One of the most tragic realities in life, is that millions believe heaven is the final destination of every soul. The concept life is merely a detour to eternal bliss--and has no impact on our soul's final destination--is widely embraced. This pernicious lie has eclipsed Almighty God's just character and fuels the self-focused and self-loathing culture we live in. For life was not created in man to glorify himself.
Pondering why people who reject God in life want to go to heaven when they die, a thought occurred to me. They no more want God to be a part of eternity than they want Him to be part of life on earth. For these, heaven is not considered a means to finally look upon the divine face and dwell intimately with their Creator. Nor is it about becoming the perfection of who they were designed to be in order to worship and bring glory to God. No. Heaven is reduced to an eternal state of self satisfaction and peace: no loss, pain or toil for those heavenly saints, who deserve nothing less than an eternity of bliss. After all, they were good people...
Can you hear the hiss of the snake?
What man deserves is death and an eternity of hell. For the Bible teaches sin of slander or a little white lie is as severe as murder, adultery and theft in the eyes of God.
"There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus," (Romans 3:23-24NIV).
Jesus also teaches in the gospel, that sin is rooted in the heart and mind of man. Whether or not man has the intent to act upon their hearts sinful desire, they sin just the same by their poor attitudes of: hate, jealousy, lust or pride, as well in their deceit and hypocrisy.
Jesus said; "But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unlcean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander," (Matthew 15:18-19NIV).
So the case against man regarding sin is warranted and just. God will rule against the sin in man when he stands beyond the threshold of death. There, the Righteous Judge, Jesus the Christ, will proclaim a person either saved through faith in the blood of the Lord, or confess them to be outside His circle of friends. The reality of God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, heaven and hell will no longer be over shadowed by man's self will. Eyes will be forced to behold the radiance of the Son: some to their great peril.
How does man live a self-willed life? Some live contrary to God's Spirit because they have a false concept of who God truly is. They misjudge His character. They focus on the love of God and therefore believe God's goodness will cause him to overlook unrighteous living. Other's play Russian roulette with God's grace. They know God's nature to grant forgiveness and they fool themselves into believing a life of disobedience and sin can be erased with continual trips to the confessional or delayed repentance. And there are those who give little or no thought to God, for they are simply too busy to bother with spiritual matters...until they are faced with peril, loss or their own death. Sadly, these perspectives are as prevalent in the pews as they are outside the Church.
Oswald Chambers refers to the apostle Paul's teaching on God's judgment to come. "Paul says that we must all, preachers and other people alike, "appear before the judgment seat of Christ." But if you will learn here and now to live under the scrutiny of Christ's pure light, your final judgment will bring you only delight in seeing the work God has done in you."
We are challenged as believers to live daily as if we were standing before this judgment seat. For only when we set our whole selves: body, mind and spirit, before the Lord, will we allow the light of His goodness to reveal our impurities. Only when our impurities are illuminated by Christ, can we be mindful of them. If left in the shadows, even believers can slip into a state of denial or complacency, where sin seems irrelevant or at the most nagging.
False security of salvation can develop in a believer's mind the idea their personal sin is no longer a threat. This is dangerous for as Paul claims..."we must all" be judged. While the believer will avoid eternal separation from God, there is still much to be lost through sin in our lives. The greatest of which is souls. For it is evident some of the world's negative view and dismissal of Jesus Christ is due to the lack of righteousness in the lives of Christians. Chambers states: "The deadliest attitude of the Pharisees that we exhibit today is not hypocrisy but that which comes from unconsciously living a lie."
Likewise, believers can ignore the convictions of the Holy Spirit about a matter in their lives or attitude, until they become numb to the Spirits prompting. Chambers warns the believer; "One of the penalties of sin is our acceptance of it. it is not only God who punishes for sin, but sin establishes itself in the sinner and takes its toll. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing certain things, and the penalty of sin is that you gradually get used to it, until you finally come to the place where you no longer even realize that it is sin."
While believers put off dealing with strongholds in their lives or simply settle into lives of Sunday worship and week long self-service, the world is watching. Understandably, many outside of salvation believe themselves worthy of heaven when they measure themselves up against some of God's children.
Therefore, as followers of Christ, we must rise to the personal battles with sin in our lives, that we may be honest witnesses to the transforming power of God. Only by this will the world see, life is different when lived with Jesus. Furthermore, we must place great importance on self examination. Ask ourselves the hard questions: am I harboring sinful attitudes, am I dishonoring my body in any way, am I ignoring the Spirit in some area of my life? We must pray for insight, wisdom, discernment and courage to overcome our areas of weakness. Most importantly we must take action to change our attitudes, thoughts and behaviors.
Turning our thoughts toward Jesus and away from ourselves is the goal. When the Church begins to live lives that are focused on heaven, others will note the difference between righteous living and living for self. When we give a glimpse of eternity through our behavior, worldly thoughts of heaven will be eclipsed by Jesus. For what is heaven without it's Glory?
Christians must "walk in the light 'as He is in the light...'" (1 John 1:7). In so doing we will "store up treasures in heaven." According to Gregg Prickett, a dear brother in Christ, these "treasures will be souls" we point to the Son!
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