A Heavenly Longing.

Revelation 21:1-4 / Philippians 1:21-24 / A Heavenly Longing.

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Do you ever get tired of this earth? The pain, the sorrow, the sin that is so ever present around us?

Late one night about a month ago, I experienced a very poignant moment that made a profound impact on me.

Mary and I heard desperate screams coming from the woods outside our house. Running outside, I stopped at the edge of the woods and listened in the darkness to a woman being verbally and physically abused. It was a sad and sickening experience. I felt helpless, frustrated and angry as I waited for the police and prayed.

I also felt very tired. Tired of the sadness around me. Tired of seeing the effects of The Fall being played out through mental illness, drug addiction, and spiritual warfare.

In that moment though, a thought struck me: If Heaven is simply the lack of this, it is going to be a pretty amazing place.

Imagine a place where there is no sin, no sickness, no abuse, no trash, no drug addiction, no yelling, no spiritual warfare, and no decay.

Heaven is not just the “pearly gates and gold streets” we imagine it to be, it is actually God coming down and restoring the earth to its original glory. Bringing down a “new heaven and a new earth.” This new earth will be a lack of all these things that make us tired of this present world, for those “former things have passed away.”

At times, this beautiful truth leaves me longing for Heaven.

And longing for Heaven is not a bad thing; we should desire to be with Jesus for all of eternity. A part of us understands that this earth is not our real home, and that our eternal home is where we are heading next if we know Christ.

But we have to temper our longing for Heaven with the truth that God has placed us on this earth for a short period of time in order to bring a taste of Heaven down now. As we live in relationship with others, hopefully they will see Jesus in us, and experience a small sampling of what it will be like to spend eternity with Him. While we wait for Heaven, our job is to look like Jesus and help others come into a saving relationship with Him.

The apostle Paul understood the struggle of desiring Heaven while on earth, when talking to the Philippians he said:

21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Paul knew that as long as he was on earth, he had a calling to live for Christ and help others grow closer to Him as well. Although he longed to “depart and be with Christ,” he knew that remaining on earth would be “more necessary on your account” – meaning, helpful for the Philippians. As long as God had him here, he had a job to do and was willing to do it.

After telling the police where to go to help the woman in the woods, I stood there for a second in the darkness and continued to pray. I was still tired of the sin and sickness, but God gave me another insight in that moment.

He reminded me that He sent His Son for that woman. He sent His Son for the man hurling hateful words at her. And He reminded me that He has me in this city, during this time to share Christ with those who need Him so badly.

Believers, I know you are tired of the sin of the world. But instead of letting it overwhelm us and lead us to complacency, let’s ask the Lord to stoke within us a fire to bring as much of Heaven down as possible during our short lifetimes!

God has placed each of us where we are to help those around us find Jesus, so let’s live each day intentionally seeking to do so.

With much love,

Pastor Dave