The Hope of Heaven
LIFE TO LIFE
PART 5 – THE HOPE OF HEAVEN
John 14:1-6 NLT
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Jesus spoke these words to His disciples because they were troubled by the thought of losing Him.
SEVEN THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HEAVEN
1. PEOPLE OFTEN REPORT AN OVERWHELMING PEACE
Revelation 21:4 NLT
He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
2. PEOPLE OFTEN DESCRIBE A BEAUTIFUL LIGHT
Revelation 21:23 NLT
And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.
1 Timothy 6:16 NLT
He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.
3. PEOPLE REPORT SEEING LOVED ONES
We see and earthly glimpse of this in “The Transfiguration” experience Jesus had on earth, witnessed by three of the disciples.
Matthew 17:1-3 NLT
Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. 2 As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. 3 Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NLT
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. 15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.
4. PEOPLE OFTEN DESCRIBE FEELING MORE ALIVE THAN EVER
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NLT
It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
Philippians 3:20-21 NLT
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Isaiah 35:5-6 NLT
And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.6 The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland.
5. PEOPLE OFTEN DESCRIBE BEAUTY BEYOND WORDS
1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imaginedwhat God has prepared for those who love him.”
6. PEOPLE OFTEN DESCRIBE BEING OVERWHELMED BY LOVE
1 John 4:8 NLT
But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
7. PEOPLE OFTEN DESCRIBE AN INCREDIBLE CONNECTION TO GOD
Psalm 16:11 NLT
You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
Revelation 22:4 NLT
And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.
THE REAL QUESTION
As important as it is to ask, "Where's Cory?"
There's an even more important question.
Will we see him again?
Because heaven isn't promised to good people.
It's promised to redeemed people.
People who have trusted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
John 14:6 NLT
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
2 Corinthians 5:1-8 NLT
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. 4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
6 So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord.7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.