A Glimpse of Heaven

Many Nigerians who have never travelled abroad can paint accurate pictures of life in foreign and far-flung lands as if they had been to these places several times. Every morning in this country, one usually finds a cluster of readers in front of a newspaper vendor. These people trade news and information from distant shores as though they flew back home from there only recently, whereas only a few of them even know the localities of the embassies of these countries in Nigeria. Such fluidity of information has been made possible by the media which is a ‘window’ to see the rest of the world.

Similarly, the Bible is a ‘window’ that enables Christians have a glimpse of Heaven. Just as the flick of your TV switch lets you see happenings from across the world, so does reading your Bible literally lets you know what Heaven really looks like. But unlike media stories which tend to embroider the facts, God’s Word contains a too-good-to-be-false notion of Heaven, so to speak. We have through the Scripture known that Heaven is in a marked contrast to our demon-influenced world the abode of God and His hordes of angels (Deuteronomy 26:15; Ezra 1:2; Nehemiah 9:6). Now, perfection is one of God’s attributes (Deuteronomy 32:4; Matthew 5:48; 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 28:30). For this reason, we may safely conclude that God’s habitation, that is Heaven, is in harmony with the divine character a place of unending bliss and ineffable beauty.

Some gospel songs give fascinating insights into the beatific state of Heaven. Such songs do not normally represent personal opinions of their writers, but divine revelation through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In his ‘I’ll Fly Away’, Albert E. Brumley describes Heaven as ‘a home on God’s celestial shore’ and as ‘a land where joy shall never end’. Another songwriter calls it ‘that fair City so bright, where the Lamb is the Light’.

Below is another man’s testimony of Heaven:

Follow the footsteps of the King till you hear their voices ringing,

They’ll be singing out the Glory of the Land;

 The River Jordan will be near, the sound of trumpets you’ll hear,
 

And you’ll behold the most precious place ever known to men.
 

Across the bridge there’s no more sorrow,

Across the bridge there’s no more pain,

The sun will shine across the river and you’ll never be unhappy again.

A very popular hymn captures the blessedness of Heaven this way:

Just over in Gloryland we’ll live eternally,

The saints on every hand are shouting victory;

Their songs of sweetest praise drift back from Heaven’s shore,

And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore...

From the biblical and extra-biblical sources above, it can be adduced that Heaven is vastly better than here or even the never-never land which exists only in the imagination. In this unimaginably wonderful place is kept for believers ‘an inheritance incorruptible’ (1 Peter 1:4, KJV). Paul the apostle in his epistle to the Romans is convinced that Christians’ earthly tribulations pale before the glory which shall be made manifest in them in Heaven (8:18).

Early Christians knew that God had ‘prepared for them a city’ (Hebrews 11:16, RSV). That deep conviction drove them to become dead to the lures of this evil world and alive to righteousness. Remember how they endured great afflictions because of their Heaven-consciousness. Some of them were dipped in hot oil; some were impaled; some were beheaded; some were crucified; some were burned at the stake; while some others were ‘sawn in two’ (Hebrews 11:37).
 
One woman was so crazy about her Christian convictions. Her persecutors came to arrest her on her wedding day. Instead of coming with a gift they came with a great chain. They offered to let her go only if she denied Christ. She rejected that offer; instead, she gladly went with them.

Now the question is: Why did these martyrs have to make the supreme sacrifice? I think I know the answer. It was because they wanted to ‘rise again to a better life’ in Heaven (verse 35).

What about us the so-called Christians of today? Are we not shifting our focus away from Heavenly glory to worldly mists? Or are we as devoted as the founding fathers of our Faith? I do not think so.

Christianity as it is being practised today smacks of demonic influence. Satan seems to have overthrown God in the church. Most churches have dumped sound biblical values and doctrines for those of the enemy. The result: Churches have abandoned the message of salvation, the heart of the Christian Faith, and are popularising their get-rich-quick syndrome. As we are busy doing this Satan too is busy expanding his kingdom at the expense of God’s Kingdom.

Media evangelists of these days do not preach to convict the world of sin but to gain popularity and to increase church membership. They inundate us with formulas for financial breakthrough, sound health, marital bliss, and so on. Ironically, the more they preach these things, the reverse seems to be the case. Or do you believe otherwise?

Well, think of it. We preach good health, for example, and yet countless people are dying of disease. Visit hospitals around you to get an idea of what I am talking about.

Despite unprecedented advancement in the field of medical science, doctors still describe some diseases as ‘incurable’ and/or ‘terminal’. Why so? The reason is simple and not far-fetched. We have forsaken God and gone into the world, seeking wealth, riches, power, happiness, fulfilment and security, forgetting that all these are not in the world but with the Creator from whom we are drifting away.

Now is the right time for Christians all over the world to have a radical rethinking. Let us realise that the reward which awaits us in our eternal home infinitely surpasses the best the world can offer us today, which are ephemera, vanity upon vanity, a chase after absolute futility. Let us shift our gaze from worldly pleasures to Heavenly radiance. Yes, let us imitate George Beverly Shea who prefers Jesus to ‘anything this world affords today’. The 21st-century Christians will be wise to follow Paul’s admonition at Colossians 3:2:

‘Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.’

God bless us as we remain ‘coded’ for His Kingdom.

‘If Heaven’s not my home then LORD what will I do?’
―Albert E. Brumley