Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Selected Verses September 30, 2007

“Heaven – Part 3”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

Last week we looked at some Scriptures that revealed to us at least 3 different heavenly “regions.” They were: 1) the atmospheric heaven where clouds & birds reside, 2) the planetary heaven where the stars, the sun, the moon, and the planets reside, and 3) the high and holy dwelling place of God.
Let me return to the same Scriptures from last week that refer to this 3rd heavenly place:
Psalm 33:13, “The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all humankind. From where he sits enthroned he watches all the inhabitants of the earth – he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.”
Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy.”
Isaiah 66:1, “Thus says the Lord: Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool.”
Our conclusion from these Scriptures last Sunday was that though it seems God dwells somewhere above us – because of our limited knowledge and awareness of what God can create, we can not really know where this 3rd Heaven is. You’ve heard people say, “Oh, I think that conversation was above his/her head.” They are implying that a particular conversation was beyond a person’s understanding. So, is it possible that a heaven ‘above’ us means beyond our understanding? Is it possible God’s dwelling place is all around us? Is it possible heaven is a place just beyond our sight, off-limits to us only because of our flesh and blood? Listen to these words from the English hymn writer of the 1700’s, Isaac Watts:
There is a land of pure delight
where saints immortal reign,
Infinite day excludes the night,
and pleasures banish pain.
There everlasting Spring abides,
and never-withering flowers:
Death like a narrow sea divides
this heavenly land from ours.

The current heaven is somehow connected with the created order on earth we now enjoy because it is written that at the same time, “God created the heavens and the earth.” As beautiful as this earth can be on a spring day when everything is bursting forth with new life and color, as breathtaking as the fall changes are all around us in these weeks right now, as God’s children, deep within us, we yearn for and await a renewed heaven and earth. This renewal is promised to us in the book of Revelation; it will be a place marked with righteous character (the wicked will not travel there), a place offering increased dimensions of the life we know here in our limited capacities – an increased height, depth, width, and breadth. Remember that wonderful Scripture from Ephesians 3:14-19, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” The apostle Paul is praying for us that somehow, in some way, we will be able to begin to experience an increased dimension in our own lives here on earth so that they will begin to take on a richness that goes beyond the things of earth.
From the moment we are conceived, we are connected to these bodies of flesh and blood. They are amazing creations. When you stop and really think of the interconnectedness of the organs in our body, it is an amazing testimony to the creativity and love of God for us. When you look at a little baby still in the womb, as we had the opportunity to do this week with our new little granddaughter who will arrive after the first of year into the arms of her parents, Molly and Randy, how can you not believe that there is an intelligent designer who didn’t just put the stars in place, but who also knit us together in our own mother’s womb? Our bodies are given to us for the purpose of glorifying God in and with our bodies, and the purpose of testifying to others of the existence of an infinite Creator of the world and all that is in it. But the truth we must come to know and accept, is that from the very moment of conception, our bodies begin to grow towards death. It wasn’t meant to be that way. God intended that babies would grow up and live forever in the glorious habitation in and around the very first Garden. But because of the entrance of sin into all of our lives, our bodies succumb to decay and destruction - we even help them along by the choices we make in what we eat and drink, how much we rest, how much we exert our bodies in work and play, how we abuse them sexually and with addictive substances, and how we neglect to take care of them with regular check-ups at the doctor and dentist. Most of us don’t do a very good job of glorifying God in our bodies. We are called to do better. Its part of why Weight Watchers is here in the building, why we have blood pressure checks monthly for anyone, why we’re putting a health article in the newsletters each month, why AA is meeting here on Sunday nights. As an important way of glorifying our Creator, we should do better at taking care of those things going on with our bodies that are within our control, even though we know that one day we’ll leave these bodies behind forever. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
We stated in our confession of faith this morning, “I believe in the resurrection of the body.” That belief finds its foundation in the truth of Scripture. One of the most important passages about resurrection life is found in 1 Corinthians 15. Let’s take a look at what the apostle Paul has written in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 36. “But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” Fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (Paul is obviously picking up on the teaching of Jesus from John 12:24 when he said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”) Paul continues, “And as for what you sow (plant), you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.” Paul is making an important point. The seed is one thing; the body of the plant it produces is another. A kernel of corn is very different from the tall, green stalk that comes out of the ground. Paul is teaching us that the body that is buried in the earth will be raised up a completely different kind of body. Let’s continue with Paul’s words that seem to confirm the existence of all kinds of creatures in resurrection life, not just human beings, “Not all flesh is alike, but there is one flesh for human beings, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are both heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead.” Then, Paul talks about what kind of bodies we will have beginning in v. 42:
They will be indestructible: What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Whether our bodies are buried in a casket or cremated and kept in an urn anywhere, what dies perishes. What is raised is indestructible!
They will be recognizable: It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. Let’s look at one of our verses from last week to understand this more fully from Philippians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.” His glory. Our resurrected bodies will be like the body of the Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection. Paul completes this particular thought in v. 49, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust [Adam], we will also bear the image of the man of heaven [Jesus].” So, this means our bodies will be real as Jesus’ resurrected body was real. In Luke 24:39, Jesus said to his disciples, “Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” If our bodies are going to be like Jesus’ resurrected body, it apparently means we will eat in heaven because it is revealed that after his resurrection, Jesus chose to eat. Just a little farther in Luke 24 it is written, “While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.” In John 21, Jesus apparently shared fish and bread with his disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Having a glorified resurrected body means we will recognize one another as hundreds of people recognized the resurrected Jesus. We just read, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead.” We will be as different from one another in heaven as we are different from one another on earth. But how much more quickly and clearly will we recognize one another in heaven when our eyesight will be perfect and our insight into the true character of a person will be complete?
We have established that our resurrected bodies in heaven will be indestructible, recognizable, and two more qualities Paul reveals to us.
Our new bodies will be powerful. Paul writes, “It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.” As I thought about this, I remembered our mission trips to New Orleans. I remembered how hard we worked, dragging water-soaked contents out of homes. At the end of the day, we looked like something the cat dragged in! Paul is telling us that there will be no limit to our power. Jesus was able to just appear in a locked room, unconstrained by his earthly body. We will no longer be constrained by physical limitations in heaven, either!
Finally, Paul tells us, “It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual.” Our physical bodies are at home on earth. Our spiritual bodies will be at home in heaven. Our spiritual bodies will no longer be in the battle between what we know we should do in the spirit, and what our flesh wants to do. There will be no conflict, no competition between spirit and flesh. Our whole desire will be to do the will of God. For the first time since birth, we will be completely at peace within ourselves.

