My inspiration for choosing “hope” as the topic for this series came largely from a good family friend, Brenda Smith, and her son (also a good family friend), Jeff. Jeff expressed his concern to Brenda that all too many older Christians seem to be speaking more of their fears than of their faith. They listen to conservative news outlets and conclude that our world is “going to hell in a hand basket.” The result is that they instill fear in the hearts of their children, rather than inspiring faith. In an excellent article she has written, Brenda shares Jeff’s words of concern:
I hear so many people in my parents’ generations say the reason they talk about their fears and worries about our country is out of concern and love for their children’s and their grandchildren’s generation. It is a strange way to show us love. As a dad, I would never go into my son’s room, tell him how scary and dark it is, and then say, “good-night.” Knowing the darkness will not go away, I want to focus him on why he doesn’t need to be afraid. I show him his nightlight and remind him it will always be on. I check under the bed and in the closet and reassure him there are no monsters. But most importantly, I tell him mommy and daddy are right down the hall. And, if he ever needs anything, we will be there. I want to equip him for the darkness.2
I would agree with Brenda that Jeff has it right. That is why she wrote her excellent article on hope, and it is also why I have chosen “hope” as the topic for this short series of messages.
I chose the title “Hope and Change, God’s Way” purposefully. Not only does it indicate that “hope” is the topic, but it also calls attention to the fact that this theme struck a very sympathetic cord in the hearts of many Americans as “Hope and Change” was the campaign slogan for the 2008 presidential election.
This slogan resonated with many Americans because they lacked assurance of hope for the future. A number of events have occurred recently which make people fearful of the future. In the recent past, we have seen natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, a tsunami in Indonesia, earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and forest fires followed up by mudslides on the West Coast of our country. Then there are the man-made dangers looming in the future. There are threats of rogue governments in Asia and the Middle East, of nuclear proliferation, and of terrorist plots here and abroad. Young and old have lost faith in politicians, and some have lost hope in the political system altogether. People desperately want to find something or someone in which they can put their hope.
No political party or any presidential candidate can promise the kind of “hope and change” that the Bible offers to any who will trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Most of us recognize that hope is often found in conjunction with faith and hope. “Faith, Hope, and Love” are mentioned together a number of times in the Bible.3 We have all heard some wonderful messages on faith and on love, but I would venture to say that we have heard too little about hope. (I do not remember ever hearing a message focusing primarily on hope.) This is why I have chosen to take a number of lessons to explore the hope of the Christian, rooted in the person of Jesus Christ.
Depending on the translation you are using, the root word “hope” is found somewhere between 142 times (KJV) to 182 times (NIV)4 in the Bible, divided almost equally between the Old and New Testaments. Notice the distribution of “hope” in the Bible:5
We should note that “hope” can be found either as a noun (“I have hope.”) or as a verb (“I hope to see you soon.”). I find it interesting that “hope” is not found in the Old Testament until we come to the Book of Ruth (where Naomi reveals that she has no hope). “Hope” is found 14 times in Job, and one can see why after reflecting on Job’s suffering in this book. Psalms and Proverbs speak often of hope, as do the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel). The term “hope” is found only twice in the Gospels (in the NASB); it appears once in Matthew (12:41) and once in John (5:45). We will wait to discuss “hope” in the Gospels until our next lesson.
We should learn from “hope” that a concordance search is a good beginning for a study of this subject, but it is not necessarily sufficient. We should realize that just because “hope” is not found until Ruth 1:12, we are not to conclude that there is no “hope” to be found before that. For example, Paul speaks of Abraham’s “hope” in Romans 4:
16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. 18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be” (Romans 4:16-19).6
My point is simply this: the concept of hope may very well be present even though the specific word is not found. Sometimes we will find a pertinent text by searching on a synonym. But at other times, we will simply have to know the Bible well enough to turn to those texts which deal with this topic in more general terms. Sometimes (as with Romans 4:18 above), the New Testament will give us the necessary clue, just as Hebrews 11 gives us unexpected examples of faith in the Old Testament. Just be aware of the fact that a concordance search is a good start, but it is not the end-all for studying biblical concepts.
We are primarily interested in a particular facet of the term “hope,” but we should be aware that there are other ways that the term is used, even in the Bible. One of the most frequent “other uses” of hope is the expression of a desire, but not one that is assured. Often, we find this expressed as “… hope to… .” It is used in reference to both unbelievers and believers:
8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign (Luke 23:8).
19 But when her owners saw their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities (Acts 16:19).
24 … For I hope to visit you when I pass through and that you will help me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while (Romans 15:24).
There is also false hope, such as the misplaced hope of the Jews who were persecuting Jesus because he had healed a paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath:
“Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope” (John 5:45).
There is also the hope which some falsely place in money:
Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17).
But we wish to focus our attention on the hope which is uniquely Christian, the hope which looks forward to spending eternity in heaven with God, which is rooted in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Let us consider some of the dimensions or facets of this hope.
Biblical hope is exclusively Christian. Only those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ can possess biblical hope.7 Non-Christians do not possess the hope of which we are speaking.
12 … you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:12-13).
Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
Biblical hope is closely related to faith. At times, hope seems to be used interchangeably with faith.
Be brave, take heart, all who put your hope in Yahweh (Psalm 31:24, NJB).
But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?
You are my only hope! (Psalm 39:7)
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope (Psalm 130:5, NIV).
In fact this is why we work hard and struggle, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers (1 Timothy 4:10).
4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should first learn to fulfill their duty toward their own household and so repay their parents what is owed them. For this is what pleases God. 5 But the widow who is truly in need, and completely on her own, has set her hope on God and continues in her pleas and prayers night and day (1 Timothy 5:4-5).
Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:21).
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).
Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be” (Romans 4:18).
Because Christian hope is a matter of faith, our hope is characterized by confidence rather than wishful thinking.
Patiently wait for God alone, my soul!
For he is the one who gives me confidence (Psalm 62:5).
For you give me confidence, O Lord;
O Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young (Psalm 71:5).
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain (Hebrews 6:19).
Christian hope looks for its fulfillment in the future, and thus hope requires us to wait.
24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance (Romans 8:24-25).
For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait expectantly for the hope of righteousness (Galatians 5:5).
Christian hope looks forward to great change for the better. “Hope and Change” is a great political slogan, but it is only Christian hope that anticipates the radical change God will bring to pass that will last for all eternity.
20 My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 Now if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean productive work for me, yet I don’t know which I prefer: 23 I feel torn between the two, because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, 24 but it is more vital for your sake that I remain in the body (Philippians 1:20-24).
But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:16).
39 And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us (Hebrews 11:39-40).8
Christian hope is characterized by a strong desire. Here is an aspect of hope that we dare not overlook. Hope looks ahead to change which is for the better, and thus Christian hope desires that which is anticipated by faith. It is implicit in Christian hope. That is why Paul’s desire was to be with the Lord, rather than to remain on here in this world.9 Consider Proverbs 13:12:
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12).
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12, NASB95).
Here, we see the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, where the author repeats the concept of the first line by using a synonym for it in the second line. Hope in the first line is amplified by the term “longing” (or “desire” in the NASB95) in the second. Hope desires that for which it confidently waits.
Christian hope is characterized by perseverance and endurance.
1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope (Romans 5:1-4).
24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance (Romans 8:24-25).
For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope (Romans 15:4).
With these elements of hope in mind, let’s attempt to arrive at a working definition of biblical hope.
Hope is the confident expectation of the future changes that God has promised, but that are not yet seen, which the Christian strongly desires and for which he eagerly awaits.
1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope. 5 Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God’s glory. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.” 10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:1-13).
I am particularly interested in Paul’s words as we find them in verse 4 of Romans 15:
For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope (Romans 15:4).
Here Paul tells us that the Old Testament has great value for the New Testament Christian because its instruction instills within us a hope that inspires endurance. My intention here is not to attempt a thorough exposition of this chapter, but rather to focus on the words of verse 4 and see how Paul demonstrates the truth of these words by his use of the Old Testament in this text.
I believe these 13 verses in Romans 15 are really the conclusion to the main argument of the Book of Romans. The major issue facing Christians in New Testament times was the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in the church. I believe that while Paul deals with this issue in almost every one of his epistles, he makes it his major focus in Romans. Here is his most comprehensive effort to explain the relationship of Jewish and Gentile Christians in the church. Let me briefly walk through the main sections of Romans to demonstrate how this works.
In Romans 1:16 to 3:20, Paul shows that both Gentiles and Jews – all mankind – are condemned sinners, unworthy of salvation, because they all fail to live up to the standard of righteousness God has established. The Gentiles may not have the Law of Moses, but they do have the revelation of God in nature.10 God judges men by what they do with what they know about Him. Gentiles rejected the revelation of God in nature and chose to worship the creation, rather than the Creator. Thus, they are condemned for not responding rightly to the revelation they received by worshipping God.
At this point, you can almost hear the “amen’s” being shouted out triumphantly by the self-righteous, but unbelieving, Jews. But when the same standard (God judges men by what they do with what they know) is applied to Jews, they fail the test as well. They know far more about God than the Gentiles. They consider themselves to be experts in the law. But they fail to live in accordance with what they know. They don’t do what they say they believe. Their guilt is even greater than that of the Gentiles because they have been given greater revelation than the Gentiles, and yet they have rejected it.11 And so we see that Jews and Gentiles alike are sinners under divine condemnation, whose best efforts are inadequate to meet God’s standard of righteousness.12
If Jews and Gentiles are equal in their inability to please God, they are also equal in salvation. Since salvation is not a matter of man’s performance, but of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection on the sinner’s behalf, then Jews and Gentiles are equalized by the work of Christ:
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed – 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. 26 This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness. 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 28 For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 30 Since God is one, he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith (Romans 3:21-30).
If men have always been saved by faith, how do we explain the salvation of Old Testament saints like Abraham? That is the question Paul raises at the beginning of chapter 4. His answer is amazing. He turns the reader to Genesis 15:6, where it is said that God reckoned Abraham righteous on the basis of his faith. Abraham’s experience was not unique because David testified to his salvation on the same basis.13 Paul then presses the matter even further, pointing out the timing of the statement in Genesis 15:6. The law would not be given until many years later, so Abraham was not saved by keeping the law. Beyond this, Abraham was not circumcised until Genesis 17. And so one would be technically correct to say that at the time of his salvation by faith, Abraham was really a Gentile.
Paul will go on to say that Abraham’s faith was a “resurrection faith,” for Abraham believed God’s promise that he and Sarah would have a son, even in their old age, even when they were “as good as dead” so far as child-bearing was concerned. The writer to the Hebrews will go on to show how this same resurrection faith enabled Abraham to be willing to sacrifice Isaac, since he believed that if he sacrificed Isaac, God would raise him from the dead.14 To be a “true Jew” was to be a child of Abraham by exercising the same kind of faith; it was not a matter of one’s DNA.15
Bypassing the powerful arguments of Romans chapter 5 for a moment, let us consider the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in regard to sanctification. There were Jewish believers who wanted to impose the Law of Moses upon Gentile converts for the sake of sanctification.16 This raised questions regarding the role of the Law in sanctification:
5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 5:19—6:11).
God’s grace always outruns sin, but this must not be used as an excuse to sin. Our identification with Christ at the time of our salvation caused us to die to sin and to be raised to new life in Christ. Those who have died to sin dare not continue to live in sin. So, sanctification is a necessity. We dare not delude ourselves by thinking that faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of eternal life justifies continuing to live as we once did. Romans 6 sets forth the necessity of sanctification.
Romans 7 sets forth the impossibility of sanctification – in the power of the flesh. Just as the Law of Moses sets an impossible standard for salvation (Romans 1-3), so it also sets forth an impossible standard for sanctification. It is not that the Law’s requirements are evil; rather the Law is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). The problem is that, while the requirements of the Law are good, we are not able to live up to them in the power of the flesh. Our flesh is weak, and sin continues to overpower us so that we fail to live according to the Law’s requirements. Thus, Paul’s agony is not over the demands of the Law, but over the weakness of the flesh:
22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:22-24)
Just as man is incapable of living up to the standards of the Law and must give up his efforts at achieving his salvation by works, so the Christian is incapable of living up to the Law because of the weakness of his flesh. And so the Christian must once again turn to the cross of Calvary and the work of God for sanctification:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit… . 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. 11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:1-4, 10-11).
It is not our human striving to keep the Law which sanctifies us; we are sanctified through the finished work of the Lord Jesus, and by walking in the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit raised the dead body of Jesus to life; even so, the Holy Spirit dwells within every Christian to give life to our dead bodies (dead so far as producing holiness is concerned), so that we can fulfill the demands of the Law.17
So, it is not imposing the Old Testament Law upon Gentile converts that sanctifies them. Neither Jews nor Gentiles can live up to the Law’s standards by human effort.18 Both Jewish and Gentile believers can have success in living up to the Law’s standards by faith in Christ and in His provision for godly living. Jews and Gentiles are thus condemned, saved, and sanctified in the same way. Gentile Christians are not second-class saints, and Jewish believers are not first-class saints. All are equally dependent upon God’s gracious provision for right standing before Him.
When we come to chapters 9 through 11, this is no parenthesis (as is sometimes claimed). Paul is still dealing with the matter of Jew-Gentile relationships. In broad brush terms, we will attempt to summarize the argument of these three chapters. In chapter 9, Paul addresses the fact that in spite of their Jewish heritage, most Jews continue to reject Jesus as the Christ, while many more Gentiles are coming to Him by faith. In chapter 9, he explains that true “Jewishness” is not a matter of one’s DNA. All descendants of Abraham are not true Jews; only those who are the “children of promise,” those whom God chose. Many descendants of Abraham are not children of faith because God did not choose them. God did preserve Israel’s hopes by preserving a remnant, through whom God will fulfill His promises to Israel.
This brings us to chapter 10. If some descendants of Abraham are not true Jews because God did not choose them, they are likewise not true Jews because they did not choose to trust in Jesus as their Messiah. They were zealous for the Law, but they sought to be righteous in their own strength, by their own righteous deeds. The Gentiles whom God chose for salvation did not strive to be saved by their own efforts, but trusted in the finished work of Jesus.
So, in chapter 11 Paul asks the very logical question, “Is God finished with the Jews?” Have the Jews permanently and irreversibly lost their opportunity to enter into those blessings which God promised to Abraham and to his descendants? Paul’s answer is an emphatic “No!” Israel’s fall was for a divine purpose – it opened the door for Gentile evangelism. Gentile evangelism serves God’s purpose of provoking the Jews to jealousy. Gentile believers should not become smug with pride, for this is what got the Jews into trouble. It wasn’t their piety or superiority that merited them God’s blessings; it was God’s grace. Gentiles who become smug are in danger of the same fate as their Jewish predecessors. But when God’s purposes for the Gentiles have been fulfilled, He will turn once again to the Jewish people, to draw many to faith, so that “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26).19
Passing by Romans 12 and 13 for now, we come to chapter 14, where the question of Jew-Gentile relationships is once again in view. The issue in chapter 14 has to do with one’s convictions, convictions having to do with observing certain days, and eating or drinking certain foods. These are issues that would naturally arise between Jewish and Gentile believers. Should one bring ham sandwiches to the common meal shared together when the saints met for worship?20 Should a person offer wine to a fellow believer who is convicted that drinking wine would be wrong? Paul’s answer is that these matters should not be the subject of debate or the basis for judging one another. Instead, those who are strong should see it as their responsibility to minister to those who are weak, and they should do this (in part, at least) by surrendering their liberty to enjoy those things which others believe to be wrong:
1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up (Romans 15:1-2).
Paul then turns to the Lord Jesus as our supreme example. Our Lord did not choose to please Himself (which He had every right to do); instead, He set aside self-interest in order to offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins. Notice that the verse Paul selects to quote in verse 3 is a citation from the Old Testament Book of Psalms (69:9).
For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me” (Romans 15:3).
Several things stick out as I look at this verse. First, it is a citation of a psalm written by David (Psalm 69:9), a psalm which speaks of the insults he endured for identifying with God. Second, the insults David endured were really insults directed against Christ, Israel’s ultimate King. As we know, while Psalm 69 describes David’s mistreatment and abuse by men (some who are even close relatives), this is but a foreshadowing of the abuses the Messiah will endure for identifying with sinful men.
Third, it is this citation from Psalm 69:9 that Paul uses as the basis for his words in verse 4, where he informs his readers that the Old Testament provides New Testament readers with instruction that produces hope, and thus perseverance, in the midst of persecution and adversity.
So how does David’s experience of enduring abuse from his “brethren” serve as an encouragement to us? How does this give us hope? And how does it produce the unity which Paul mentions in verse 5, a unity which is somehow related to what he has just said?
5 Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 15:5-6).
Try this on for size. As I read those psalms where David speaks of the abuse he endured from others, most of the time I come away with the impression that his enemies are not his Gentile adversaries, but rather his Jewish adversaries, those close to him. One such adversary would be Saul (and those who supported him – people like Nabal21). But notice that while some opposed David, there was also a “band of brothers” who followed him, and became some of his most trusted and beloved companions (Jonathan, to mention but one). Incidentally, at least a couple of his most devoted followers were Gentiles (take Uriah, the Hittite, for example). The opposition and attacks of David’s adversaries brought with it the loyal devotion of his faithful companions.
Those Jewish believers who rejected the gospel – or those who opposed the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles,22 or who demanded that Gentile believers embrace Old Testament Judaism23 – could easily become the adversaries of those who embraced Gentile believers. In other words, those who chose to identify with Gentile converts and embraced them as joint heirs of the gospel, would experience persecution from their fellow Jews. Paul tells us that this is why some pressured Gentiles to be circumcised:
12 Those who want to make a good showing in external matters are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh (Galatians 6:12-13).
So isn’t the inference of Paul’s citation from Psalm 69:9 that just as David experienced the reproaches of his brethren, he saw this as experiencing the reproach of men toward Christ, and thereby he entered into the sufferings of Christ in a deeper, more personal way.24 In addition to this, the opposition of some prompted him to enter into a deeper fellowship with those who were his closest and most intimate friends. If this was true for David, then does this not encourage us as well? Yes, we will experience opposition, and we will bear the reproaches of others. Hopefully, much of this will be the expression of their opposition to our Lord.25 Should this opposition not cause us to appreciate our true brethren more fully and to desire to share our lives with them? Is this not what happened in the early church when the apostles were persecuted for their faith in Jesus?
When they were released, Peter and John went to their fellow believers and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them (Acts 4:23).
David’s endurance in the face of opposition thus gives us hope and inspires us to persevere. But Paul is not done with the Old Testament or with showing his readers the value of the Old Testament Scriptures for New Testament Christians. He now goes on to cite a number of Old Testament texts which speak of the salvation of Gentiles and of the blending of Jewish and Gentile voices in praise to God. God’s purpose was to save both Jews and Gentiles, so that with one voice they might praise Him:
7 Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God’s glory. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.” 10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope” (Romans 15:7-12).
