The Real Heaven - Why Heaven Matters, Part 2

Does it really get any better than this when we get to heaven. We spend all eternity playing harps sitting on clouds sipping iced tea your view heaven matters when you see heaven for what it really is. It will change how you live each day on her belief heaven is not what you think it is. Thanks for joining us for this Tuesday vision of living on the ship and Living on the Edges of international teaching and discipleship featuring the Bible. I believe that your continues a series the real heaven Bible actually says by explaining why our view of heaven. That's how we live in the here and now. Building on several points.

He brought you missed it, let me remind you that all of these messages are easily heard on the ship now. If you have a Bible handy over that now to John chapter 14 let's join ship for part two of his message. Why heaven matters you open your Bible in Genesis. The past is even Genesis wanted to visit the earth with man the present. This intermediate heaven. The moment you die, you go to be with Jesus but you don't have a resurrected body.

So in this arena. God becomes man to rescue man from a fallen earth. This can be a window of time where God is going to set up and fulfill all his promises on this earth. And then finally there's heaven comes down to earth and there's a new heaven on the new earth in an absolutely perfect environment to follow along.

Genesis chapter 1, you got it.

Look at verse 26 just highlight then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky near the cattle over the earth and every creeping thing that's on the earth and God created man in his own image and image of God he created them male and female in the notice to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it in rule and he talks about the specifics of how that looks and then noticed the giving in the heart and the blessing God says behold, I have given you every plant of yielding seed that is on the surface of the earth and every tree fruit yielding for your food. And then he talks about the beast and have created food for all of them. And God saw everything that he made there at the end of chapter 1 and it was very good and thus the heavens and the earth were completed chapter 2 verse one verse four it says this is the account of heaven and earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the heavens, the earth, and so chapter 1 of Genesis is just as wide angle lens, the big picture of seven days all that God did man in his image. But here's what I want you to get there is this creator God spoke all the world into existence and on this planet. He created special and then he made us, and then he put us in it in the created environment to have deep, intimate fellowship with us and one another and they gave us purpose rule. Multiply work right scene create culture, literature, live with me intimately, not chapter 2, the author says okay there's a wide-angle lens. Let me zoom in and tell you little bit about how it actually happened. Pick it up in verse seven then the Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth and breathed life into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. And the Lord planted a garden for the East and Eden he placed the man there that he form you see this fatherly only create this wonderful environment and out of the ground the Lord calls to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Look at verse 10 now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and I want you to get this the trees. The pleasing the tree of life. A river is what I'm going to show you were to go all the way to the very end of the Bible were going to skip everything that happens from about Genesis chapter 3 all the way through all the time and chronology of the Bible when God's going to make everything right and you can find that there some trees and that there's a river and then everything he started here that gets destroyed. He's going to bring back on a new heaven and a new earth notice.

It goes on, the Lord took the man and he put them into the garden of Eden and notice there's a job to cultivate it and keep on this new earth you have jobs. The kind of jobs that you have is directly proportional to our faithfulness on our time on this earth. And then notice the compassion and relationships. It said the Lord said is not good for man to be alone all make a helper suitable for him. And then we get the story that I love this. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he taken from a man in some consummate and he brought her to the man. This is a benevolent, loving father, creator whose creating an environment in the world for the greatest joy of his creation in the relationships with one another in the environment that they live in. He's given them jobs and work in cultivation and purpose meaningful relationships and then in this first world notice and they were naked and unashamed. There's no sin there's no self-consciousness there's no mixed motives. There's no using of people and then weep. We pick up the story and that was the perfect plan flipped the page to chapter 3 verse six and we find it.

Sin enters in. In verse six is when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes and the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She gave to her husband, and he ate also the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves going coverings and heard the sound of Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of God among the trees of the garden and the Lord called to the man and said where are you and it's that I heard the sound of you in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked so I hid it.

So we have now instead of a perfect environment. Sin enters and we have separation from God, redefined in the story separation for man. He blames her she blames the serpent and God then says there's a judgment there's a judgment that happens for the woman and child book birth. There's a judgment for the man we struggle futility in our work as a judgment on the servant but then there's this great mercy toward the end.

