Our church--Rooftop--just began a new series on Heaven this past Sunday. We have been preparing for the series for several weeks with music, promotions, decor, and clouds suspended in the air...it looks really cool! In several weeks I will be preaching the message "What Is Heaven Like?" and as I have begun reading and studying I realize what a tall task this is going to be. Think of all the descriptions of Heaven or the different perspectives of Heaven, or all the attributes of an infinite God that are on display in Heaven. A difficult task this is sure to be!
That being said, this morning as I was reading I was presented with a perspective of Heaven which I haven't considered at length before. Heaven is the home of God the Father...our perfect and loving Father. This might not be "breaking news" to any of you, but this struck me as important. There is a relational component to Heaven that I seemed to have overlooked that may in fact be the greatest thing about Heaven--it is the one place that is truly home, where my/our true Father lives and waits for our arrival. My primary problem is that I am broken and I struggle to trust, love, and cherish relationships as God intends for me to experience.
It is kind of like my son Elijah, who is now 17 months old and incredibly cute all the time. Sometimes my heart wells up with love and adoration for him and in response I will pick him up with this desire to kiss him and to get a kiss from him as well. I say "Kiss Papa?" and he will look at me and shake his head back and forth signalling "No!". I will ask him again, "Kiss Papa?" and again the same response. Eventually I tire of asking and I steal a kiss as he tries to pull his head away and then I put him down. In that moment the boy does not realize how much LOVE I have for him and how I want to commune and connect with him as my son. Once on the ground he quickly crawls off to put some more play-dough in his mouth. In reality, I am just like that towards God the Father.
When it comes to Heaven, I want the play-dough. I want to imagine whole galaxies to explore, new dimensions of existence that God has yet to reveal to us, and being able to fly and see the stars up close, and other cool stuff like that. And yet, it is all play-dough when compared to the relationship of a perfectly loving Father who created me, sent His Son to die for me, and now dwells in our Home and waits to welcome and and love me fully as He intended before my sin and brokenness messed everything up. This is one of many thoughts about Heaven that I will be thinking on for the weeks ahead...
What are your thought and possible misconceptions about Heaven?
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