Jesus’ Resurrection

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). That’s why when we have serious questions, the first and best place to look is to Jesus. There is no bigger question than what happens to us when we die. The Bible makes it clear that if we put our faith in Christ, we will be with Him in Heaven after our deaths. What is not as clear is what that life will be like. However, once again, looking to Jesus helps us find answers.

The Bible gives us clues about our eternal home, but the most direct and visible information comes from the source of truth: Jesus. He was with His disciples for forty days after He was raised from the dead, showing them His resurrected body and proving He had risen from the dead.

What did Jesus show His disciples about His resurrected body? He made it very clear that it was a physical body: Touch Me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have (Lk 24:39). He made a point of eating in front of them (Lk 24:43). He was able to walk around with holes in His side and hands (Jn 20:27). He even popped in and out of locked rooms (Jn 20:26). Those are just the obvious things.

Why should examining what Jesus did in His resurrected body get us excited about Heaven? Because Jesus promises to give us a resurrected body like His:

²⁰but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.

Philippians 3:20-21

Jesus will transform the sick, tired, and weak bodies we now inhabit into bodies like His glorious, resurrected body. What does that mean? We will dive deeply into that in future posts, so let your imagination run with that promise for now.

 

Mark 16:9-12, Luke 24:13-43, John 21:9-15, Romans 6:5, 1 Corinthians 15:16-20, 35-49, 1 John 3:2-3 (all quotes are from the HCSB)

Discovering More About Heaven is Practical and Exciting

 What gets you really excited? I mean can’t-wait, why-isn’t-it-here-yet excited. Most of us get excited about Christmas, but only during December (and maybe November). Your birthday may excite you (or depress you depending on your age) but only a few weeks prior to the event. Is there anything that excites you every day of the year? If you struggle to imagine something that could do that, you may not have looked closely enough at Heaven yet.

Are you ready to get more excited about what awaits you in Heaven? After studying Heaven for almost 10 years, I am more motivated than ever to get others excited about what our Loving Father is preparing as our eternal home. In this first post, I want to explain why getting excited about and learning more about Heaven is a practical endeavor. If you are like I was before I explored what the Bible says about Heaven, I rarely thought about it. Back then, I dreaded thinking about Heaven. That was because I envisioned an eternity of being before the throne of God in a purely spiritual state, singing for all eternity. When I looked to scripture instead of to culture for information about Heaven, I saw a drastically different vision. Now, rarely a day goes by where I am not encouraged by some aspect of Heaven and excited by it. I’ll discuss those in this blog in the weeks ahead.

How is studying Heaven a practical use of your time? A greater appreciation of Heaven strengthens your eternal perspective, which is useful in many ways. One significant way it helps is dealing with trials that come upon us. If you can put any difficulty this life throws at you on the other side of the scales from the wonders of Heaven, the scales will slam down on the side of Heaven every time. I like the way Mother Teresa put it, “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” The Apostle Paul also had something to say about this:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 (HCSB)

It is essential to not let your thoughts get stuck on the difficulties of this life. There is no hope when we only look down at this life. We must lift our eyes toward Heaven, where our hope lies. The Apostle Paul encouraged us to focus our thoughts on heavenly things:

¹So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.

Colossians 3:1-2 (HCSB)

Having a strong desire for Heaven can also encourage you to reach out to others so they can join you there. When I had little desire to be in Heaven, I also had little desire to teach others about Christ. I was afraid they would ask me what I thought about Heaven, and I would have nothing encouraging to say about it. Why would anyone want to face possible hardships in this life for the name of Christ, only to be bored for all eternity? I felt I had nothing to offer them. Sure, they wouldn’t go to Hell, but I couldn’t give them a hope of Heaven that was all that much better than Hell.

I hope you will check back often for more encouraging thoughts about Heaven. They will strengthen your eternal perspective and get you more excited about Heaven while helping you understand why Jesus paid such a high price so we could be there with Him.