Think of the place here on earth where you feel most at peace. Maybe it’s your back porch. Maybe it’s your tree stand. Maybe it’s the middle of a cemetery where things are still and quiet. Maybe it’s this sanctuary. For me, I can’t wait to get to the ocean. There’s something, for me, about standing on the shore of that vast body of water, listening to the waves roll over one another, that calms my spirit within. There’s something there that helps me grasp more fully the breadth and length and height and depth of God. On the shore of the sea is a ‘little piece of heaven’ that draws me towards my heavenly home.

Beyond the Sky
Fernando Ortega

One morning
When time is done
Bright heaven
Will be our refuge
The city of God most high

I long for
That holy day
This longing
Sometimes it captures my heart
And carries me far away

Beyond the sky
Beyond all telling
Our Father himself
Will be our light
His arms will hold us
And with his hands
He'll wipe away the tears
That stain our eyes

When darkness
Falls over me
This promise
It's like a fire inside
Burning the dark away

Two Christians lived very healthy lives. When they died, they went to heaven. As they walked along, marveling at the paradise around them, one of the men turned to the other and said, “Wow. I never imagined heaven would be as good as this!” “Yeah,” agreed the other. “And just think, if we hadn’t eaten all that oat bran, we could have gotten here ten years sooner!”
We don’t get to choose when we go to heaven, but we do get to choose whether we go to heaven. We must put our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. We must allow ourselves to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. We must take to heart the words of the Apostles’ Creed. If we do, we have no excuse not to take care of the bodies we have been given for this time, and this place. And, we have no excuse for not treating one another with mutual love, mercy, and compassion. After all, it is only because of the love, mercy, and compassion of the Lord that we have been given the promise of resurrection glory in the city of God most high!
The choir is going to sing “This World is Not My Home” while we collect the morning offering. The last verse goes like this,
“Just over in glory land, we’ll live eternally.
The saints on every hand are shouting victory.
Their songs of sweetest praise
drift back from heaven’s shore.
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.”

It’s not a slam on earthly living to say you’d rather be at home in heaven with the Lord, for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:8) Paul himself said, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” (Phil. 1:23,24) For believers in Christ, our true home is in heaven with the Lord. Therefore, let us begin to practice holding loosely to earthly things. Let us love one another enough to make sure the way to heaven is clearly revealed to others by both word and deed.

Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus who made the way clear for us to come home to heaven with you. We thank you for your word that confirms our destination. We thank you for your Holy Spirit who testifies within us to the truth of your promises. Continue to grow within us a faith that casts out fear of what lies beyond the sunset. As we stand on this earthly shore, help us get a glimpse sometimes of the heavenly shore. May we have the power to comprehend, with all the saints in heaven and on earth, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God, not for our glory, but for your glory, and for the building of your kingdom in the hearts of all humanity. This we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

09-30-2007