All Christians hear about about it, all Christians think about it from time to time, but do all Christians look forward to it?
If we're honest, I would say the answer to that question is no, unless I'm the only one.
I can remember being a young boy, sitting in a Church pulpit one weekday night during our yearly "Revival" (which I never looked forward to because it meant I had to go to Church every night of the week), and hearing a pastor preach on some obscure passage from Revelation. It was about judgement, of course, and he made a heartfelt attempt to convince us all that in THIS generation Jesus would return. I don't know whether he just didn't care or was ignorant of the fact that every preacher of every generation since Christ ascended has said the same thing, but this guy believed it. Honestly, I think that if all these pastors would stop trying to convince us that THIS is the generation of Christ's return Jesus probably would have already come by now. I am of course kidding, but whenever I hear a preacher say these things there is a little piece of me that thinks, "Well now you've ruined it. Because you are so sure Jesus is coming back today, He's going to delay it just to prove you wrong."
But nevertheless, I endured through the sermon. He went on to talk about the return of Christ, the end of the world, and the New Heavens and New Earth. As he went through each of these, a particular emotion began to fill my entire body...any idea what that emotion was?
Fear!
All I could think about were all the things I wanted to do before Jesus returned. I wanted to graduate high school, go to college, get married, have a real job, be a dad, and so much more...But if Jesus returned this year then none of that was going to happen! This was a real problem for me. I attempted to read Revelation for myself to see if the pastor might have been wrong about what he was saying, but I couldn't understand a word of it and gave up after reading some jargon about a lamb reading a scroll and sitting on a throne. It made no sense whatsoever. I had no idea how my pastor could be so convinced he even knew what it all meant, let alone when it would happen.
But my fear was there, and the ideas of the return of Christ and Eternal Life were not welcome to the mind of a boy with such great aspirations for the future in this present world. Couldn't God just wait for me to fulfill my dreams?
Since that time my understanding of Eternal Life has significantly changed. I do not dread the event as I did before, but there is still a small part of me that thinks from time to time, "God, please just wait a little longer before you return...I really want to go to seminary, be a father, establish myself in a career, drive a hovercraft, and see the next Batman movie." Of course these are all extremely selfish thoughts, and I recognize them as wrong and sinful, but I cannot deny that they enter my mind from time to time.
So I have begun to consider that I am not the only one who struggles with the idea of Eternal Life. I'm sure the majority of you who will read this still have many relational, educational, and vocational milestones you have yet to achieve. I'd be willing to bet that the thought of either death or the return of Christ before you can accomplish these goals causes fear and anxiety, and that you do recognize this fear as sinful. Nearly all Christians would readily confess that the joy of being with God, in His presence, for all of eternity is incomparably better than anything we could accomplish here in this sinful world, but even though we admit it, we have a hard time believing it.
Eternal Life is a very hard concept to grasp, and a world without sin may be even more difficult. They are both so diametrically opposed to the world we live in today that we are unable to even begin contemplating what life will be like practically. Will we get hungry? Will we sleep? Will flowers bloom? Will there be seasons? Will there be ipods? Will we tell jokes? How will we recognize each other? What age will we resemble?
None of these questions can be answered in an objective way. We can speculate, but it's impossible know for sure.
These unknown factors are what make us uncomfortable with the concept of Eternal Life.
But this world is much different. We are extremely comfortable, we know what to expect, and we like it that way! We understand how this world works. We know what jokes are funny, what is socially acceptable, what sort of weather to expect, and so on and so forth. We love things like Facebook, ESPN, smartphones, coffee, movies, and music! Imagining a world where these things might not exist the way they do today makes us wonder whether we could really enjoy ourselves.
These are real issues that I, and many other Christians, struggle with every day regarding Eternal Life.
How do we get excited about the return of Christ and The New Heavens and New Earth when we invest so much of ourselves in this present world?
The answer is, we can't.
Even though we may say that we are excited about the return of Christ and know that it is something we should look forward to, our hearts and desires are tied up in this world, not in the world to come.
We are so caught up with ourselves in the here and now that we fail to develop a heavenly perspective on life.
Jesus confronts this issue head-on in Matthew 6:19-21 when he says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Have you ever hoped you could get the inside track on what stocks to invest in? Let's say it's 1998 and you have $50,000 invested in Enron. Enron is a huge company that has been unbelievably successful throughout the 1990s. No one expects it to do anything but grow. One day as you're reading the paper (because more people read the paper in the 1990s), you see an article about a new company starting up called Facebook. You've never heard of this company before, and it sounds like a flop, so you pass over it and read on. Then, as you are walking to work that same morning, you're approached by a shady man in a long, brown trench coat who corners you and gives you some strange information. He says, "Look, I'm telling you, Enron is going to bite it hard, it's not gonna last. Facebook, though, it's the real deal. It will skyrocket. Take all you have out of Enron and invest it in Facebook. Trust me..."
What would you do in this situation? Most would think this strange man to be crazy, but in a few years his advice would be considered prophetic! He knew what was going to happen, he knew how things were going to pan out. He knew what one should invest in. If you took his advice, you would soon become a rich person with money and possessions to spare! If you rejected it, you would lose everything you had and hate yourself for the rest of your life over this missed opportunity.