These Old Testament citations make all kinds of sense when we read them in the light of Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands – 12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:11-22).
In Christ, God has reconciled lost sinners to Himself, but He has also reconciled lost sinners to each other! What Old Testament saint would ever have imagined standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Gentile believers as a part of one new creation, the church? The texts that Paul has cited in Romans 15 all speak of this, but no one really grasped this until the coming of Christ.
In the following chapter of Ephesians, Paul explains how he and his fellow apostles were given the privilege of revealing this previously unrecognized truth to men (and to celestial beings as well!):
4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into this secret [mystery]26 of Christ. 5 Now this secret was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, 6 namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power. 8 To me – less than the least of all the saints – this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan – a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 3:4-10).
A “mystery” (as Paul uses this term) is not something that has never been mentioned before and thus comes as a complete surprise. A “mystery” is something that has been mentioned earlier – in the Old Testament – but which was never fully grasped at the time. The coming of Jesus as the Messiah changed all of this. Thus, these Old Testament texts which spoke of the conversion of the Gentiles and the harmonious praise of Jews and Gentiles suddenly make sense (once explained by Paul). So, too, the relationship of Christ to His church now enables the Christian to view marriage in a new light (see Ephesians 5:22-33).
This is an important key to our understanding of how the Old Testament Scriptures can be so beneficial to New Testament Christians. New Testament Christians can study the Old Testament and see things that were not seen by the Old Testament saints. Because Christ has come, the Old Testament is not just ancient history; it is the revelation of the Lord Jesus. Psalm 69 is not just a poetic description of David’s abuse at the hand of his adversaries; it is also a description of the abuse Jesus endured at the hand of His adversaries. When New Testament Christians read Psalm 69 (for example), they see Christ, and as they read of His perseverance, they are encouraged to persevere. Finding Christ in the Old Testament gives New Testament Christians the hope they need to persevere.
So, to retrace Paul’s argument in Romans 15:1-13, we begin with the principle that the strong should sacrificially minister to the weak, not intent on pleasing themselves, but seeking rather to please the weak for their good (verses 1-2). This is what our Lord Jesus did, and we can see this from the citation of David’s words in Psalm 69:9. By seeing our Lord’s example, we gain instruction which leads to hope and to endurance.
Now that Christ has come (and Paul has revealed these Old Testament mysteries), we are able to grasp that these Old Testament citations in this text were prophecies concerning the church. We can now see that God fulfilled these prophecies through Christ when He brought the church into existence. We should realize that God’s purpose was to create “one new man” (Ephesians 2:15) so that Jews and Gentiles might praise Him harmoniously – with one voice. This should inspire the kind of unity which Paul calls for in this text.
Thus Paul can conclude his argument (and the argument of the book) with these words in verse 13:
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
Knowing what we now know enables us to read the Old Testament differently and to see that God did not purpose for Jews and Gentiles to be at odds with one another, but through Christ, we are to be one in spirit, joyfully at peace and praising God. The Old Testament is not the exclusive possession of the Jews, nor does it make Jews superior to the Gentiles. It shows Jews and Gentiles alike to be sinners, deserving of God’s eternal wrath and incapable of earning His favor. It shows that all who are true children of Abraham are such by virtue of faith in Jesus. It shows that sanctification is not attained by law-works, but by faith in Jesus and by walking in the Spirit. It shows that God purposed to unite Jews and Gentiles through faith in Jesus, so that all who trust in Him can harmoniously praise God forever.
Based upon what we have just seen, let me make some suggestions as to how we can find hope in the Old Testament.
1. We must read the Old Testament in the light of the New. We must read the Old Testament in light of the mysteries that have been revealed to us in the New Testament.
2. We should always look for Jesus in the Old Testament. I can well remember Dr. Bruce Waltke saying this to those of us who were his students in seminary: “When I read the Old Testament, I ask God to let me see Jesus.” That’s good advice.
3. Look for God’s ultimate purposes for His people, both Jews and Gentiles alike. Realize that women like Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth were not just “exceptions to the rule,” but were prototypes of what was yet to be (as we find it described in Romans).
4. When reading the Old Testament, seek to learn more about the “God of hope” (15:13). Learn of His wisdom and power in the accounts of creation and of the exodus. Learn of God’s mercy and grace (as we find in Exodus 32-34, especially 34:6-7). Learn of God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises. Look at God’s activities in the past (creation and the exodus being two prominent events in history) as prototypes of what God is yet to do.
The writer to the Hebrews sums up the superiority of the New Covenant to the Old by pointing out that every Old Testament saint was saved by faith, and that their faith gave them hope – not a hope for present blessings so much as a heavenly hope for eternal blessings (Hebrews 11:13-16). Paul’s words in Romans 15 should convince us that the Old Testament Scriptures are a source of great hope for the New Testament saint because we can now read these texts in the light of the coming and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The mysteries of the Old Testament (which Old Testament saints did not grasp) are now ours to ponder, for our encouragement and hope.
Our hope is not to be found in men, in politics, or in this present age; it is only to be found in the “God of hope.” Let us look for Him and learn of Him as we read the Old Testament. Let us keep our eyes fixed on heaven, and on the hope which awaits us there, knowing that it is a secure hope, one that is certain for every saint:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. 7 Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away – and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:3-9).
Are you a guilty sinner, burdened down with the weight of your sin, and with the fear of eternal punishment? There is hope for you in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. Are you fearful of what lies beyond the grave as you witness the death of another? There is hope for you, beyond the grave, because our Savior rose from the dead after making payment for your sins. Is your marriage a disaster and seemingly without hope? The same God who raised Jesus from the dead is the God who can transform your marriage, modeled after the relationship of Christ and His church. Are you depressed and in despair? Be encouraged, because the Lord Jesus came to take away the despair and to fill our hearts with the joy of His salvation. There is hope!
The hope which we have as believers in Jesus Christ is the only true hope. It is the hope which unbelievers lack, but desperately need. Let us keep our sure and certain hope before us, and may our hope cause unbelievers to ask us how we can be so hopeful in such a hopeless world (1 Peter 3:15). As the Scriptures teach, let us keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), and let us fix our hope on the grace that is to be brought to us when He is revealed (1 Peter 1:13).
1 Copyright © 2010 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 1 in the series Hope and Change, God’s Way, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on February 28, 2010. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
2 Brenda A. Smith, “Help Us Hope,” An unpublished paper (but hopefully not for long), c. 2009.
3 See Romans 5:1-5; 1 Corinthians 13:13; Galatians 5:5-6; Ephesians 1:12-18; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:1-5; 4:10-11; 1 Peter 1:3-9, 13, 20-23.
4 The NET Bible = 149x; NASB95 = 152x; NKJV = 153x; ESV = 169x; CSB = 179.
5 These charts thanks to BibleWorks 7. See http://www.bibleworks.com/
6 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
7 See 1 Peter 1:3-5 above.
8 See also 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 50-58; 2 Corinthians 4:16—5:10.
9 Philippians 1:23.
10 See Romans 1:16-32; also see Psalm 19 where natural revelation is combined with the revelation of the Law.
11 See 2:17-24; see Luke 12:45-48.
12 See 3:9-20.
13 See 4:4-8.
14 See Hebrews 11:17-19.
15 See Romans 4:9-17; also see Romans 9:6-8ff.
16 See Acts 15:5.
17 I am not speaking of perfectionism here, but of the power that God has given to us to live the Christian life. Our failure to live up to God’s standards is not due to His failure to provide the means to do so, but rather is due to our failure to appropriate these means.
18 See Acts 15:10.
19 I do not understand “all Israel” to mean that every Jew who has ever lived will be saved. I believe that “all Israel” refers to all true Israelites, true children of Abraham (sons of Abraham by faith), will be saved. In other words, all those God meant to include within His chosen (Jews and Gentiles alike) will be saved. See Romans 4:10-13; Galatians 6:16.
20 See Acts 2:42-46; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
21 See 1 Samuel 25:9-11.
22 See 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.
23 Galatians 6:12.
24 See Philippians 3:10; Colossians 1:24-27.
25 See 1 Peter 4:12-16.
26 I prefer the term “mystery” throughout this text, as my exposition will hopefully demonstrate.
In our first lesson in this series, I suggested that one dare not attempt to study a subject by merely using a concordance program to search out a certain word. The use of “hope” in the Gospels is an excellent illustration. One would be completely mistaken to conclude that there is little “hope” in the Gospels because the word “hope” is found there only twice.2 The problem in the Gospels is that the “hope” which we find is a misguided hope. We will find that hopes (expectations) were running high in Israel at the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry, but they were mistaken hopes, based upon wrong motives and expectations.
Far from “hope” being absent in the Gospels, I would suggest that correctly understanding “hope” is one of the crucial keys to understanding what is happening in the Gospels. Reading the Gospels from the perspective of “hope” may be a new way of thinking through the life of Christ, but I believe that it is more than worth the time and effort to do so. And so I am devoting this lesson to the subject of hope in the Gospels.
The Book of Malachi ends with words that directly link this prophecy with the appearance of John the Baptist in the Gospels:
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse” (Malachi 4:1-8).3
We know that there were 400 years of silence from the time of Malachi’s prophecy to the time when that silence was broken by the declaration of John: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:2). During that period of silence, Rome became a dominant world power and effectively ruled Israel. We know that there was a faithful remnant of believers like Simeon and Anna4 who eagerly awaited the coming of Messiah. But during that time, the religious leaders had become more and more corrupt. The hopes of most Israelites were earthly, rather than heavenly.
Several things happened to raise the hopes of godly Israelites, while creating fear in the hearts of others. The first incidents had to do with the birth of John the Baptist and God’s dealings with Zachariah, his father:
21 Now the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder why he was delayed in the holy place. 22 When he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the holy place, because he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak (Luke 1:21-22, emphasis mine).
64 Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue released, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 All their neighbors were filled with fear, and throughout the entire hill country of Judea all these things were talked about. 66 All who heard these things kept them in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the Lord’s hand was indeed with him (Luke 1:64-66, emphasis mine).
What happened to Zacharias was observed by a number of Israelites, and it created a sense of expectation. They did not have the Internet and advanced communication technology; nevertheless, gossip concerning the birth of John spread fast and far. God was up to something, and they were interested to see just what that was.
The birth of Jesus added to the sense of expectation in Israel. The shepherds’ report of their visitation by angels and of seeing the Messiah caught the attention of those who heard:
17 When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said (Luke 2:17-18, emphasis mine).
When Jesus was brought to the Temple, Simeon and Anna were there to see the Messiah. Anna’s report was no doubt passed along to expectant Israelites:
36 There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having been married to her husband for seven years until his death. 37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment, she came up to them and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:36-38, emphasis mine).
It seems to have been a number of months later that the Magi arrived in Jerusalem with news that troubled Herod and all those in Jerusalem:
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem 2 saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him (Matthew 2:1-3, emphasis mine).
The slaughter of babies in the vicinity of Bethlehem5 must have caused many to wonder what threat was so great that Herod would take this kind of action. The appearance of Jesus at the Temple at the age of 12 must also have caused those who heard what happened to wonder what all of this was leading to.
46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Jesus were astonished at his understanding and his answers (Luke 2:46-47).
For some time, John warned the people of Israel that the Messiah (and judgment) was coming, yet without knowing who that Messiah was.
1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness of Judea proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 3:1-2).
The sense of expectation (hope) was now running high in Israel, for even though John performed no miraculous signs,6 the people flocked to him in the wilderness.
It was the baptism of Jesus that confirmed the identity of Jesus as the promised Messiah.
29 On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. 33 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining - this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God” (John 1:29-34).
When Jesus made His public appearance, He echoed the words of John:
17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17).
As time passed, Jesus became more and more popular – more so than John the Baptist, causing consternation among his disciples – but not John.7 Yet, after spending time in Herod’s custody, John did begin to entertain some doubts of his own:
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds Christ had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question: 3 “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go tell John what you hear and see: 5 The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. 6 Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me” (Matthew 11:1-6).
We will consider the reason for John’s doubts momentarily.
Jesus called the twelve to be His disciples and certain assurances were implied or stated, assurances on which their hopes should have been founded. There was, for example, the promise of His presence:
He appointed twelve (whom he named apostles), so that they would be with him and he could send them to preach (Mark 3:14).
Then there was the promise of His provision for their needs. We see this in Luke 5, where Jesus first miraculously provided an abundant catch of fish, and only then called them to leave their nets to follow Him.8
When Jesus sent out the twelve, it became clear to them that He was granting them the power to proclaim the gospel, accompanied by signs and miracles:
7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. 9 Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff, for the worker deserves his provisions” (Matthew 10:7-10).
He likewise promised then both earthly and heavenly blessings:
29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 30 who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much - homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions - and in the age to come, eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30, emphasis mine).
While He promised certain earthly blessings, Jesus did not promise “peace and prosperity” in this present age. He discouraged some potential followers by informing them of the demands of discipleship. He made it clear to all that following Him would bring persecution:
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. 11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way. 13 You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. 14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house” (Matthew 5:9-15).
57 As they were walking along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 Jesus said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62).
“And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38; see also 16:24).
Jesus’ twelve disciples did follow Him, but we know that there will be a time that they will forsake Him. The reasons for this become evident as we are told about some of their discussions and debates among themselves.
A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24).
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” 36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 They said to him, “Permit one of us to sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I experience?” 39 They said to him, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I experience, 40 but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 Now when the other ten heard this, they became angry with James and John (Mark 10:35-41).
So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, “Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)
So, I believe it is safe to say that both John the Baptist and the twelve disciples of Jesus had “high hopes,” and yet they would all falter in their faith.9 I would suggest that there were several common characteristics between John the Baptist and the disciples of Jesus which caused them problems as time passed and as the future looked less promising than they had hoped, given their earthly expectations. Here are some of the reasons for the “dashed hopes” of John the Baptist and the disciples of Jesus:
1. They failed to realize that Messiah was to come to earth twice, with an interval of time in between – a fairly substantial one as we look back from our vantage point in history. To put it differently, they failed to recognize that the Messiah would come once to provide salvation for those who would believe, and that he would come again to judge the earth (rewarding true believers and bringing judgment on those who reject the truth).10 It was at this time that He would establish His earthly reign.
I don’t say this to indict them for this failure as this was a mystery that was not even known to the prophets (and John the Baptist was a prophet). But not knowing that the Messiah would appear twice, they expected Him to bring judgment and to establish His kingdom on earth during His first visitation.
2. They likewise failed to grasp the need for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary, and then to rise again. If it was assumed that Messiah would establish His earthly kingdom in His first coming, then there would be no place for a suffering Messiah. This was not just a problem for John the Baptist and the disciples; it was a problem for all the Old Testament prophets:
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. 11 They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory (1 Peter 1:10-11).
No wonder Peter felt obliged to rebuke the Lord Jesus for speaking of His coming suffering and death in Jerusalem:
21 From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” (Matthew 16:21-22)
3. Their focus was fixed on present earthly blessings rather than on future heavenly blessings. The disciples continually asked Jesus about the kingdom and when it was coming.11 Jesus had told them that they would sit on twelve thrones,12 and they were eager to do so. They even sought the places of greatest honor and authority – at the Lord’s right and left hand.
You can hardly blame the disciples for being so eager to see the Lord’s earthly kingdom come. But one must also recognize that Jesus had made it quite clear that being a disciple would be costly (in earthly terms), and that suffering and persecution were a part of the cost of discipleship. Jesus was also quite clear in distinguishing between the “now,” with its troubles and sacrifices, and the “then” of the kingdom, with all of its glorious benefits. This is not to say that there would be no present blessings, but Jesus did not obscure the line between present blessings and difficulties and eternal blessings. Thus, a disciple should live in the present in a way that “lays up treasure” in heaven.13
Having pointed out the weaknesses of John the Baptist and the disciples, we dare not fail to see that our Lord made use of these vulnerabilities in a way that accomplished the divine plan of redemption. It was necessary for the disciples to abandon Jesus for a short time. This way they were not put to death with Him. Their utter disillusionment and despair served to underscore the reality of the resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter’s denial of his Lord was divinely utilized so that the restored Peter was better able to strengthen his brethren.14 My point here is simply to show that the disciples did not suffer from a lack of hope, but rather from the false expectations of a distorted hope. It will likewise be the self-centered hope of the masses which will lead to the sudden turn of events which culminated in the crowds calling for the crucifixion of Jesus and the release of Barabbas.
I don’t pretend to understand the mind and heart of Judas, but I must say that thinking through the Gospels from the vantage point of hope has helped me to better understand the way in which his hopes vaporized as he observed the Lord’s earthly ministry coming to a close. The other eleven disciples of Jesus differed from Judas in one most important way: they were believers in Jesus as their Messiah, and Judas was not.15
We know that Judas was the treasurer for Jesus and those who followed Him. Likewise, we know that he was taking some of this money for himself.16 Judas, like the other disciples, had made many sacrifices to follow Jesus.17 He must have convinced himself that what he took from the bag was “his share,” a kind of return on his investment. While the disciples were unwilling to hear about our Lord’s crucifixion in Jerusalem, I believe that Judas took Jesus’ words more seriously. Like Thomas, He may have felt that going to Jerusalem with Jesus meant death for him, as well as for Jesus.18 It was becoming more and more clear to him that Jesus intended to die in Jerusalem and that the Jewish religious leaders were determined to kill Him. For a man who had pinned his earthly (but not heavenly) hopes on Jesus, it appeared that he was about to lose it all. His “investment” in Jesus was about to perish when He died.
I’ve heard a number of theories about why Judas chose to betray Jesus, most of them not very compelling. I would suggest a simple speculation (and it is speculation) that Judas, realizing Jesus intended to die and that the Jewish leaders intended to kill Him, thought of a way that would facilitate the purposes of Jesus and the Jewish leaders. As a member of Jesus’ disciples, Judas would know where Jesus could be arrested. And having this valuable information, he could turn a profit out of what would otherwise be a complete loss for him. Thus, Judas had already decided to betray Jesus six days before the Passover.19 The “why” was settled in his mind; the only question was “when” and “where.” The anointing of Jesus by Mary was the last straw for Judas. This prompted him to make his deal with the devil and with the Jewish religious leaders.20
You will recall that the religious leaders were determined not to arrest and kill Jesus “during the feast,” since they would likely face the wrath of the crowds, who still were enthusiastic about Him.21 Jesus carefully kept Judas from knowing where He would observe Passover with His disciples.22 But early in the observance of Passover, Jesus not only indicated to Judas (more so than to the others who were more interested in other things) that he would be betrayed by one of His disciples, but that the betrayer was Judas.23 Judas fled, knowing that he could never return. Now was the time he must betray Jesus. He knew where they would spend the night, where they had stayed previous nights.24 This was the only time, and this was the only place (from Judas’ point of view), and it was also the perfect timing for the Passover Lamb to die.
Judas had placed all of his hopes in Jesus as the revolutionary who would overthrow Rome and establish his kingdom on the earth. Now that he had betrayed Jesus, Judas concluded that there was no longer any hope for him in this life, and so he killed himself. No man has ever been more hopeless than Judas.
