is there a
HEAVEN?
15
is there a
I
HEAVEN?
s there a heaven? Where will you go when you die? Where does the idea of heaven come from? Is it wishful thinking? Do we get the idea from television shows or movies? After all, there is no shortage of shows on the afterlife. Or is heaven a vestige of our Christian heritage? Although many people view religion as outdated or irrelevant in 21st century Australia, we still like to believe in heaven. So is there some kind of universal human subconscious knowledge that there is an afterlife of some sort? The ‘heaven’ concept comes in handy when the family pet dog, Rover, rolls over. What do you tell the kids? ‘It’s OK, Rover went to doggie heaven.’
Are we any better at a funeral when we try to comfort each other with: “Well, he’s in a better place now.’’ Or: “She is up there, smiling down on us from heaven.” It seems almost every celebrity goes to heaven. At funerals we are certain not only that heaven exists, but that the person who has just died has qualified to go there, and they are “up there playing their music or sport in the sky”.
uphemism e a t s ju n e So is heav each other t r fo m o c we use to answers? e h t w o n k on’t really when we d e know How do w ave gone? h s e n o d e lov where our n a of heave e id is h t s e Where do ? come from e it exists p o h ll a e Why do w es die? n o d e v lo r when ou
3
Some say Near Death Experiences (NDE) prove the existence of heaven, and certainly studies on NDEs have revealed experiences of something after life. But they are not conclusive, because many NDEs are negative rather than positive experiences. And some people who have had more than one NDE have had both positive and negative experiences on separate occasions. So where did you get the idea of heaven? Perhaps the answer is religion. Don’t all the different religions
believe in heaven? Yes, and no. The five main religions Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism, all hold to some idea of afterlife, though they differ on what this is. Christianity, Islam and Judaism believe in the soul’s existence in another world (and many pagan belief systems), whereas Hinduism and Buddhism believe in reincarnation before attaining entrance to an ‘otherworld’ or ‘nivarna’. One concept they all agree on is that one’s status in the afterlife is either a reward or punishment for their conduct during life. So how does this help us in our quest to discover the existence of heaven? Given that the five major religions of the world all believe in some sort of afterlife, could it be that we all have some instinctive sense that it exists? You may not even identify with any of these religions, yet still believe that something happens after this life ends. In one holy book it says, ‘God has set eternity in the human heart’ (Holy Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:11).
So,
heaven, a is e r e h t if like? what is it
There is one person who claimed to have come from heaven—Jesus. He described heaven as a place where people have an ongoing personal existence, and where we will be reunited with one another. He also tells us it is a place of happiness and feasting: I go to prepare a place for you; God will wipe away every tear; But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom; and many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast . . . in the kingdom of heaven. So heaven is a place where we will live with happiness and feasting. It’s also a place for all people, from all languages, tribes, and nations. Maybe Jesus’ opinion about heaven is just one among many. Or perhaps he knows what he is talking about because of who he is and where he comes from.
n to claim o s r e p ly n o Jesus is the eaven. h m o r f e m to have co
6
7
This is what Christians celebrate at Christmas. Each year on December 25 people in many countries commemorate Jesus’ birth, and marvel that he left his dwelling place in heaven to take on human flesh to become like one of us. “The Son of Man descended from heaven” (John 3:13). If Jesus truly did descend, then it would suggest that he is not just another human. So this place we call heaven, this beautiful picture of the afterlife where we have joyful personal ongoing existence in the company of others . . . Where did you get the idea? You got the idea from Jesus! He spoke all these wonderful things about heaven about 2000 years ago. The idea of heaven may have evolved into wishful thinking over the years, but the authority on heaven is his word in the Bible. Why? Because he is the only person to have claimed to come from there. So if Jesus is the source of heaven . . . and if you would like to go there when you die . . . would you like to learn how to get there? What do you have to do to go to heaven? Consider this: In God’s Word, the Bible, Jesus said that whoever believes in him will not die, but receive eternal life. He proved this possible by dying on a cross, then rising from the dead to live again. More than 500 people were eyewitnesses of this phenomena, and went on to found the Christian faith. 8
9
Christianity teaches that all people are appointed to die once, then face eternity, in an ongoing personal experience, in either heaven or hell. Where would you rather spend eternity?
his one at he sent th d rl o w loved the him For God so r believes in e v e o h w t tha on [Jesus], did and only S fe. For God li l a rn te e ve rish but ha mn the shall not pe d to conde rl o w e th is Son into him not send h d through rl o w e th to save world, but (John 3:16-17)
.
EDITORS: Bill Medley, Jayni Manners, and Leslie Koh COVER IMAGE: Shutterstock.com INTERIOR IMAGES: (p.1,3,6,8) Shutterstock.com; (p.11) © Unsplash.com COVER & INTERIOR DESIGN: Mary Chang Adapted from sermon of Bill Medley. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. © 2021 Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI All rights reserved. Printed in Indonesia.
10
11
NOTE TO THE READER We invite you to respond to this message by contacting us at: AUSTRALIA PO Box 15, Kilsyth VIC 3137, Australia Tel: (03) 9761 7086 australia@odb.org NEW ZEALAND PO Box 303095, North Harbour Auckland 0751, New Zealand Tel: (09) 444 4146 newzealand@odb.org
XF501
14