A pervasive lie is that Heaven will be boring and lame but, in this sermon, Pastor Mark tells that Heaven will be a place of relationships, pleasure, laughter, adventure, worship, exploration, and spending time with God face-to-face.
GOOD NEWS: 5 Reasons Heaven Won’t Be Boring
-Science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, “I don’t believe in an afterlife, so I don’t have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse”.
Hell – isolation Heaven – relationships
Hell – pain Heaven – pleasure
Hell – boredom Heaven – adventure
=God fun/exciting, made us fun/excitement. Made adrenaline, taste buds, sex organs
1. You will laugh in Heaven!
- Don’t equate religious people & Heaven (Jesus & Religious Leaders)
God has a sense of humor
Psalm 2:4 “He who sits in the heavens laughs…”
Psalm 37:13 “…the Lord laughs…”
Psalm 59:8 “But you, O LORD, laugh at them…
Jesus has a sense of humor
Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 “there is…a time to laugh”
-Film – Cecil B. Demille 1927 King of Kings – aura
-Elton Trueblood The Humor of Christ (30 texts) “Christ laughed, &. . . He expected others to laugh . . . A misguided piety has made us fear that acceptance of His obvious wit & humor would somehow be mildly blasphemous or sacrilegious. Religion, we think, is serious business..
- Plank & speck – Matthew 7:3
- Camel & needle – Matthew 19:24
Your sense of humor today is practice for Heaven
Luke 6:21,23 “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh…Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven…”
· Joy – 200X
· Laugh 40X
= “If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.” – Martin Luther
= A boring Christian is a bad advertisement for Heaven.
2. You will work and worship with divine beings in Heaven!
Revelation 4:1-8 I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!…seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads [human beings]…around the throne…are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight [divine beings]….each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within…day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
God’s Human Family. God’s Divine Family
Job 38:4-7 “I laid the foundation of the earth…when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy”
· angels 300X 90% books; sons of God, morning stars, stars,
· Divine Council, Other titles “the assembly of the holy ones”, “the council of the holy ones”, “hosts”, “the seat of the gods,” “the mount of assembly,” “the court…in judgment,” and “the heavenly host.”
Daniel: “watcher, holy one” “holy ones”; Angel; 1k X 1k’s – 10k X 10k; host of heaven; Prince of the host; Gabriel; prince of Persia, Michael, chief princes; “man” clothed in linen, a “lord”
-Human/Divine family together in Eden/Heaven on Earth – Serpent, Cherub angel
= Reunited when Heaven comes to earth (God/Man; Heaven/Earth; Divine/Human
- Zoo? we go to see created beings we’ve not seen before
- Aliens? we wonder who we’ve not met
3 You have lots to learn, do, and explore in Heaven
– Lie – nothing to learn, nothing to do, nowhere to go.
– Perfection is NOT Completion
Adam was perfect and had to learn, do, and explore
Genesis 1:28 And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 2:15-16 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man…
Jesus was perfect and had to learn, do, and explore
Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
Luke 2:52 Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
1. We do not learn, grow, mature, & explore because we are fallen but because we are human
2. A perfect human being is still a human being and not God (e.g. all knowing/omniscient)
3. There is a difference between learning through experience and sin (perfection: moral v total)
4. Just because you are perfect does not mean you are done
You will be perfect and learn, do, and explore forever
Revelation 5:10 you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.
= Luke 19 – Parable 10 servants & 10 minas – return = cities to rule 10, 5, 0
4. You will be with God in Heaven
Leviticus 26:11-12 (NLT) I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.
- God walked w/Adam & Eve in Garden, today we walk w/God, God will walk w/us
- Family walks; Grace & I
Ezekiel 37:27 (NLT) I will make my home among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
- Father & family (MEN: His culture in your Home)
Revelation 21:1-4 (NLT) I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared….I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
· Not a staff member or representative
· Holy of Holies – High Priest 1 time a year w/a rope on leg
= Baseball trip Fla-AZ yrs ago – lost, breakfast = worth sleepless night, $, and a lost day
5. You will see God Face to face in Heaven
Exodus 33:18-23 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he [God] said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you…But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”…I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”
Job 19:26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God…
Matt. 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
Revelation 22:4 They will see his face…
- Home photo wall
- Baby – take photo before we even clothe you
- Kids Sports – photos
- School – photos every year, & graduation
- Engagement & Wedding Photos
- War – picture wife & kids
- Zoom, Go To Meeting, Facetime, Facebook, Instagram
- Cameras now on BOTH sides of phone = pictures at all times
Heaven – a place and a Person. Those who don’t love that Person won’t love that place.