Thursday 17th December 2020 Devotion
Scripture:- Genesis 1:1-31
Topic:- 5 Myths About Heaven [1]
Text:- Genesis 1:31
By Ian K. Smith
1. The Christian’s home is in heaven:
When Christians die, we rejoice that they have been called home to heaven. There is truth and comfort in this. But we need to be careful when we refer to heaven as our home. Heaven is neither our original home nor our eternal home. When God created the heavens and the earth, he also created heavenly creatures (e.g. angels) and earthly creatures (e.g. humans). Heaven is not the home for which we were created.
When God created our earthly home, he did not give us second best in anticipation of heaven. He declared that the earth was very good, or, as the Hebrew could also be translated, very beautiful (Gen. 1:31). The problems we experience are not because the earth is second-rate; they come from sin. God delights in what he has created and so should we.
At the point of death, Christians will be at home with Jesus as we await the general resurrection, but heaven is only a temporary home. In heaven, the martyrs cry “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:10). On earth, all creation groans as it awaits its liberation from bondage to corruption (Rom. 8:22). It is at the point of Christ’s return that the earth will be renewed and we will truly be at home.
Understanding God’s plan to renew the earth connects what Christians learn on Sunday mornings with the rest of the week—shaping their mission as they discover purpose in all their daily work here on earth.
2. Christians will live in heaven forever.
Christians will not live in heaven forever. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-8, Paul uses a series of metaphors to address the pressing pastoral issue of the state of Christians who have died before the resurrection.
In the first metaphor, the earthly body is likened to a tent that will be destroyed at death. This tent will be transformed to a permanent house at Christ’s return (2 Cor. 5:1). But what happens in the meantime? Paul now switches his metaphor from buildings to clothes. The earthly body is likened to clothing. Paul longs to be over-clothed (2 Cor. 5:4). Death is not a certainty. Christians who are alive at the time of Christ’s return will evade death and be over-clothed with a new body without needing to discard the first set of clothing. But if Paul dies before Christ’s return, the logic is clear. The current clothing has been removed and he is not yet over-clothed. He will be naked (2 Cor. 5:3), a state from which he recoils. An eternal, bodiless existence is not the Christian hope. Within this despair, Paul offers comfort through a third metaphor of homelands. If Christians die before the second coming of Christ, we will be absent from the body but at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Heaven may not be our final home, but insofar as we are with the Lord, we will indeed be at home as we wait.
Prayer Point:- Oh Lord God, help me to make heaven at all cost at the end of this world by fire, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Have A Fulfilled Thursday!
