January 13, 2003

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Jan. 26

Heaven surpasses vocabulary and imagination
___ John 14:1­4; Revelation 21:1­5; 22:1­5
___By Rick Willis
___First Baptist Church, Roscoe
___The New Testament presents two kinds of descriptions of heaven. One is pastoral; the other is apocalyptic. That is, one description aims at the heart through comforting assurance. The other appeals to the imagination through spectacular symbols.
___The first kind of description finds an example in John 14:1­4. The second kind appears in the Book of Revelation.
___Comfort for troubled hearts
___The promise of heaven is a sweet source of joy and endurance for believers in Christ. It gives Christians a present of hope. God didn't have to reveal that heaven awaits those who put their faith in Jesus. Salvation from the insecurity and guilt of sin would be gift enough. The birth from above of new joy and purpose in life would be gift enough. Yet the Savior also personally promised that eternal life with him is in store for those who give him their lives now.
___John 14:1­4 comes from a personal conversation between Jesus and his disciples (13:33­14:29). He was preparing them for his death on the cross. A sense of confusion and anxiety pervaded their words to him. Peter was bracing himself for a fight to the death to protect Jesus. The disciples could hardly listen to their Lord predict his impending death. It may not be reading too much into the text to say they were in denial.
___For those who reject the Lord's teaching about life beyond this life, death holds only a fearful question mark or a troubling prospect of utter futility. The Bible itself draws the secularist's logic out to its bitter conclusion: "Anyone who is among the living has hope--even a live dog is better off than a dead lion! For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten" (Ecclesiastes 9:4­5).
___For his disciples, Jesus' talk of separation from them was heart troubling. This was not what they expected. They needed assurance that would bring power and stamina to see them through the fiery tests that lay ahead for them.
___Jesus offered the assurance through the warmest, most comforting description of heaven in the Scripture. His departure from them, first in death and then in the ascension, would not really leave them orphaned and comfortless. He was going to prepare a place for them in his Father's house. Jesus painted a word picture of heaven as an ample home in which there were many "rooms," or perhaps more literally "abiding-places" (John 14:2).
___In his absence, Jesus would be getting a place ready for them. When he comes back for them (John 5:25­29), they will enter into the presence of the Father with the Son (14:3), and their place at the table will be ready.
___Pictures for vivid
___imaginations
___The Lord's description of heaven in John 14 touches individual hearts with cozy affection. The Book of Revelation presents a different description of heaven.
___All descriptions of heaven stretch the limits of communication. Both John 14 and Revelation 21­22 use figurative language. But Revelation uses the special, visionary vocabulary that is technically called apocalyptic. In John 14, Jesus used the simple and accessible comparison of lodging and care to represent heaven's security. In Revelation, fantastic symbols portray truths about heaven, and the emphasis is corporate instead of individual.
___In Revelation 21:1­5, the writer is shown a new heaven and earth, with a New Jerusalem not built by human hands descending from its divine source above. This temporary universe is transformed into an environment for eternal life. The creation itself puts off mortality and corruption, putting on incorruption (compare Romans 8:21; 1 Corinthians 15:53­54).
___The "Holy City" of verse 2 is also called "the bride, the wife of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:9­10), which strongly suggests the New Jerusalem stands for the church--the community of the redeemed taking up residence in the renewed creation.
___Best of all, God himself makes his dwelling (literally "tabernacle") among his people directly. His presence replaces all the pain, grief, sorrow and death of "the old order of things" (21:3­4).
___After further descriptions of the perfections of the city, Revelation 22:1­5 tells of its river of life, tree of life and throne of God. The river and the tree suggest God's provision of immortality, health and vigor to all who live with him.
___Significantly, those in the city do not lounge on wispy clouds playing harps as popular depictions often suggest. They serve God, forever seeing God's face and basking in the light of his glory (22:3­5).
___For troubled hearts facing this world's grief and fear of death, the voice of Jesus is preserved in great tenderness in John 14. His promise is a room lovingly prepared in the Father's house. For all who wonder what the world to come will be like, the visions of Revelation top any special effects any movie studio could ever produce. Together these descriptions add up to the perfect security and joy of fulfillment that only God's presence can bring.
___Question for discussion
___ What would it have felt like to be sitting around the table with Jesus when he spoke the words of John 14:1­4?

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