Let's Talk About Heaven, Part 1 | A Closer Look at Heaven

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners. Helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free ebooks designed to help you grow in your faith. What is heaven like? Heaven is a real place. We all wonder what life will be like on the other side, and the Bible is not silent on what to expect.

Pastor Greg Laurie brings insight today. Are you telling me like when we're in heaven we might go out and do fun stuff? Of course. Do you do fun stuff on earth? No.

Well that's your fault. But you can do it in heaven. Heaven is better than earth. Earth is just sort of a glimpse of greater things to come. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace how sweet the sound. Again you hear when the angels are singing.

This is the day, the day where life begins. Pastor Greg Laurie revealed last time that 81 percent of Americans, churched and unchurched, believe in heaven, more than three quarters. Even more hope to go there. But what's it like there? Is it even possible to know?

Yes it is. And today on New Beginning, Pastor Greg brings a biblical travel brochure about our eternal home. It's beyond our imagination, but we'll see today the Bible gives some good information.

It's one of the most requested messages of this past year. So what is heaven like? Let's talk about that a little bit here in Colossians chapter 3. I'm going to read two verses.

Since then you've been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above. Not unearthly things.

We'll stop there. So we are to set our hearts and we are to set our minds on things above. This phrase set your mind can be translated think or more thoroughly have this inner disposition.

Let me put it another way. The verse is actually saying simply think heaven. Think heaven. That's something we're all supposed to do as Christians. And by the way the verb that's used in this verse is in the present tense so it can be translated keep thinking heaven or keep thinking about heaven or keep seeking heaven.

Put it all together. It's saying constantly be seeking and thinking about heaven. You say okay well that that's fine but you know how do I think about a place I've never been to before?

How do I wrap my mind around a place I know so little about? Well you need to learn about heaven and see what the Bible says about Scripture. Because when you're thinking about heaven and you're seeking heaven you will be a heavenly minded person in the best sense of that phrase.

I know it's used to critique people oh they're so heavenly minded they're no earthly good. And I know a lot of people who are so earthly minded they're no heavenly good. And I think if you're heavenly minded in the right way you'll be of the greatest earthly good. Fact of the matter is those that think the most of the next life do the most in this one. Because if I believe there's an afterlife and I believe there's a reward waiting for me for my faithfulness won't that make me want to serve the Lord? And if I believe in an afterlife and I believe there's a potential judgment for me won't that make me want to fear God and avoid sin? So you see how my belief in the afterlife affects me in this life? But if on the other hand I don't believe there's a reward waiting why do anything for anyone but me? And if I don't think there's a future judgment out there why can't I do whatever the heck I want to do to whoever I want to do it to? Because there'll be no eternal repercussion. So as you can see your thinking about the afterlife has a dramatic effect on you in this life. So let's just start with what is heaven?

What is it? Well it's the dwelling place of God. All right where is heaven?

Well we know it's up. We know that there's a third heaven. The Bible talks about three heavens and the first heaven would just be basically walk outside to look up you see the sky. The second heaven would be the solar system.

And the third heaven is that supernatural realm. But it may be closer than we think. I think we think it's so far away you know.

And maybe it's just right next to us in a way. It's really another dimension. You see right now we live in the physical dimension.

But at the same time we coexist with an eternal dimension. It's a dimension of God and the devil. Of angels and demons.

Of the supernatural world. A great illustration of this is found in the book of kings with the prophet Elisha and his servant Gehazi. They were surrounded by their enemies who were closing in with chariots and armed soldiers and Gehazi started to freak out and panicked. He said what are we going to do master? He actually woke Elisha up and said oh whatever okay. Lord just opened his eyes and his eyes were open and he saw the supernatural forces of God all around him.

And he discovered that they had more on their side than the enemy had on their side. And right now we're surrounded by this supernatural world. The Bible says that the angel of the Lord encamps around those that fear him. And we may even have guardian angels.

I'm not sure of this but I think you can make a fairly good case for it. At least maybe children have them because Jesus talks about how our little children have their angels. So it may be that we have personal angels and it may be we just have angels that just do God's bidding but they're working around us every single day.

God's at work. So this supernatural realm, this place called heaven, we don't know where it is but it is where God is and that is the most important thing of all. Because really the greatest thing about heaven is going to be seeing God.