The preaching of John the Baptist created a sense of expectation (hope) regarding the coming of the Messiah. When Jesus began His public ministry, we can easily understand why the crowds were attracted to Him:
23 Jesus went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds [every disease]25 of disease and sickness among the people. 24 So a report about him spread throughout Syria. People brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions, those who had seizures, paralytics, and those possessed by demons, and he healed them. 25 And large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan River (Matthew 4:23-25, emphasis mine).
As Matthew continues to develop his account of our Lord’s ministry, it becomes apparent that Jesus not only has authority over “every disease,” but also over all of nature. And thus we will shortly come to the account of Jesus stilling the storm:
23 As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And a great storm developed on the sea so that the waves began to swamp the boat. But he was asleep. 25 So they came and woke him up saying, “Lord, save us! We are about to die!” 26 But he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm. 27 And the men were amazed and said, “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!” (Matthew 8:23-27, emphasis mine)
Our Lord’s authority was evident in yet another way. His teaching set Jesus apart from the Jewish religious leaders of His day. He identified Himself as the fulfillment of messianic prophecy, and He taught like the author of the Old Testament Law:
16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and the regaining of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to tell them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read” (Luke 4:16-21, emphasis mine).
28 When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching, 29 because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law (Matthew 7:28-29, emphasis mine).
It was more than just His authority which attracted people to Jesus. While Jesus was the sinless son of God, He freely associated with sinners. His words and actions conveyed the assurance of mercy and hope for sinners, and thus sinners were drawn to Him:
2 Then he began to teach them by saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied”
(Matthew 5:2-6).
8 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30).
1 Now after some days, when he returned to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 2 So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some people came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus. Then, after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some of the experts in the law were sitting there, turning these things over in their minds: 7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Now immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts, he said to them, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’? 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,” - he said to the paralytic - 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 12 And immediately the man stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (Mark 2:1-12, emphasis mine)
All were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:22, emphasis mine)
Jesus’ preaching gave sinners26 hope. He claimed and demonstrated His power to forgive sins. When the self-righteous Pharisees drug a woman caught in the act of adultery before Jesus, shaming her and seeking to dishonor Him, they left in shame, and this woman left forgiven.27 When the woman with a shameful past washed the feet of Jesus, the “self-righteous” wondered how Jesus could allow it. But once again the sinner went away cleansed, and the self-righteous went away stunned:
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:48-51).
We can easily see how our Lord’s arrival on the stage of human history created a flurry of excitement, fueling all kinds of hopes. If John the Baptist and our Lord’s disciples had misguided hopes, you had better believe that the hopes of the masses were misguided and distorted as well. When we read John’s account of the feeding of the 5,000, we see how the crowd became so excited that they sought to make Jesus their king:
14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone (John 6:14-15).
In the light of this kind of enthusiasm, it is important for us to know that Jesus did everything possible to minimize false hopes. Let me mention three of the ways Jesus dealt with the danger of false expectations on the part of the people.
1. Jesus sought to minimize false hopes by His teaching. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7,28 Jesus makes a very clear distinction between “now” with its trials and tribulations and “then” with its eternal blessings. He encouraged people to lay up treasures in heaven,29 thus distinguishing the “now” of the present time from the “then” of heaven. He spoke of the blessings of suffering in this life, because of the blessings that await us in the next.30 Jesus taught the parable of the four soils, indicating that there would be many who would too quickly choose to follow Him (based upon false hopes), only to fall away when the cost of discipleship became evident.31 When Jesus presented Himself as the Messiah at the synagogue in Nazareth, there was immediate enthusiasm, but Jesus quickly ended their enthusiasm by informing the people that salvation would be for the Gentiles, as well as the Jews.32
Jesus discouraged those who were too enthusiastic about following Him by informing them of the cost of discipleship.33 He made it very clear to His disciples that following Him would involve persecution.34 When Jesus fed the 5,000 and the crowd wanted to make Jesus their king by force,35 Jesus sent His disciples away and then went off by Himself to pray, leaving the crowds. He taught the crowds about the “true bread” and informed them of the fact that He would bring salvation to men by His flesh and blood sacrifice at Calvary. To be His disciples, men and women must “eat His flesh” and “drink His blood.” This teaching prompted the crowd to abandon Jesus and go their own way.36
In the Olivet Discourse and His Upper Room Discourse, Jesus told His disciples that He would be rejected and crucified. He even informed His disciples that one of them would betray Him. Jesus did not “tempt” His disciples to follow Him by promising them immediate positions of power and prestige; He called them to pay the price of discipleship because of the rewards which were laid up for them in heaven.
2. Jesus also sought to deal with false expectations by minimizing the spectacular in His ministry. He did not perform miracles every time men wanted them; indeed, He did not always perform miracles when His disciples encouraged Him to do so. Jesus made it clear that preaching the gospel was His priority, not performing miracles:
35 Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer. 36 Simon and his companions searched for him. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 He replied, “Let us go elsewhere, into the surrounding villages, so that I can preach there too. For that is what I came out here to do.” 39 So he went into all of Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons (Mark 1:35-39).
What could be more impressive than to have demons bear witness to your identity as the Son of God? And yet Jesus silenced them, for He did not want or need their confession, spectacular as that might have been:
Demons also came out of many, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ (Luke 4:41).
When Jesus performed miracles, He often did it in as private a manner as circumstances permitted. When Jesus healed the leper, He was prompted by compassion, not a desire for publicity. And thus He instructed the man to tell no one; instead, he was to go to the priest as the law required.37 When Jesus healed the deaf and dumb man, He took him aside from the crowd to heal him and then instructed him to tell no one.38 When Jesus healed the blind man, He brought him out of the village, and when he was healed, he was told not to go back to the village.39 When Jesus raised the synagogue official’s daughter from the dead, He first put everyone out, leaving only the parents and His three disciples to witness this spectacular miracle.40 Jesus did not seek to create false expectations by emphasizing the spectacular in His ministry.
3. Jesus sought to minimize false hopes by spending most of His time in Galilee, and making only occasional visits to Jerusalem. In the three synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), most of Jesus’ public ministry was conducted in Galilee. Jesus did not spend a great deal of time in Jerusalem, in spite of the fact that this was the place to make oneself known, as our Lord’s brothers pointed out to Him:
1 After this Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He stayed out of Judea because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. 3 So Jesus’ brothers advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. 4 For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (For not even his own brothers believed in him.) (John 7:1-5)
John’s Gospel records most of those times when Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem. While Jesus may have gained popularity among the masses in Jerusalem, His ministry and teaching also served to intensify the opposition of the Jewish religious leaders and their resolve to be rid of Him. Indeed, it was the popularity of Jesus with the masses that filled the Jewish leaders with jealousy, thus prompting their opposition to Him.41 The religious leaders were so opposed to Jesus that people were afraid to even talk to one another openly about Him:
11 So the Jewish leaders were looking for him at the feast, asking, “Where is he?” 12 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people.” 13 However, no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jewish leaders (John 7:11-13).
Jesus had carefully orchestrated His appearances in Jerusalem so that He would be welcomed by the masses at the time of His triumphal entry. One significant part of this process was the raising of Lazarus in Bethany, a mere stone’s throw from Jerusalem. This had the mixed effect of attracting many to see Jesus (some of whom believed) and also of intensifying the Jewish religious leaders’ resolve to seize Jesus and put Him to death.
9 Now a large crowd of Judeans learned that Jesus was there, and so they came not only because of him but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too, 11 for on account of him many of the Jewish people from Jerusalem were going away and believing in Jesus (John 12:9-11).
46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and reported to them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many miraculous signs. 48 If we allow him to go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary and our nation” (John 11:45-48).
The hopes of the masses in Jerusalem reached their highest point at the Triumphal Entry of our Lord.
6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matthew 21:6-11).
In just a few days, the tide would turn against Jesus, and the multitudes would feel very different toward Jesus:
While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people (Matthew 26:47).
20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 21 The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas!” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” They all said, “Crucify him!” 23 He asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!” 24 When Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!” 25 In reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:20-25)
39 Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God’s Son, come down from the cross!” (Matthew 27:39-40)
How do we explain this sudden change of mood and attitude toward Jesus, a change that occurred within a week’s time? I would suggest several things to keep in mind.
First, let us bear in mind that the rejection of Jesus, His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection were in the eternal plan of God.
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know – 23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:22-24).
God purposed the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus, as well as His resurrection and ascension. Jesus spoke of this on various occasions.42 While the disciples forgot this for a little while,43 those who crucified Him did not.44
Second, we have been prepared for this turnabout by earlier instances of men suddenly turning against Jesus in the Gospels. John the Baptist did not turn against Jesus, but circumstances did prompt John to change his tune, so that he had to reaffirm his previous conclusion that Jesus was the promised Messiah.45 Those in Nazareth were initially excited and enthusiastic because of what Jesus said, but they quickly turned against Him, seeking to kill Him, when He spoke of the salvation of Gentiles, along with Jews.46 The man who Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda all too quickly turned Him in to those who wanted to kill Jesus.47 Those who wanted to make Jesus their king by force (because they had been fed by Him) quickly forsook Him when He spoke symbolically of His sacrificial death.48 In addition to this, our Lord’s parable of the four soils referred to those two kinds of soil who quickly responded positively to Jesus, and then quickly fell away.49
Third, throughout His earthly ministry and even at the height of Jesus’ popularity, there were differences of opinion as to who Jesus was.
12 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people” (John 7:12).
25 Then some of the residents of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet here he is, speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to him. Do the rulers really know that this man is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man comes from. Whenever the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from” (John 7:25-27).
Yet many of the crowd believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?” (John 7:31)
40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd began to say, “This really is the Prophet!” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ!” But still others said, “No, for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? (John 7:40-41)
13 When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Matthew 16:13-14).
10 As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matthew 21:10-11).
It is true that some regarded Jesus as the coming Messiah, but many others were not willing to go so far, and many regarded Jesus as a deceiver. Thus, we should not think of the Triumphal Entry of our Lord as a unanimous declaration of His identity as the Messiah.
Fourth, I believe that the sudden change of sentiment toward Jesus in Jerusalem can best be explained from the perspective of the Israelite’s unfulfilled hopes. As the writer in Proverbs put it,
Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is like a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12).
Virtually every Israelite had it wrong when it came to their expectations (hopes) as to who Jesus was or what He had come to accomplish. There were a good many who had come to regard Jesus as a deceiver; others concluded that He was the promised Messiah. But no one (it would seem) expected Jesus to peacefully yield when the authorities sought to arrest Him, no one expected Jesus to remain silent when accused, and no one believed that Jesus would be crucified on a Roman cross outside the gates of Jerusalem.
I believe that Peter and his colleagues were sincere when they assured Jesus of their loyalty, even unto death:
33 Peter said to him, “If they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away!” 34 Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you.” And all the disciples said the same thing” (Matthew 26:33-35).
But Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death!” (Luke 22:33)
The disciples were not ignorant of the fact that opposition of the Jewish religious leaders to Jesus was strong, but they at least expected Jesus to put up a good fight. They were willing to die with Him – to go down fighting – if need be, though I believe they felt that if a fight actually began, Jesus would once again manifest His power and overcome His enemies, both Jewish and Roman. The turning point for Peter and his fellow disciples (and a little later the crowds as well) was when they saw that Jesus willingly, silently, and somewhat passively gave Himself over to those who would kill Him.
The people of Jerusalem and the disciples of Jesus had “high hopes,” but when they realized that they were not fulfilled, they were shaken. The unbelievers called for the death of Jesus and likewise for the release of Barabbas.
19 As he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man; I have suffered greatly as a result of a dream about him today.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 21 The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas!” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?” They all said, “Crucify him!” 23 He asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?” But they shouted more insistently, “Crucify him!” (Matthew 27:19-23)
Why would the crowds possibly prefer Barabbas to Jesus? Because Barabbas was not just a robber; Barabbas was a revolutionary:
39 But it is your custom that I release one prisoner for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” 40 Then they shouted back, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary50.) (John 18:39-40)
A man named Barabbas was imprisoned with rebels who had committed murder during an insurrection (Mark 15:7).
18 But they all shouted out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas for us!” 19 (This was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.) (Luke 23:18-19)
The Jewish people resented Roman occupation and control over them, and thus denied that it was even so (John 8:31-33). They had hoped that Jesus would liberate them from Rome’s dominion, but instead Jesus had submitted to those who opposed Him and would eventually die at the hands of Jewish and Roman leaders. Jesus was not going to throw off their political shackles and establish a new order. Barabbas, on the other hand, was a man who had already shed blood in his attempts to overthrow the government. If Jesus would not give them what they wanted, Barabbas was more than willing to attempt to do so. And thus the people sided with Barabbas, for he was more in line with their hopes than Jesus.
The problem is not with Jesus; the problem is with the unrealistic and unbiblical (out of touch with Old Testament prophecy and with the teaching of Jesus) expectations (hopes). Because Jesus refused to be conformed to the desires of the Jewish religious leaders, they rejected Him. Likewise, because Jesus refused to be conformed to the desires of the masses, they rejected Him as well. And, for a short while, even the disciples of our Lord abandoned Him, because He did not conform to their hopes either. And yet in all of this, the plans, purposes, and promises of God were perfectly fulfilled so that Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice, bearing the penalty for guilty sinners.
So, I believe we can see that there is much “hope” displayed in the Gospels, but most of it is the wrong kind of hope on the part of men, including the disciples of Jesus. It was these unfulfilled expectations (hopes) that prompted many to turn away from Jesus, rather than to cling to Him in faith. Now, I must quickly say that the hopes of many are revised and restored, thanks to the resurrection of our Lord and the coming of the Holy Spirit (as is emphatically indicated in the Book of Acts). But we’ll save that for another lesson, our next lesson.
The question for us is this, “What should we learn about hope from the Gospels?” The first thing we should see is this: Ill-founded hopes will not be realized. Only true hopes, those based upon the person, work, and promises of God as found in Scripture, will be fulfilled. All men (and women) have hopes; the question is whether those hopes are well founded.
The hope of the righteous is joy,
but the expectation of the wicked will remain unfulfilled (Proverbs 10:28).
When a wicked person dies, his expectation perishes,
and the hope of his strength perishes (Proverbs 11:7).
What the righteous desire leads only to good,
but what the wicked hope for leads to wrath (Proverbs 11:23).
“Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope” (John 5:45).
Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17).
True hope is that which is found in the gospel, based on the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living. 9 Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, emphasis mine).
3 We always give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints. 5 Your faith and love have arisen from the hope laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel (Colossians 1:3-5, emphasis mine).
God wanted to make known to them the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27, emphasis mine).
From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope (1 Timothy 1:1, emphasis mine).
1 From Paul, a slave of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began (Titus 1:1-2, emphasis mine).
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain (Hebrews 6:19, emphasis mine).
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5, emphasis mine).
God’s way of salvation requires you to cast aside all hope in anything or anyone, other than the Lord Jesus Christ. You must forsake any hope that you will be able to please God by your own good works. You must forsake any hope in anyone other than in Jesus. Jesus is God’s one and only provision for the forgiveness of your sins and the assurance of eternal life. The Lord Jesus bore the penalty for man’s sin, and all you need to do is to receive it as a gift. The Lord Jesus died to the power and penalty of sin, and all those who trust in Him are likewise freed from the curse of sin. The Lord Jesus rose from the dead to live forever more, and all who trust in Him will live with Him forever. Those who reject God’s offer of salvation through the person and work of Jesus have no hope. Have you trusted in Jesus? Do you have this hope of eternal life? Receive it today by making Jesus your hope by trusting in Him.
This lesson contains much instruction for those of us who have trusted in Jesus. We should be very careful not to convey false hope to those who are lost. I don’t know how many funerals I have witnessed where the preacher reads or refers to “heaven” texts as though they should be a comfort to everyone present. Heaven is not for all men, without exception. Heaven is for those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Hell is the dreaded fate of all those who reject salvation in Jesus. Let us not give unbelievers the false hope of salvation if they are lost. People need to lose all hope in themselves, in religion, in others to bring about salvation, and then they need to trust in Jesus as their only hope.
Let us not seek to persuade the lost to trust in Jesus by offering them false hope, by baiting them with promises that are not true. What we can promise with absolute accuracy and confidence is that trusting in Jesus is all that is required for salvation. Trusting in Jesus for salvation assures the sinner that their sins will be forgiven and that they will spend eternity in heaven in the presence of God. Trusting in Jesus does not promise one earthly ease, health and wealth and popularity. Indeed, the Scriptures speak plainly on this matter, assuring men that they will experience rejection, persecution, and earthly difficulties.51 Those who embrace the gospel because we have offered false hopes will not be prepared for the adversities that will come their way as Christians. Those who have true hope will be empowered to endure and persevere in the midst of their trials and tribulations.
Finally, we who have hoped in Christ need to be careful to maintain our focus on God, on the salvation He has accomplished for us in Christ, and on the blessings that are yet to come in eternity. The health and wealth gospel can be appealing to Christians, but we must reject it as false hope. We can be tempted to put our hope in earthly things like money,52 but this is also false hope. We, like Demas of old, can come to “love the present age” and thus desert the faithful for “the good life.”53
The good news is that when our hopes are eternal hopes, hopes based upon the person and work of our Lord Jesus, they will prove to be even better than anything we can imagine:
9 But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Let us therefore fix our hope on Jesus, and the salvation He will bring to completion for all eternity:
13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:13).
2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure) (1 John 3:2-3)
1 Copyright © 2010 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 2 in the series Hope and Change God’s Way, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on March 7, 2010. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
2 I should say that “hope” is found twice in the Gospels in the KJV, NKJV, NASB, and ESV. It is found three times in the NET Bible and five times in the NIV.
3 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
4 See Luke 2:22-38.
5 Luke 2:13-18.
6 John 10:41.
7 See John 3:26-30; 4:1-2.
8 See Luke 5:1-11.
9 Judas, of course, never had faith (see John 6:64, 70; 13:11; 17:12).
10 See 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10.
11 See, for example, Matthew 24:3; Acts 1:6.
12 Matthew 19:28.
13 See Matthew 6:19-21.
14 See Luke 22:31-32.
15 See John 6:64; 13:10-11, 18-20; Acts 1:25.
16 John 12:6.
17 Matthew 19:27.
18 See John 11:16.
19 John 12:11.
20 See Matthew 26:6-16.
21 See Matthew 26:1-5.
22 Luke 22:7-13.
23 John 13:21-30; Matthew 26:20-25.
24 Luke 21:37.
25 “All kinds” is a possible rendering, but the point Matthew is making is that Jesus has the power to heal “every disease.” There is nothing beyond His power.
26 It is interesting to note that the term (“sinner”/”sinners”) is found 30 times in the entire Bible (NASB), and that 16 of these occurrences are found in the Gospels.
