Author: TimMaynard

BEYOND – Day 17

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain writes of an encounter between the Christian spinster, Miss Watson lecturing Huck about the error of his fun loving spirit. According to Huck, “She went on and told me all about the good place. She said all a body would have to do there was go around all day long with a harp and sing, forever and ever. So I didn’t think much of it….  I asked her if she reckoned Tom Sawyer would go there, and she said not by a considerable sight. I was glad about that, because I wanted him and me to be together.”

Clemens and his character Huck Finn, unfortunately entertained a notion about our Christian picture of Heaven that is far more commonplace than we might imagine… even today. It is a picture we must refocus, first inside ourselves and then in how we communicate it to a lost world.

Our world needs a new vision to live for, a Heaven to anticipate, an end to life that is truly not an end. Just this morning, I read that the CDC has released statistics showing an alarming an unexplained increase in suicide among white, middle-aged Americans. We need hope that is robust and sturdy for this kind of world!

In his book simply entitled Heaven, author Peter Kreeft offers this critique:

Our pictures of Heaven simply do not move us… it is… our pictures of Heaven and of God that most potently threaten our faith today. Our pictures of Heaven are dull, platitudinous, syrupy; therefore so is our faith, our hope, and our love of Heaven.

It is surely a satanic triumph of the first order to have taken the fascination out of a doctrine that must either be a fascinating fact or a fascinating lie…  If it’s dull, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s a dull truth or a dull lie. Dullness, no doubt, is the strongest enemy of faith.

Sadly, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) himself died believing this “dull, platitudinous, and syrupy” picture of the afterlife that left him cold and wanting none of it.

And if that’s what I believed, I could understand why.


FOR MEMORIZATION: You have come to Mt Zion….and thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful celebration…..” Hebrews 12:22

FOR REFLECTION: If you’re low on hope today, meditate upon your heavenly home. God wants us to take time to do just that… and refill our hope as we do.

BEYOND – Day 16

Many of our questions about Heaven fall into categories that are very speculative. “Will my pet be with me in Heaven? It wouldn’t be Heaven if (Fill Your Pet’s Name in Here) isn’t there with me.” Don’t know. It would partially be necessary for animals to have eternal spirits which the Bible does not teach. If they did, we should never eat them! But then we know there will at least be a horse. Jesus will return riding a white one! And what about your neighbor’s teen-aged son who has a 12 foot boa constrictor he keeps as a pet in his bedroom? Should Slinky the Snake get to go since Fluffy the Kitty does?

You see how ridiculously the reasoning could go on. I know it’s an important subject to many on an emotional level. The Bible seems to be silent on the answer. And what about Starbucks? Can it really be Heaven without really pricey coffee to drink during fellowship time? (And yes, I was actually asked that once).

For some, our thinking about and envisioning of Heaven is limited to blowing up the things we enjoy on earth to eternal proportions. In other words, if you really love to eat, you get to eat all you want and not gain weight. If you like to drink, the drinks flow freely in Heaven. You get the point: any pleasure you knew on earth gets magnified exponentially in intensity times eternity.

And yet we forget something important. While the joys of earth are in large measure, “good and perfect gifts,” that have come from the hand and heart of a loving Father, they can only hint at a larger but probably very different experience awaiting us in Heaven. There is continuity but also disconnect from life in the physical world.

This is what Paul taught us. If you can imagine it then it isn’t even close! Even the picture of the New Jerusalem is a hint at the reality but describing it strains human language. To literalize that description is to minimize the reality.

A greater existence awaits us in Heaven. What it will be we truly can’t even imagine!


FOR MEMORIZATION: Eye has not seen, ear has not heard nor has it entered the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love him.   1 Corinthians 2:9

FOR REFLECTION: Are your mental images of heaven too “earthbound”? As you meditate on what the Bible reveals to us, ask God to help you see what He wants you to see about your eternal home.

BEYOND – Day 15

So where exactly is Heaven? Is it “up there” somewhere or “out there” in a place we cannot reach? Or is it a place at all… maybe just a “state of mind” or another dimension of reality we don’t know how to think about.

One thing we know for sure about Heaven: it is a literal place. When Jesus said, “I am going to prepare a place for you,” the translators, led by the Holy Spirit, inserted the Greek word “topos” to translate what Jesus was talking about.

It is a literal place. A point of geographical existence. “Topos” emphasizes that reality. Revelation 21-22 point to the concrete reality of the “heavenly city” with dimensions such as a wall that is 740,000 stories tall. The city can literally be broken into square feet, occupying a space half the size of the United States. That’s a big city and yet still the Bible says, “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

So even though it is literal and we are given specific dimensions and building materials, we are still only seeing a pale reflection of the reality in Revelation. We are not going to spend eternity in a formless, cloudy void. We will be in a real place, with real people around us.