Now that's it. It's seeing God. That's why heaven is so appealing. Now let's answer some questions about heaven. What is heaven like? What is heaven like? Because we try to understand it and compare it to something.

Well short answer. Heaven is amazing. Heaven is awesome. Heaven will exceed your wildest dreams. Let me begin by simply saying heaven is a real place. Jesus said in John 14, I've gone to prepare a place for you. Now I think the problem is we form our view of heaven from well movies, TV shows, songs, images we've seen in art. And usually those are not biblically accurate images.

It really does kind of look like a boring place. Big billowy clouds. People just laying around plucking harps. Little fat babies with wings hovering over us. I guess they are little baby angels.

I'm not sure what they are. And it's sort of almost presented as a long nap. Which for some people may sound very appealing.

I don't know. But I don't know about you but I like to be active. I like to do things. I like to go out and see things and experience life.

And trust me when I tell you and we will get into this next time more but there is going to be so much that we will do in heaven. But it's a real place. Real things.

Real people. Recognizing one another. Not floating around in clouds with fat babies with wings. We are active. We are doing things.

We are experiencing things. We are even learning new things in heaven. So heaven is a place. Also heaven is described in the Bible as a paradise.

A paradise. Remember when Jesus hung on the cross next to the thief who came to a census. He said, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. And what did Jesus say?

Truly truly I say to you today you will be with me where? In paradise. He was describing heaven. And it's funny because after Paul died for a time he went to heaven and he called it paradise.

A lot of people don't know that. The apostle Paul died. And we don't know when exactly it happened. But it may have been in one of his preaching adventures when he was stoned and thought dead. And that may have been the moment when he went to the third heaven and wrote briefly about it in 2 Corinthians.

I will read to you in just a moment. And he came back again. And I just wonder what happened on the other side. So here is Paul. He is stoned.

Not that kind of stone. And he is in heaven. And it is amazing.

And there is Jesus and he is so excited to be there. And the Lord might have said, so Paul I have some good news and some bad news. Well good news and bad news. What? Yeah well first the good news. This is heaven. And you will be coming back here again. Again.

It's the bad news. Down on earth there are some believers praying for you to be resurrected. Lord Paul might have said don't listen to their prayers.

They are sinners. I don't want to go back. Trust me when I tell you no one who is in heaven would ever want to come back to earth even if given the choice. Meanwhile back on earth oh Lord raise Paul up. Oh Lord bring Paul back to us.

Oh Lord we need Paul. Suddenly the color returns to his face. His hand begins to move.

He clenches his fist. Bam. I would have hit someone. Whose idea was it to pray for me to be raised from the dead? Listen however it happened or whenever it happened we know this much. Paul died. He went to heaven and he came back.

And he didn't write a book about it. So what about all those books about heaven? Can we trust them? I don't know.

Should I? There is only one book I trust. That's the Bible.

Now I will look at some of these books and I find them interesting. Writing on unicorns over rainbows and all these things they say they see. And I am not going to say they are making it up though I think some of them are. I am not going to say that none of this happened.

Maybe something happened to them. I am not really sure. But I will say this much. I would never base my belief about heaven on the basis of someone who wrote a book about it. But I do believe what the Bible says. And it is interesting because one man who actually did go to heaven and return to the earth had actually very little to say about it. Here is what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12. And I am reading from a modern translation.

Just listen. He says, I knew a man 14 years ago was seized by Christ and he was swept into ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I don't know if this took place in the body or out of it. Only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise. There is that word paradise. Again whether he is in the body or out of the body I don't know. God knows. And then he says, there he heard the unspeakable spoken but he was forbidden to tell what he heard.

An interesting. He says, I will tell you this much. It was paradise. And the word that he uses for paradise is a word that speaks of a royal garden. And I don't know if there is anything we can think of that compares to what Paul is referring to.

He is referring to the kind of a garden you would see in a royal estate. It is just something amazing. Something awe-inspiring. Something that makes your jaw drop. Wow. The beauty of it. He says, it was like paradise.

That's the word he uses. So heavens and paradise. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

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Stream it all on any device for free using the new Harvest Plus app. Well, Pastor Greg is bringing several biblical insights today on heaven, our eternal home. So far he's pointed out heaven is a real place and it's a paradise.

Let's continue. Number two, heaven's a city. Heaven's a city. Hebrews 13 14 says, here we do not have an enduring city, but we're looking for a city that is to come.

