Heaven

Article submitted by Larry Bennett:

The older I get and the longer I walk with God, the more I long for Heaven. I am not anxious to leave on the next load, because I still have some living to do. But there is something about being a “pilgrim and stranger” to this world that causes me to sense a gravitational pull toward my real home, Heaven.

When you add the volatile world situation, the declining political climate or the possibility of being the one out of three who will get some form of cancer, it makes Heaven look pretty good. But there is a greater reason for that pull and longing toward Heaven.

For the committed follower of Jesus there is a growing confidence and inner assurance that God has prepared a place for us that is our real home (John 14:1-6). This is more than just a group affinity thing, it is a natural spiritual longing because of who we are in Christ. The Scripture even says that “we are seated in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). We are already there positionally so it’s natural that we would have this physical pull toward home.

I believe the Apostle Paul perfectly describes this bent toward heaven.

1. For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 6. So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. 7. For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 9. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. (2 Corinthians 4:1-9)

Bottom Line

Hope is probably one of the greatest attributes that a person can possess. Hope gets us up in the morning. Hope helps us look forward to another day and gives us something to live for. However, there are many things in this life to destroy one’s hope. That’s because hope in this world is limited and temporary at best. But for a believer our hope is based on an absolute. It is based on the authority and power of a risen Christ and His promise of a new life. Our hope is vested in another world that is perfect and is way beyond our deepest dream. So look up fellow believer, and put your hope in your eternal birthright as a child of the living God, because Heaven is your home.

For God has prepared, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man all that God has prepared for those who love Him”. (1 Corinthians 2:9)