REAL LIFE! – Believe Series: Week Eight
Human Destiny!
Why would you want to go to Heaven? Are we going to be singing the entire time? Why does there have to be a “Hell”? Will we not be bored doing the same things for all eternity? Will we be flying around like the angels?
Wow! When it comes to eternity, the questions are endless. While we do not have the time to discuss eternity in detail, I will mention a few things to set the stage of how this doctrine impacts our relationships:
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.
Philippians 1:21-24 (ESV)
Here in this verse, the Apostle Paul says “he desires to be with Christ” in eternity. It is a better option for him, yet he realized that God had him on this earth for a reason, and that reason was “people”!
Before we jump to the fact that we are created to be with Him as well as impact people for the sake of Christ, let us discuss that Paul desired eternity…being with Christ!
Quite honestly, the only way I can describe why Paul longed for eternity and being with Christ is because he longed to be with Christ on earth! This leads me to the question:
What are you longing for?
Paul also stated something else in Colossians 3:1 (ESV): If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
When we seek things, we are longing for those things/people. One thing we know to be true in life on this earth is that nothing lasts forever. That is except for two things:
- The souls of people
- God’s Word
When we place our hope or our hearts on something or someone it will eventually end. They will let us down. We will let others down. We do not intentionally do this, we are sinners by nature and constantly wrestle with our flesh. Therefore, it is impossible for us to be perfect.
So the Apostle Paul turned his gaze upon something that is eternal – Jesus! He never fades, He never ends, He is always there.
In doing so, Paul’s joy, peace and hope was constant. He looked towards the things above. As we begin to do this as human beings, our longing for eternity and heaven grow. Therefore heaven is not just a place, it is a person. Heaven is heaven because of the Triune God that we serve and love.
Why should we want to go to heaven? Because we will be able to be with God and love him as he intended us to do so and we will also continue to receive his love.
This also reveals why eternity in hell is so bleak. Hell is the absence of God. God does not send us to hell, rather we choose it. If someone wants nothing to do with God and rejects him, he allows them that choice and desire and therefore lets them have that choice for eternity!
Some experience a “hell on earth” by rejecting God and also struggling to find hope in the things of this earth and others, but eventually those things and people will end.
So the challenge and joy that is before us is as follows:
Find our significance and self-worth in who God is!
When this happens, it allows us the freedom to be who He created us to be and love others just as they are. Much of eternity is so lofty to us, we struggle to understand it. So we can turn our gaze upon something that we can understand – Jesus Christ!
Our destiny, our relationships, and our lives all hinge upon the person of Jesus.
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…
Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
If we want to understand eternity and our destiny as human beings, we need to turn our gaze upon Jesus, fix our things that are above.