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Focus on the Future - 10
After Christ Comes, What Next?
What’s on God’s calendar for eternity? What will
our first thousand years with Him be like?
Jesus has the answer. He promised in that familiar beatitude:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5 verse 3. So praise God, believers are going to heaven. But hold
the phone! Jesus, almost in His next breath, added: “Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5 verse 5. That’s certainly
not happening now. The proud and powerful are pushing their way around
this planet. So when will God turn things around down here?
Good question. Let’s explore some of the events that follow the coming
of Christ. Here’s a thrilling description from Scripture: “For the Lord
Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then
we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the
Lord. That’s 1st Thessalonians 4, verses 16 and 17.
What happens next after we all meet Jesus in the air? A space trip through
the stars—all the way up to heaven! And quite a welcome is waiting. God
Himself greets us. Angels crowd around us. We'll enjoy a homecoming banquet
better than any holiday dinner on earth.
And guess who will wait on us at the table? Jesus Himself. I’m not making
this up! Listen to Luke 12 verse 37 / NIV: “It will be good for those
servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the
truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table
and will come and wait on them.”
Can you believe that? Jesus Himself will be our waiter at heaven’s great
homecoming banquet for us. And what items would you like to order from
His gold-edged menu? Heavenly Italian food? Celestial Mexican? Eternal
Indian? Maybe a good vege-burger! (I don’t theink we’ll see slaughterhouses
up there to turn heaven’s happy cows into beef for hamburgers!)
Guess what! I already know what order I’ll place at the banquet. I’ll
just request the house special.
I don’t know what that might be, but I do know this from Scriptures we’ve
seen today: In heaven we’ll be real people with real bodies enjoying real
food! Sounds much better than being a disembodied spirit floating on clouds.
Don’t you think?
What about relationships in heaven? Okay, think of someone you would like
to sit with at heaven’s homecoming banquet. I want my wife Jeannie next
to me and, nearby, other family and friends from earth. Friends like my
VOP family—how about you! Of course, I won’t mind having Moses across
the table, either. And which Bible characters would you like to have dinner
with? Adam and Eve? The lovely queen Esther? Paul the apostle? David the
giant-slaying king?
How about good old Abraham! Once again, friend, we’re not just exercising
imagination here. Notice this from Matthew 8 verse 11: “I say to you that
many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places
at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
/ NIV.
What festivity we’ll enjoy in the kingdom of heaven! Not just food and
fellowship but worship. As Jesus serves us at the banquet, we’ll have
opportunity to express to Him our gratitude and adoration. We’ll join
angels and other heavenly beings in singing with all our hearts: "To
him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory
and power, for ever and ever!" Revelation 5 verse 13.
After dinner you can meet your guardian angel—the very one who protected
you throughout your life on earth. He'll disclose things about your life
on earth that will come as a total surprise. Like the time he stopped
armed robbers from breaking into your house and harming your family. You'll
also learn why, despite continual prayers, you struggled financially and
suffered sleepless nights from a painful back.
Well, after the big banquet, we’ll settle into our new heavenly homes.
Remember Christ’s much-beloved promise in John 14, verses 2 and 3: “In
My Father's house are many mansions ... I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive
you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
Housing in heaven will simply be fabulous. Imagine strolling with your
angel along pathways of gold that wind their way throughout the holy city.
You'll pass mansion after mansion nestled amid gorgeous rose gardens,
rolling lawns and towering pines. These estates are far more magnificent
than anything in Beverly Hills or Vancouver’s west side. Each home is
unique, reflecting the personality and tastes of the owner for whom Jesus
prepared it.
Suddenly your angel stops and points to a particularly enchanting manor.
"How do you like it?" he asks while leading you inside. You
gasp in astonishmentCit's exactly the type of furnishings you and your
family like best. "And why not?" the angel says. "It was
designed specially for you."
Overcome by gratitude and delight, you exclaim: "What can I say to
thank you!"
"Don't thank me," he says, smiling. "Thank Him."
Heaven will offer much to be thankful for. In God’s homeland we will reign
as His royal children. The Bible predicts about us: “They will be priests
of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years."
Revelation 20, verse 6. God invites us not only to sit on His throne but
to open the books and discover what really happened back on earth. Verse
4 says: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed
to them.”
So God will open to us the books of record, and we'll have plenty of time
for asking all our questions. Down here, life often makes no sense, even
though all the while God is working everything for our good. Jesus said
everything hidden on earth now will be revealed in the future. At last
in heaven we will fully comprehend whatever in this life we must accept
only by faith.
Important questions will get answers, and our curious questions too. Secrets
of the FBI, the Kremlin and the Mafia. Secrets of the Caesars, Pharaohs,
and popes.
After a thousand years with us in heaven, God once again turns His attention
to earth. Heaven has big plans for this planet. So incredible you couldn’t
believe it if I just told you. So let me read it from God’s Word—the opening
verses of Revelation chapter 21. Listen: “Now I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. …
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven
from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
This is better than science fiction! The New Jerusalem becomes a giant
spaceship! It descends from heaven with the saints inside. Then it settles
on Mount Zion, present site of Jerusalem.
At last Christ’s long-awaited promise can be fulfilled and the meek will
inherit the earth. Not this old polluted planet but an earth made new.
God will recreate the breathtaking magnificence of long-lost Eden. Then
He will present this born-again planet to His people as our eternal paradise
home.
Do you get the picture, friend? God will move the capital city of the
universe from heaven down to our little planet. And Jerusalem on this
earth, the location where Jesus suffered and died for our salvation, will
be God's capital city from which He governs the universe. And God Himself
will dwell with us forever.
Finally the rebellion is over, never again to trouble
a peaceful universe. Picture the new earth as I read about it in Revelation
21, verses 3 to 5: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they
shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more
death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former
things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold,
I make all things new.’”
All things new! No more pain or disappointment. No more
death or sorrow. No more loneliness either.
Moms and Dads, you go off to work every day and have
to leave your family behind. Here’s something you can look forward to
on the new earth: No more lonely hours away from your family! Instead
of fathers and mothers spending the day apart from each other and their
children, we’ll be doing family projects. Just like Adam and Eve had in
the garden of Eden.
“Pastor Lonnie,” someone says, “all that is fine for
families. But what about us single people?” Good news for you too! Whatever
you miss on earth will be more than made up for in heaven. You'll never
be lonely again! There'll be a social life like you wouldn't believe.
Imagine a week-long canoe trip down the river of life with new friends
from all ages of earth's history. What a vacation that will be, floating
past mile after mile of quaint riverside villages, and picturesque parks
populated by friendly lions.
Something else about heaven that Christian single people
will appreciate: Nobody will ever take advantage of you again. True friendship
will be everywhere. Your most fulfilling relationship will be with Jesus,
our Lord and Savior. The best of all celestial experiences will be seeing
Him face to face. You’ll tell Him how much you appreciate what He did
to make heaven on earth a reality forever.
I want to be there, don't you? So let’s get prepared
right now.
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