A Better Country

If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Heb 11:15-16)

Abraham left his home in Ur, and God promised that his descendants would one day possess the entire land of Canaan. Yet all their lives Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in tents without any land to call home. They could have gone back to Ur if they wanted, but they did not. They were looking ahead to what God had promised. The author of Hebrews holds them up as examples of faith. We, too, have left the country of our birth and long for a new home in the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem. I was born into the kingdom of the world, under the domain of the prince of this world, Satan. But God rescued me from darkness and made me a new creature in him. Now I am a citizen of God’s Kingdom. My eternal home is there, but for a while my tent is still pitched in this world. This passage prompts me to ask myself, where does my heart live? Am I longing for the new country or the old? Lord, help me to keep my heart firmly set on you and your Kingdom. I am here on this earth as your ambassador. One day you will claim it all again for your own. When that day comes I hope I will have led as many people as I can into your Kingdom, to live forever with you in your heavenly realm.

Why Stick Around?

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. (Is 57:1-2)

There are many today who set their hopes on the prospect that medical science will find a way to greatly extend the human lifespan. A lifespan of centuries may be possible, some think, if only the processes of aging could be understood and arrested. Without exception, those who write and talk about such ideas share a common worldview. They are all convinced that our physical existence is all there is. They believe that when your body dies everything that you are is gone. How sad! As one who loves God, I don’t want to die young, but to live here on earth, in this body, for centuries when I could die and be with Jesus is a terrible idea. God keeps us here on earth to serve him as part of his plan, but then he takes us to heaven as a reward. When our loved ones die we grieve, but when we die it will be inexpressible bliss.

Heaven Bound

Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose [to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, v4] and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Cor 5:5)

I have true knowledge, true confidence, of the resurrection to come by the presence of God’s Spirit in my heart. The more tangibly I experience his presence and his activity in my life, the more certain I am. This is why we can say that we know it is true and not just that we think it is true.