ETERNITY IN PARADISE WITH GOD:

                                             Your Best Life…Later

 

                                                          Part 2

 

3…And there before me was a throne in heaven…. and the one who sat on the throne had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

 Revelation 4:3-6

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Psalms 42:2

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭12:15‬ ‭KJV‬‬
 

As I have noted in several of my other writings, the word is clear: as disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to live, not for the temporary pleasures of this world – be they material, sexual, or reputational. We instead live for the never-ending glory of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, a kingdom, which can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for us (1 Peter 1:4). Because of this unseen, everlasting and glorious reality, we should all seek, through the Holy Spirit, to release our grasp on everything that we hold dear on this planet, which interferes with our pursuit of Jesus Christ – as the parable of the Pearl of Great Price so perfectly illustrates. For truly, what does it profit us if we gain anything – or even everything – from this earth, and then, after seventy-five or so years, when we die, we forfeit our souls to the fires of hell for eternity?

Below I am simply going to go through some of the verses, which refer to the promise of eternity we have with our God in paradise.

John 14 is, in my estimation, one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. It is both intimate and powerful in describing exactly how much Jesus and the Father love us and desire to be with us forever…in their kingdom. At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus tells us not to be troubled in heart, but to trust in Him and to trust in His Father. For in His Father’s house He promises, are many mansions, and Jesus Himself is going back to heaven to prepare those mansions for us, and after He prepares them for us, He will come back for each of us and will take us back home to be with Him and His Father…forever.

As one who has always been intimidated by the glory, power, and omniscience of the Father, I love how verse 23 states that, if we love Jesus, and keep His Word, then the Father Himself will love us and will come and make His home with us! The Father God, the Ancient of Days, and Jesus Christ Himself will come and make their home with foolish, selfish, and sometimes lazy me?! Now that is a promise I can live for, regardless of my circumstances.

In Matthew 6:19-20, Jesus tells the crowd of people he is preaching to during the Sermon on the Mount, not to store up for themselves treasures on earth where moths destroy and thieves steal. Instead they – and we – should build up for ourselves treasures in Heaven, which can never, ever spoil, be destroyed or be stolen.

In Matthew 25:34, Jesus promises those who love Him an eternal kingdom, which was prepared for us by God since the foundation of the world.

In Romans 8:18, Paul states that his suffering on this earth, which was extreme to say the least (multiple stonings, floggings, shipwrecks and imprisonments), is nothing compared to the glory of Heaven which one day shall be revealed to all of us.

In 1 Corinthians 2:8-10, Paul states that no eye has seen and no ear has heard nor has it entered the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.

In 1 Corinthians 15:41-43 Paul shares with us the glorious mystery of what our bodies will be like in eternity:  “41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another…and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” My old, weary and decaying body looks forward to this permanent upgrade.

2 Corinthians 4:16 through 2 Corinthians 5:2, states that, even though our outward bodies are perishing, our inward person is being renewed daily. For our light and temporary affliction is building up for us eternal glory. So we focus not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.

When our earthly house is destroyed, we will gain an eternal building forged by God in the heavens – a house not made by the hands of men, but one made by God Himself.

In Philippians 3:7-14, Paul speaks eloquently and powerfully about how he truly believes that every single thing that profits him on this earth is a loss if it in any way interferes with knowing Christ and the power of His death and resurrection. Paul clearly understands that the temporary pleasures of this world are nothing compared to the glory that is ahead in and through Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 1:4-6, Paul reminds believers that their hope is laid up for them in Heaven, and not on this earth.

In Colossians 3:1-5, Paul exhorts the people to desire those things, which are above with Christ, and not earthly things.

In Colossians 3:22-25, Paul reminds the people to do everything on earth for God, knowing that we will receive an inheritance as a reward, for we live to serve not ourselves, but Jesus Christ.

In 1 Timothy 6:17-20, we are told to do good works in Christ because it builds up for us a good foundation for the coming age.

