a.
Your reward and treasures are now in Heaven
Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for
your reward is great in heaven, for so they
persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 6:20 but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys
and where thieves do not break in and steal.
As a
result of being raised with Christ I have a whole new retirement plan. I want
to spend my life focusing on laying up treasures in heaven where there will be
an eternal return. I no longer live like this life is all there is. It is not my goal to die with the most "stuff". My focus is now on how I might lay up for myself treasure in heaven.
b. Our home is in Heaven, we are just Tenting on this Earth
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if
the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed,
we have a building from God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
C.S. Lewis “Our Father
refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us
to mistake them for home.” (The book The Problem of Pain)
Jesus said he was
going to prepare a place for us.
John
14:1-3 “Let not your hearts be
troubled. Believe
in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told
you that I go to
prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I
am you may be also.
We often have such a
skewed view of heaven. A place with clouds and cream cheese. A place with harps and wings. It will be so much more then these flawed images.
Randy Alcorn “Home as a term
for Heaven isn’t simply a metaphor. It describes an actual, physical place- a
place promised and built by our bridegroom; a place we’ll share with loved
ones; a place of fond familiarity and comfort and refuge; a place of marvellous
smells and tastes, fine food, and great conversation; a place of contemplation
and interaction and expressing the gifts and passions that God has given us.
It’ll be a place of unprecedented freedom and adventure.” (p.457, Heaven)
Let us hold loosely to the things of
this earth for our permanent dwelling is being built. How exciting is that?!
c. Our Citizenship is in Heaven
Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is
in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ,
Some people are very proud of their
citizenship. I find it funny that anytime that I have been in Europe I have
seen backpacks with the Canadian flag sewn on it. The want all to know that
they are Canadians. They do not want to be confused with any other citizenship
and so they proudly sew the maple leaf on their backpacks.
OUR CITZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN!!! Let us
proudly display that fact to those around us. There is a sense in which you are now
aliens…you are no longer from this world or of this world.
John
15:9 If you were of the world,
the world would love you as its own; but because
you are not of the world, but I chose you out of
the world, therefore the world
hates you.
d. Our Hope is There
Colossians
1:5 because
of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this
you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
Jesus when talking to the disciples says: Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to
you, but
rejoice that your
names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20