Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Glimpses of Heaven
We had begun our decent and the beautiful New England coastline came into view. Our approach was from the West so our pilot took us out over the Atlantic just North of Boston so we could circle that great metropolis and land at Logan International airport from the East. It was a great view. There, neatly laid out beneath us, was a city of millions of people scurrying through streets and real estate worth billions of dollars. We could see the Charles River, Zakim Bridge, parks, museums, restaurants and many other inviting places. But I was still wedged between two people, strapped in a seat that I was more than ready to vacate. Boston was there, but we were not. The place existed and so did we, but we only saw it from a distance. It would be another twenty minutes before we could experience it in full. For now I would have to be satisfied with just a glimpse.
There’s another, even more inviting place, that I’ve been privileged to glimpse. A real place that has been prepared for me; a place without pain or tears. It has been called the New Jerusalem and the Celestial City. Most of us just call it Heaven. Heaven exists, we’re just not there yet. You, too, can catch glimpses of heaven if you know what to look for. I will mention four such glimpses.
1. Prayer is a little taste of heaven because it is conversation with God, the creator of earth and heaven. You can talk to Him like a friend. Many times you can even sense His presence and His response to what you say. Your times with Him can be a little reminder that it won’t be long until you get to talk to Him face to face!
2. Fellowship with other believers is another appetizer of that place where believers will live forever with others who want to do things God’s way. Here on earth our fellowship is imperfect, but there we will enjoy one another and those who have gone before us in ways we’ve never experienced.
3. Healing is also a glimpse of heaven because it demonstrates that God is able to fix things that are broken even if that means defying natural laws – after all, he makes the laws of the universe. I’ve witnessed God healing people of cancer, making a limb grow, and causing blind eyes to see. I am even aware of verifiable accounts of people being brought back to life. These all remind us that this life is just the antechamber to heaven.
4. The most powerful glimpse of heaven, however, comes when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit like the disciples and Jesus’ mother were on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) If this happens to you, you will never forget it. It is accompanied by God’s sweet presence and a heavenly language. His Spirit in you is evidenced by love joy and peace. The Bible refers to it as “Christ in us, the hope of Glory.” (see Col 1:27)
I’ve caught a glimpse and I can’t wait. The hope of heaven is a great source of strength for believers. St Paul put it like this: “…we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us-bodies that will never be sick again and will never die. (Romans 8:23-24 TLB) “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) Pay attention, maybe you’ll catch a glimpse today.
There’s another, even more inviting place, that I’ve been privileged to glimpse. A real place that has been prepared for me; a place without pain or tears. It has been called the New Jerusalem and the Celestial City. Most of us just call it Heaven. Heaven exists, we’re just not there yet. You, too, can catch glimpses of heaven if you know what to look for. I will mention four such glimpses.
1. Prayer is a little taste of heaven because it is conversation with God, the creator of earth and heaven. You can talk to Him like a friend. Many times you can even sense His presence and His response to what you say. Your times with Him can be a little reminder that it won’t be long until you get to talk to Him face to face!
2. Fellowship with other believers is another appetizer of that place where believers will live forever with others who want to do things God’s way. Here on earth our fellowship is imperfect, but there we will enjoy one another and those who have gone before us in ways we’ve never experienced.
3. Healing is also a glimpse of heaven because it demonstrates that God is able to fix things that are broken even if that means defying natural laws – after all, he makes the laws of the universe. I’ve witnessed God healing people of cancer, making a limb grow, and causing blind eyes to see. I am even aware of verifiable accounts of people being brought back to life. These all remind us that this life is just the antechamber to heaven.
4. The most powerful glimpse of heaven, however, comes when someone is filled with the Holy Spirit like the disciples and Jesus’ mother were on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) If this happens to you, you will never forget it. It is accompanied by God’s sweet presence and a heavenly language. His Spirit in you is evidenced by love joy and peace. The Bible refers to it as “Christ in us, the hope of Glory.” (see Col 1:27)
I’ve caught a glimpse and I can’t wait. The hope of heaven is a great source of strength for believers. St Paul put it like this: “…we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us-bodies that will never be sick again and will never die. (Romans 8:23-24 TLB) “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) Pay attention, maybe you’ll catch a glimpse today.
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