27 See John 7:53—8:11. Yes, I believe this account to be a part of the inspired text of Scripture.
28 See also Luke 6:20ff.
29 See Matthew 6:19ff.
30 See Matthew 5:10-12.
31 See Matthew 13:1-23.
32 See Luke 4:16-30.
33 See Luke 9:57-62.
34 See Matthew 10:16ff.
35 See John 6:14-15.
36 See John 6.
37 Mark 1:43-44.
38 Mark 7:31-36.
39 Mark 8:22-26.
40 Luke 8:49-56.
41 Mark 15:9-11.
42 See, for example, Matthew 16:21; 17:22-23; 20:18-19; John 2:18-22; 3:14-15; 10:14-18.
43 See Luke 24:1-24.
44 Matthew 27:62-66.
45 Matthew 11:2-6.
46 Luke 4:16-30.
47 John 5:1-18.
48 John 6:1-65.
49 See Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20.
50 The ESV, NASB, KJV, and NKJV render “robber”; the NET Bible, CSB, NIV, and NLT render this so as to identify Barabbas as a revolutionary.
51 See, for example, Matthew 10:16-39; 24:3-31; John 15:17-25; Acts 14:21-22; Romans 8:18-39; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4; 1 Peter 4:1-19.
52 See 1 Timothy 6:17-19.
53 See 2 Timothy 4:9-11.
Providentially, our study of “Hope” in the Bible has converged with the observance of Resurrection Sunday this morning. And so it is that I chose the topic for this message: “Hope and the Resurrection.” My goal in this lesson is not to put forward all the arguments normally used to prove that the resurrection of our Lord is a historical fact. The Bible is very clear on this point, and we have all heard a number of sermons with this emphasis, and rightly so.
My goal in this lesson is to demonstrate the prominence of resurrection faith throughout the entire Bible and to draw attention to the way in which this hope impacted the attitudes and actions of people of faith. At the conclusion of this lesson, it is my intention to approach hope from a somewhat different perspective, and then to suggest how a resurrection hope should change our lives, as it did those in the Bible.
There are many examples of resurrection hope in the historical books of the Old Testament, but allow me to call your attention to just a few. Abraham provides us with two wonderful examples of resurrection hope. The first example is found in relation to God’s promise that Abram and Sarai would have a child through whom God’s covenant promises would be fulfilled.
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." 2 But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir." 4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir." 5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:1-6, ESV).
16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. 18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 23 But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake, 24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification (Romans 4:16-25).2
There is much that could be said here, but suffice it to say that Paul speaks of Abraham’s faith as resurrection faith, and he sees it as the same substance as the Christian’s resurrection hope, based on the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
The same can be said for Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. The full account is found in Genesis 22, but I am most interested in the interpretation of that text by the author of the Book of Hebrews:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there (Hebrews 11:17-19).
Abraham reasoned by faith, which resulted in resurrection hope. He knew that God’s covenant promises were to be fulfilled through Isaac. Ishmael (the only other possible son) had already been sent away. I believe that Abraham had resurrection hope, based upon sound reasoning. God had promised to bless Abraham through Isaac. God had promised the birth of Isaac when Abram and Sarai were “as good as dead” so far as bearing children. If God could give life to the dead by giving them a son, then God could raise Isaac from the dead in order to fulfill His promises. It was his resurrection hope that caused Abraham to be willing to sacrifice his son.
Joseph likewise revealed his resurrection hope when he instructed his sons to carry his bones back to the Promised Land:
By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial (Hebrews 11:22).
Likewise, Moses exhibited resurrection hope when he chose to forego the temporary, earthly, privileges of being called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter in order to enjoy the eternal joys of being a son of God:
24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. 26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward (Hebrews 11:24-26).
David had resurrection hope, as we can see from his words in 2 Samuel 12:
19 When David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” They replied, “Yes, he’s dead.” 20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, put on oil, and changed his clothes. He went to the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then, when he entered his palace, he requested that food be brought to him, and he ate. 21 His servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? While the child was still alive, you fasted and wept. Once the child was dead you got up and ate food!” 22 He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Perhaps the Lord will show pity and the child will live. 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back? I will go to him, but he cannot return to me!’” (2 Samuel 12:19-23, emphasis mine)
In the midst of a chapter that is filled with the obituaries of many of the descendants of Adam and Eve, we find this one exception regarding Enoch, which is clarified by the account of the miraculous entrance of Elijah into heaven:
Enoch walked with God, and then he disappeared because God took him away (Genesis 5:24).
11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. They went between Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm. 12 While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two (2 Kings 2:11-12).
It is the writer to the Hebrews who sums up the hope of resurrection that characterized not just those whom I have mentioned, but every Old Testament saint:
13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
In the midst of his earthly suffering, Job did not lose sight of his heavenly (resurrection) hope:
25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that [at] the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, 27 whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. My heart grows faint within me (Job 19:23-27).
David’s hope of resurrection has already been pointed out in 2 Samuel 12, but it is also clearly stated in Psalm 16:
8 I constantly trust in the Lord;
because he is at my right hand, I will not be upended.
9 So my heart rejoices and I am happy;
My life is safe.
10 You will not abandon me to Sheol;
you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit.
11 You lead me in the path of life;
I experience absolute joy in your presence;
you always give me sheer delight (Psalm 16:7-11).
In his sermon at Pentecost,3 Peter declared that these words were prophetic, speaking of the resurrection of the true “Son of David,” the Lord Jesus Christ. It was because of David’s hope of the resurrection of his son – the Messiah – that he had hope for his own resurrection. In this sense, David’s words referred to his own hope of resurrection, based upon his hope that his offspring, the Messiah, would be raised from the dead.
Asaph, another psalmist, also had resurrection hope:
21 When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
22 Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory (Psalm 73:21-24, NASB).
Likewise, I believe that we find resurrection hope in the Book of Proverbs as well:
The wicked are thrown down by their own sin,
but the righteous have a refuge when they die (Proverbs 14:32, CSB).
When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down,
but even in death the righteous have a refuge (Proverbs 14:32, NIV).
The path of life is upward for the wise person,
to keep him from going downward to Sheol (Proverbs 15:24).4
In Ezekiel 37, the prophet is given a vision of the dry bones of many who are dead being raised to life (37:1-10). Then God explains to Ezekiel just what this vision means:
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 14 I will place my breath in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord – I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord’” (Ezekiel 37:11-14).
The prophet Daniel was given insider information about events which were to come after his death. Included in these events was the resurrection of the dead, both the righteous and the wicked. The righteous would be raised to their reward, while the wicked would be raised to face their punishment. Daniel was told to persevere till the end of his life, assured that he would be resurrected to enjoy his eternal reward:
1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake – some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence. 3 But the wise will shine like the brightness of the heavenly expanse. And those bringing many to righteousness will be like the stars forever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, close up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will dash about, and knowledge will increase” (Daniel 12:1-4).
13 But you should go your way until the end. You will rest and then at the end of the days you will arise to receive what you have been allotted” (Daniel 12:1-3, 13).
Jonah’s experience in the belly of the great fish likewise foreshadowed the resurrection of Jesus:
38 Then some of the experts in the law along with some Pharisees answered him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights (Matthew 12:38-40).
From the outset of His public ministry to the very end Jesus spoke of His resurrection. This is not to say that the disciples grasped the meaning of what He spoke at the moment, for this understanding came later:5
18 So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken (John 2:18-22).
From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (Matthew 16:21).
22 When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed (Matthew 17:22-23).
30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31 Then Jesus said to them, “This night you will all fall away because of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you into Galilee” (Matthew 26:30-32).
31 Then Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; he will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on. 33 They will flog him severely and kill him. Yet on the third day he will rise again.” 34 But the twelve understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what Jesus meant (Luke 18:31-34).
4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire. 5 The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then the women remembered his words (Luke 24:4-8).
The dullness of the disciples regarding the necessity of our Lord’s death and resurrection is obvious, but let us take caution not to allow their blindness to the necessity of Messiah’s resurrection to diminish our appreciation for the prominence of the hope of resurrection in the Old Testament, and even in the Gospels. If the disciples had forgotten our Lord’s teaching about His resurrection in their moments of despair, the enemies of our Lord had not forgotten:
62 The next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “Take a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went with the soldiers of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone (Matthew 27:62-66).
After His resurrection, our Lord taught His disciples about the necessity of His death and resurrection as taught throughout the Scriptures:
21 But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Not only this, but it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Furthermore, some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back and said they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” 25 So he said to them, “You foolish people – how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures (Luke 24:21-27).
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:45-48).
Who can overlook the prominence of the resurrection in the Book of Acts? The apostles agree that Judas’ replacement must be a witness of the resurrection.6 Beginning with Peter’s sermon at Pentecost,7 the resurrection was a central theme in the preaching of the gospel:
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know – 23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power (Acts 2:22-24).
14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! (Acts 3:14-15)
1 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, 2 angry because they were teaching the people and announcing in Jesus the resurrection of the dead (Acts 4:1-2).
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed – 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:8-12).
27 “For the people who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, and they fulfilled the sayings of the prophets that are read every Sabbath by condemning him. 28 Though they found no basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 When they had accomplished everything that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we proclaim to you the good news about the promise to our ancestors, 33 that this promise God has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have fathered you.’ 34 But regarding the fact that he has raised Jesus from the dead, never again to be in a state of decay, God has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and trustworthy promises made to David.’ 35 Therefore he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.’ 36 For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay, 37 but the one whom God raised up did not experience decay. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you” (Acts 13:27-39).
30 “Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
In the New Testament Epistles, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a prominent part of the gospel which must be believed, and a central truth that cannot be denied.
1 From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. 2 This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh, 4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 1:1-4).
9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation (Romans 10:9-10).
3 For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 4 and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
12 Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty. 15 Also, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified against God that he raised Christ from the dead, when in reality he did not raise him, if indeed the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins. 18 Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).
18 – since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. 20 This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:18-23).
The resurrection of our Lord is not only an essential part of our Lord’s saving work, it is also crucial to the process of sanctification.
1 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 13 and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness (Romans 6:1-13).
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin (Romans 7:24-25).
Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:11).
It is safe to say that from the first book of the Bible (Genesis) to the last (Revelation), the resurrection of Christ (and thus of all men) is a central theme. The consequence of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit was death.8 Their only hope was through a Savior who would come through the seed of the woman.9 As we have seen, the hope of resurrection characterized every Old Testament saint.10 The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the self-imposed test of authenticity of our Lord and of His message.11 It became a central part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we come to the Book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus is portrayed as the risen Lord, and heaven is a return to a garden (of sorts), where we once again find the “tree of life:”
12 I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, and when I did so, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest. 14 His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 17 When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18 and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! (Revelation 1:12-18)
“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the one who is the first and the last, the one who was dead, but came to life (Revelation 2:8).
9 They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. 10 You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand – thousands times thousands – 12 all of whom were singing in a loud voice: “Worthy is the lamb who was killed to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise!” 13 Then I heard every creature – in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them – singing: “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures were saying “Amen,” and the elders threw themselves to the ground and worshiped (Revelation 5:9-14).
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him, 4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads (Revelation 22:1-4).
I am convinced that it is safe to say that the hope of resurrection is found from Genesis to Revelation. The Bible is filled with examples of resurrection hope.
As I indicated in the introduction to this message, my goal is not to seek to prove the fact of the resurrection (though I believe that is very clear in the Scriptures), but rather to show how the hope of resurrection changed men and women. Those painful hours between our Lord’s arrest and His resurrection were the lowest moments the disciples had ever experienced. Nearly everyone present at our Lord’s crucifixion insisted that He come down from His cross and break the shackles of Roman rule before they would regard Him as the true Messiah of Israel:
35 The people also stood there watching, but the rulers12 ridiculed him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the king of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:35-39, emphasis mine)
I believe that during those very dark days before our Lord’s resurrection the disciples concluded that they had chosen to follow the wrong Messiah. They must have felt as though they had wasted three years of their lives. They certainly had no hope; instead, they were in the very depths of despair. Their future seemed to be that of those who have appeared on “America’s Most Wanted” television program, because they had been our Lord’s closest followers. No wonder they locked themselves in a room and stayed in hiding until they were convinced that Jesus really was alive.13
In this state of mind, the disciples forgot that Jesus had told them beforehand about His rejection, death, burial, and resurrection in Jerusalem. Their despair was so great that they even refused to believe the report of the women regarding the Lord’s resurrection:
1 Now on the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood beside them in dazzling attire. 5 The women were terribly frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then the women remembered his words, 9 and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed like pure nonsense to them, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He bent down and saw only the strips of linen cloth; then he went home, wondering what had happened (Luke 24:1-12, emphasis mine).
The disciples’ response was in contrast to the unbelieving Jewish leaders who remember well the words of Jesus:
62 The next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “Take a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went with the soldiers of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone (Matthew 27:62-66).
Nothing short of our Lord’s resurrection and the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the church can explain the radical transformation of the disciples. The Peter who a few weeks earlier had said, “I do not know the man” (Matthew 74) can now stand before a Jewish crowd in Jerusalem and speak these words to them:
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know – 23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:22-24).
12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if we had made this man walk by our own power or piety? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate after he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! 16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ name, his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The faith that is through Jesus has given him this complete health in the presence of you all (Acts 3:12-16).
The disciples were now absolutely convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and that according to God’s predetermined plan, He had been rejected, crucified, buried, raised again from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father. All of the events which had formerly caused them to conclude that they had mistakenly embraced Jesus as the Messiah were now understood to be prophecies God had fulfilled through these events. Their sorrow was swallowed up in joy; their fear was replaced by boldness. Their despair was replaced by hope in God’s promises.
For the Christian who has trusted in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for their salvation, Easter is a time to celebrate the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We should celebrate His resurrection for many good reasons. Let me mention a few.
First of all, the resurrection is a validation of the person, work, and teaching of Jesus Christ.
1 From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God. 2 This gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with reference to the flesh, 4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 1:1-4).
Second, the resurrection of our Lord is proof that the Father was satisfied with the work of the Son at Calvary, and it is our assurance that God will sanctify us through the same Spirit who raised the dead body of Jesus to everlasting life.
4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life (Romans 6:4).
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin (Romans 7:24-25).
11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:11).
Thus, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus assures believers regarding the certainty of their salvation and their sanctification.
Third, the resurrection of our Lord is instrumental in giving the Christian the assurance of sins forgiven by cleansing their conscience:
21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you – not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who went into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subject to him (1 Peter 3:21-22).
Fourth, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus frees us forever from the fear of death, and thus its dominion over us:
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 58 So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:51-58).
20 My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain (Philippians 1:20-21).
10 My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11).
Fifth, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus assures us that we have a living hope, a hope that is securely kept for us in heaven:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).
The Resurrection and the Unbeliever14
If the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is one of the greatest blessings of all time for the Christian, it is just the opposite for the unbeliever. The resurrection of Jesus Christ should be a terrifying truth for every unbeliever. Let me give you some reasons why.
First, it proves that Jesus was God’s promised Messiah, and that everything He said about Himself, salvation, and eternal judgment is true. When pressed by unbelievers to prove He had authority to do and to teach as He did, Jesus made His ability to rise from the dead the final test of His ministry:
18 So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken (John 2:18-22).
38 Then some of the experts in the law along with some Pharisees answered him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:38-40).15
Second, the resurrection of Jesus as proven in part by the empty tomb is a truth to which the Holy Spirit bears witness in the heart of the unbeliever. The unbeliever has the daunting task of silencing the witness of the Holy Spirit to the resurrection of Jesus and its implications.
7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment – 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned (John 16:7-11, emphasis mine).
Third, some of Jesus’ most zealous opponents were taken aback by the possibility that Jesus may have been raised from the dead. I am speaking in particular of the Pharisees, who (as opposed to the Sadducees) believed in the resurrection of the dead.16 After the resurrection of Jesus, a number of the Pharisees began to back off in their opposition to the preaching of the apostles, while the Sadducees took up the fight:
33 Now when they heard this, they became furious and wanted to execute them. 34 But a Pharisee whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time. 35 Then he said to the council, “Men of Israel, pay close attention to what you are about to do to these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. 37 After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, and incited people to follow him in revolt. He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing, 39 but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God.” He convinced them, 40 and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them (Acts 5:33-40, emphasis mine).
6 Then when Paul noticed that part of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, he shouted out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead!” 7 When he said this, an argument began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) 9 There was a great commotion, and some experts in the law from the party of the Pharisees stood up and protested strongly, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 When the argument became so great the commanding officer feared that they would tear Paul to pieces, he ordered the detachment to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks (Acts 23:6-10, emphasis mine).
Gamaliel believed (at least hypothetically) in the resurrection of the dead. His argument was a simple one. In the past, movements died along with the death of their leaders. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then His movement would die with Him. If, however, Jesus did rise from the dead as His followers claimed (and as the miracles performed by them indicated), then to oppose the apostles and their preaching was to oppose God Himself. Gamaliel and other Pharisees were at least willing to grant that the Bible taught that the dead would rise. They were also willing to at least consider the possibility that Jesus rose from the dead. If they had to re-think their opposition to Jesus and His followers, surely men today should not set aside the claims of our Lord too quickly, without even considering them.
Fourth, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead means not only that the righteous dead will be raised to inherit their rewards, it also means that the wicked will be raised to suffer eternal punishment. This is the consistent teaching of the entire Bible:
1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake – some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence” (Daniel 12:1-2).
28 “Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and will come out – the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation” (John 5:28-29).
30 “Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, having provided proof to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
6 For it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed – and you did in fact believe our testimony (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him (Hebrews 9:27-28). 17
The resurrection of Jesus from the dead means that everyone who dies will be raised from the dead; the believers in Jesus to their eternal rest, and unbelievers to their eternal torment. Those who believe that they cease to exist when they die have believed Satan’s lie. There is no more terrifying thought for the unbeliever than the teaching of the Bible that just as Jesus rose from the dead, they will be raised as well to endure His eternal wrath.
If you are uncertain about your relationship to Jesus Christ and your eternal destiny, my friend, I urge you to study God’s Word, and to consider the resurrection of Jesus, and its implications for you. It is either a blessed hope or a dreaded reality, depending on your relationship to the One who died and rose again. Here is the good news:
6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:6-11).
Let me tell you how my thinking this way came about. I was pondering the Christian’s resurrection hope and its effects on the Christian, and that brought me to this text in 1 Peter 3:
4 But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. But do not be terrified of them or be shaken. 15 But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess (1 Peter 3:14-15, emphasis mine).
The Christian whose life is characterized by the hope of the gospel – resurrection hope – is the one who will stand out in those dark days when others have no hope. This will prompt some to ask the Christian how they can be so hopeful. This opens the door for us to share our faith with those who lack hope, and to point them to the true hope of the gospel.
