What awaits us in heaven

Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:1-12)

Death is a tragedy—there’s no getting around it.  Death puts the kibosh on our plans for the future.  Death steals children from their parents.  Death tears husbands and wives from each other’s arms. Death keeps us from getting to know our great grandparents and great grandchildren.  Death steals our friends from us.  Death is a major source of pain and sorrow, anger and fear. 

Death is a tragedy because it should not exist.  God did not create mankind only to watch us die.  It was the Lord’s intent that each of us would live forever.  Sadly, the devil persuaded Adam and Eve to disobey God, and that sin brought with it the curse of death.  Disobedience is now in our blood—and that disobedience condemns each and every one of us.  We all sin.  God has a standard of conduct that He expects every human to meet—but we fall short of His righteous standards because we are selfish, foolish, willful and weak.   And so the curse of death falls upon us all.  We attend a constant stream of funerals, saying goodbye to people that we didn’t want to lose, and eventually one of those funerals will be our own.

As Christians, we have comfort at the time of death that unbelievers don’t.  We know that the God who made us did not give up on us, even though we’ve angered Him with our misbehavior.  Our God a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Exodus 34:6).  He does not treat us as our sins deserve (Psalm 103:10).  Instead of turning His back on us in disgust, God showed us love by sending us His Son.  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15); He did this by assuming the responsibility for our disobedience and suffering the punishment from God that we rightly deserve.  When He died on the cross, Jesus died for your sins and mine.  When He rose from the dead, He proved that all our guilt has been atoned for, and that He has the power to raise us from our graves when He returns in glory.  Then Jesus ascended into heaven; He threw open the pearly gates and waits for us with arms stretched wide in welcome.  When we die, we can fly to Him for sanctuary until the Day of Resurrection.

This is the comfort we have when confronting death.  But while we have the promise of eternal happiness, the details seem a little sparse. Frustratingly, the Bible doesn’t give us as much information as we’d like.  Of course even if God did tell us more, we probably couldn’t understand what He revealed to us.  When Jesus taught the people about spiritual things, He often resorted to little stories called parables to make difficult ideas easier to understand.  Sadly, no earthly frame of reference can adequately describe the wonders of God and His magnificent heavenly kingdom.

Yet if you read Scripture carefully, you will find clues about the future God has in store for us.  One place where we get some details is in the Sermon of the Mount.  Among these teachings are the words of the Beatitudes, where Jesus speaks of the blessings that await people who love God and want to please Him with their lives. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Honestly, all of us are ‘poor in spirit’; the word of God says everyone has turned away, all have become united in corruption; there is no one who does good, not single person (Psalm 53:3).  There is no blessing in being a failure.  But God does bless those who realize their shortcomings.  God does bless those who don’t try to make excuses for what they’ve done wrong or blame others for their mistakes.  When we pray to Jesus and ‘fess up to the truth that we’d rather keep hidden, He forgives our wrongdoing.  The result is peace for our troubled conscience and welcome into the kingdom of heaven when we die.  All who trusted in Christ to take away their sins are in heaven right now—they are in a place where Satan cannot go. They are free of temptation, addiction, anger and pain.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Mourning is what you do when you’ve lost something very important to you.  People mourn the loss of a successful career when fired or retiring.  People mourn the loss of a home when destroyed by fire or windstorm.  People mourn the loss of a pet or the end of a friendship.  But most of all, people mourn when death ends the life of a loved one.  We mourn because we don’t believe that we’ll ever get back what we have lost.  But mourning ends when we enter the kingdom of heaven.  There we will be reunited with all sorts of people who have passed through our lives—parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren, nephews and nieces, cousins and friends, neighbors and coworkers, teachers, pastors, and those who wore uniforms in service to our country.  There is an amazing reunion waiting for you; and the best part is that everyone will be on their best behavior!  When our bodies are laid to rest, so is our sinful nature.  In heaven, no one will get mad or drunk or rude.  The saints in heaven are enjoying the kind of get-together that we can only dream about. 

