[Recently, Pope Francis assured us that even our pets will land in heaven. Chapter and verse, please?]
Our cultural optimism is likely the root of our bullish view on the eternal future. We simply like believing in a God who will give us a pass into "a better place" if we tried our best on this side of the river.
Unfortunately what we like to believe may not be, quite frankly, the truth. But what truth about heaven is available? Whom should we believe about this all important topic? Most human beings sense intuitively (and rightly, I might add) that our 70-90 years on the planet is not the end of the story. So if there is a "next" the following questions naturally arise
- what is "next"?
- is what's "next" the same for everybody?
- if not, then can anyone have confidence that "next" is "heaven"?
One day, I was talking with a Jewish friend. We were riding a bus together and somehow got on the topic of eternity and heaven. He shocked me with his perspective. "Judaism insists that everyone gets there - to heaven - eventually." "Really?" I asked, "even Adolf Hitler?"
He paused just a second, and then said with a tone of some certainty, "Yes, even Adolf Hitler. God is forgiving." My friend, however, did not explain the basis for God's forgiveness, just that he was sure God was.
Depending with whom you speak, one can gather many views of "heaven" and "how to get there." Hindus believe that following the right path will lead to being finally released from desire (produced by the physical world) so as to be ushered into nirvana. However, if you imbibe too much pleasure, you will likely have to work off your sin in the next, reincarnated life. Getting caught in that downward cycle provides very little realistic hope.
Muslims believe that by believing in Allah and being obedient to the Koran, heaven can be gained through faithful effort. Almost every religion has some pathway that you have to follow, and perhaps you can get to a better place, but only if you really, really, really try hard enough.
Even many "Christian" sects make "getting to heaven" the reward of enough good works and self-effort. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is an example of such a "be good enough" approach.
CLARITY IN THE CLAIMS OF JESUS
Jesus of Nazareth made a remarkable statement. He said,
In my Father's house are many dwelling places
If it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you
If I go and prepare a place for you
I will come again, and receive you to myself
That were I am, you may be also
And then added,
I am the way, the truth, and the life
No one comes to the Father
Except through me.
John 14:1-6
Christian truth, as recorded in the Scriptures of the Bible, present a much simpler picture.
First, Jesus taught there were both a "heaven" and a "hell." People, after they complete this life on earth, go either to one or the other.
Second, Jesus taught there was a way to arrive in "heaven." It was "through Him." He is the way, the truth, and the life about getting to the place where the Father is.
Third, getting to heaven through Jesus requires faith - that is, a decision to trust that when God's Son died on a cross of crucifixion, He was in his death God's provision to satisfy the penalty for each man's sin. "For by grace you are saved by faith, and this is not from yourself. It is a gift from God" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Anyone who will BELIEVE in Jesus death for sin and resurrection from the grave -- anyone who will BELIEVE (or trust) in this - can be saved. The way to heaven through Jesus is opened to that person.
Fourth, as someone believes in Jesus in this way, Paul describes it as God "shining the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ" into the heart of that person. The visual imagery is intentional. Just as God called LIGHT into the darkness during the early moments of Creation, so God shines the LIGHT of the knowledge of Christ into a believers heart.
It's a miraculous moment...and a person knows that heaven is ahead.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?
Frankly if you're reading this, you may believe in all kinds of ideas about heaven. You may not want to believe there is a hell. You can draw your ideas from a thousand different sources, and have a scrap bag of jumbled ideas.
But is that what you want when it comes to your eternity? Would you not rather have, about something SO important, the truth?
Listen to someone who came from heaven (and became a man), and who went back to heaven (after his death and resurrection). Why not listen to God the Son, Jesus the Christ? Why not trade in your scrap bag of ideas for "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," who can bring you to a place He's preparing for you...
...if you will believe.
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