Verse 21 and the Lord made garments of skin for Adam and Eve, his wife and clothed them than the Lord said, behold, the man is become like us speaking the tri-unity of God here knowing good from evil, lest he stretch out his hand and also take from the tree of life see eat from the tree of life in this fallen state. You stay separated forever and so as you read on. He put the chairman which is a big powerful angel with a flaming sword to guard it.

And so that's the story and the whole rest. What we have the whole rest of the Bible is the story of God's grace and profits in the Old Testament and offerings and revelation of God and the promise of the Messiah and the Messiah comes in. He lives a perfect life and he declares who God really is the father and his love for people of truth and grace in the knees crucified any rises again he pays for the sins of all people of all time in the church is born in the church takes the message and then Jesus comes back and he takes his church from the earth and God brings about final judgment and justice and he fulfills all those promises that he made in this thousand year reign were Jesus's judging King and then there's a final final judgment and then there's a new heaven and a new earth. Now I don't know about you but all my life growing up I never heard about a new heaven and new earth and now some of you, you understand it on on this old earth. There's times where you seen a sunset that just moved your heart. I had a experience upon my grandsons this weekend. They stayed overnight with us and I dropped them off at school.

When I left in the heat ran down the hall and grab my leg and he pulled me down and he hardly really tightly look the eyeball to eyeball is that I love you Papa and I mean he just he can't get anything out of this. This is just like innocent, real, and that he went a few more steps and I started walkway needs call my name again went like this Minutemen. I almost got to the end and he got to the variant. That's a taste worth some of you held a brand-new baby in your arms and with tears streaming down your face and there's a sense of all.

That's a taste of what the real new earth is going to be like some of you had some of the deepest friendships and great relationships and people of known things about you that you didn't want to share and they expressed acceptance and love and commitment and there's been a bond where you've been in relationships that you would literally die for one another. That's a taste of heaven. Some of you have built companies were dream dreams for your kids important work to work for you seen the fruit of it and there's these little moments where they maybe walk across the stage or accomplish something in the something it swells up inside me that says it can't any better in this some of this been married for many many years and find ourselves. After all the ups and downs and potentially counseling and struggles and kids and you feel like I love this person more than I thought I could ever love anyone in you, hold them close to you in your bed and you think, oh God, I can imagine what heaven is like that. I can imagine life without this person. That's the old car. The new car is that on spiritual infinite steroids and that's what heaven is like turning the back and I want you to see this okay to turn all the way back. Revelation chapter 21 I saw a new heaven. Chapter 21 verse one Revelation the last book I saw a new heaven and new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there's no longer any sea, and saw holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven made as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he shall dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be among them are in their midst and he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death no longer any mourning or crying or pain. The first things have passed away and he who sits on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new circle that work. I said right for these words are faithful and true, you know we talk a lot when a person puts their faith in Christ, we said if any man or any woman is in Christ, the old things passed away behold all things become new same Greek word and the new is a a different kind a a different kind a better and different kind. It's it's not new as in completely different urine, but it's a new person. He's going to make a new earth and for the first time heaven comes down and what you see there dwells on earth.

And that's not just the only city and there's nations and there's life in this community and there's art and there's books to be written and songs to be written and jobs to accomplish in a world like the best you've ever ever ever tasted on the old earth.

In this new earth, and he doesn't visit and he doesn't come and just save us, but he's with us forever and ever and ever.

On the next page. I tried to picture this for you because I know it's a bit odd, but I wanted to see it first in Scripture, we have a faulty skewed biblical view of heaven, and therefore were not motivated accurately because it's false meant to be honest, most of us down in our gut and some of you are different and we thank God for you, but most people if I said you could go to heaven right now. This instant or 10 years from now, after ABCD E these goals you accomplished. Most of us if were honest. I want to go but like 10 years later. I want to see the because we don't get it lady emailed me a good friend. She's in Columbus and her mom passed away yesterday and she said ship my mom just passed into the presence of the Lord and dealing with the loss and hurting and I had a very quick email Kitty heaven is for REAL real and there's great comfort.

