Having written about the ‘H’ word (hell) in our last posting, I thought it would be good to share some thoughts about the other ‘H’ word; heaven.  We've all heard the stories about fluffy clouds and harps, about the pearly gates and flowing robes.  Let's be honest, sometimes heaven is nothing more than a distant place; it may not even seem real or if it is real, it’s sometimes hard to get excited about it.
 
 Part of the reason this is true is because we really don't understand what the Bible says about this subject matter. And in a real sense, even the glimpses given to us in the Bible are inadequate, for the Biblical writers are trying to describe an experience that is not able to be adequately expressed with the tools through which we communicate, words / word images.  Nonetheless, from the snap shots of heaven given to us in the Word of God, we have a sense that heaven is going to be wonderful.
 
In part what makes heaven so wonderful is not so much the kind of place it will be but rather who we will be come. Revelation 21:9:  One of the seven angels…came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."  Who is the bride?   It’s the church; it’s you and me.  This angel says to John, I’m going to show you a future picture of the church.  The text goes on to use the image of a city to describe the kind of people, the kind of community we will become. 
 
In heaven there will be a deep and abiding sense of community / kinship; togetherness and unity like we have never known before.  We will experience fully the kind of relatedness that we all long for but can only experience imperfectly in this world.
 
In heaven we will know fullness of joy.  He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.  In heaven there will be no more sadness, no more pain, no more sorrow; no more rejection, separation, injustice or abuse; no regrets, no misgivings; no more death or dying, no more memorial services; and never having to say ‘good-bye’!  What’s left is the fullness of joy that God intended for us from the very beginning.
 
In heaven we are going to experience the complete redemption of that which was lost in the fall.  Jesus said in the parable of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:21: His master replied, well done, good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  God, in addition to saying to you, well done and inviting you into His joy, is going to invite you into your ultimate assignment.
 
Jesus talked about this in His word to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:21:  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne.  In other words, you' are going to reign with me and to partner with me in the work of the Father.  Part of the blessing of heaven is the realization of the full potential of our humanity. When the master returns, then we will know, in the words of Dallas Willard:  Fullness of function...and the unending creativity involved in a cosmos wide, cooperative pursuit of a created order...that continuously approaches but never reaches the limitless goodness and greatness of the triune personality of God.
 
We can talk about cities and walls and rivers and robes, but the best part of heaven is that God will be there!  Revelation 21:3, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.   In heaven, we will be at home with the Father!  You will be a thoroughly joyful, amazingly productive, morally flawless, completely satisfied person who dwells in / rests in the very presence of God.  That’s our future, that’s our destiny in Christ.
 
The best is yet to come, so whatever you do, don’t miss heaven!
 
One day, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!
 
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  (John 14:1-3)

Randy Alcorn in his book “Heaven’ writes: The reality of hell should break our hearts and take us to our knees. Today, however, even among many Bible believers, hell has become “the H word,” seldom named, rarely talked about.
 
I understand, Alcorn’s words, we would rather not talk about it, it is not a cheery subject; there is a heaviness about it and there is no way around this heaviness.
 
Many books, writes Alcorn, deny hell. Some consider hell to be the invention of wild-eyed prophets obsessed with wrath.  They argue that Christians should take the higher road of Christ’s love.  But this perspective overlooks a conspicuous reality, in the Bible, Jesus says more than anyone else about hell.
 
When Jesus talked about hell, when he talked about heaven, about eternal realties, He didn't do so simply to satisfy people's curiosity or even just to impart knowledge.  His teaching was almost always accompanied by a call to respond, to make a choice.
 
Life has a way of lulling us into a state of complacency; just drifting through our hours and days, until we look back and wonder, where have all the years gone?  But every once in a while, the truth of the Bible comes crashing home to remind us that the stakes are high; matters of life and death -- eternal life and eternal death.
 
Alcorn writes:  God loves us enough to tell us the truth—there are two eternal destinations, not one, and we must choose the right path if we are to go to heaven.  All roads do not lead to heaven. Only one does:  Jesus Christ.  He said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  All other roads lead to hell. 
 
The high stakes involved in the choice between heaven and hell will cause us to appreciate heaven in deeper ways, never taking it for granted, and always praising God for his grace that delivers us from what we deserve and grants us forever what we don’t.
 
Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price so that people could be spared from having to spend an eternity in hell; to provide for us what we do not deserve.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)
 
The Bible says God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).  Jesus said He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).  God has provided a way for mankind to enter into a relationship with Him, to be forgiven and to have the hope of eternal life; a home with Him in heaven (see John 14:1-3), but we must choose to embrace His plan of salvation; to accept offer of saving grace.  (see, John 1:12; Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:1-5).
 
Alcorn writes:  The reality of the choice that lies before us in this life is both wonderful and awful.  Given the reality of our two possible destinations, shouldn’t we be willing to pay any price to avoid hell and go to heaven?  And yet the price has already been paid, “You were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20).  The price paid was exorbitant—the shed blood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
 
Consider the wonder of it:  God determined that he would rather go to hell on our behalf than to live in heaven without us. He wants so much for us not to go to hell that he paid a horrible price on the cross so that we wouldn’t have to.
 
This is the message of the Christian faith and we are conduits of that message; a message of grace and truth, of hope and triumph over death and the grave and hell. 
 
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  (1 Corinthians 15:57- 58)