One of the reasons Ps 23 is so popular at funerals is the twofold promise in the Psalm regarding the valley of the shadow of death… that God is right with us there….. but also in this last sentence ‘I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever’. Psalmist David writes of both death and life here.
So what have we to look forward to? There are many clues in Scripture, but as I wrote this sermon one came to mind, the promise of Jesus to the dying criminal nailed to a cross beside Him, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’. Paradise in scripture is a garden, a place of bliss and tranquillity and rest.
Whatever picture we may try to paint,however, our language falls short.
C.S.Lewis concludes his famous Narnia Chronicles suggesting that the things which happened to his characters after the books ended were so great and beautiful that he could not write them. He writes, ‘All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia (and what adventures.. have you read them?) had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no-one on Earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.’Elsewhere Lewis described earthly life as being the Shadowlands. This life, the colours we see, the good we experience, the joy we have, the pleasures we know… these are as minor shadows compared to the extraordinary colour, beauty, joy and delight of heaven.
You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
In the book of Revelation, too, every chapter is more thrilling than the chapter before.
Joyce Huggett writes:
Reading Revelation at one sitting (I don’t think I ever did that) is as tantalising as hearing the sound of running water when climbing a mountain on a hot summer’s day, and as thirst quenching as drinking long draughts from such clear crystal streams. Each promise is precious; the promise of a new Heaven and a new Earth, the promise that God will wipe every tear from our eyes, that death shall be know more, and never again will there be sorrow or crying or pain. (21:1-4). But the greatest thrill of all is that we shall see the beloved face to face. He will make his home with us and we with Him. For the first time in our lives we shall be set free to truly worship,
Listen to this: Rev 7:9-17
9 After this I looked, and there in front of me was a huge crowd of people. They stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb. There were so many that no one could count them. They came from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were wearing white robes. In their hands they were holding palm branches. 10 They cried out in a loud voice,
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne.
Salvation also belongs to the Lamb."
11 All the angels were standing around the throne. They were standing around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces in front of the throne and worshiped God. 12 They said,
"Amen!
May praise and glory
and wisdom be given to our God for ever and ever.
Give him thanks and honor and power and strength.
Amen!"
13 Then one of the elders spoke to me. "Who are these people dressed in white robes?" he asked. "Where did they come from?"
14 I answered, "Sir, you know."
He said, "They are the ones who have come out of the time of terrible suffering. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 So
"they are in front of the throne of God.
They serve him day and night in his temple.
The One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16 Never again will they be hungry.
Never again will they be thirsty.
The sun will not beat down on them.
The heat of the desert will not harm them.
17 The Lamb, who is at the center of the area around the throne, will be their shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of living water.
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
In this life God’s felt presence is, at best, fleeting, intermittent, transitory. Not so in heaven: there we shall enjoy a permanent intimacy with God…. Beyond the bounds of time and space into regions of eternal light, far removed from any evil or imperfection.
Words fail us as we try to express the inexpressible.
Paul tried to deal with a question from the Corinthians as to what our bodies will be like in heaven. Even the great apostle struggles with this. He describes our life like a seed which when we die flourishes like a plant into new life.
One caterpillar said to another as they gazed at a butterfly, ‘You’ll never get me up in one of those!’
That's a good illustration of the contrast between the earthly bodies we occupy for a time and the new body we will occupy forever in heaven. Hard to get your head around isn’t it? That’s why the stories of Jesus after He rose from the dead are so important. Because they tell us that He ate and drank. He walked and talked. He could be touched and hugged. This is the pattern for what life in heaven is. Heaven will be physical.
We won’t be disembodied ghouls drifting around unable to communicate or recognise each other. Far from it. We will immediately recognise each other and enjoy each others company.
One of the main pictures Jesus uses of heaven is of a banquet. Jesus characterises heaven as a place of celebration, parties, dances and feasts, a beautiful garden, everlasting bliss. Wow! We certainly aren’t going to be bored or unfulfilled.
Just one thing I want to mention here.
It always bothers me when we talk about having lost someone.
I was reminded of a joke, hardly fitting, but I’ll risk it:
‘My grandma took up running when she was 65. She’s 90 now and we have no idea where on earth she is.’ (Grandma’s lost in other words).
The point I want to make is… it is all too easy to allow our thinking, when we talk about having lost someone, to drift to some kind of concept that they are ‘lost’. Ours is the loss, not theirs.
An old hymn goes:
‘Rejoice for a brother deceased, our loss is his infinite gain’
Wesley in trying to compare Earth to heaven uses the best word he can find, ‘infinite’.
How much better is it to be with the Lord?… infinitely.Far from being ‘lost’ we are truly found when we’re in heaven.
The lost are those who reject Christ…. When we believe, and accept Christ as Lord and Saviour, we have eternal life. John 3;16.
In 1Peter1,Peter states that thanks to Christ’s resurrection we have an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade… kept in heaven for us.
Wow.
‘I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.’
‘One thing I have asked of the Lord, and this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.’
The fear of the process of dying is humanly perfectly understandable. But we should never fear what lies beyond if we trust in Christ.
Rather we should look forward with eager anticipation.
Paul… ‘for me… to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far….’
The good old Spirituals were all about the heavenly hope. Life on earth for the African slaves was miserable, but the way they kept going was by singing about the life to come. ‘Deep river…, ‘Steal away…’
And so, in anticipation of living in the house of the Lord forever, how should we live in the here and now?
The first and most important reply to that is to put your trust in Christ. He has died to pay the price of sin and open the door to life eternal for all who believe in Him.
How then should we live?
Selwyn Hughes says we should live each day as though it’s is our last on earth, and work for God as though we’ve got another hundred years.
Jesus encourages us not to live as if this life were everything. While this present life is important, it’s not all important. We don’t need to store up stuff in the here and now, He tells us, but we can be free to be generous, realising that to give money and share possessions is laying up special rewards in heaven.
Jesus is in heaven, where He reigns, where He prays for each of us, and also where He has a place ready for us. There He waits to welcome us with joy.
So are we, like David, looking forward to living in the House of the Lord forever?
Whatever the world may throw at you, it cannot affect the certainty of future reality in Christ’s presence for all who believe in Him. And so, in anticipation of living in the house of the Lord forever, live in the light of eternity.
‘This world is not my home, I’m just a-passin’ through.’
'Doing Jesus' in Civic Life
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