It is real and you will see her again. Understanding heaven requires a macroscopic view of Scripture in a microscopic view of God's purposes for his people. This is kind of what I want you to get okay. I've kinda given you this picture of the pastors Eden and how God works in. There's this time now between you know Genesis 3 and when the Lord finally comes back and sets up a new kingdom and the moment you die, you go to this intermediate heaven like you see in Revelation 4 and five it and what I want you to see is to get this to really grasp this, you need a macroscopic view of Scripture need to see the whole thing but you need to see a microscopic view of God's purposes. So what is God doing what is the role of Jesus our Savior. In the midst of all this and so I put three different charts here, made these up, but they all tell kind of the same story but but I want to see it. So the macroscopic view of Scripture is this you notice up Genesis 1 and two on the left side and wanted to put a little wine in there around, you know, like between two and three and just write the fault or sin, because everything changes and then underneath that you know you could just put OT for you know anything on the left side of the cross and then on the right side put NT that's all the history of the old and New Testament, and that we know as Jesus promised that he's going to the word rapture does means to be caught up or catch a people can debate a lot of things but he's going to come back for his church.

There's a judgment for believers, not for your sinful rewards and then there's this thousand year reign where Jesus will fulfill all those promises he made to David about the throne, and Abraham about the land and there's this environment that occurs in people to go into that and then at the end of that time. There's a final final judgment of Satan after he's released and there's what's called the great white throne and of the sheep and the goats and there are people who say look God's mercy God's love. This intent you love me you care for me. You want to be in control.

You want me with you forever and ever and ever.

But I need to recognize Jesus as the Lord Lord and King of Kings. After all you've done. Some people say you know what my will be done, not years. And so God is creating a place for those people that want nothing to do with him. They can be separated from him forever. Skull Hill and all those who put their faith in him was sick. I can't imagine a creator that would create a world like this and then come and die rise from the dead prove it's true demonstrated over 2000 years offer eternal life, and the basis of their relationship to the gospel of Jesus Christ is his enter in to eternal dwellings with me, as a final judgment and then there's this new heaven and new earth that we read about that notice on your notes right below it is so that in Genesis 1 into its God with man in a perfect earth. Jesus as a theophany he visits the earth. He walks with man in Genesis 3 through Revelation 20. You've got God separated from man on a cursed earth. And Jesus is the incarnate Savior and Redeemer and then in chapter 20.

You have God with man on a temporary earth. The millennial kingdom is the King of Kings and it ends as has been the judge. Jesus said I'm going to judge the father has entrusted to me judgment and then finally have God with man in a perfect earth forever in Jesus as the Emmanuel is with us forever.

A simple over view of all of those I just try to say okay the original and the ending, so God's original intent for mankind on earth and might jot some of these words down under this I put life rule growth beauty Fellowship, a planet made for us to enjoy exploring to live with God. That's the old earth joy, beauty, Explorer adventure grow and then you had this interim period were sin and death in a cursed earth and have gripe Christ by his grace brings redemption, the promise of resurrection to make all things new. And then we will be resurrected and that all people will be resurrected.

The wicked and the righteous at the final judgment and then at the final judgment the righteous. It's God's new heaven comes down on a new earth and, like just what better version of a old car, the new earth will be like the old one in purpose, life, rule, growth, beauty Fellowship, a place made for us to enjoy Explorer live with God forever.

Better than the best old earth and infinitely better than the best you've ever hinted at in every accomplishment, every relationship in any sense of peace, but it's a real place with real people with nations and relationships in jobs and culture and music.

It's the old earth as God intended.

But you know the difference. We will have remembered what it cost, we will understand grace like angels don't ever understand grace, we will see the mercy and the grace and the power of God and we will be in a place where sin never happens again. That's the promise of Scripture. The summary is very very simple and maybe you've never received it, from your head to your heart.

Here's the summary you look at all those charts. They all say one thing God wants to be with his people.

Is this amazing he creates us. He wants to be with us.

He walks with us. He wants to be with us. So he comes and dies for us. He wants to be with her so he creates a new heaven and new earth.

He wants to be with his buddies fair so there's a judgment in this injustice.

No matter what we experienced during this interim time, God's going to make everything right. Nobody gets a raw deal. And this does the three very important things and it's why I think heaven matters Backpage an accurate view of heaven provides three powerful things. Number one perspective in times of trouble perspective.