In 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Paul tells Timothy that as he (Paul) approaches the end of his life, he knows that he has fought the good fight, he has finished the race, and he has kept the faith. Therefore, he will receive the crown of righteousness that God has prepared for him in Heaven and also for all of us who love Jesus Christ and long for His return.

In Titus 1:1-3, Paul states that he is an apostle of Jesus in the hope that he will receive eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, has promised from the beginning of the world.

In Titus 2:11-15, Paul states that the grace that brings salvation teaches us to deny worldly desires and to live righteously with godliness as we await the blessed hope of the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. We live, not for the temporary pleasures of today, but for the hope of living with God in Heaven forever.

In Hebrews 10:34, Paul notes that his brothers in Christ had compassion on him and they all joyfully suffered through the confiscation of their property knowing that they had, in heaven, far better and enduring treasures stored up for themselves by God.

How many of us would joyfully endure the confiscation of our property even if we thought that it was building up for us some type of treasure in Heaven? I can say fairly confidently that I would not joyfully endure it under any circumstance. I pray that the Holy Spirit of God will move in me to change my heart…because I have a feeling, that at some time in the not-to-distant future, it’s coming.

In Hebrews 11:23-27, Paul states that, by faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh, and instead chose to suffer afflictions with the people of God rather than to enjoy the short term pleasures of sin. He esteemed the reward of God as greater riches than the riches of Egypt and he looked to that reward as he lived.

Moses endured this life – not by holding on to the luxuries he enjoyed as Pharoah’s son – but by looking to the One and Only God. He knew that if he surrendered this life, and obeyed God’s commands, he would end up in a far better kingdom than anything this world could offer, for eternity.

Hebrews 12:28, states that we, as believers, are receiving a kingdom which can never be shaken so let us worship God with reverence an awe…for our God is a consuming fire.

In 1 Peter 1:3-7, Peter states that Jesus has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that does not fade away, but is kept in Heaven by God for all of us who believe. He also emphasizes that our faith is more precious than gold because it, unlike gold, is eternal.

In 1 Peter 5:2-4, we are told to shepherd our flock willingly and not for dishonest gain, because when Christ, the Great Shepherd appears, we will receive a crown of glory that will never fade away.

In Revelation 1:12-18, John describes Jesus Christ as He is today, and as He will be in eternity with us. His head and hair are white like wool, as white as snow and His eyes are like blazing fire, His feet are like bronze glowing in a furnace and His voice is like the sound of rushing water….

This is an accurate portrait of the God we love and the God who loves us. He is the One with whom we will reign forever.

Revelation 19:11-21, is extremely encouraging as I see this world slipping into deeper and deeper darkness because it illustrates exactly how things will play out at the end of the end of the world, when Jesus comes for us and takes His vengeance on those who hated Him and us. If I am ever poor, weary, persecuted and broken (as Jesus and Paul were so often)…those days will cease, and when they cease, our King will come in unmitigated power and glory, riding on a white horse with His robe dipped in blood, and with iron scepter in His hand. The armies of heaven are following Him, also riding on horses and wearing fine linen, white and clean. He will crush His enemies forever and will gather all of us to be with Him and the Father in glory, in heaven…forever.

Revelation chapters 4, 21 and 22 (which are at the end of this writing) give us just a little taste of the beauty and glory of our eternal dwelling with God.

I would encourage each one of us to make sure that we will be a part of the army of Jesus Christ when He returns – and not amongst those who are destroyed because we, in our hearts, put our faith and hope in possessions, our reputations and our pleasures, rather than in the One and only God. Jesus Christ the God who stepped off His throne to become man, who died for us cold and broken on a cross, who was raised from the dead to reign over all things in glory…wants us to be with Him in His Kingdom… forever. That life my friends will be our best life.

EPILOGUE

Below…is our eternal city.

The New Jerusalem

Revelation 22

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” 9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. 22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The River of Life

Revelation 23:1-6

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. 6 The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

Favorite Scriptures #1: Paul’s Perspective On This Short Life (Philippians 3:7-14)