Folks have lots of questions about heaven. I picked up the following points somewhere years ago. I've included some of my own commentary. Why does heaven matter?1. If we don’t live for heaven we will live for this world, because it is all there is. And that, the Bible says we must not do.
2. If we don’t live for heaven we must rely on ourselves, for God will not help us love this world. We are on our own. When we don’t live for heaven, God cannot help us live on earth.
3. If we don’t live for heaven we lose any sense of direction, purpose or values. If this world is all there is, who is to say what’s right and what’s wrong? Everything becomes relative. And so it has. In 1907 P. T. Forsyth made a prophetic statement: “If within us we find nothing over us we succumb to what is around us.”
4. If we don’t live for heaven we have no real hope when hard times come. When there is no heaven, we have an intense need for everything to be right on earth. We can have no suffering, no pain, no distress here--we have an “inalienable right to happiness,” we’re told. But not by the Bible. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33, NIV). So long as this life is only a trip to a destination, that’s okay. When it’s the destination, hope can disappear quickly.
2. If we don’t live for heaven we must rely on ourselves, for God will not help us love this world. We are on our own. When we don’t live for heaven, God cannot help us live on earth.
3. If we don’t live for heaven we lose any sense of direction, purpose or values. If this world is all there is, who is to say what’s right and what’s wrong? Everything becomes relative. And so it has. In 1907 P. T. Forsyth made a prophetic statement: “If within us we find nothing over us we succumb to what is around us.”
4. If we don’t live for heaven we have no real hope when hard times come. When there is no heaven, we have an intense need for everything to be right on earth. We can have no suffering, no pain, no distress here--we have an “inalienable right to happiness,” we’re told. But not by the Bible. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33, NIV). So long as this life is only a trip to a destination, that’s okay. When it’s the destination, hope can disappear quickly.
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