The apostle Paul had been left for dead. He been beaten up a number of times he went through a a world in a life of almost unimaginable in his perspective. Is this by the way he got to go to that third heaven and it'll snapshot and God brought them back and he says this. Therefore, we don't lose heart door item outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day for momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

While we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

It will change your life when you get a clear, specific picture of things that aren't seen in the future, gives you perspective it all of a sudden it's like CS Lewis's point about all of life is like eternity is a line and he says your life is a little.in fact inside that tiny little pencil.he would take a powerful microscope that.as all of time. And inside that maybe there 70. Maybe there's 80 years a shade more for some and a lot less for others and he says what you do inside that tiny little dot impacts all of eternity. Many many many many people unconsciously live for the.instead of the line gives you perspective. What matters people on their last days. They regret working too much.

The regret not investing in relationships they regret not developing spiritual relationship with God. Earlier, the regret misplaced priorities they want, when you get clear on heaven. You get smart. Second thing is perseverance in times of temptation and I mean that in the biblical world. Temptation not only to send trials things it temptation to give up temptation to give up in your marriage tend temptation to give up on when your kids temptation to give up your so overwhelmed by financial pressures. Notice what the Scripture says in John 14. He says don't let your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me. I want you to know there's a specific place. You can endure. Some people will go through all of this life and never receive what God wants and of Hebrews.

He says the world wasn't worthy of them. God's fair, but he doesn't bring all the fairness in this life. I will tell you talk about endurance when I learned my wife had cancer. I can tell you where I was, where we sat on the couch where we cried. Praise God were done with it. It's good she's okay but I remember thinking I am to have or not then a member thinking, then deal with this. Nevertheless okay. My theology tells me, and I know in my heart. God is good and she is his. He has every right to have her go to heaven before I go to heaven and I remember sitting there through my tears and deciding okay. How do I respond to this and I responded by one clear statement heaven is real no matter what happens in God is good and honey that's how were going to go through this. It will sustain you and your temptations in your trials, but it's floating around in the long church boring service trying to get some wings and playing a harp and floating around on cloud sipping iced tea. It will not sustain the final thing the Scripture says, is it gives us our priorities when under pressure, especially you want this now in this time orientations. Jesus said, for our benefit.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy another words it's a bad ROI you lose it. But notice the motivation store up for yourselves treasures in heaven mean there you actually have an account that is actually a real place on a new earth you might want some resources and that what we do here actually impacts that yes that's not spiritual biblical gobbledygook. That's how we think of it in store. This is this is what people say when you try to get your money, giving generously of your time and your treasure and your talent is about helping people now with a view to say, God, I'm going to do this for an audience of one, and I want my reward not to be what people think of me.

I realize I'm can be on a new earth, and I like to have an account that's well-funded when I get there to do things that I belong in dream to do.

God is not a socialist and is not a communist and heaven will be wonderful for everyone that it will not be equal. What I do and what you do with your time, your talent, your treasure will determine the quality of part of your new earth experience just what the Bible teaches. He gave five talents to 12 towns to one one town to another and they used it in different ways and they reported in different ways. Isn't it amazing to think heaven's place with real opportunity to use your gifts have amazing relationships to live and what we've tasted here better forever will be right over. Additional comments about his but if you're just joining us your listing to Living on the Edge chipping room chips message today, why heaven matters is from his series, the real heaven with the Bible actually says the simple truth that most Christians are very excited about heaven only shows how little we understand about it in this three-part series strip uncovers what God wants us to know about heaven.

The beauty relationships activities it's come to be amazing. The real heaven is designed to dispel the myths about heaven and encourage you to actually look forward to it to dig deeper on your old get the real heaven for yourself or send it to encourage a friend whether the books, CDs, MP3s, or small group video study you'll find the real heaven in a format that works best for you for all the details.