It is a literal place. It is a place where the glory of God lights the world day and night with His Presence. It is more real and more enduring than anything else we can know today.

And it is a joyful, festive place. Hebrews 12:22-24 says,

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

It will be a joyful, festive city… filled with living souls and angels, and at the center of it all… Jesus Christ Himself. We are looking for a city… a country… and a kingdom who’s builder is God Himself. Where ever it will be, it will be real… and it will be glorious.

You won’t want to miss it!


FOR MEMORIZATION: “But you have come to Mt Zion, to the city of the living God….”  Hebrews 12:22

FOR REFLECTION: Who have you recently invited to join you in that city?

BEYOND – Day 14

In the Middle East, a fable is told of a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to the marketplace on an errand. While the servant was there, he turned a corner and unexpectedly encountered the specter of Death.

Terrified at the look on the dark figure’s face as it looked at him, he hurried home and told his master what had happened. He asked for his fastest horse so he could get as far away from Death as possible… a horse that could run all the way to Sumeria.

The master granted his request and later that day the merchant himself encountered the dark specter in the marketplace. “Why did you startle my servant early this morning?” the master asked. “I didn’t intend to startle your servant… it was he who startled me! I was surprised to see your servant this morning because I had an appointment with him tonight… in Sumeria.”

The Bible makes it clear. “It is appointed unto man once to die… and then comes the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) There will be no second chance to change our minds… as we die so shall we be… forever.

As I finish this article, the news has just released a report that the musician, Prince has died at age 57. For some, that age may seem too old for a man to wear makeup and garish clothing. But then again there’s Alice Cooper. But Prince certainly didn’t die at an old age. Actually 57 is pretty young for a person to pass away. Prince died in an elevator in his home… little knowing that the last thing he would do in life was to watch those doors close on his life. I don’t know what Prince believed. I hope he was ready for the appointment.

For the one who has trusted Christ as Savior, the transition from this life to eternity will be no more difficult than walking from one room of your house into the next. But for the one who rejected Christ… who lived the entirety of their life impenitently, without repentance… eternal punishment awaits.

One appointment. For every person. As one friendly undertaker used to sign on all of his correspondence, “Eventually Yours.” Death will come one day for us all. And when it comes, make sure your appointment leads you to a glorious eternity!


FOR MEMORIZATION: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.   Romans 6:23

FOR REFLECTION: If you have never repented and trusted Christ, pray a prayer like this:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I know I have sinned against You and Your Holiness. I turn from my disobedience and ask Jesus Christ to enter my life and occupy the throne of my heart. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying in my place and for my sin. I bow before You as my Savior.”

Now follow Jesus. Find a body of believers to worship with. God has given you new life that is ETERNAL! Rejoice in that always.

BEYOND – Day 13

Browsing the internet for volumes about Heaven and the afterlife, I came across an interesting little book written by a lady named Yvette LeBlanc. In her book she asserts that she has done “astral projection” many times into heaven and comes back to report that “there are many heavens and many hells and they are still evolving.” And even beyond that, “we help create them.”

With that last statement I will cautiously have to agree. She has indeed created her own picture and image of the afterlife where she believes she is going to go. Of course, she’s wrong… and one second after she dies she’ll find out the truth. Many others do the very same thing. I hear it all the time. So will we all.

Heaven and Hell as concepts and destinations, are places that we take by faith as existing. We trust what the Bible tells us and we trust the only one who has truly been there and done that; seeing both the reality of Heaven and the reality of Hell. Jesus Christ describes a literal, joyful place that is awaiting those who die in Him. And He sought with the cross, to show us the extent His love would reach to keep us from going to an eternal destination separated from God forever in Hell.

And yet, people insist on filling in blanks that Jesus left. We have a curiosity about these eternal matters. Yet we can walk past the clear teaching of God’s Word about it as though it has no more authority than Ms. Leblanc’s strange adventures in astral projection.

In Heaven is for Real, the little boy who is said to have gone to heaven for a visit, mentions being fitted for wings because he needed a new set that was smaller. And when he encountered his grandfather, he had “really big wings.” What amazes me is that we can read right past a statement like that and no one catch the fact that this little boy was having an experience in direct conflict with biblical teaching. We do not “get fitted for wings” anywhere but in cartoons we have seen on earth. As spiritual beings, we don’t become angels… we rule them! If Jesus came out of the tomb on Easter morning with wings, then I’d say bring them on! But that did not happen. And yet we turn such nonsense into best selling books and movies because we don’t know the Scriptures’ clear teaching about the afterlife.

So you might ask: Dr. Smarty Pastor, how do you know Ms. Leblanc didn’t visit the afterlife in astral projection?

Simple. I looked at her photograph on the back of the book.

Just sayin.’


FOR MEMORIZATION: For our citizenship is in heaven…. Philippians 3:20

FOR REFLECTION: As you carefully consider your eternal destiny, are your thoughts more informed by popular culture or God’s Word?

BEYOND – Day 12

It has been the intention of the Father, since man disobeyed in the Garden of Eden… to redeem all that He had created. The extent of His purpose goes far beyond simply the redemption of our immortal and eternal souls. It extends to the very planet on which we now live (Genesis 3:17)… to the universe in which we now exist.

Everything is impacted (see Colossians 1:20-21).

We sometimes miss that in our preaching and teaching and in our Scripture reading. God intends to bring everything back to Himself in perfect harmony. That was how He intended it to be from before the beginning: “The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world.” (1 Peter 1:20)

When mankind fell, creation fell with him. Adam was the intended ruler of everything God had made. Since he was the representative head (Psalm 8:5-8), everything followed him in death, decay and destruction because of his disobedience. (Romans 8:22) The world fell into chaos; death and disease began to rule. Man lost his place of headship and the right to rule over creation.

We forget sometimes how far-reaching the effects of sin can be. All of creation was affected. And when we look at a world that is so broken, so in turmoil between people and nations… we too can easily lose sight of what Eden used to be.

But God never has. In the Bible God has revealed His intent to redeem and restore what was once pristine and perfect; spotless and sinless; back to its original state and see man walk in it as only Adam has done. (Romans 8:18-21)

The schemes of Satan will not stop this… the sin of mankind will not delay this… the brokenness of our lives will not defeat this plan. God has promised. It will happen. He sealed that promise through the blood of His only begotten Son.

One interesting way we see the promise reflected in Scripture is through the presence of the onyx stone. We are shown in Genesis 2, that one of the four rivers flowing out of the Garden of Eden before The Fall of man was the Pishon. It flowed through the land of Havilah where “the gold was good, and onyx was there.” (Genesis 2:12)

The onyx reappears in one of the most vivid pictures of God’s redemption in the Old Testament on the breastplate of the High Priest; a foreshadowing of Christ’s office as our High Priest. On his breastplate were stones that reminded God of His promises to His people Israel. (Exodus 28:9-12) The two onyx stones were on the shoulders of the breast piece; a reminder of the perfection of Eden.

And the last place we encounter this beautiful onyx stone in the Bible is in the book of Revelation where it will be a foundation stone in the wall of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem… forever. (Revelation 21:20) The onyx has been a continual reminder of what man lost… and what God has and will restore.

The New Jerusalem, Heaven come down to earth, will be the final part of God’s plan of redemption in place… forever. In one of the oldest books in the Bible, we read, “And I know that my redeemer lives and will stand on the earth at the last day.” (Job 19:25) And in that place, eternally… the perfection of Eden will be restored and “the dwelling of God will be with man” (Revelation 21:3).


FOR MEMORIZATION: “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things…..” Colossians 1:19-20a

FOR REFLECTION: In Colossians 1:20a listed above, what is the significance of the phrase “all things” rather than the phrase “all people?”

BEYOND – Day 11

But what about purgatory? Some who have been deeply influenced by this teaching of the Catholic church, may be holding on to an image where our soul descends to the lower parts of… (earth?) or Hades… to be in torment until the sin has been destroyed in us. One of the many problems with this theory is it is NOWHERE taught in Scripture. Let me say again, IT IS NOT IN THE BIBLE! God has revealed this NOWHERE. This is the invention of man who still believes that somehow, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone isn’t redemption enough. Or that we can and must atone for our own sins; merit our own righteousness.

It is a theology that sits well with the flesh since somehow in going to purgatory, we can take credit for accomplishing our own salvation. But it is offensive to everything the Bible teaches about the Gospel. We do not save, purify or in any way cleanse ourselves of sin. Only the blood of Jesus can do that. All we can do is repent… and believe.

Our soul is safe in the hands of our Savior at death. He has promised in His Word that “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” If that is so, it would mean that He would actually have to descend into purgatory WITH us so that His Word would be true! How unthinkable. How impossible. How little we think of our Savior’s sacrifice in enduring all of God’s wrath on the cross and drinking the full cup. How wrong this doctrine is that has tormented so many souls in the hour of their own passing.

We need to hook our hope in Heaven. A heavenly outlook, “setting our minds on things above, not on things of the earth” (Colossians 3:2) has a way of drawing us upward in our living. It gives us freedom to know that our eternal life and destination is secure… a wonderful place… a hopeful and enduring land… and to live boldly here and now so that others may join us around God’s throne.


FOR MEMORIZATION: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come back and take you to be with me that you be also be where I am.” John 14:3

FOR REFLECTION: How can you “hook your hope in Heaven” more securely today? What do you need to focus on through the day that you might be more “heavenly minded?”

BEYOND – Day 10

“So I’ve heard I get a new body when I go to heaven. What about that?” Actually, that’s an excellent question… and one that has been wrestled with since the first letters of the New Testament.

The earliest churches lived fully expecting Jesus to come back at any moment. Literally. So when His return was delayed some of the first Christians who had hoped in Christ, died. They had no idea how to think about that because the idea that death would come before Christ returned had not occurred to them!

And so, they asked Paul. “What’s going to happen to my mother or father; wife or husband; son or friend since we are now preparing them for burial? Will they miss the return of Christ because they have died?”

Since that day, Christians have sought to understand what happens to the believer at death. Do they simply go to “sleep” when they die until Jesus awakens them? That’s the opinion of the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses today. Does the soul go to Heaven or to purgatory… to paradise or punishment?

Let me begin to answer these with this blog. First, the Bible never teaches that death brings an unconscious existence to the believer. Quite the opposite. The pictures we have show Christians more than alive and worshiping. (see Revelation 4, 5 and 7 for the PRESENT state of believers who have died). Paul’s reference to sleeping is simply a gentle way to refer to what has happened; it looks as though the body has fallen asleep. We follow that practice today in funerals.

And when the thief on the cross repented and responded to Jesus before he died, Jesus did not say to him, “Now get ready for a long nap.” He said, “TODAY we will enter paradise together!” That doesn’t sound like sleeping! That is what the Bible says, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.”

It’s important that we understand the priority of this process. Upon death, we are immediately transported into the presence of Jesus. However, we do not in that moment receive our final, glorified body. We will receive that when Christ returns with all who have gone before in death. Together we will receive our resurrected body that is made like, but exponentially greater than our earthly one.

Again, think of the resurrection morning: Jesus coming from the tomb; Mary and two disciples on the road to Emmaus walking with Jesus… but not immediately recognizing Him. But then… they did. So there are similarities and dissimilarities. Paul calls it a heavenly body in 1 Corinthians 15. It is not limited to earthly realities and limitations such as time, space and aging. Illness cannot cling to it. Cancer cannot kill it. Walls cannot stop it. Pain cannot hinder it. And yet, Jesus proved to them on the shores of the sea of Galilee that He was not a ghost… His body was real… He could eat… be touched… talk… embraced. Real… forever… alive…

Glorified. “And so shall we ever be with the Lord.”


FOR MEMORIZATION: “And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17

FOR REFLECTION: How does our knowledge of what will happen to our bodies eternally impact how we think about our bodies today?

BEYOND – Day 9

So what happens when we die? How do we understand this “next step” in all of our journey? Do we just “go to sleep” until Jesus comes for us? Do we go through a dark tunnel toward the “light?” When death comes, as it will to us all, just what will happen?

Understand that the believer need never fear death. While some may come into their last days of life on earth with a measure of pain and suffering, the prospect of death for the believer should bring nothing but joy and anticipation… sorrow ends. Pain stops. Tribulation and suffering are over forever. The former things pass away. Life everlasting lies before us. When we die we are “absent from the body and present with the Lord”… instantly (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). And so will we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

These are redeemed souls… faithful men and women who have walked with the Lord and died in this lifetime… grandparents, parents, spouses and friends… who are now in the presence of Christ. We hear their worship and see their joy in places like Revelation 4 and 5. They are “with the Lord” but have not yet received their greatest reward… their eternal, glorified, resurrected bodies. They know nothing but unending, limitless joy in the presence of the King.

But those saints who are now in Heaven are in a state of waiting until all has been completed and they will not be glorified completely until every believer has finished their race. “So does that mean they’re just disembodied ghosts or spirits floating around up there now,” we may wonder? Not at all. It just means that the final state that we will live in for eternity has not yet been accomplished because it will happen for all of us together!

How do we know it hasn’t happened for them yet? Go to the cemetery. If their graves are still there and intact or you know where their ashes are… it hasn’t happened! It will be in that same body you knew and loved that the final state of those who have gone before us will live… as will we… but glorified and perfected.

People in Heaven are not ghosts, not disembodied spirits… and yet even in Heaven what we shall be finally is not yet revealed… even in them. Only in Christ has our final state truly been seen… what we will all one day be. He is the firstfruits. (1 Corinthians 15:23) We are the remainder of the harvest. And we await the final day of glorification when we will be like Him…

… for we will see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2)


FOR MEMORIZATION: The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God.
1 Thessalonians 4:16

FOR REFLECTION: Correctly understanding what will happen to us at death will bring us comfort and deliver us from unnecessary fear and dread. The greatest comfort we can know is to know what eternity holds for those who love Christ.

 

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