Hebrews 11 10 says of heaven that the city has an architect and a builder. Now cities are real places. You go to different cities in the world and they all have unique features.

I've had the opportunity to visit a lot of amazing cities. Jerusalem, Rome, Paris. You know, you go to some cities and you remember a certain thing about it, right? Paris is called the city of lights.

Jerusalem is called the city of gold. You know, so cities are real places. There's neighborhoods, there's streets, there's activities, there's places to get food, there's places to get good coffee, there's beautiful parks to walk in. So think of the best city you've ever been to but without all the bad stuff. No crime, no urban decay, nothing that would be threatening to you in any way shape or form.

Not cars trying to run you down like New York City but the best you've ever experienced in a city. You're saying, Greg, are you actually telling me that when we're in heaven we might go and sit down and have a meal? Why not? Bible talks about eating in heaven. Are you actually saying that we could be in heaven and we would go to a concert?

Why not? There's going to be some pretty awesome singers up there. Are you telling me like when we're in heaven we might go and do fun stuff? Of course. Do you do fun stuff on earth? No.

Well that's your fault. But you can do it in heaven. Heaven is better than earth. Earth is just sort of a glimpse of greater things to come. I think we think, oh this is it. This is it. Then I just go to the clouds and float with the fat babies.

No, no. This is just a glimpse of greater things to come. Earth is the imitation. Heaven is the real thing not the other way around. Heaven is a paradise. Heaven is a city. And it appears from Revelation 21 and 22 that there is a translucent quality to heaven. It says there the foundations of city walls were garnished with every precious gem imaginable. The main street of the city was pure gold translucent as glass. There was no sign of a temple for the Lord God and His Lamb or the temple.

The city doesn't need sun or moon or light. Heaven is also described as a country. A country. Hebrews 11 says now they desire a better that is a heavenly country. God is not ashamed to be called their God for He has prepared a city for them.

So there it is. Heaven. A country. A city. A garden. A paradise. A real place that we will go to.

Now listen. Earth is great. Enjoy the beauties of earth.

It is created for us by God. Even in its diminished state and even with the entrance of sin and the curse and all that there are still many beautiful things to see here on planet earth that we can enjoy that have been given to us by the Lord. Even Jesus took time to admire a simple flower didn't He? He picked up a flower and He said, well look at these flowers.

How they grow. They don't work or make their own clothing yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as one of these. So I think we should enjoy the creation God has given us but understand there are greater things coming. All right so let's come back to Colossians chapter 3 because we are talking about heaven.

How should that affect us in the way that we live on earth? So first we read set your mind and your heart on things above. Think about heaven. Seek heaven. Now back in Colossians 3 Paul starts with the word therefore put to death the sinful earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires.

Don't be greedy for a greedy person is an idolater worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. Now is the time to get rid of rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other for you've stripped off your old sinful nature and all of its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. Listen if you've put your faith in Christ you're a child of God. You are a citizen of heaven and it's time to start living like what?

A child of God. And we're not known for slander. We're known for love.

We're not known for condemnation. We're known for forgiveness and restoration. That's who you want to be. You want to be that guy, that girl that people go to and say you know you're always fair-minded about these things. You're always compassionate. You're always caring.

Don't be known as that mean-spirited, judgmental, harsh person. But be a heavenly-minded person. Because one day this life that we love so much will pass and will enter into the afterlife. I think when it's all said and done here's what we really need. We need something greater to move us through this life than the things that distract us so often. An old minister put it this way. I love this phrase he used. The explosive power of a new affection.

That's good. The explosive power of a new affection. So the idea is I have something that I am so committed to and so enthralled with and so filled with that I don't even want to look at these other things. It's the it's the explosive power.

It drives out those other things. It's a new affection. And what is the new affection? It's Jesus. And when I love Jesus with all of my heart and with all of my soul and with all of my mind it's going to change the way I look at everything in life.

So here's what this is really saying. Put the Lord first in every part of your life. And the thoughts you think and the friends you choose and the way you use your time and it will transform you.

Make every year every month every week every day and every hour count. May God give to each of us the explosive power of a new affection. Pastor Greg Laurie pointing out how heaven can be the thing that compels us drives us forward in the Christian life and drives out those things that get in the way. Good insight today here on A New Beginning. Now as you've been listening maybe you're left with some questions about how to begin a relationship with the Lord. Pastor Greg, somebody can enter into a relationship with God today can't they?