Check it out@livingontheedge.org or give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 will gyp until we get to heaven we face a lot of the hard realities living in a fallen world. I'd love to hear something good that's come out of the tough days were going through right now. What can you tell us what Dave I have to tell you, there's a lot of good things you know and Living on the Edge you know we we said God what he wants to do. I mean things are happening. People are stuck at home. How do we help them in our team got together and prayed and so Lord, we will do what ever we, if you will show us just show us what to do and I was really both an exciting time and we had really no idea and out of that conversation. I remember thinking with there's one thing that people have always asked me chip would you disciple me or would you mentor me and I thought about that bricklayer who met with me when I was a brand-new Christian every Tuesday morning and he showed me how to read the Bible and how to memorize a verse or how to Journal and he didn't teach me like how to have devotions. He taught me how to meet God and I literally brought a cup of coffee. I never talk for more than 10 minutes and I said I'm going to do with you in real time. You know what I that bricklayer did for me and I thought you know who knows if anyone will do this and it was amazing.

You know the end of the day. My heartbeat is that people would know God and experience him and not just be religious or moral bit you to be transformed from the heart from the inside out, and that only happens when they hear God speak Dave when they hear God speak from his word personally and I just had no idea how many people had never had the experience of someone walking them through it and so I thought if we could get them to do it for about three weeks and they built the habit and then it just exploded. I mean that the things we got from people. These are the best 10 minutes I've ever spent getting close to God. One person wrote thank you for helping me walk step-by-step to hear God's voice. This is crazy. I learned more in the past two weeks about studying God's word.

Being a disciple of Christ that I did in the last 15 years of attending church Bible studies in small groups met by the way, that's not because I'm special. But people begin to learn to pause into it to meditate and to get into God's word where he spoke to them personally and powerfully, and that's what changes lives.

Anyway, I have to tell you Dave 30,000 people started meeting with me one on one back to got so crazy that we did another three weeks and talked about mentoring all to say people's lives are changing because in the midst of a crisis God's promises draw near to me and I'll draw near to you and lives are changing and we were only able to turn on a dime and film things because people had been so generous and so faithful in the past and what I want to say is if you're one of those people who have given thank you so much. If you haven't given in a while or if you've ever considered even in this crunch time to like give monthly. You could not imagine how helpful it would be doesn't have to be a lot but if thousands and thousands of people would give monthly.

We would have a much better idea in this time of uncertainty of where were going to be and what we can do and if you happen to be one of those people that say you know I started listening, or I did that daily discipleship with chip and it was so helpful and you've never given. Now would be a great time because every gift given this month is double, you heard me right, dollar for dollar anything that you give during this month working a double thanks to some very generous ministry partners, a God can bring some great stuff out of this, but it takes all of us to step in together. Thanks so much for praying and doing exactly what God chose you to do rope was way more than good. That was great news. Thanks. Will there's no question it's your faithful generosity that's made this kind of ministry possible were humbled and very grateful to see what your partnership is positioned us to do now is chip just mentioned we've officially launched our June match. So that means every gift we received between now and the end of June will be doubled.

So now's a great time to join the team with the donation to become a monthly partner. We understand that money's tight, but we also know that getting it on this kind of ministry is a great place to invest to do that. Just give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 or visit us online at http://livingontheedge.org as we wrap up today's program. I'd like you to lean back for just a minute and ask yourself what if I really believed that there's a very specific place that it's concrete that goes on forever and ever and ever, that God longs to be with you that the best experience you've ever tasted in any way in terms of acknowledgment, affirmation, intimacy, connection, approval, achievement, the beauty that you seen are like microscopic case what God wants to give you an extended capacity forever and ever and know what if I told you that how you live today and how I live today will greatly influence the quality of that experience.

Now who goes to heaven is completely based on God's grace, but your experience, your reward, what will happen in heaven is directly related to how we live our life today but knowing that I mean absolutely crystal clear in my heart and mine can give me the ability to endure the ability to go through difficulty in and have perspective of pain of cancer of being betrayed of injustice and realizing that all of our deepest desires will one day be satisfied. This world is never going to deliver.

It can't. But God will do you wish you could hear Living on the Edge when it fits into your schedule. You can for those of you who want to listen to Living on the Edge, whatever you want. Just download the free chip and Grube will be with us again tomorrow. Which brings us another message from the series the real heaven Bible actually says tell them this is Dave Teresa. Thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge