on earth is only the “cover and title page” of our eternal existence, it only
makes sense that we would want to know what comes after the title page.
awaits us beyond the grave, contemplating the next life can result in four
tangible benefits in this life…
Life
Alcorn asks people to take a piece of white paper and place a dot in the center,
then draw a line from the dot to the edge of the page. It would look something
like this:
The dot represents our years on earth, while the line
represents eternity. Right now all of us are living inside the dot. Yet very few
Christians think beyond the dot to the line—to the eternity that awaits us. How
foolish it is to live for the dot that is only a blip on the screen of our
eternal existence.15
Yet the dot and the line are connected to one
another. As brief as our existence in this life is, it’s very much connected to
our eternal existence. There is no break between the dot and the line. My friend
Bruce Wilkinson says it brilliantly: “Everything you do today matters
forever.”16
…
The New Testament writer James said it this way: “You do
not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears
for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). And the apostle Peter
observed:
All people are like grass, and all their glory is like
the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall. (1 Pet. 1:24
NIV)
2. Focusing on Heaven Prepares Us for the
Certainty of Judgment
“Everybody Is Going to Heaven” may be a popular
song but it’s also a horrendous lie. God’s Word reveals that everybody is not
going to heaven. In fact, very few people are going to heaven if Jesus can be
trusted on this subject. The Lord urged people to “enter through the narrow
gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and
there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow
that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt.
7:13-14).
Tragically, the majority of humanity is on the wrong road that
ultimately leads to the wrong destination. From the moment we’re born into this
world we are on that road (or “way”) that is heading away from God. It’s the
“way” of rebellion against God. As the prophet Isaiah wrote,
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has
turned to his own way. (Isa. 53:6)
No one has to do anything to end
up in hell when he or she dies. All a person needs to do is continue traveling
in the same direction he or she has been traveling since birth.
By
contrast, relatively few people find the road that leads to heaven. In fact, to
find that “way” a person must do a spiritual U-turn—which is the meaning of the
biblical term repent. Repent (metanoea) means “to change one’s mind.” A simple
definition of repentance is “a change of mind that leads to a change of
direction.” Only when a person admits that he or she is on the wrong road can he
or she discover the right road. Jesus was clear that He is the only “Way” that
leads to eternal life: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes
to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).
Most of
the television interviews I do for cable news are taped in the late afternoon or
are live in the evening. That means I must concentrate on keeping my clothes
clean throughout the day. I tuck a napkin into my shirt collar at lunch to
prevent stains on my tie. I immediately use a wet towel to wipe off any dirt on
my suit jacket. And right before the camera rolls, someone runs a lint remover
over my garment. All of this attention is necessary because the bright lights
and high-definition television equipment are unforgiving and will reveal to
millions of people any imperfections in my attire.
Similarly, there’s a
day coming when every Christian’s “clothing” or actions will be placed under the
glare of God’s judgment and will reveal any imperfections. That “day” is the day
of Christ’s return in which “each man’s work will become evident; for the day
will show it” (1 Cor. 3:13). As we’ll see in chapter 8, the purpose of this
judgment is to determine not the believer’s eternal destiny but his or her
eternal rewards.
The Bible often uses clothing as a metaphor for our
spiritual lives. It’s helpful to understand that in biblical times people often
wore two different types of tunics: an inner tunic (comparable to today’s
undergarments) that no one saw and an outer tunic that was visible to
everyone.
Every Christian also wears two kinds of spiritual garments. Our
“inner tunic” is our judicial righteousness—meaning our “right standing” with
God—that God places on us when we trust in Christ as our Savior. Paul referred
to our judicial righteousness when he prayed that on the day he finally met God
he might “be found in Him, not having a righteousness of [his] own derived from
the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ” (Phil. 3:9). Our “inner
garment” of God’s forgiveness is something we receive from Him. There is nothing
we can do to improve it, soil it, or remove it.
But no one wants to walk
around wearing only undergarments! That’s why, to be properly dressed, we must
put on our “outer tunic.” This “outer tunic” represents a Christian’s ethical
righteousness, which is how we live after we become a Christian. While judicial
righteousness refers to our “right standing” before God, ethical righteousness
represents our “right acting” before God after we are saved.
4.
Focusing on Heaven Places Suffering in Perspective
One of the questions
I’m asked most frequently as a pastor is “Why did God allow (some horrific
experience in their life) to happen?” God never completely answers the “why”
question when it comes to suffering. However, He has given us the promise of
heaven to put suffering in perspective. The apostle Paul — who was well
acquainted with suffering — wrote confidently:
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an
eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the
things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2
Cor. 4:17-18)
Even though Paul had been shipwrecked, imprisoned, and
beaten within an inch of his life on five different occasions, he described
those horrific experiences as “momentary” and “light.” How could Paul say such a
thing? Was the apostle suffering from amnesia? No; his suffering could only be
considered “momentary” and “light” when compared to the “eternal weight” of the
future God had planned for him.
…
Heaven is the promise that God will
eventually make all things right and that He will one day fulfill our deepest
longings. Although God’s promise is yet future, it should make a tremendous
difference in our lives today. As Alcorn explained, “If we grasp it, [heaven]
will shift our center of gravity and radically change our perspective on
life.”19 This is the hope of heaven—that all of creation will receive what it
has long desired: freedom from the crushing oppression of sin.
[written
by Dr. Robert Jeffress]
