Something we often seem to miss is that God Is perfect; And, as I said before, he is unchanging. This creates a dilemma for most People (yes even Christians). I mean, How do you describe perfection? I mean Honestly, c'mon how do you do it?
Nothing in our lives or this world is perfect, so what can you compare with to describe perfection?
He is not just 99.9 percent pure this is the real deal.
But here is the thing, being perfect no sin or evil can be in his presence, period.
I suppose you could look at it like the “Black Plague”.
The Plague, or Black Death, was spread by Infected fleas, which lived on rats and then spread to humans.
Once a person was infected there was the chance of the disease being spread in a form called pneumonic plague, which attacked the respiratory system and was spread by breathing the exhaled air of the victim.
It decimated the known world in 1348 with some reports stating that up to half of the people existing then died.
Now in order to stop the disease, you either have to stop the carrier or destroy the disease.
Usually it is easiest to stop the carrier of the disease, this does not require anything special in training or fabrication and the disease, hopefully, will not spread any further.
In order to do that you might kill the carrier, the rats or fleas (or even the people)that spread the illness, or you can quarantine the infected until the disease has passed and is no longer virulent.
Sin is a lot like disease, and all of us are infected. So to keep God from being contaminated he might keep us away. But there is also the second possibility… antidote/vaccination or destroying the disease itself.
God offers us a way to do this. We just have to accept it.
And that is what Jesus did on the cross. His blood acts as the vaccination for our sins. He died that we might be saved. We were not allowed in God’s presence (quarantine) because of our sin but because of God’s love, and Jesus' sacrifice (antidote) we are able to come into his presence.
And that is probably the closest I can come to offering you the chance to see what Sin is like compared to God.
Now the question is... will you accept the antidote? Or do you think that is too harsh?
If you went to a doctor and he said you need to have a certain medicine or you will die, would you accept the medicine? or would you turn around and walk away saying... "I do not like death and for you to give me that ultimatum makes you mean and harsh."?
I hope for your sake that you choose the medicine.
Showing posts with label Heaven. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heaven. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
What is Heaven like?
Recently while "surfing the web", I came across a statement that I found to be... unnerving.
Someone actually declared that heaven was (essentially) nothing more than A giant cosmic waiting room.
The gist of what he was trying to say, as I understand it, was that everyone who is saved goes to Heaven and just sort of hangs out until Jesus returns to earth and restarts everything in his millennial kingdom.
Well to tell you the truth this has me floored! I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where it makes this declaration. I think he is looking at the book of Revelation, well I guess he would HAVE to be. but I think he might have misinterpreted things a bit.
But on the other hand it does raise an interesting question... "What is Heaven really like?"
Many people have contemplated what Heaven is. From Cartoonists to Authors, From singers and songwriters to movie producers.
But Really... WHAT is it really like.
Well the first thing to do seems to be dispensing with the idea that it's just a big Waiting room.
The Bible tells us quite a bit about it.
For example, it is God's Home/where God resides... (Deuteronomy 26:15, 1 Kings 8:30, Matthew 6:9, Colossians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and Revelation 11:19.)
It is where God rules from... (Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 7:21, 19:14, 26:18, Acts 7:49)
It is where our rewards (or even punishment) are held for us... (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 5:12, 6:20, 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 10:20, 18:22.)
It is where the Angels (celestial beings, not the baseball team.) reside... (Luke 15:7)
And it is our future home... (Matthew 19:14, 19:23, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Philippians 3:20)
In short it is a place where we will want to be. (Matthew 23:13)
But what is it like?
Well according to Ms. Watson in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is a place to sit around playing Harps, according to Calvin from the Comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, it is a place where you always behave, According to Star Trek it is a vast Desert Planet in the heart of the galaxy, and according to country/western singer Andy Griggs it is, simultaneously... Twilight,his home town, a fast train, a piece of cherry pie, and his last tear.
According to C.S. Lewis it is a place where all that was good that ever existed remains, safe from harm and everything you experience, see, taste, touch, hear or feel is better than anything we have ever experienced before.
Most of us consider Heaven to be a destination, a place to get to, but I wonder if that really ought to be the focus; I think we miss the point.
All these ideas are Human Perspective; and all of them are rather slanted.
