Heaven - Part 2

The Marriage of Heaven and Earth

The sermon opened with quotes of lines referring to 'heaven', such as ..."my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue..."..."When Christ shall come and take me home what joy shall fill my heart...". Then Sunder posed the question, "What picture do you have of heaven?"

So, I thought about it. I remember the description of roads paved with gold, flowing crystal streams, mansions, angels, ...but where? Everyone always point up to space, but the pictures I've seen of 'space' are definitely not appealing to me, with the space debris, flying meteors, uninhabitable planets. In fact, it seems downright dangerous and and not fit for any life. So, I guess my imagination stopped there. But did this picture I had affect my 'yearning ' for heaven? I am not sure.

Here is the progression that can be added to as you read the Scriptures:

-Past- Genesis 1,2 (Original sinless humanity, original 'good' earth, humans walking with God.)

-Present- Genesis 3 (Fallen humanity, fallen earth, man no longer walks with God)

-Future- Revelation 20-22 (Resurrected humanity, new heaven and earth)

Sunder also spoke of both the groaning of humanity and the creation. Man was mandated to subdue and rule the earth for the benefit of humanity and God's glory. But when sin invaded, we experienced both physical and spiritual alienation from God. Our earth is in a mess because of man's failure to fulfill his purpose because he chose independence from God. We have fallen man and fallen earth. But Revelation speaks of the resurrected humanity and the new earth in which God invades and reigns. Very much like C.S. Lewis' Narnia, where it was always winter, but never Christmas, but when Aslan returned, a new Narnia emerged.

Now Imagine:

The most interesting thing was actually when he had us imagine like in Part 1, this time about the 'whereabouts' of heaven. He related the first time he saw a 3D movie at Disneyland and was overwhelmed that he now seemed part of the screen with objects flying out at him. It was like he had gone into a new dimension. Aha! A new dimension. What if heaven was just that, a new dimension right here on earth, where Jesus was taken up or into, where our resurrected bodies, (like Christ's when He appeared out of nowhere to His disciples in the room) can enter? Think of a portal like the wardrobe in Narnia. Did C.S. Lewis unknowingly have a pulse for heaven's whereabouts? Wow, I had never thought of that and it seems exciting to think of it like that. In fact, a dear woman who was recently widowed, came out with face radiant thinking of her husband in the new heaven 'close by'.

Go here to download the entire sermon.

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Part 2 of Charlene's testimony had her second encounter with death (Read Part 1 here). After her conversion to Christ after her son's death from meningitis, her daughter was diagnosed with bone cancer at 15. She bravely endured massive chemotherapy sessions and even went to a camp for children with cancer to encourage them. However, soon after an amazing trip, her daughter succumbed to cancer. The death of one child. Now two. She never wavered in her faith and turned to God even more. Next week, she will speak about how she became tormented about her son and his spiritual state when he died and how God gave her peace.