If you haven’t heard this phrase, just trust me that it used to be a polarizing statement. I’d like to take this discussion in a certain direction…it came up in a teaching session recently. I actually think I speak more clearly about it than I’ll be able to share here, so I’m going to post a piece of it.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eCew5oBrHaQjZhuJ6
To summarize my main thoughts from this talk and add a little context…what should the Christian’s response be when someone says, my loved one passed away and he is in a better place? If you know that that friend didn’t love the Lord, should you remain silent, nod assent, or what? If the man didn’t love the Lord in his life, God isn’t going to force him to be in Heaven, in the presence of the very Lord he didn’t want to be around! Heaven is going to be full of righteous people, those who love the King, want to be like Him, and want to be with Him. It just so happens that Heaven is also going to be free of all the effects of the sin that the Lord and His saints hate, too, but I’m not so sure that’s the main point. A description of Heaven is always accompanied by ‘streets of gold, no pain or sorrow, etc’ and that’s fine. However, we MUST also describe Heaven as free from sin and the sinner, the place filled with the righteous, the lovers of God and His ways. Is God going to wave a magic wand and force a conversion of desires in the hearts of men–men who in this life love their sin, don’t want to be with the Lord, are selfish, love this world? That doesn’t match God’s character at all! If you don’t love righteousness, you won’t be happy in Heaven when you are surrounded by it!!! If you don’t want to be near the Lord in this life, God isn’t going to force you to be near Him for all eternity. Rather, He is going to give you the desires of your heart. Let’s be honest with people and ourselves…the Kingdom of God and Heaven is within you NOW–if you aren’t loving to be living in the Kingdom today, being thrust into an eternity in Heaven would be violating your will and not something a loving God would, or will do.
Is this your theology or do you espouse the waving-the-magic-wand theory? I’d love to hear your thoughts….but before you do, check out a recent post about my friend Marcus and read Revelation 22:11.