Sadly, however, many Christians today don’t seem very hopeful. Political and economic conditions in the world and in our nation are far from encouraging. Christian faith now seems to be in the crosshairs of those in authority, so that prayer, Bible reading, and witnessing are discouraged, if not prohibited in public. Christians who were so hopeful when conservative politicians were elected not so long ago (some of whom professed to be born again) are now gloomy, or just plain mad. Too few are hopeful and optimistic, assured that God is still in control, and that He is bringing about His plans and purposes. Christians today need a very large dose of resurrection hope, and I suspect that setting aside but one day a year to ponder the resurrection is not enough. That is why we observe the Lord’s Table every week.
Thinking of the gloom that characterizes some saints caused me to reflect on Psalm 73, a psalm penned by Asaph. In the first half of the psalm, Asaph is confessing his sinful attitudes toward himself (self righteous), toward the wicked, toward the people of God, and even (especially?) toward God. Asaph wrongly assumed that the promises of God’s blessings were to be fulfilled in this life. (Obviously, he was not thinking like an Old Testament saint, as we see described in Hebrews 11:13-16.) He was distressed because he concluded that the wicked were seemingly experiencing a trouble-free life of prosperity and ease, while he (righteous as he considered himself to be) was suffering for being such a saint. He was so distressed that he considered throwing in the towel (giving up the pursuit of holiness) and joining in with the wicked and their pursuit of pleasure:
10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,
and even suck up the water of the sea [And waters of abundance are drunk by them, NASB95).
11 They say, “How does God know what we do?
Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?”
12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like,
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer.
13 I concluded, “Surely in vain I have kept my motives pure
and maintained a pure lifestyle.
14 I suffer all day long,
and am punished every morning” (Psalm 73:10-14).
Then the author experiences a sudden change in his thinking and attitude:
When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.
21 When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within,
22 Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works (Psalm 73:16-28, NASB95; emphasis mine).
I have taught this text several times before, and my basic understanding of this psalm has not changed. But this time, I am approaching the psalm from the perspective of depression and resurrection hope. I believe that Asaph was depressed. His depression caused him to blame God, to envy the wicked, and to contemplate committing sin. He did not need a dose of some wonder drug; what he needed was a different perspective. The perspective he lacked was that of the hope of resurrection.
Asaph was looking at life only from the perspective of this life and its pleasures, and not from the perspective of heaven and its eternal blessings. In this life, the wicked often prosper, perhaps even shaking their fists at God as they do. In this life, the righteous often suffer. But what enables us to persevere (and to do so while praising God) is our resurrection hope. It is the hope of Hebrews 11:13-16 – the hope that the believers’ rewards come not in this life but in the next – that Asaph had lost, but now has regained. It is this resurrection hope that assures Christians of their resurrection and eternal blessings in God’s presence.
Looking at this life from the perspective of his resurrection hope, Asaph now sees life in an entirely different way. The wicked still prosper, but now their prosperity is seen as short-lived. They may enjoy earthly blessings for a while, but they will suffer God’s wrath for all eternity. Their arrogant rebellion against God will not be overlooked.
Asaph also views his life differently in the light of his resurrection hope. In his darkest days, God is near to him. God has not forsaken him at all, and His presence is better than all the material benefits the wicked may enjoy for a moment. But beyond death lies resurrection and an eternity to spend in fellowship with God. Asaph now sees his bitterness and envy as beastly. He praises God for his blessings, well aware of what awaits the wicked.
It is the last words of Psalm 73 that came to mind in the light of 1 Peter 3:15:
28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works (Psalm 73:16-28, emphasis mine)
In the midst of Asaph’s tears of envy and bitterness, his thoughts and actions would have led others astray (73:15). But now he is filled with gratitude, joy, and worship. Now Asaph is filled with hope – resurrection hope. And filled with this hope, he is eager to share it with others, telling them of all God’s works. Now he is able to do as Peter instructs Christians who live in difficult times. He is filled with hope and is eager to share that hope with others.
My friends, I believe that many Christians today are depressed because they are focused upon the prosperity and success of the wicked, and because they have forgotten the hope which they have in Jesus – resurrection hope. We need not be depressed. This world is in rebellion against God, as it has always been. And yet God is sovereign, and He is bringing this world to His preordained plan for it. Let us look at life through the lens of resurrection hope, and thus be like Asaph at the end of his psalm. Let us realize that while the wicked may prosper for a time, we have God’s Spirit dwelling in us, and we will enjoy God’s promised blessings for all eternity as we dwell in His presence. Let that reality, that hope, transform our depression into delight. And let us proclaim our hope to a hopeless world, to the glory of our matchless God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
And as a result, we have resurrection hope!
1 Copyright © 2010 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 3 in the series Hope and Change God’s Way, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on April 4, 2010. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
2 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
3 Acts 2:25-36.
4 The more I’ve thought about this, the more texts in Psalms and Proverbs appear to be speaking of eternal life (or eternal judgment) after death. Consider these texts, for example: Psalm 1, 91; Proverbs 3:18, 22; 4:18-19; 5:22-23; 8:35-36; 9:10-18; 11:19, 30; 12:28; 13:12, 14; 14:27, 32; 15:24; 19:23.
5 See John 14:25-26; 16:12-15.
6 Acts 1:22.
7 Acts 2:14ff.
8 Genesis 2:16-17; 3:19, 22-24; 4:8; 5:1ff.
9 Genesis 3:15.
10 Hebrews 11:13-16.
11 See John 2:18-22; Matthew 12:38-40.
12 This translation (like most) leaves the reader with the impression that the crowds are standing by, looking on, but with no expressed opinion. In contrast (thus the “but”), the rulers are challenging Jesus to prove He is the Messiah by coming down from His cross. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB) renders it the way I am inclined to read it: “The people stood watching, and even the leaders kept scoffing: ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is God's Messiah, the Chosen One!’” In other words, almost everyone dared Jesus to come down from His cross to prove that He was the Messiah.
13 See John 20:19, 26; see also Acts 12:12-16.
14 By the term “unbeliever,” I am referring to those who have never abandoned all hope of attaining salvation by their own good works, and who have never placed their trust completely in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus on their behalf, thus eternally securing their salvation by His work in their place.
15 I cite John 2:18-22 first because Jesus made this claim at the outset of His earthly ministry. The statement of Matthew 12:38-40 comes later in His ministry.
16 See Acts 23:8.
17 See also Luke 16:19-31; Romans 2:9-11; 2 Peter 2:4-9; Revelation 20:1-15; 22:12-15.
I’m in the process of reading Randy Alcorn’s fascinating book entitled Heaven.2 At the outset of the book, Alcorn notes how little emphasis the subject of heaven is given in well known books on systematic theology.3 The statistics I am citing here are Alcorn’s conclusions, based upon his categories and counting.4 In Reinhold Niebuhr’s two-volume work, The Nature and Destiny of Man, Alcorn found that Niebuhr had virtually nothing to say about heaven. In William Shedd’s three-volume, Dogmatic Theology, the topic of eternal punishment is given 87 pages, while heaven is given but 2 pages. The 900-page work of Martyn Lloyd-Jones entitled Great Doctrines of the Bible devotes but 2 pages to the eternal state and the new earth. Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology, a 737-page work, has 2 pages on hell, and 1 on heaven.5
I believe there are a number of reasons why heaven gets so little attention. One reason would be the measure of peace and prosperity we experience as a nation. I would venture to suggest that Christians living in dire poverty are much more likely to long for heaven, and thus are more motivated to study the Scriptures to see what heaven will be like. Those living in countries where Christians are persecuted will be much more likely to be interested in heaven.6 Those who are experiencing too much pleasure on earth are inclined to believe that heaven can wait.
Closely related to this first reason for our apathy regarding heaven is the sad reality that for all too many, government has taken the place of God. Consider God’s words to the Israelites as they approach the Promised Land:
10 For the land where you are headed is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand like a vegetable garden. 11 Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, 12 a land the Lord your God looks after. He is constantly attentive to it from the beginning to the end of the year. 13 Now, if you pay close attention to my commandments that I am giving you today and love the Lord your God and serve him with all your mind and being, 14 then he promises, “I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 I will provide pasture for your livestock and you will eat your fill.” (Deuteronomy 11:10-15).
There is a vast difference between farming by irrigation and “dry farming,” where the only water comes in the form of rain. In Egypt, success in farming was relatively certain because the Nile River supplied ample water for irrigation. In Canaan, God’s people would have to depend upon God, not only for rain, but also for fertility related to children and cattle, and for protection from their enemies who surrounded them (Philistines, Syrians, Ammonites, Amorites, etc.). The Israelites were assured that God would provide for all these needs as long as they remained faithful to Him. God warned His people not to look to anyone else (especially heathen deities) to provide for their needs.
Think about the world in which we (Americans) live. People look to government for providing employment (and paying us when we can’t find it). We look to our government to provide us with food, good health care, guaranteed savings accounts, and protection from our enemies, whether foreign or domestic. I am not suggesting that all of these provisions are bad (though some may be questioned); rather, I am asking whether we have come to trust in government to provide us with those things God has promised. Is our trust in God or in our government? The more government provides, the more we depend upon it, perhaps rather than God.
A third reason why we often ignore the teaching of the Bible on heaven is satanic deception and distraction.7 Think about it for a moment. Satan was expelled from his “paradise” as we read in Ezekiel 28:11-19. When Satan approached Eve, he deceived her, not only regarding the goodness of God, but also regarding the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit in the garden. What makes us think that Satan will not seek to deceive men today regarding heaven (and hell)? If he is barred from heaven, and hell was created for him and his angels (Matthew 25:41), what makes us think he wouldn’t oppose anyone entering into the eternal blessings of heaven? Satan is the great deceiver,8 and so we can expect him to deceive men and women regarding the joys of heaven.
A fourth reason for avoiding any thought of heaven is unbelief. I don’t mean that people avoid thinking about heaven because they don’t believe that heaven exists (though there are surely some who would fall into this category); I mean that people avoid thinking about heaven because they don’t believe in Jesus. It is He whose death removed the fear of death for all who trust in Him:
14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).9
When one thinks about heaven, he has moved from this world to the next, from time to eternity. The unbeliever does not wish to entertain any thoughts of heaven because hell is its counterpart. And lest one suppose that they can put such thoughts out of their mind, we must remember that God’s Spirit has been sent to witness to the truths of sin, righteousness, and judgment:
7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment – 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned” (John 16:7-11).
A fifth reason why some think too little of heaven is because it seems too far off, both spatially and in terms of time. Our Lord Himself warned believers about thinking that His return was far off:
41 Then Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” 42 The Lord replied, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his household servants, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds at work when he returns. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But if that slave should say to himself, ‘My master is delayed in returning,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat, drink, and get drunk, 46 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 47 That servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know his master’s will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked” (Luke 12:41-48, emphasis mine).
This text in 2 Peter is referring to false teachers who seek to assure others that there will be no day of judgment, but it also applies to those who would suppose that heaven is something in the distant future because so much time has passed since it was promised by our Lord and His apostles:
3 Above all, understand this: In the last days blatant scoffers will come, being propelled by their own evil urges 4 and saying, “Where is his promised return? For ever since our ancestors died, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water. 6 Through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. 11 Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must we be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze! 13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness truly resides (2 Peter 3:3-13, emphasis mine).
As Peter reminds us, God has delayed the outpouring of His righteous wrath on wicked sinners (and thus, too, the pouring out of the blessings of heaven on believers) because of His mercy. The delay of His second coming is the result of God’s kindness and is not an indication of divine apathy or neglect. He desires the salvation of lost sinners, and so He has delayed His return so that more might be drawn to Him in faith, thereby escaping His eternal wrath. That means that believers must also wait for the blessings of heaven, but as Peter boldly claims, Christ is coming, both to punish sinners and to reward the faithful.10
Having considered several reasons why heaven is a neglected topic, let us now remind ourselves of some of the reasons why it is a worthy subject for us to consider. First of all, heaven is a very large element in the believer’s hope. This is true for Old Testament saints as well as for New Testament Christians:
13 These [Old Testament saints] all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. 7 Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away – and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:3-8).
Second, we are commanded to set our minds on heaven:
1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).
13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:13).
It is noteworthy that the first three chapters of Ephesians lay the doctrinal foundation for the exhortations of chapters 4—6. Heaven (or the heavenly places) are a significant part of that foundation. In chapter 1 we read:
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ (Ephesians 1:3, emphasis mine).
Then in chapter 3 Paul writes:
8 To me – less than the least of all the saints – this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan – a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:8-11, emphasis mine).
Heaven is not only something we should be thinking about, it is where our heart should be, and that comes about as we lay up treasure in heaven. This begins with money, but that isn’t all:
19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21, emphasis mine).
“And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes” (Luke 16:9, emphasis mine).
19 For who is our hope or joy or crown to boast of before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not of course you? 20 For you are our glory and joy! (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20)
Third, Paul prayed that believers would be empowered to more fully grasp the benefits and blessings of heaven:
15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, 18 – since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. 20 This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:15-23, emphasis mine).
Fourth, all of us are going to die,11 and it is our choice in this life which determines whether we will spend eternity in heaven or hell.
27 And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation (Hebrews 9:27-28).
But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God’s children (John 1:12).
14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God (John 3:14-18).
The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him (John 3:36).
1 “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going away to make ready a place for you. 3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too (John 14:1-3).
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life (1 John 5:11-12; see also 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12).
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, it is apparent that the eternal destiny (hell) of the rich man was irreversible once he died. There is no second chance for those who reject salvation in Jesus in life:
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will destroy by the breath of his mouth and wipe out by the manifestation of his arrival. 9 The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders, 10 and with every kind of evil deception directed against those who are perishing, because they found no place in their hearts for the truth so as to be saved. 11 Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. 12 And so all of them who have not believed the truth but have delighted in evil will be condemned (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12, emphasis mine).
Fifth, much of what people think about heaven is either greatly distorted or just plain wrong. I have a CD album by one of my favorite Christian vocal groups. I love their music, but I cringe every time I hear some of the lyrics and statements made about heaven on the CD. There is too little Scripture and far too much conjecture that goes something like this: “This is what heaven means to me.” People tend to think of heaven in terms of what they find pleasurable now on earth – present pleasures on steroids. Often people talk about heaven more in terms of being with their departed friends and loved ones than of being in the presence of the living God. We have a great deal of work before us if we are to think biblically about heaven.
One occasion where one can find glaring errors regarding heaven is what is said at funerals. Funerals are a time when one is likely to hear something about heaven, and yet what is said of heaven is often tragically wrong. Heaven is usually spoken of in such glowing terms that we feel better letting our friend or loved one go. No problem with that if the departed was a true believer in Jesus Christ. The problem is that the departed – not to mention many in the audience of mourners, and even the preacher – may not have known Jesus Christ as Savior. The impression many preachers leave with their audience is that heaven is that wonderful place to which all good people go, without making it clear that no one is good enough for heaven other than Jesus. Put differently, all are assured of the joys of heaven, but are not warned of the horrors of hell, even though the one who has died (believer or not) would want those left behind to warn their friends and loved ones of what lies ahead:
25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father – send Lazarus to my father’s house 28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment’” (Luke 16:25-28, emphasis mine).
So, having spoken briefly about why many avoid or ignore the subject of heaven, and having given several reasons why we should focus our attention on heaven, let me briefly outline my approach in this and the next three lessons. The general subject is that of hope: “Hope and Change, God’s Way.” But now we are getting a bit more specific, giving particular attention to the believer’s hope of heaven. It is my intention to deal with the hope of heaven by following the progressive revelation of God’s Word, starting with the first prototype of heaven in the Garden of Eden, and ending with the restored Garden of Eden as we find it in the final chapters of the Book of Revelation. This will necessitate four lessons on heaven (unless, of course, I decide to expand on something else):
Paradise Lost (Ezekiel 28; Genesis 1—3
A Taste of Heaven (Heaven foreshadowed in the tabernacle and the temple)
Heaven Came Down (The Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospels)
The Heaven to Come (Heaven in the Epistles)
So, with this said, let’s press on to consider how the Garden of Eden served as a prototype of heaven.
We need to observe that there are really two creation accounts to be found in Genesis 1 and 2. The first account is found in Genesis 1:1—2:3. The overall account takes us from chaos (formless and empty) to cosmos (order). God accomplishes this with a mere word: God speaks it into existence: “Then God said … and it was so” (see Genesis 1:3, 6-7, 9). God changes chaos into cosmos by separating things: light from darkness (1:4); day and night (1:17-18) and so on. God always pronounced the end result as “good.”
The process of creation is approached quite differently in the second creation account in Genesis 2:4-25. Creation is not approached in terms of making order out of chaos, but functionally, as God seeing a need and creating something (or someone) to meet this need. The account begins with some things that are missing. In this account there is:
1. No shrub or plant (2:5)
2. No rain (2:5)
3. No man to cultivate the garden (2:5)
4. No companion and counterpart for Adam (2:18)
Here the progress is not from disorder to order, which is pronounced “good” (as in chapter 1), but rather progress from that which is “not good” because of something lacking, to that which is “good” once the need is met by God’s creative act. This is most clearly evident in the creation of Eve:
18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.” 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man’s side and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become a new family. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed (Genesis 2:18-25, emphasis mine).
In this instance, it is God who pronounces the lack of a counterpart for Adam to be “not good.” He then proceeds to underscore this deficiency by bringing all the animals to Adam so that he can name them. It didn’t take a PhD in Zoology to recognize that each male animal had a corresponding female mate. Adam must have begun to look about, wondering where his counterpart might be. It is then that God created Eve, not out of the dust of the earth, but from Adam’s own flesh. Adam’s response is quite clear: he recognizes that this woman is his counterpart, and he likes what he sees! In their unfallen state, they were both naked, but neither felt any shame, before each other or before God.
It is amazing to consider the fall of man as recorded in Genesis 3 in the light of the backdrop which we are given in the two creation accounts in chapters 1 and 2. God created the entire universe by merely speaking it into existence. He created by merely speaking a word. And everything that He created was good. Now Satan has the audacity to question God’s Word: “Has God said?” “You surely shall not die (as God said).” Satan not only dares to pronounce the Garden “not good”; he even goes so far as to declare God “not good” for withholding something “good” (the knowledge of good and evil) from them. Thus, to achieve what is “good” (by Satan’s assessment), Adam and Eve must doubt God’s goodness, disregard the perfection of His creation, and disobey His command. The end result was painful for Adam and Eve, for after they sinned, they realized that God had spoken the truth, that Satan’s plan was evil, and that in obeying him they had forfeited the bliss of “heaven” in the Garden of Eden.
We know from Revelation 22 that the new heaven and earth is described as a restored Garden of Eden:
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1-2).
So just what was it about the Garden of Eden that made it “heavenly”? Consider the following characteristics of Eden.
1. Eden was a designated place of blessing within God’s creation. This was where God provided all that Adam and Eve needed: their source of eternal life, their food, their work, and their place of fellowship with God. Revelation 22 indicates that the same will be true of the new “Paradise.”
2. Eden was where God placed the people He created for worship, fellowship, and blessing, where they (Adam and Eve at first) would worship God and work together in serving Him.
