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 e-books designed to help you grow in your faith. Heaven is better than Earth. Earth is just sort of a glimpse of greater things to come. Pastor Greg Laurie revealed last time that 81% 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. Today on A 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 us some good information. Let's open our minds and open our eyes to God's Word.
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'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. Yeah 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 you 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 panic. He said what are we going to do master? He actually woke Elisha up.
Elisha 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 are 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 am 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 are working around us every single day. God is 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 is it. It is seeing God. That is 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 have 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 have seen and 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 am not sure what they are. And it is 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 is 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 is 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 and said 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?
Yeah it is 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 is 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.
Isn't that 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 is the word he uses. Heaven is a paradise. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
Hey everyone. I want you to know about our app called Harvest Plus. Think of it as a harvest version of Netflix.
We have all of our resources in one place. We have our movies like Steve McQueen the Salvation of an American Icon. Johnny Cash the Redemption of an American Icon. A Rush of Hope and much more. Then we have our television program, daily devotions and much more.
So go and download the 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 this 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's 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. Alright 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 worshipping 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 expulsive power of a new affection.
That's good. The expulsive 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 expulsive 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 expulsive 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. Well it's such a privilege to have Max Lucado with us today, a pastor and best-selling author with more than 50 great books to his name. So Max, as you researched your new book on the end times called What Happens Next, I read that you went looking for utopia, and you found it just a little west of San Antonio.
Who'd have thunk it? I did. Tell us about utopia. Yeah, I'm fascinated by what the Bible calls the millennium, the thousand-year reign of Christ. And as many people in researching it say, it's utopia. You know, utopia is a word we use to describe a perfect society. And yeah, there's a town about an hour and a half away from San Antonio, and it's called Utopia. So I went there just for the fun of it. There's only two, I think I said 260 people who live there. It's mainly ranch community. And so I went to about half a dozen folks and said, why do you call utopia, utopia?
And everybody had a different answer. The one that made the most sense, somebody with great confidence, said the Postmaster did this in 1880, trying to attract people to move here. Let me tell you, utopia is not utopian. I mean, people are wonderful, but there's some streets that need repair.
There's some trees that were torn down. It was not a perfect place. But you know, the Bible does talk about a time in our future, for those who are believers in Christ, in which we will descend from heaven and we will reign with Him on a perfect earth for a thousand years. It's a wonderful, exciting topic.
It's found in the book of Revelation in chapter 20. And in my mind, it's the Garden of Eden realized. It's what God intended from the beginning, and He will keep that promise that we will reign and rule with Him on earth for a thousand years.
It's a fascinating topic, and I'm so excited about it. I'm so excited, because we will return with Christ, and we will have been raptured into heaven, we'll have been married to Christ, rewarded by Christ, and according to Revelation 19, we will descend with Him. And we'll be in glorified bodies, that is to say, bodies that will know no pain or decay, and we will reign with Him, just like Adam and Eve were intended to do. We will fulfill that promise, and we'll do so. Satan will be bound, Christ will be crowned, and righteous rulers will oversee the world, and it will be beautiful. You know, a lot of times when people think of heaven, they think of it, well, it's the caricature you see in Hollywood films or even in cartoons that a lot of people have in their minds about heaven. Tell us more about that future in the millennium and beyond that the believer will experience and what we might be doing. Well, thank you for that question, because there's no question more important. You know, the theme of the eternal state or heaven is God's words, I make all things new.
Yes. I make all things new. He is going to restore the beauty of the earth, to restore the beauty of the universe. He's going to restore the proper alignment in which we will serve beneath Him, but reigning over creation, and He will make all things new. And we'll be joined by all the saints who have gone before.
That's right. You know, all the saints, Abraham and Moses and Martha and Ruth and Mary, and most of all, we'll be in the presence of Jesus Christ, our Savior. And we'll have the honor, the unspeakable honor of looking at Him face to face, and all our questions will be gone, and we will enjoy perfect fellowship. No more sin, no more sin. That means no more lust, no more greed, no more pride, no more wars, no more fighting.
All of that will be gone. So you're listening to Max Lucadone. He's written a brand new book called What Happens Next? It's about this life. It's about the afterlife. It's about the signs of the times.
It's about the return of Jesus Christ, and a whole lot more. I think this may be one of the most important books Max has ever written, and I want you to get a copy of it. And we're going to send it to you for your gift of any size, so whatever you send will be used to extend our ministry. Now, some of you can be generous and send more, others maybe not as much, but whatever you send will rush you your copy of Max Lucado's brand new book, What Happens Next?
Yeah, that's right. We've got a copy with your name on it. The book is brand new, just out this month. So thank you for your partnership in helping this ministry reach more people with the gospel. And to thank you tangibly, we'd be glad to send you What Happens Next?
And we won't be mentioning this much longer, so contact us soon. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300, 1-800-821-3300. Or write, A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or go online to harvest.org. Well, next time, as Pastor Greg continues his series, The Afterlife and the Eternal, 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 Greg Laurie. Just go to harvest.org.