This is exactly what Jesus is doing for us. He is publicly giving anyone who will listen insider information about what investments to make now that will have the biggest pay-off in the future!
Jesus tells us that investing our lives and looking for pleasure in this present world will lead only to disappointment and destruction. He also reveals that investing our lives and seeking pleasure in heavenly things brings eternal joy and satisfaction.
You tell me which one has a better pay-out...
Jesus gives us strong incentives to develop a heavenly perspective on life and addresses the core issue, our hearts. According to what Jesus says here, our hearts are tied up in the treasure we seek. If our treasure is laid up in things on earth then they, along with ourselves, will be destroyed and stolen because no treasure that is part of this world will last. If our treasure is laid up in things in heaven, then both these treasures and ourselves will be preserved and enjoyed for all eternity.
It's important to understand what Jesus means by "treasure" in this passage. Treasure is equivalent to what we find our pleasure in. If all our pleasure comes from earthly things that do not last then we are destined to be let down in the end, but pleasure in eternal things brings lasting satisfaction.
Jesus lays is out plain and simple: Treasure in heaven > Treasure on earth
Anyone is rejects this truth does so with a full understanding of the repercussions and to their own detriment.
Our lack of excitement about the return of Christ and Eternal Life is a sign that we have invested our hearts in worldly things. It is a sign that we do not trust God or believe that He has our best intentions in mind. It is a sign that our faith is lacking. The are harsh truths, and I speak to myself when I say this, but they are truths nonetheless.
We have a problem, and the first step to solving any problem is admitting its existence.
So how do we change? We must recognize what earthly things we are investing ourselves in.
Sports?
A relationship?
Music?
Sex?
Video Games?
Academic success?
Appearance?
Reputation?
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
None of these things are evil in and of themselves, but when we make them idols and invest our lives in then we pervert their purposes. Rather than having dominion over them and glorifying God in how we use them we become enslaved by them and reject God for earthly things. This will only, ever, and always lead to disappointment.
We must take the advice of Jesus and reject these idols, not investing our lives in them but investing ourselves in heavenly things. To invest in heavenly things, we need to develop a heavenly perspective.
So how the heck do we do it!?
Paul answers this question perfectly in Colossians 3,
"If then you have been raised with Christ...Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth...Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry...Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and... forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
(Colossians 3:1,5, 12-14 ESV, emphasis mine)
Paul points out two aspects of developing a heavenly perspective ("sett[ing] your minds on things that are above"). The first is putting to death our earthly, sinful desires and investments. The second is putting on, or investing one's life in, Godly desires.
So developing a heavenly perspective does not begin with putting on anything, but with putting to death those things that put distance between us and God, sin. Paul makes a pretty comprehensive list here, calling Christians to put to death sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, and covetousness. His point here is to help us realize that any sin, even what we would call a "small sin," is in direct opposition to God. In fact, it is our sin that prevents us from having a heavenly perspective. As long as we desire sinful things we will never long for a world without sin or consider the eternal implications of our actions. At first, this putting off of sin may seem overwhelming, but God has providentially taken care of this problem for us in Christ Jesus.
Jesus takes our sin and puts it to death for us on the cross by taking the punishment we deserve for the sin we have committed. All we must do to putt off our sin is accept the payment that Jesus has made! Once this has occurred we then receive Christ's righteousness and can "put on" Christ's character.
But God does not leave us to do this on our own either! He grants Christians the gift of the Holy Spirit, which puts new desires in our hearts. Desires to put on compassion, kindness, humility, patience, and forgiveness! All these things are bound together by one virtue, love.
The love he refers to here is not just any old worldly, selfish love, but the same love that God gives to His people. The gracious, unmerited, selfless love that we receive from God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same love we are called to emulate. This particular love of God compels us to be compassionate, kind, humble meek, patient, and forgiving. Without God's love urging us forward, we are unable to do any of these things in a God-honoring way. Embracing God's will for us allows us to forgo our sinful desires and truly long the return of Christ when God's redemption will be fully realized and sin wiped out in a New Heavens and New Earth!
But life is not easy, and we still battle with sin each and every day. Sometimes our battles with sin seem impossible to win!
How do we continue to develop our heavenly perspective and resist our desire to invest our lives in things we know are wrong and unable satisfy?
Paul gives us that answer as well in Colossians 3:16, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Paul offers two spiritual encouragements for Christians to grow in their desire for heaven, God's word and God's community. He begins by imploring us to let God's word "dwell in you richly." This refers particularly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It reminds us that the Christian life does not begin in the Gospel and progress elsewhere, but that the Gospel is our home and our life. We must dwell on it each and every day as we drive out the constant temporal demands of this world and focus our minds on how to invest our lives in the world to come. The second spiritual encouragement is God's community. We gain new insight into the Christian life by hearing the teaching of God's word, participating in corporate worship together, and sharing personal experiences with one another through relationships. The Christian community also encourages us during difficult times and prepares us for the kinds of relationships that we will have in heaven.
These two encouragements remind us that our final home is not in a world where sin is abundant, but a perfect, sinless world where God will reign in the presence of His people eternally. They also bring us closer to a point where we can truly long for this time rather than be fearful of it. When we put our hope in God we learn that apart from Him nothing can satisfy and that with Him nothing else is needed. My prayer is that each of us can join together with the saints of old and with true conviction say,
"Come quickly Lord Jesus!"