3. Eden was not a “retirement center,” equipped with hammocks and golf courses; Eden was a place where Adam and Eve were privileged to work, and where their work was a pleasure. Man was created to cultivate and keep the garden and to rule over God’s creation, thereby reflecting God as those created in His image.
4. Heaven was a table, so to speak, filled with a great variety of delicious and beautiful food. (Note that this did not include meat at this point in time – see Genesis 1:29-30; meat would be permissible after the flood – see Genesis 9:3-5). Often heaven will be described in “banquet” terms. See Psalm 23:5; Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 22:1-14; 25:10; Luke 22:14-16.
5. Eden was a place of beauty, where everything was pleasurable to the eye (Genesis 2:9), including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and its forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6).
6. Eden was a place of many offerings of good things and the freedom to choose the good things God had made available. It was a veritable cafeteria of good things from which to choose (see Genesis 2:16).
7. Eden was a place of wondrous harmony with the animal world. There was no meat eating, whether that be of man eating beast, or of beast eating man. Only green foods were permitted (Genesis 1:29-30), so man and beast were not in an adversarial relationship. It would seem that communication between man and creature was possible. At least the harmony between man and creature was such that Eve was not taken aback by her communication with the serpent.
8. Eden was a place of blissful innocence (Genesis 2:25). Until the fall, there was no sin, no guilt, no pain or suffering, and no sorrow.
9. Eden was a place of learning. This may be a more speculative point, but I am inclined to think this was the situation in Eden. There was a tree whose fruit was the “knowledge of good and evil.” Knowing good and evil was to become, in some measure, like God (Genesis 3:5, but more importantly Genesis 3:22). Why was it wrong to come to know good and evil, and thus to become more like God? My opinion is that God intended to reveal knowledge to Adam and Eve as He fellowshipped with them, in those evening walks (see Genesis 3:8). How much better to learn from God while enjoying fellowship with Him. In this way, they would be something like the two men on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24:32).13
I know there are those who believe that we will immediately know all things the moment we get to heaven. There are texts which could be understood to teach this (see 1 Corinthians 13:12). I do not have certainty that when we get to heaven we will, like God, be omniscient (or omnipotent, or omnipresent). I tend to think of heaven as the place where every day (oops, no time in heaven) we will learn more and more about God, and the more we learn, the better it gets, for eternity.
I am reminded of how Solomon’s great God-given wisdom enabled him to understand God’s creation:
29 God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment; the breadth of his understanding was as infinite as the sand on the seashore. 30 Solomon was wiser than all the men of the east and all the sages of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than any man, including Ethan the Ezrahite or Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol. He was famous in all the neighboring nations. 32 He composed 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. 33 He produced manuals on botany, describing every kind of plant, from the cedars of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows on walls. He also produced manuals on biology, describing animals, birds, insects, and fish. 34 People from all nations came to hear Solomon’s display of wisdom; they came from all the kings of the earth who heard about his wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34).
Can you imagine what a joy and a privilege it was for Solomon to study God’s creation and see the wisdom of His work? I believe this is just a sample of what believers will do in heaven, as we spend all eternity reviewing history and nature, and seeing God’s hand in it all.
1. Paradise (Eden) was a place of perfection. Contrary to Satan’s claims, there was absolutely nothing about Eden that needed improving. In short, it was good.
2. Eden was a place of eternal life. Granted, Adam and Eve would have had to have eaten of the tree of life (rather than of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) to enjoy eternal life (see Genesis 3:22-24), but it was there for them to eat of and to enjoy eternal life.
3. Eden was a gift of God’s grace. God created Adam and Eve, and He placed them in the garden. Eden and its blessings were God’s work and God’s grace. Adam and Eve did nothing to earn them. Indeed, it was their works that banned them from the garden. Eden was a place of blessing by the grace of God.
4. Best of all, Eden was the place where Adam and Eve could enjoy intimate fellowship with God forever.
When one considers the consequences of the fall, we see the blessings of Eden reversed. Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden and prevented from entering it again. Eternal life was no longer available to them in the garden; instead, death was their fate. Work, which had once been a pleasure, was now painful labor (including the “labor” pains of birth for Eve). The food they ate now had to be obtained by the sweat of their brow, and there was not the abundance or variety they had known in Eden. The harmony with creation vaporized. Now it was not only man vs. beast (see Genesis 3:15), but man vs. man, as can be seen in the murder of Abel by Cain (Genesis 4). Innocence was replaced with guilt and shame. Now, all creation must suffer and groan along with Adam and Eve and their descendants (see Romans 8:18-25). Fellowship with God was lost, and now man was separated from a holy God. If Eden was a taste of heaven, life after the fall was a taste of hell.
11 The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, sing a lament for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘You were the sealer of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and emerald, the chrysolite, onyx, and jasper, the sapphire, turquoise, and beryl; your settings and mounts were made of gold. On the day you were created they were prepared. 14 I placed you there with an anointed guardian cherub; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked about amidst fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your behavior from the day you were created, until sin was discovered in you. 16 In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I defiled you and banished you from the mountain of God – the guardian cherub expelled you from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom on account of your splendor. I threw you down to the ground; I placed you before kings, that they might see you” (Ezekiel 28:11-17, emphasis mine).
I wish I could say that I understood this passage as well as I should, but I can’t. I think it is noteworthy to observe the correspondences between the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and that of Satan in his “Garden of Eden.” I should begin by saying that this text (much like what we find in Isaiah 14) is speaking prophetically of the downfall of a powerful earthly king. In Isaiah, it is the king of Babylon,14 while in Ezekiel 28, it is the king of Tyre.15 And yet in the course of the lamentation over the fall of these earthly kings, Satan becomes the focus. What is said cannot be true of the king, but only of Satan.
I think I understand why this happens in both Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. These are very powerful kings, but they are wicked, cruel, and arrogant. Their great power has gone to their heads, and they now begin to think of themselves as gods. That is precisely what happened with Satan. He was created with great beauty, wisdom, and power, and yet He wanted more. God had given him authority over much, but he wanted to be regarded as equal with God. And thus, for his sins, he was cast down and banned (to some degree) from his previous splendor.
As the prophets focus on these earthly kings, they see in them another force, another person at work in them – Satan. Thus, he can describe these men with the same words used to describe Satan. And he can likewise prophesy their downfall with the same words that describe Satan’s fall. When we look at Satan’s efforts to tempt our Lord in Matthew 4 and Luke 4, we can understand the relationship between Satan’s fall and his efforts to bring about the downfall of others.
Now, back to the Garden of Eden and the similarities we find between Satan’s fall and the fall of Adam and Eve as it is described in Genesis 3. Note the following points of correspondence:
1. Satan, like Adam and Eve, was a created being.
2. Satan, like Adam and Eve, was placed in the Garden of Eden.
3. Satan, like Adam and Eve, was given authority over much.
4. Satan, like Adam and Eve, was not content with what God had given.
5. Satan, like Adam and Eve, wanted to be “like God.”
6. Satan, like Adam and Eve, rebelled against God.
7. Satan, like Adam and Eve, was cast out of the garden.
I believe it is worthwhile to note that Satan wanted Adam and Eve (and later on, our Lord) to follow in his steps, to rebel against God, and then to be banished from God’s presence. Hell was not created for man, but for Satan and his angels:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!’” (Matthew 25:41)
Satan’s desire is to deceive and tempt men, so that they will suffer along with him.
So, we have seen the heavenly characteristics of the Garden of Eden. It is little wonder that the final chapter of the Book of Revelation describes the new heaven and the new earth in terms reminiscent of the Garden of Eden:
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:1-2, emphasis mine).
While additional detail will be given in the progress of revelation in the Bible, the Garden of Eden describes the essentials of what heaven will be like.
In the Genesis account (and also the account of Satan’s fall in Ezekiel 28), we read not only of the glories both Satan and Adam and Eve once enjoyed, we also read of the consequences of their choice to disobey God. Seldom in the Bible do we read of the glories of heaven without also being warned of the horrors of hell. Those who reject God’s provision of salvation in Jesus Christ – including the enjoyment of heaven for all eternity – must, of necessity, be condemned to hell. There is no middle ground. The gospel should not only include the offer of the forgiveness of sins and the enjoyment of heaven; it should also include a warning about the danger of experiencing God’s eternal wrath (aka hell) if one rejects the gospel.
12 (“Look! I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to pay each one according to what he has done! 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end!) 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood!” (Revelation 22:12-15)
As I have already indicated, funerals are a time when not only the joys of heaven are presented (and offered to those in the audience as the result of trusting in Jesus); lost men and women need to be warned about what lies ahead for those who reject God’s offer of salvation, and who seek to gain God’s favor by their own efforts. There will be no one in heaven singing, “I Did It My Way.” They will be singing instead, “Jesus Paid it all …” and “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow.”
There are those who seek to blot out their fear of eternal punishment by believing in annihilation – the belief that when a person dies, he or she is gone forever. The Bible teaches us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead means that all the dead will be raised to live forever – some in eternal bliss (heaven), and the rest in eternal torment (hell):
1 “At that time Michael, the great prince who watches over your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time. But at that time your own people, all those whose names are found written in the book, will escape. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dusty ground will awake – some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence” (Daniel 12:1-2).
11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened – the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
Where you spend eternity is determined by a choice that you make in this life. And the choice you must make is this: whether you will trust in your own good works, or whether you will trust in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, dying for your sins. If you have never acknowledged your sins and trusted in Jesus, you are, by default, an unbeliever headed for hell:
16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God (John 3:16-18).
1 And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest… (Ephesians 2:1-3).
It is only those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus for salvation who can joyfully read on in Ephesians 2:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! – 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:1-9).
I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “Everyone talking about heaven isn’t going there.” As Satan made Adam and Eve feel secure in their disobedience to God (“You surely shall not die.”), so he seeks to deceive men about the certainly of hell for all who reject Jesus. Are you going to be there?
1 Copyright © 2010 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 4 in the series Hope and Change, God’s Way, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on April 18, 2010. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
2 Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2004).
3 Randy Alcorn, Heaven, pp. 8-9.
4 Thus, some might differ with Alcorn’s statistics.
5 I would hasten to add that Alcorn’s categories may be a factor here. He seems to emphasize the distinction between the eternal state (with the new heaven and earth) and the intermediate state of the believer after death. Nevertheless, one has to conclude that some scholars spend less time than one might expect in dealing with heaven.
6 Consider, for example, our Lord’s words to those suffering persecution in Matthew 5:10-12.
7 See Alcorn, Heaven, pp. 10-11.
8 See Revelation 19:9; 20:1-3, 7-10.
9 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
10 2 Peter 3:11-13; see also 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10.
11 Except, of course, those who are alive and in Christ at the time of His return (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
12 It was not until after I delivered this message that I encountered this quote by G.K. Beale: “The cumulative effect of the preceding parallels between the Garden of Genesis 2 and Israel’s tabernacle and temple indicates that Eden was the first archetypal temple, upon which all of Israel’s temples were based. Some of the similarities drawn may not be as strong as others, but when all are viewed together they have a significant collective effect, pointing to Eden as the first temple in garden-like form.” G. K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2004), pp. 79-80. Beale makes it clear in this work that the Garden of Eden, and then the tabernacle and temples of Israel were all prototypes of heaven.
14 Isaiah 14:4.
15 Ezekiel 28:12.
One way I think of the "chapters" in my life is by the kinds of cars I have owned. There was, for example, the Rambler dispensation - I think I can recall owning three Ramblers (all station wagons). This was followed by the Pinto era (the first one was bright orange until the accident, after which it was red; the second was yellow - both were wagons). Then came the Volkswagens (many of them, mostly Rabbits, with a few Jettas thrown in). Our attic was full of VW parts. There were actually times when my Volkswagen mechanic friends would call me for parts. Finally came the Toyota age (at last!). But allow me to reminisce for a moment about the Ford Pinto era. I can remember hearing "Click and Clack" (those brothers who talk about cars on the radio) on a broadcast in which they were responding to questions written in by the radio audience. One question went like this: "I know there are owners groups for cars like Mercedes Benz and Porsche; is there an owners group for Pintos?" This got a great laugh from Click and Clack, followed by this response: "Pinto owners don't have owners groups; they have support groups."
Now those Ford Pintos were no status ride, and there was that problem some models had with their exploding gas tanks. . . . But for our family, they did the job. When we think back to the days when Israel worshipped God by means of the tabernacle, and later on the temple, we may be tempted to think of them as we now think of the Ford Pinto - some part of bygone days that we are glad to be rid of.
Just as the writer to the Hebrews indicates, it is true that we now have something better. But it would be wrong for us to think of the tabernacle and the temple(s)1 as a subject unworthy of our attention. If we are going to benefit from the Old Testament (and we surely should), we need to think of the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the Law of Moses as the ancient Israelites did:
7 "In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this whole law that I am about to share with you today?" (Deuteronomy 4:7-8)2
I believe that in this message we will not only see that the tabernacle and the temple were prototypes of heaven, but we will also see that these provided a means whereby a Holy God could dwell in the midst of a sinful people.
The topic of this series is "Hope and Change, God's Way." Our current focus is on the Christian's hope of heaven. We are considering the hope of heaven in a way that is consistent with the progressive revelation found in the Bible, beginning in Genesis and ending with Revelation. Thus, our last lesson was about "Paradise Lost," a consideration of the Garden of Eden as the first prototype of heaven in the Bible. This lesson will seek to demonstrate how the tabernacle and the temples of Israel foreshadowed heaven. Our next lesson will be titled, "Heaven Came Down," and it will explore the way in which our Lord "tabernacled"3 among men at His incarnation. We will then try to come to terms with heaven as it is described by Paul and the other apostles of our Lord in the New Testament Epistles. For the moment, let us consider what we can learn about heaven from the tabernacle and the temple.
From the moment Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, the problem has been that a holy God cannot dwell in the midst of a sinful people. Before Moses and the giving of the law, interaction with God was achieved by the offering of a sacrifice. The blood of animals was shed so that God could make garments to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve.4 But when Israel became a nation, there needed to be some kind of institutional provision for God to dwell among His people. The magnitude of the problem (of God's holiness and Israel's sinfulness) can be seen in Exodus 32-35, so let's take a few moments to ponder this critical portion of God's Word.
Moses has been at the top of Mount Sinai for many days, communing with God and obtaining the covenant God was making with the nation Israel. The people concluded that Moses had been out of sight for too long, and so they persuaded Aaron to create an image of God that they could see and worship, and who would go before them as they made their way to the Promised Land. Aaron had the people contribute some of their gold jewelry, perhaps some of the jewelry they obtained from the Egyptians.5 From this gold, Aaron fashioned a golden calf which the people worshipped, resulting in a drunken orgy.6 God told Moses what was going on back in the Israelites' camp and instructed him to get back down to the camp because the Israelites were already practicing idolatry. He threatened to wipe out this stiff-necked people and to create a new nation from Moses, but He did so in a way that left the door open for Moses to object and to plea for mercy for his people.7
Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites. He did not deny that they had acted wickedly, nor did he petition God on the basis that they would do better in the future. He argued on the basis of God's character and His covenant with Abraham and his descendants. He appealed to God for the sake of His glory. The Israelites were God's people, those He had chosen, and just recently had delivered from Egyptian bondage. He had promised to bring this people into the land of Canaan. If God failed to do this, it would reflect badly on His ability to fulfill His promise. God's glory would be diminished in the minds of the surrounding nations. Thus, God should forgive His people and bring them into the Promised Land, just as He had promised He would do.
His appeal did not really change God's mind; in truth, it underscored God's character and His covenant promises. In other words, the outcome of Moses' mediation was that God didn't change anything; He gave Moses the opportunity to plead Israel's case and to declare the only valid basis for his petition. And then God did just as He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
When Moses arrived back in the camp, he was appalled by what he saw. He was furious with Aaron and with the people. He made them grind up the golden calf and pour the gold flakes into the water, and then he made the people drink it. (Little chance that gold would be recycled.) A good number of the disobedient Israelites were put to death, both by the command of Moses and by the hand of God. Moses pled with God to forgive their sin, offering to suffer their punishment in their place. God promised that the guilty would be punished and then commanded Moses to lead the people to Canaan, promising to send His angel to lead the way.
Up until now the question was whether or not the entire nation would be annihilated. Now the question is whether or not God will be present with His people as they make their way to Canaan:
1 The Lord said to Moses, "Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, `I will give it to your descendants.' 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way" (Exodus 33:1-3, emphasis mine).
Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man's sin has been a barrier to his fellowship with God. How can a holy God dwell in the midst of a sinful people? How can sinners draw near to a holy God? Up till now, access to God has been achieved individually by means of a blood sacrifice. But now Israel is a nation of many people. Israel's sin of idolatry in the shadow of the mountain where God was meeting with Moses was a reminder of just how serious the problem was. And now the nation has survived, but they are soon to press on toward Canaan. How can God be among this people without destroying them? That is now the issue before Moses.
The people realize the seriousness of the situation and strip off all their jewelry (Exodus 32:4-6). My best guess is that much of that jewelry had associations with pagan deities and heathen worship.8 If it was some of the articles of gold donated by the Egyptians, one can almost be certain of this.
In verses 7-11, we are told about Moses meeting with God at the "tent of meeting":
7 Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone seeking the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. 8 And when Moses went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent. 9 And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent (Exodus 33:7-11).
Why would this account of Moses' intimacy with God be included in such detail at this point in time? I believe it is because the author wants us to understand that Israel's only hope is the success of Moses' intercession, based upon His relationship with God. Moses pitched his tent "outside the camp," apart from the people. If they chose to worship, they must also go "outside the camp" to worship at the "tent of meeting." When Moses entered that tent, the Shekinah glory, the visible manifestation of God's glory, descended upon the tent. Inside the tent (where no one but Moses - and perhaps Joshua - entered), God spoke with Moses intimately. This was indeed something unique.9 Only someone on such intimate terms with God could successfully intercede on Israel's behalf. Moses was the man of the hour.
Moses petitions God to be present with Israel as they continue on to Canaan, based upon his relationship with God.
12 Moses said to the Lord, "See, you have been saying to me, `Bring this people up,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, `I know you by name, and also you have found favor in my sight.' 13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight. And see that this nation is your people." 14 And the Lord said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (Exodus 33:12-14).
The first "you" in verse 14 is not in the original text,10 but is supplied since it is assumed in the context. The second "you" is in the original text, and it is singular, not plural. In other words, God is promising Moses that He will be with him (personally), perhaps something like that which is described in the previous verses (33:7-11). He is not promising to go with Israel corporately.
Moses is assured of God's presence and of God's "rest," but not Israel as a nation. Moses could have used his special relationship with God to further his own interests at Israel's expense.11 Instead, Moses used his relationship with God as the basis for his intercession with God on Israel's behalf:
15 And Moses said to him, "If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here. 16 For how will it be known then that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?" (Exodus 33:15-16)
The mediation of Moses is based upon his intimate relationship with God. He petitions God to go with the Israelites to Canaan because he has found favor in God's sight. Moses contends that the evidence of his being in good standing with God will be demonstrated by God's presence with Moses and the nation.