They can do it right now and it's an invitation open to everybody. That's right. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So think of it this way. Maybe you're out in a riptide in the ocean and you can't get your footing and you're in trouble and you see a lifeguard call out for help and the lifeguard will rescue you.

The same is true spiritually. You're drowning in your sin. You need help. Jesus will save you. He will rescue you but you must call out to him and you know how you do that? You do it in prayer. So let me just lead you in a simple prayer and you can pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like and this is where you are calling out to Jesus to save you. Just pray this, Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner and I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Now Lord I turn from my sin and I put my faith in you. Be my Savior, my Lord, be my God and my friend. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. Hey if you just prayed that prayer I want you to know that Christ himself has come to live inside of you and I have a resource I want to send you. It's called the New Believers Bible. So the New Believers Bible is the New Testament in the New Living Translation with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you are making to follow Christ. There's some other materials included as well in what we call the New Believers Growth Pack but let me get this New Believers Bible into your hands as quickly as possible.

Here's Dave to tell you more. Yeah we'll be glad to send it all your way free of any charge if you prayed along with Pastor Greg today. Just ask for the New Believers Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300. You can reach us anytime 24 7 at 1-800-821-3300 or write A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. You know Pastor Greg whenever we study the subject of heaven it's such an encouraging dose of hope. That's right. And you write about heaven in your brand new book as it is in heaven.

We're making it available right now. When someone close to us passes away it can be so shocking. On a day-to-day basis we forget that death awaits us all should the Lord tarry. How can we remind ourselves that our days are numbered and we need to make them count?

Yes that's right the scripture tells us Lord teach us the number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. You know in ancient days they used to write a phrase over say a financial record so you're checking out your bank balance and they would write these words down momento mori which means think of death. How morbid think of death but it's a good thing.

It's like hey I have so much money in the bank yeah dude but think of death. In other words you can't take it with you but you can send it on ahead when you invest in the work of the kingdom can't you? But here's my point it's grounding to think of the afterlife. It's important to think about the next life and it should affect us in the way that we live in this life. So Lord teach us the number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Every day is a gift from God. The beat of your heart is a gift from God.

The breath you're drawing in your lungs right now is a gift of God. We have no guarantee of a tomorrow. Therefore we should live every day as though it were our last day because one day it will be. I don't say that so you'll be afraid. I say that so you'll be practical and make your days count and make your life count and don't just throw it away because one day you're going to enter into the next life the afterlife and and there'll be rewards given to you for your faithful service to the Lord. Think of this when you share the gospel with someone and you come to Christ you'll be joined in heaven by them one day and so we want to do everything we can in this life to get ready for the afterlife and it's going to be beyond your wildest dreams so maybe I'm talking to somebody right now that's in a hospital room or the effects of old age are kicking in or they've had a recent problem or catastrophe and it just seems like this is the end but there's a better life ahead of you there's a better world coming in heaven and that gives us hope and it gives us perspective to keep walking forward until that day we see Jesus face to face so I've written about this in this book called as it is in heaven so if you've had questions about heaven and I think we all do I think you ought to order a copy of this book and I'll send it to you for your gift of any size and whatever you send will be used to help us continue to bring the gospel to people and to teach the word of God through this broadcast you're listening to now get your copy of as it is in heaven yeah that's right and we'll be glad to send it right out to you it's our thank you gift for those who partner with us right now so contact us with your donation and be sure to ask for as it is in heaven you can call us at 1-800-821-3300 we're here around the clock to take your call 1-800-821-3300 or write a new beginning box 4000 riverside california 92514 or go online to harvest.org and by the way pastor greg talks more about what's waiting for us in the afterlife in a new podcast available right now at harvest.org and on the harvest plus app look for the title as it is in heaven a new podcast at harvest.org the harvest plus app and on other podcast apps well next time as our series of most requested messages continues we'll get some words of warning about those things that so easily distract us from the eternity we're waiting for join us here on a new beginning with pastor and bible teacher greg laurie hey everybody thanks for listening to a new beginning this is a podcast made possible by harvest partners so for more content that can help you know god and equip you to make him known to others or to learn more about how you can become a harvest partner just go to harvest.org