Set Your Sights on Heaven

September 27, 2020 Speaker: Ted Detiveaux Series: Eyes Wide Open

Topic: Heaven Scripture: Revelation 21:1– :21, Isaiah 65:17– :24

Set Your Sights On Heaven

When we talk about the end times, we must also talk about what this is all leading to.

Mathew 25:31-34

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

We have already looked at the promise that Jesus gave in chapter 24, mainly that He is coming back for His church, “His Bride” who has made herself ready.

But in the passage, we just read Jesus gives us yet another reason to have hope and that is we will inherit the kingdom that has been prepared for us. This promise is for His sheep, or His followers.

So, as we end this series “Eyes Wide Open,” we want to set our focus on heaven our eternal reward.

Have you ever wondered what will heaven be like? There are endless questions that come up when you begin to contemplate your eternal resting place.

· Where will we live?

· What will we do?

· What will relationships look like?

· How will we be satisfied?

The bible does give us some insight regarding heaven, at least enough to keep us curious without spoiling the surprise. Kind of like how parents will wrap Christmas presents and put them under a tree. You can see the size of the box that it is in and even pick it up to feel the weight of it, but the surprise is saved for a later date.

What we do know is that Heaven is going to be a beautiful place.

Heaven Will Be A Beautiful Place

2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Revelation 21:1-2

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

(Show Artist rendering of this)

 

Revelation 21:10

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—

18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

(Picture of stones)

In these passages we are given some beautiful descriptions of what we can expect “paradise” to look like.

· A new heaven and New earth

· A new holy city Jerusalem coming down from heaven

· 12 Gates each made of a single pearl and representing the twelve patriarchs

· Foundation made of 12 precious stones, representing the twelve apostles, (many of these precious stones are used in the breastplate for the ephod of the High priest)

 

As a reminder the priest would offer sacrifices on behalf of the people’s sins.

Whereas the doctrine of the 12 apostles depicts Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice for man’s sins. Now Jesus has become the only mediator between God and man.

· Streets made of pure gold

· It is interesting that the same precious stones that were used in the old earth will be building materials in the new earth. Because Jesus will make all things New.

Hebrews 11:10

10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Bottom line, heaven is going to be a beautiful place which is designed and built by God.

What Will We Do in Heaven?

Let us start off by answering what we will not do?

· You will not cry tears of sorrow anymore

· You will not experience loss of a loved one anymore, there will be no more death

· You will not experience any pain anymore, for the former things have died.

In addition to these which are found in Revelation 21 there is a passage of scripture in Isaiah 65 that gives us further details of what we will and will not do in heaven.

· Vs 17 former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. You won’t remember your sin or your imperfections.

You will be so overwhelmed by your new surroundings that you will not even think about your former life. (like when you get a new house or car)

· vs 20 No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days,

· vs 22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat.

· Vs23 They shall not labor in vain which implies that there will be labor.

Now let’s talk about what you will do in heaven

· We will live forever in complete health apart from all sin and wickedness.

· Isaiah 65:18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create;

· Vs 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

· There will be work for us to do. Though it will not be a drudgery to do it. The reason we have “thorns and thistles” right now is because of the curse that was brought upon mankind because of Adam’s sin.

 

When Jesus comes back, He will “make all things new” that includes making our work new. Obviously, there will be certain occupations that will no longer be needed being there is no sickness, death, decay.

 

But imagine using your creativity with God’s unlimited resources, to work along side of blood bought children of God, and to do so without pain, frustration, stress, difficulty, or conflict that we currently experience in our labor because of the Fall.

 

Ø How fulfilling and satisfying that would be?

What Will Relationships Look Like in Heaven?

Marriage Relationships

Luke 20:34-35

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

The reason there will be no marriage in heaven;

· Humans are designed for intimate relationships, primarily with God.

· Marriage is a picture of the union between Christ and His people

· In heaven the picture will be replaced by the reality

Right now, we think sexual intimacy is the most fulfilling and satisfying thing that we can experience here on earth. Bungee jumping & Roller coasters are probably a close second. So many of us are turned off by a heaven that does not include marriage with sexual intimacy.

But if you were to ask a young boy what the most satisfying thing in life is, he might say something like chocolate or candy. It’s all about perspective. It’s not until that child becomes an adult and engages with sexual intimacy with his wife that he thinks intimacy is better than chocolate.

Relationship with God

I believe that when we see God arrayed in all His Glory, that we will be completely satisfied and fulfilled in ways that we cannot even imagine and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

Revelation 21:3

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Isaiah 65:23-24

23 for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.

He will be our God, we will be His people, He will dwell among us, He will answer our prayers before we even pray. Therefore, we will be completely satisfied in Him and the former things will not even come to mind.

Besides having an inseparable relationship with God, we will also be with other believers.

Relationship with Other Believers

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

We will be reunited with those who have died in Christ. Though we will have a glorified body we will still recognize each other.

1 John 3:2

2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

After Jesus resurrected, He appeared in His glorified body to His disciples. They did not immediately recognize Him, because they were not expecting Him to be alive, however they did eventually recognize Him. Meaning His appearance was the same or similar to that which He had before His Crucifixion.

When Jesus returns, we will have a glorified body just like Him and we will recognize one another in heaven. I am not sure of what we will look like or at what age we will be, I guess we have to wait for the surprise.

As we can see there is a lot to look forward to regarding Heaven. The greatest thing will be, being with Jesus.

Are you ready to meet Him?

Are your eyes now open to the facts about heaven are you excited about going there?

Are you a sheep or a goat?

Will you inherit heaven or hell?

Will you experience the grandeur of heaven or will you spend an eternity suffering in a tormenting hell?

The choice is yours. He is standing at the door of your heart knocking, wanting you to let Him in.

Will you let Him in

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