In response to Moses' request, God consents to abide in the midst of His people, because of His great regard for Moses:
The Lord said to Moses, "I will do this thing also that you have requested, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name" (Exodus 33:17).
What Moses does next is truly amazing - he requests that God show him His glory.12 I have long wondered what the relationship was between God granting his request to abide among the Israelites and his request to behold God's glory. Here is my best understanding of what has happened. As a result of Israel's great sin, the true character of Moses has become more and more apparent. Moses is a man who has God's interest at heart as we can see in verses 11-13 of chapter 32. And the closer Moses draws to God, the more God manifests Himself to Moses - the greater the intimacy of their relationship. When God granted Moses' request, it stirred even greater love for God, and this caused him to desire to know God more intimately. If God would show Moses His glory, that would be the most intimate interaction they have yet had.
Let me put it another way. Israel has sinned greatly. They do not deserve to exist, let alone to have God dwelling in their midst. But due to Moses' intercession, God has shown great mercy and grace toward Israel and great love for Moses. Seeing this prompts Moses to ask to know God even more intimately. The more Moses knows of God, the more he wants to know Him. God's glory is evident in His dealings with Moses and Israel, and this makes Moses want to behold even more of God's glory.13
In response to his petition, God grants Moses' request. Given God's holiness (since Moses is also a sinner), there will have to be certain precautions taken. Moses will not be able to see God in His full glory, but will be able to behold some of it (as described in terms of being shielded by God's hand and the rock, and seeing only the backside of God). In my opinion, it wasn't just what Moses saw that was so exciting for him; it was also what he heard:
6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children's children, to the third and fourth generation" (Exodus 34:6-7).14
What more encouraging words could Moses hear than that God's glory was His gracious and compassionate nature? While God must punish sin, His delight and desire is to show compassion to sinners by forgiving them of their sins. Saving sinners is God's preferred work; judging sinners is His "strange work."15 Moses seizes upon the words that revealed God's glory to make a bold request:
"If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance" (Exodus 34:9).
Moses' request that God dwell among His people as they make their way to the Promised Land is (based upon the revelation of God's glory in 34:6-7) a manifestation of His glory. Israel's good is God's glory, and thus Moses boldly asks God to abide with His people.
If I understand the rest of chapter 34 correctly, God appears to make a covenant with Israel a second time, as a kind of second chance for this people. It is as though the first covenant had been nullified by Israel's sin with the golden calf, and thus Moses smashed the first stone tablets to bits.16 Moses thus returns to the mountain top once again, spending yet another 40 days and 40 nights without bread or water.17 Some of the main points of the law as it was first given in full are reiterated in Exodus 34:10-28.
Now, in the closing verses (29-35) of chapter 34, we read once again of the intimate relationship God had with Moses. When Moses came down from the mountain, his face was aglow and he didn't even know it. The people did! They were even afraid to come near to Moses. Moses called them and spoke to them. When he was finished speaking to them, Moses put a veil over his face, not to conceal his glowing face, but (as Paul informs us) to hide the fading radiance of his face.18 Whenever Moses "went in before the Lord" (34:34) to speak with Him, he took off his veil, and when he came out of the tent, he put the veil back on.
This is the second time in two chapters (33 and 34) that the reader has been told about Moses' unique relationship with God, a relationship that no one else in that age ever experienced.19 I believe the reason will become evident as we continue on to Exodus 35. In this chapter, we see Moses and the Israelites commencing work on the tabernacle and its furnishings. I believe this provides us with the key to understanding how God could dwell in the midst of a sinful people. We have seen that God's character (as revealed in 32:11-14 and 34:6-7) and covenant with Abraham exhibited God's motivation in forgiving the Israelites and in promising to be present with His people as they made their journey to the Promised Land.
We now see the mechanism by which God was able to dwell in the midst of His people. If God had to shield Moses' face with His hand, place him behind a rock, and display only His back side in order to draw near to Moses, how much more distance and separation was required for God to abide in the midst of this stiff-necked people? So, the mechanism which enabled God to draw near to His people and to dwell among them included these essential elements (all of which we have seen in Exodus 32-35):
1. A mediator to stand between God and Israel (Moses was the key to Israel's survival, but the priests also served a mediatorial role, putting some much needed distance between God and the nation).
2. 2. Barriers to keep some distance between God and the Israelites. Those who sinned greatly were removed (by death?) from Israel.20 Those who were ceremonially unclean were placed outside the camp. Then there was separation within the camp, facilitated by the tabernacle. The priests could enter the holy place, and only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year.
3. 3. A sacrificial system that made it possible to atone for the sin of the nation once a year.
The tabernacle - followed at a later time by Israel's temple(s) - was essential for God's presence among His people. In addition to facilitating God's presence among the Israelites, the tabernacle served as a prototype of heaven. This is evident in God's words to Moses in Exodus, as well as in the New Testament Book of Hebrews:
38 "Its trimmers and its trays are to be of pure gold. 39 About seventy-five pounds of pure gold is to be used for it and for all these utensils. 40 Now be sure to make them according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain" (Exodus 25:38-41, emphasis mine).
1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So this one too had to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, "See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain." 6 But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises (Hebrews 8:1-6, emphasis mine).
11 But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:11-12, emphasis mine).
23 So it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands - the representation of the true sanctuary - but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God's presence for us. 25 And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice (Hebrews 9:23-26, emphasis mine).
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22, emphasis mine).
There is at least one sermon (and perhaps an entire book) to be found in these verses which show the divinely designed correspondence between the earthly tabernacle, our Lord's body, and the heavenly tabernacle. When Moses was given the design and dimensions for the earthly tabernacle that was to be made, God showed Him the heavenly ideal, after which the earthly tabernacle was to be patterned. The original tabernacle is not the tabernacle which the Israelites took with them in the wilderness; it is the heavenly tabernacle after which the earthly tabernacle was patterned. This becomes a main point of emphasis for the writer to the Hebrews in chapters 8-11.
For the time being, let me point out some of the "heavenly" features of the earthly tabernacle as it functioned in Old Testament times.
1. The tabernacle and the temple were the place where God's presence was revealed by the Shekinah glory which filled them:
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34).
The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord's glory filled his temple (1 Kings 8:11).
4. 2. The tabernacle and the temple were those places where men could draw near to God by offering sacrifices and come to worship, especially through the mediatorial ministry of the priesthood.
5. 3. The tabernacle was the place where sacrifices were offered, especially the annual Day of Atonement,21 when the sins of the nation were set aside for another year, thereby providing temporary relief from the penalty and guilt of their sins.
6. 4. The special times of worship at the tabernacle (and temple) were a time of rest. It is interesting to notice that the three annual celebrations at the temple in Jerusalem were linked to a Sabbath rest.22 Men had to set aside their daily labors so that they could travel to Jerusalem and devote themselves to worship. Thus, temple worship was a time of much-needed rest.
7. 5. Observing the special times of worship in Jerusalem was an act of faith. Only the males were compelled to travel to Jerusalem for these feasts.23 Some would have to travel a considerable distance to reach Jerusalem. Some - perhaps most - would leave farms and family members behind when they made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This would leave land and loved ones as an easy target for their enemies. God assured His people that He would protect them by eliminating their enemies' desire to take their land:
23 "At three times in the year all your men must appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year" (Exodus 34:23-24, emphasis mine).
In order for the Israelite men to worship God in Jerusalem, they would have to exercise faith in God to care for all they left behind to do so.
8. 6. The temple was central to the prayer life of the nation Israel because it facilitated the prayers of the Israelites (and others).
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain; I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray" (Isaiah 56:7; see 1 Kings 8).
9. 7. The tabernacle and the temple facilitated the joyful worship of God in the company of fellow-Israelites. This is a vitally important point, which we must not fail to grasp. As we look back on the worship of the Old Testament saints, we have visions of a very bloody worship, and compared to what we experience today, it seems sub-standard. But while the New Testament (especially the Book of Hebrews) paints what we have under the New Covenant as "better," that does not make Old Covenant worship "bad."
When one reads the "Psalms of Ascent," you do not get the impression that the saints of old worshipped God with gritted teeth and clenched fists - as though this was something one had to endure - like going to the dentist for a root canal. Listen to the words of the psalmist:
1 A song of ascents, by David.
I was glad because they said to me,
"We will go to the Lord's temple."
2 Our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is a city designed to accommodate an assembly.
4 The tribes go up there, the tribes of the Lord,
where it is required that Israel give thanks to the name of the Lord
(Psalm 122:1-4, emphasis mine).
For many - if not most - Israelites, worship in Jerusalem was something that happened all too seldom (three times a year for some). It wasn't as though they went to the temple (or the tabernacle) daily or even weekly. But when they went, they went with great joy and anticipation. It was a time when they would offer a sacrifice and then share a meal with those they knew and loved. In this sense, going to Jerusalem for worship was something like Thanksgiving. It was a time when a meal was shared in (or near) God's presence, something that was looked upon as a marvelous privilege:
You prepare a feast before me in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh my head with oil;
my cup is completely full (Psalm 23:5).
No wonder heaven is described in meal table/banquet terms:
10 When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel! 11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:10-12).
37 Blessed are those slaves whom their master finds alert when he returns! I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, have them take their place at the table, and will come and wait on them! (Luke 12:37)
28 "You are the ones who have remained with me in my trials. 29 Thus I grant to you a kingdom, just as my Father granted to me, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:28-30).
So, the tabernacle was patterned after the "original" in heaven. Tabernacle worship (followed later by temple worship) was a foretaste of heaven. Thus, when Ezekiel informs us about heaven, he does so in "temple terms."24 In the New Testament (as we will see in our next message), Jesus was introduced by John as One who "tabernacled" (John 1:14, NASB, marginal note) among men. In chapter 2 of John's Gospel, Jesus spoke of Himself as the temple.25 The church will likewise be spoken of as God's temple,26 as well as believers individually.27
Perhaps most significantly, in one of the closing chapters of the Book of Revelation we find that there is no physical temple in the New Heaven and New Earth, for God the Father and God the Son are the temple:
Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God - the All-Powerful - and the Lamb are its temple (Revelation 21:22).
We shall pursue this further in our next message.
So what are we to gain from our study of worship by means of the tabernacle and the temple? What are we to learn from the fact that the tabernacle was "a little bit of heaven" - a taste of heaven to come?
First, the tabernacle and the temple remind us of the holiness of God and of the sinfulness of men.
Second, we are reminded of the immense barriers to sinful men ever coming into an intimate relationship with a holy God. We saw this in God's words to Moses:
"Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way" (Exodus 33:3).
Consider the level of difficulty for men to be in the presence of God after the fall of man (and after Israel's great sin at Mount Sinai). It took the tabernacle and all of the rules, rituals, and sacrifices for men to draw near to God (or for God to draw near to men). This is the measure of man's sinfulness and of God's holiness. We live in times when both realities (man's sin, God's holiness) seem to have been set aside and forgotten. We have forgotten that our freedom and boldness in coming into the presence of the living God is due, not to our goodness, or to a depreciated holiness on God's part, but solely due to the magnitude of the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He, the holy and sinless Son of God, took man's sin on Himself. In the words of the Apostle Paul,
God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
My friend, if you think you will ever get to heaven by your own works and righteousness, you are fooling yourself. There is only one way for sinners to ever be granted entrance into God's heaven:
Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
God provided but one way for sinners to enter heaven - Jesus Christ. Jesus took our sin on Himself when He died on the cross of Calvary, thereby paying the penalty for our sin. All those who trust in His work on their behalf will be saved. Their sins are forgiven, and they are destined for eternal joy in heaven. All those who reject the person and work of Jesus and who trust in anyone or anything besides Him are destined for an eternity apart from Him, an eternity of eternal agony (hell). If you have never trusted in Jesus, I urge you to do so today.
I would hope that this message would remind Christians of who they were apart from Christ, and of the wonder of the salvation God wrought for them in Jesus:
1 And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you formerly lived according to this world's present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest... 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you are saved! - 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:1-9).
This should not only humble us; it should make us eternally grateful for the salvation we did not deserve, accomplished by Christ's amazing work of redemption on the cross of Calvary. And it should likewise encourage us to take advantage of all that Christ's work has made available to us:
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:19-25).
I would hope that our study of Israel's worship in the Old Testament by means of the tabernacle and the temple would also keep us from what might be called "worship lite." If we were sinners, unworthy of God's presence, and deserving only of eternal judgment, then we should find ourselves in awe of God and of the salvation He has accomplished for us through Jesus. I see today a great deal of emphasis on worship made easy and aimed at being entertaining. That was surely not the case in the Old Testament, and neither should it be in the new. We should appreciate the fact that God takes sin in the church very seriously.28 We, the church, are corporately the temple of God, just as we, individually, are temples in which He dwells. Let us not take sin lightly, and let us not seek the kind of worship which is easy, which requires little preparation or sacrifice on our part, and which gives us Sunday to spend on the lake or on the golf course. Having God in our presence is serious business.
Please allow me one final word about ecclesiology - the doctrine of the church. Some seem to think that the Bible gives us all kinds of freedom as to how we "do church." There is a certain measure of freedom, but there are also very clear principles and precepts related to how we operate as a church. If the church is the temple of God, the place where God currently dwells (on earth), and if the church as His temple is a reflection of God Himself, then we better be very careful not to cast aside the commands of our Lord to the church about doing church.
Copyright © 2010 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 5 in the series Hope and Change God's Way, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on May 2, 2010. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
1 In computer terms, the tabernacle was the "laptop" (portable model) of that day, while the temple was the "desktop" of its time. Both served the same purpose, but the tabernacle was mobile.
2 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
3 See the footnote in the NASB at John 1:14.
4 Genesis 3:21.
5 Exodus 11:2-3; 12:35-36.
6 Exodus 32:6.
7 This is the inference I believe Moses perceived from God's words ("let Me alone. . .") in verse 10.
8 Joshua 24:14; Amos 5:25-26; 2 Kings 17:40-41.
9 See Numbers 12:1-8.
10 In the NASB, this is indicated by the fact that "with you" is italicized.
11 As he could have done in Exodus 32:10.
12 Exodus 33:18.
13 As an aside, I believe that this foreshadows the believer's joy in heaven. The more we learn of Him, the more we will desire to see more of His glory. God's glory is so vast that we will spend all of eternity exploring its dimensions.
14 Think of the implications of these words in relation to heaven and hell. God's glory is to be seen not only in His saving grace, but also in His condemnation of the wicked.
15 See Isaiah 28:16-22; Lamentations 3:31-33.
16 Exodus 32:19.
17 Exodus 24:18; 34:28.
18 See 2 Corinthians 3:12-18.
19 See Numbers 12:1-15.
20 See Exodus 12:15, 19; 30:33, 38; 31:13-15.
21 See Leviticus 16.
22 See Numbers 28:16-29:40; specifically, see 28:18, 25, 26; 29:1, 7, 12, 35.
23 * Exodus 23:17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16.
24 See Ezekiel 40ff.
25 See John 2:18-22.
26 See 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-10.
27 1 Corinthians 6:15-20.
28 See, for example, 1 Corinthians 5; 11:17-34.
The manuscript version of this article is unavailable. This is a lightly edited transcript of Bob Deffinbaugh’s preached message (available in the related media). Appreciation for the transcription work goes to Marilyn Fine.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers out there. I am sorry I do not have a Mother’s Day message for you. No, I am not sorry, actually. I think this is going to be better. Mothers are great, but heaven is better. So, let us put our focus on that. This is Part 6, and this is, in particular, a focus on the hope that we have that awaits us in heaven.
This past week I was at a doctor’s office and the receptionist greeted me and she came up with that question that I hear often and that is, “Are you related to Danny?” And it always catches me off guard because I am. I am related to my brother, Danny, with D-e-f-f-i-n-b-a-u-g-h. I am not related to Danny the FBI agent, D-e-f-e-n-b-a-u-g-h. I do not know him. Never met him. But, it is really my brother, Danny, that I owe a debt to as I come to this message. The last time we were in Washington State he was telling me that there are some texts, there are some subjects where you just feel like you have not gotten your arms all the way around. He said “that is the way I feel about John 14. Something about that just is not quite on target” and he said “I am struggling to figure out what it is about that text that I do not understand and why I feel a little uneasy about the basic understanding of that text.” So, that will be, in effect, the key text, but it will also come out of our passages in John 1.
As we have talked about heaven we have been doing it in the light of progressive revelation. So we talked about heaven in the Garden of Eden. Then, we talked last week about heaven in the tabernacle and in the temple, and this week we will talk about heaven come down. That is, God present with us in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ during his earthly life and ministry and his presence that remains among us because of His spirit.
Now, I have made some decisions about how I am going to handle the subject of our hope in heaven and, basically, I guess I am saying to myself—and I am just confessing to you—that what I am saying is “stay focused.” It is really easy to get off target when it comes to the subject of heaven and so that means to me “stay focused on what lasts forever.” Now think about this with me for a minute. If what is important is what lasts forever— and so if you take this spectrum, (which, obviously, there is no spectrum--it is infinity and has no beginning and no end) but if you take this spectrum and here we are as evangelicals and we are spending volumes and volumes in our books about the difference of three years, or three-and-a-half years, between pre- and mid-trib. Three-and-a-half years—folks, out of eternity, we are spending most of our time talking about that! Then, there are others who are going to talk about pre-millennial versus amillennial. Okay, that is a thousand years. In the grand sweep of things, though, that is nothing. So, what I am saying is this. I am going to talk about the eternal state. That is where I am really locking in on— more than the process of how we get there. I am talking about what it will be like when we get there, and, also, if you think about it, amongst evangelicals the subject of the eternal state is really that which we most agree upon. So, I am not going to get off in the toolies about all of these things that evangelicals disagree about, and I am not saying they are unimportant, I am saying when compared to all of time and eternity, I do not think we ought to get distracted from that by going down some of the bypath meadows and, trust me, I am very capable of going down into the toolies quickly.
So, let us talk about the incarnation. Heaven came down. In Matthew 1:23, you remember that the angel has come to Joseph and he is talking to Joseph about that child that is in Mary’s womb. He says that this child is to be named, “Emanuel,” which means “God with us.” Then, you see texts like Philippians 2:5-8 (which we know well) on the incarnation— the kenosis of our Lord— where He did not feel that those prerogatives and privileges that were His in heaven were something to cling to, but He came down and dwelt amongst us and took the road which led to His death on behalf of those who were sinners.
Then, the text in John 1. It is clear from verses one through three that our Lord Jesus is God. He was there before creation. He was there as the agent of creation, but it is in verse 14 that I really want to plant my tent peg if I can for a minute because it says: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The American Standard Version has a footnote. I do not know if other versions do. How many other versions have a footnote at this point or say something like “literally in the Greek text ‘tabernacled’ amongst us”? The reason I like this is because last week we talked about the tabernacle as the place where men would go to meet with God. Is it not amazing that now God “tabernacles” amongst men. He pitches His tent, as it were, amongst men that God may dwell amongst us, heaven came down and, hopefully, glory does fill out soul at the thought of that.
