing here, and knowing that that amazement will be magified infinitely on the other side of eternity.
And what could be more amazing than holding a lightsaber in my hand some day? Or at least walking by some cherubim holding one. Yup, going to stick by that. Its in the Bible.
"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack." Psalm 34:8-9
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