Chasing Rabbits

Chasing Rabbits Originally today’s devotion was to be about “sola fide” but it’s not. Something that has been weighing heavy on my heart completely crushed it last night. I’ll try not to get too preachy but no promises! Last night I watched Barbara Walters special about heaven on WHAS. In this special Ms. Walters interviewed many different religious leaders about their beliefs of heaven. Islamic, Judaist, Evangelicals, Catholics, and Atheists were among the groups interviewed. Many different people with many different beliefs. My heart was saddened as I listened to some of the interviewees’ responses. This is what I would have said if given the opportunity to share and this is what I am saying to all of you who would read this: Heaven is not just a place where all troubles cease. It is not just the place where I may be reunited with loved ones. It is not just the place where no sickness, disease, or death never take place. It is not just a beautiful paradise with pearly gates, streets of gold, walls of jasper, and a crystal sea. Heaven is a real place. It is not just a state of mind or the hope of R.C.’s and Moon Pies. You can forget all of the beautiful sights and loved ones. You can forget about the extinction of disease. There is something far greater than any of that. HEAVEN IS THE PLACE WHERE WE ENJOY THE FULLNESS OF GOD FOREVER!!!!! It is the place where the glory of Jesus himself is the very light by which we will see everything. And all of those things will only exist to bring more glory to him. That is heaven! There is grave danger in any other view of Heaven. There is a way that seems right to man but in the end leads to death and destruction (Proverbs 14:12). The greatest realization that I believe a person can come to is that everything exists, including us, to glorify God. That is it. That is the secret of Life! If you’ve ever wondered why you’re here, that’s it! We must so preach, so teach, and so share the gospel in order to get people to God, not heaven. Heaven does not save anyone. NOBODY! But God does! If you get to heaven you are going to get to God. Heaven is not the end but it is a means by which we enjoy God. The Westminster Confession of Faith states that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. I like John Piper’s spin on that. The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. God is the beginning, middle and end of the gospel. John Piper has just recently written a book called, “God is the Gospel”. I will buy that book for any of you who want it. It is imperative that God be the focus of the gospel. We often share the gospel and end it like this; “if you trust Jesus as your savior and lord then you will get to go to heaven.” This makes heaven out to be our God. Heaven becomes the end and God becomes the means. This is simply wrong and possibly suicide. If you could go to heaven and receive all of the blessings of heaven without God, would you still want to go? R.C. Sproul writes in “Grace Unknown”, “This is our error. In our fallen condition we desire the benefits that only God can give us but we do not want him. We want the gifts without the Giver, the benefits without the benefactor.” I have never felt such urgency to share the real gospel in my entire life. Most of the folks in Ms. Walter’s special simply said that they believe in heaven because it brings comfort. One man even said that even if heaven doesn’t exist, believing in heaven so alters our lifestyle that it is well worth the belief even if it turns out to be false. 1 Corinthians 15:19 says that if that is true, we should be the most pitied people of all. I will end with some thoughts that have been running through my head all week thanks to Derek Webb. The cross is both beautiful and offensive. It must be both. The rich young ruler came and found that the true gospel is not seeker sensitive (whatever that means) in nature. It is a call to come and die, but live. Love is not efficient. That is a mouth full. I hope to encourage you to find your peace in trusting a holy God. Not just in his heaven. I also encourage you to search your desires. I hope that God becomes your desire. It will be a fight for us all to desire him more than the things of this life. Evangelical Christians as a whole are not teaching the real gospel. God is the Gospel. Everything else are just simply means in which you get to him or enjoy him. God is the hope of life!