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.  When we talk about the afterlife, we usually focus on heaven.  But man was not meant to live in the spirit world.  God did not make Adam’s soul and then fashion a body to house it.  No, God made the first man from the dust of the earth, and then breathed life into him.  God designed us to live on earth, body and soul united forever.  At the resurrection, Jesus will restore things to God’s original plan—our bodies will be raised and remade, all imperfections removed, and our souls will inhabit them once more.  We will live forever on the earth as God intended it to be—a perfect world inhabited by perfect people, living in perfect love and peace.  And who will inherit this bright new world?  The meek—those who realize their own shortcomings and rely on God for strength and guidance.  Those who are arrogant, who insist on doing things their own way, who don’t want to appear weak by admitting to a mistake, such people have no place in a world where God sets the rules and everyone submits to Christ completely and joyfully.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Life in this world is often frustrating.  There is so much evil that goes unchecked, so much unfairness and injustice.  You watch the news and are distressed by stories of prejudice and discrimination, political corruption and corporate greed, hatred and war, crime and poverty.  All around us, we see liars and cheats go unpunished; we see people hurt by gossip and vandalism.   We know that things would be so much better if everyone just listened to Christ and did what He says to do, yet so many people ignore what the Bible teaches about good manners and proper behavior.  Of course, bear in mind that you and I are sinners too—although we know that God’s ways are best, we contribute to the world’s injustice by ignoring what God says in order to do our own thing. But once Jesus escorts you through death into the perfect life that never ends, things will be completely different.  You will have no interest in doing things that make God angry; you’ll have no sinful desires to lead you astray.  Freed from sin by Jesus’ bloody death, your priorities will always be right—love God with all that you are and have, and love your neighbor as yourself.  No one will ever anger you or disappoint you; you will never again say or do anything that requires an apology.  The saints above are experiencing this way of life even as we speak.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.   Without mercy, we would have no one to love or to love us in return.  Although Jesus washes us clean with His holy blood, the sin that boils inside of us keeps bubbling to the surface.  We are in constant need of forgiveness because we are constantly soiling ourselves with hurtful words and thoughtless behavior.  Consider a baby—no matter how cute or cuddly she might be, no one wants to hold her when she has a stinky diaper.  So it is with us.  Our sin makes us unpleasant to be around.  If the stinky mess is not removed, no one wants to spend time with us.  Mercy is key to every relationship; when you forgive somebody, the stinky mess that keeps us apart is cleaned up.  Of course, Jesus is the fountainhead of mercy; His forgiveness of our sins enables us to forgive each other.  Jesus considers us as members of His family; on one occasion He said, Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister (Mark 3:35).  But Jesus’ family is built on love and compassion; that is why Christ was forceful when He said, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins (Mark 11:25).  People who are not willing to forgive have lost the essence of Christianity—after all, Jesus died so that all might be forgiven.  Who are we to hold a grudge when our Lord is willing to show mercy?  When Christ lifts us to Himself, we will finally be free from all complaining and hard feelings. 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  To be pure is to be free of anything foreign or distracting.  Think of a white sheet; if there is a stain, your eyes immediately focus it.  The sheet has been marred by imperfection; the spot has ruined its pure whiteness.   The stain has become a distraction.  So it is with righteousness.  God expects us to be pure, dedicated to Him alone.  The First Commandment says, you shall have no other gods.  Jesus expanded on this when He said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).  God made us; we are His and His alone by right.  Our Maker says, I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols (Isaiah42:8).  Nothing is to be more important in our lives than the Lord who made us and redeems us; Jesus said, Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:37-38).  God wants our lives to be pure, our devotion to Him total and complete.  But that purity is lost when we start loving other things more than God, things like money or career advancement, authority or popularity, family or leisure time.  By nature, we are impure; the gifts that come down from heaven become more important than the God who gave them.  Only through Jesus’ mercy are we made pure; He points our attention where it should be focused.  And that purity offers a great reward—when we leave this world of sinful distractions, we shall see God!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.  I said earlier that Jesus regards us as members of His family.  If we are His brothers and sisters, that makes us sons of the heavenly Father.  Yes, ladies, you heard right—you are sons of God, just as the men are.  In Bible times, females did not receive a share of the inheritance, only males did.  That’s why Jesus says that all believers, male and female alike, are sons of God—He wants everyone, regardless of gender, to be sure of your inheritance as a brother or sister of Christ.  But what characterizes a son of God?  Such a person is a peacemaker, someone who goes out of their way to end conflict with reconciliation.  Remember, forgiveness is the heart of Christianity.  What better way to serve the King of Mercy than to act as an agent of diplomacy and peace?  A son of God does not want to be forced into choosing sides.  A son of God doesn’t make judgments without hearing both sides of the story.  A son of God works to heal divisions.  A son of God tries to offer soothing words when voices are raised in anger or the air is filled with chilly silence.  Such behavior honors the Savior who gave His life to reconcile us with the heavenly Father.  In life, we might feel useless and unappreciated—but when the angels carry us to Jesus’ side, we can be honored as sons of God! 

What is life like for the saints who’ve gone before us?  What will our new life on the other side of death be like?  Jesus gives us some idea.  We will be freed from having a guilty conscience, freed from even being tempted to do wrong.  We will be reunited with our Christian friends and relatives never to be parted again, and spared from any moments of unpleasantness.  We will be united under Christ’s leadership, and there will be no squabbling over who is in charge.  You will never be hurt or disappointed by another person’s behavior, nor will you have to worry about causing hurt or offense.  There will be no complaining or bitterness over old hurts.  We shall see God face to face, and be treated with the kind of respect that is reserved for royalty.  This is what Christ promises His followers; this is what your departed loved ones are experiencing now as they wait for us to join them.