While Twain's Ms. Watson LIKES the idea of floating around playing a harp, Huck Finn would rather not go there! Calvin could not see the point in going to all the effort of Behaving if the only thing he got in return was having to behave even more (for Calvin Behaving = no fun).
Some people would rather see forest and grass than a desert so Star Trek's version wouldn't suit them, AND there are a lot of people out there who prefer the dawn over the dusk, Hate where they live, would rather fly or even drive than take a train (or conversely would rather be on a slow train so they can enjoy the journey), would prefer key lime pie for it's crisp citrus taste, and would rather not tear up in the first place.
Of Course Lewis' ideal is probably the best because it is the vaguest and allows people to put they're own interpretation in there.
I think the problem with all of this though is that we are so worried about the destination place and not the COMPANY we are going to meet.
When I was a young boy My mother and I went to England, and we had a great time. I enjoyed the sights and the sounds, the food and the newness of everything, but best of all were the people (Mostly the family members) we went to see.
See the point is in Heaven is God. when we are there we will be fully in his presence and that will trump all.
God created it all, and therefore he is BETTER then it all. I think we will be focused on who we are with so much that WHERE we are isn't going to matter so much.
Someone actually declared that heaven was (essentially) nothing more than A giant cosmic waiting room.
The gist of what he was trying to say, as I understand it, was that everyone who is saved goes to Heaven and just sort of hangs out until Jesus returns to earth and restarts everything in his millennial kingdom.
Well to tell you the truth this has me floored! I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where it makes this declaration. I think he is looking at the book of Revelation, well I guess he would HAVE to be. but I think he might have misinterpreted things a bit.
But on the other hand it does raise an interesting question... "What is Heaven really like?"
Many people have contemplated what Heaven is. From Cartoonists to Authors, From singers and songwriters to movie producers.
But Really... WHAT is it really like.
Well the first thing to do seems to be dispensing with the idea that it's just a big Waiting room.
The Bible tells us quite a bit about it.
For example, it is God's Home/where God resides... (Deuteronomy 26:15, 1 Kings 8:30, Matthew 6:9, Colossians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and Revelation 11:19.)
It is where God rules from... (Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 7:21, 19:14, 26:18, Acts 7:49)
It is where our rewards (or even punishment) are held for us... (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 5:12, 6:20, 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 10:20, 18:22.)
It is where the Angels (celestial beings, not the baseball team.) reside... (Luke 15:7)
And it is our future home... (Matthew 19:14, 19:23, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Philippians 3:20)
In short it is a place where we will want to be. (Matthew 23:13)
But what is it like?
Well according to Ms. Watson in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is a place to sit around playing Harps, according to Calvin from the Comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, it is a place where you always behave, According to Star Trek it is a vast Desert Planet in the heart of the galaxy, and according to country/western singer Andy Griggs it is, simultaneously... Twilight,his home town, a fast train, a piece of cherry pie, and his last tear.
According to C.S. Lewis it is a place where all that was good that ever existed remains, safe from harm and everything you experience, see, taste, touch, hear or feel is better than anything we have ever experienced before.
Most of us consider Heaven to be a destination, a place to get to, but I wonder if that really ought to be the focus; I think we miss the point.
All these ideas are Human Perspective; and all of them are rather slanted.
While Twain's Ms. Watson LIKES the idea of floating around playing a harp, Huck Finn would rather not go there! Calvin could not see the point in going to all the effort of Behaving if the only thing he got in return was having to behave even more (for Calvin Behaving = no fun).
Some people would rather see forest and grass than a desert so Star Trek's version wouldn't suit them, AND there are a lot of people out there who prefer the dawn over the dusk, Hate where they live, would rather fly or even drive than take a train (or conversely would rather be on a slow train so they can enjoy the journey), would prefer key lime pie for it's crisp citrus taste, and would rather not tear up in the first place.
Of Course Lewis' ideal is probably the best because it is the vaguest and allows people to put they're own interpretation in there.
I think the problem with all of this though is that we are so worried about the destination place and not the COMPANY we are going to meet.
When I was a young boy My mother and I went to England, and we had a great time. I enjoyed the sights and the sounds, the food and the newness of everything, but best of all were the people (Mostly the family members) we went to see.
See the point is in Heaven is God. when we are there we will be fully in his presence and that will trump all.
God created it all, and therefore he is BETTER then it all. I think we will be focused on who we are with so much that WHERE we are isn't going to matter so much.
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