So, let us talk about the whole implications of where we are going in terms of John 1. In particular, I am thinking about that interchange which is going to take place with Nathaniel. Now, if I were to focus on two words this morning it would be the difference between place and person. It is my contention that most Christians when they think about heaven they think about place rather than thinking about person. So, I am trying to draw our attention more on the person side. So, look with me at John 1 and go back to verse 45 for a minute. Look at Phillip going to Nathaniel and look at this interchange between Jesus and Nathaniel.
John 1:45: “Phillip found Nathaniel and told him we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law and the prophets. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathaniel replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
What is he thinking about? Place, place, he is locked on place. He cannot get past the fact that Jesus is a Nazarene and to him anybody who comes from that place cannot be the right person, right? Now, here is the way the conversation then goes. He sees him. Jesus sees him coming in verse 4 and he says, “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” I love that! Nathaniel said, “How do you know me?” I would have said, “Who are you talking to?” I just cannot believe this. Jesus said, “When you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Now, I have to admit I had not really thought about the way in which Nathaniel was focused on place. When Jesus says “when you were there under that tree I saw you.” We would call that, theologically speaking, Jesus referring to the doctrine of His presence, right? Is that not interesting. Here is Nathaniel trying to somehow get Jesus locked into this little place called Nazareth and Jesus reply is on that presence. He is everywhere. Why would you think of it only in terms of Nazareth? It would be everywhere. What Jesus is saying to him is “you were out of sight. You were out of sight under that fig tree, but I was there and I saw you there and I saw what you were doing.”
All of a sudden, Nathaniel’s gears get to turning. He says, “Woo, this is bigger than I thought.” He says, “You really are the Messiah” in effect. “You really are the king of Israel.” Now, this is where it gets really interesting because Jesus now says this here in John 1:50,
“Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” He continued, “I tell all of you the solemn truth. You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Now, in order to understand what Jesus is saying here, you have to understand the story that he is referring to. That is the story of Jacob encountering God at a place that will then be called Bethel (Bethel means the house of God), encountering him as he is fleeing from Israel and he is going to go to Paddan-Aram— ostensibly to get a wife, but in reality to get away from his brother so he does not kill him. He just ripped his brother off in terms of his birthright and his blessing. So, he is hot on his way out of town. You remember he stops, he sleeps.
Now, anybody who sleeps with their head on a rock— I have to tell you that is no commercial for any kind of hotel that I know of—but to come sleep with your head on a rock...? Maybe that is related, I do not know, although with a guy as hardheaded as Jacob, that rock may have been soft. But, let us go on. And, by the way, Jacob, this is the early days of Jacob’s life. This guy is no theological Einstein. This guy, in fact, is a jerk. Any day, I would have rather been with Esau than Jacob. This guy is a thief. He is a conniver. He is a cheat. There is just nothing good to say. If you think that God chose Jacob because he was a good guy, you are not reading the same text I am. He is a lousy guy and here he is now fleeing. So, what I am trying to say is I would not think his words at this early stage of his life are that pious and they are not. It is not until he is 130 years old, standing before Pharaoh, and Pharaoh says, “Well, how is it going, man? (my translation).” He says, “It has been long and hard.” You know why? Because all of his life Jacob has been fighting God. He tried to cheat his way into God’s blessings. So, if he was that way at 130, I have got to tell you in these younger years he is no prize.
But, here is what happens. He has the dream and he sees this ladder and the angels ascending and descending. In Genesis 28:16, he says this, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it.” He was afraid and he said what an awesome place this is. This is nothing else than the house of God. Now, why did God do that? First of all, let me see if we can get this picture in our minds. So, here is the picture, this heavenly image, and here is this ladder with these angels coming up and down. He does not seem to notice as much what is on the top of the ladder. He does not even pay attention to what is on the ladder, the angels. He is looking at where the ladder is sitting. Now, that is not a bad message for Jacob where he is presently at because he is “getting out of Dodge.” In my opinion, he would never come back if he had not had this dream. What he realizes is this is the place of mediation. This is the place where men find an access point, a way of relating with God, sort of like an early tabernacle, as it were.
So, he says, “Wow, look at this. This place where that ladder is, this is the holy place. I better come back here. If this is where God has somehow chosen to communicate and to relate with men, I better get myself back here some day.” But, less you think that he is too pious, he then goes on to say, “If God takes care of me, if He makes me rich and famous and everything goes well, and if I get back, then I will do what? I will give God 10% of the action.” Run back. Who would not do that, folks! I mean we give the government a whole lot more of the action than that and they are not doing so well for us. But, God, if He makes us rich and famous, he says I will give Him 10%. I never have found a text where God says to him, “Uh, Jacob, about that 10%.” I never see it. But, there he is. He is thinking in terms of a place.
Now, here is what Jesus does. When he comes to this text in John 1:51, he is picking up on that story. But, you see, Jacob was saying, “Wow, this is an incredible place.” If he is thinking of any person, it is himself, not God. Is that not right? It is the place. Now, that is important, but it is not all important. Now, when you come to Nathaniel, he has been thinking about place, too. He is saying, “Wow, Nazareth, I mean who comes from that place. Nobody important.” Then, our Lord reveals to him, he is actually in thy presence so place is not very relevant any more. He then says, “starting from this you will see in time to come greater things. You will see the heavens open and angels ascending and descending upon a person. See, it is now not where that ladder is placed. It is who the ladder is. That is Jesus. What he is saying is Jacob really did not have it right. Frankly, Nathaniel, you were kind of off in the toolies, as well. You were only thinking about place. What you ought to be thinking about is person. I am the ladder. I am the one who is omnipresent. I am the one who is the mediation point between men and God. So, quit thinking about the land and start thinking about the ladder. Quit thinking about the place and start thinking about the person.
Now, watch that come to full bloom in John 4— Jesus with the woman at the well. You remember in John 4, He meets the woman in Samaria, and He asks for a drink of water. There is the conversation and then Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband.” She said, “Well, I am not currently married at the moment.” Jesus said, “Well, technically speaking that is true. Actually, you have had five men in your past.” (I do not know whether that means they were husbands or not. It really does not matter at this stage.) “The man you are presently with (that guy we know she is not married to because she just said she is not married) but you have number six going at this point.”
That is when she says, “I perceive that you are a prophet.” Now, we usually think that she is trying to avoid the point and she is saying [thinking] “well, let us get Him off on some tangent. Get out of my moral life and let us get into something abstract.” I do not think that is true at all. I think she, like Nathaniel, has come to the realization “Woo-ee! This person is significantly greater than I thought. This man knows everything. If He knows everything, I am going to ask Him the most hotly debated question between Samaritans and Jews that there is. That is, where is the place where men must go to worship?” Right? And she is thinking in terms of her categories—here on Mt. Moriah, (as it were in Jerusalem where the temple is) or Mt. Gerizim, (where the Samaritans thought you would go if you wanted to worship God). So, she is thinking of this or that place. To her if Jesus went to that question, then she will figure out whether she is on the right track or not. Jesus basically says to her, “It is no longer a matter of place.” Remember now, we have just had this interchange with Nathaniel in Chapter 1, and now He says to her there is going to come a time when place is really irrelevant and you do not worry about whether it is on this mountain or that mountain. What you do is you worry about whether it is in spirit and truth. She says, “Whoa… Ohhh!” Well, I know Messiah is coming. That could be the person. All right, “who is he?” “I, the one speaking to you, am he” or, probably more accurately, “I am.” All of a sudden, this woman is down a whole new path because it is really not about place. It is about person.
Now, let me just take a quick aside here and go to Luke 16 in your mind and I will tell you why I am not going to go there for very long. Many people if they want to talk about heaven and what Jesus says about heaven they would go here. I would say there are several reasons not to do that.
Number one, in my mind, it is undoubtedly speaking of the intermediate state; that is, where do people go when they die? Not their ultimate state. So, you are really not talking about, I think, the ultimate of heaven.
The other part is this—whatever Jesus is saying there, He is saying more about the rich man and hell than he is about heaven. Would you not agree? There is not a whole lot of description about all the bliss and whatever Lazarus has received. What you see is all the agony the rich man has gotten. So, the real question is, how did I get here? Then, he is saying, “how do I keep other people from getting here?” You do not get there by being rich. Pharisees really led people to that conclusion that this was a sign somehow of spirituality. So, I am passing by that one simply because it does not appear to me to be the key text.
The key text is John 14. That text that my brother agonized about. Many people have read it and thought pleasant, happy thoughts about it and, no doubt, they should. I almost managed this morning, not quite, I almost managed, I actually had the CD on my desk to bring with me and I forgot it. That is the CD where my grandmother at 100+ reads this text and it is from her funeral. One of my nieces or nephews videotaped my grandmother after she had moved into my folk’s house somewhere after 101 and she...this was her favorite passage...and she read that text. I used it as the text—which she had specified, I might add— for her funeral. It is a great text.
“Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in God, believe also in me. There are many dwelling places in my Father’s house. Otherwise, I would have told you because I am going away to make ready a place for you. If I go and make ready a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me so that where I am, you may be, too.”
Here are my problems with this passage. Is heaven really just a house? It is really just a mansion or, to put it in different terms, is this just a glorified version of HG TV? Do we just look at it as a great house? Somehow that just does not grab me when you think about it. And my other problem kind of falls on its heels. If God could call all of this universe into existence in six days, how long does it take Him to build an apartment complex? Would you not agree? My goodness! Do you think that it has taken Him all this much time because He is still... [working on it]? I know Jesus is the carpenter, folks, I know He was a carpenter, but He is not building that place as one man like Noah building the ark! How come it takes so much time to do that? I guess I would have to say here are the disciples. He has just told them “one of you is going to betray me and I am going to die.” Then, he says to them “I am going away and you cannot go with me.” These disciples are distressed. Somehow, I just cannot get it. I cannot put my arms around it. Jesus is saying “there is this great house. There is this really cool apartment. In fact, there are a bunch of them and each one of you guys gets one of those.” Does that really stir your soul? At the worst moment in the disciples’ lives, so far? Does that really give you something to hang on to? To me, I just find myself saying uh, I do not know.
So, here is my proposed solution: (1) It is very clear in this context the disciples do not have a clue what Jesus is saying. Would you agree with me on that? I mean, yeah, somebody is going to betray Him and they are arguing about who it is, but that argument quickly comes down to who is the greatest in the kingdom. They do not even stay with it very long. Judas gets the point and he is out of there because he knows if he does not betray Jesus now, he is never coming back. If he comes back and Peter figures out it is him, Peter will kill him. I have no doubt about that in my mind. So, it seems to me that you have to say, as Jesus said to them in John 16:12,
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.”
They are going to understand later after His death and resurrection, after the Spirit comes upon Him, all of a sudden there is going to be those ah-ha moments when they say “Man! Why did I not see that then!” At this stage, what Jesus is saying to them really makes no sense. What does it mean when He says “my Father’s house”? I think that is the key. When He says “in my Father’s house are many mansions,” I think that is the key. So, we would have to go back to the Old Testament— by the way, this shows up there many times. It is not called “my Father’s house.” It is called “the house of the Lord” in the Psalms over and over again, but get this one:
Psalms 27:4, “I have asked the Lord for one thing. This is what I desire. I want to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life so I can gaze at the splendor of the Lord and contemplating His temple.”
Now, think about that from the standpoint of an Old Testament saint. We talked last week about the tabernacle and the temple and all the glory. Think about the fact that an Israelite did not go to church every Sunday. An Israelite came at least three times a year and that was a very special time. When they came and they offered their sacrifices, there would be this festive meal that they could be a part of and they would celebrate and sing the songs of ascent. When the psalmist was talking about or when they were singing and praising as they are going up to be at the temple, they would speak of it in terms of yearning. This is where they want to be an they would be there. They would not spend the night. There were no rooms there. There were not rooms available in the temple to spend the night. There was no room in the inn. Folks, there was no room in the temple.
I am going to get to that in a minute, but there was a great of anticipation and the psalmist and the worshippers, the true worshippers of God said, “This is God’s dwelling place. Oh, that I could spend all my life here.” Remember, one of them said I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord? Nothing was greater to an Old Testament saint than to dwell in the house of God (Psalm 23) and I dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Nothing could be more delightful than dwelling in God’s place forever.
Now, drop back. How often is the expression “my Father’s house” used in the New Testament? Not very often. Luke 2:29, Jesus, remember at 12 years of age got displaced from his parents. They come to Jerusalem, lo and behold He is there interchanging with all the sharp intellectuals about the kingdom. When his parents say to Him, “Son, son, why have you done this?” What did he say? “I must be in my Father’s house.” His Father’s house is the temple. John 2:16, Jesus cleanses the temple (this is after creating the wine out of the water at the wedding in Cana), He goes and cleanses the temple and they say, in effect, they are going to say “what are you doing?”, but He says, “Do not make my Father’s house a market place.” So, when we come to John 14:2 and He says, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places,” what would you think He is talking about? I would think He is talking about the temple, would you not? Remember in John 2, He makes it clear that He is speaking of Himself as the temple. John 1, “He who tabernacled amongst us.” He tabernacled in Chapter 1, temple in Chapter 2, so when we get to Chapter 14, I would think he is talking about the temple.
Now, get this, Nehemiah 13:4-9. Interesting, Can one spend the night in the house of God? Not legitimately. Nehemiah 13:4-9:
“But prior to this time, Eliashib, the priest, a relative of Tobiah”
(he is a bad boy)
“had been appointed over the storerooms of the temple of our God.”
Now, when you think about all the things which needed to take place in the temple, it really took a lot of storage. By the way, what a wonderful building we have. The one deficiency is not nearly enough storage, right? Boy, they needed storage for all the things which took place so there were these storerooms.
“He made for himself a large storeroom where previously they had been keeping the grain offering, the incense, and the vessels, along with the tithes of grain, the new wine and the olive oil, as commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priest. During all this time, I was not in Jerusalem,”
(Do not blame me, I did not give him the room!)
“For in the 32nd year of King Artaxerxes of Babylon, I had gone back to the king. After some time I requested to leave the king and I returned to Jerusalem. Then, I discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by supplying him with a storeroom in the courts of the temple of God. I was very upset. I threw all of Tobiah’s household...”
Boy, you talk about getting tossed out of your place! You know sometimes what happens…They just throw out your stuff out there in the street. He is getting moved out folks!
“threw all of Tobiah’s household possessions out of the storeroom, Then I gave instructions that the storeroom should be purified and I brought back the equipment of the temple of God along with the grain offerings and the incense.”
So, up to this point in time, with the real temple nobody had a right to stay there and yet in the Old Testament in the Psalms they said, “Oh, that my glory would be that I could dwell forever in the house of the Lord, in the temple. If I could just be there forever. ” You are not going to be there in that temple. You are going to get tossed out. There were not that many rooms. So, when Jesus says then, “In my Father’s house,” I think he is saying in that temple that the Father has there will be many places to dwell and, folks, you not only get to spend the night, you get to spend all of eternity. It is like if you could take all of those hopes and aspirations of those Old Testament saints that talked about dwelling in the house of the Lord forever and all of a sudden Jesus is saying it is going to happen. In this dwelling place that God is preparing, men will live in His presence forever. So, when you look at that text in Matthew 27:51-54, you see when our Lord Jesus is crucified, the veil is torn from top to bottom, which meant now that forbidden access that was true in Old Testament times has been set aside and men have direct access into the presence of God. In the context of what Jesus is saying, not only can they come into the Holy of Holies, they have a room there. Is that our right? You have a place there to stay forever.
In Hebrews,10:19-22, He says,
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us, through the curtain that is through His flesh.”
He talks about coming in and entering into all that God has for us. It fits Revelation 21:22, because in Revelation 21:22, it says there is no temple. Why? Because God Himself and the Lord Jesus are the temple. So, why would you talk about heaven being a place with all these rooms and this mansion with all these rooms if, in reality, there is not a building in the sense that we like to think about with all these apartments. It seems to me that what it is saying is when we get to heaven we will enter into the most intimate fellowship with God that there is. We have already seen the introduction to that by the veil being rent, by us having access through our Lord Jesus into the Holy of Holies and we will in all eternity and for all eternity we will enter in and we will dwell in God Himself. I would say that is a whole lot more person than it is place, right? To me, at least.
Take a look at John 14 through 16 in your minds. We cannot go to all those texts, but think about the context where Jesus is talking about how things will be. What does Jesus say in the first verses of John Chapter 15? Abide in me. After He has just said, “In my Father’s house (in the temple, as it were, this heavenly eternal temple) in Him there are many places to dwell. How do we start? He says you start by abiding in Me. That is what it is about. It is about us entering into Christ and all that He has and having our being and our existence in Him. Having our joy in Him. Will Aunt Tilda be there? Yep. That is not my life and my eternal hope. Hi, Hilda, you know. I mean, we will wave. Jesus says, you know, that there is not marriage in heaven like there is today. If you are thinking about heaven in the sense that you are going to have a room for two, I do not think so. I do not think so. They will be there. We will have fellowship with our fellow believers. It is going to be different. That is why I think when we look at Ephesians 1 and you find all of the great blessings that are in store for us, they are described really in terms of two words or by two words. Those two words are “in Him.” Heaven is more a person than it is a place.
I am getting excited and time is running short so let me move on. When you look in the New Testament, you discover that something is happening now. If in heaven what is going to happen is we will have our dwelling in God and that will be our great joy and satisfaction. On earth, God has His dwelling in us. Is that not an amazing thought? God has His dwelling in us so there is a sense that our Lord Jesus, as God fully dwelt in human flesh, now God is dwelling in His church and in saints individually. So, we see for instance, this text in I Corinthians, Chapter 6, this is talking about all the kinds of terrible things that were going on morally in Corinth and about prostitution, in particular, and He says in I Corinthians 6:18,
“Flee sexual immorality for every sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God. You are not your own.”
If we are temples today, if we are the dwelling place of God, that has incredible implications for what we do and what we think, does it not? But, not only is that true on the individual level, it is true on the corporate level. So, Ephesians 2:21 ,
“In Him, the whole building being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the spirit.”
Folks, that is not in the sweet by and by, that is here and now. The sweet by and by is when we dwell in Him in a level of intimacy that we have not yet known or experienced in this life. That He dwells in us now.
So, what I want to leave you with is just this. Are we not Jacob-like? When we think about heaven, are we not really Jacob-like? Do we not think more of the place than the person? Do we not think more about the blessings than the blessor? Would we, come on folks, when we get to heaven in the way many of us are thinking and acting, you know what the first thing we would do is? We would go to the employment office and ask for a job on the street repair department. Think about that for a minute. Streets of gold? Come on guys, get with me! We would work on the street department, folks, and we would be filling our pockets. We are so fixed on those streets of gold. We are so fixed on those mansions of glory that we have somehow lost sight of the fact that heaven is dwelling in God and finding his presence the joy and the satisfaction which the Old Testament saints longed for and which New Testaments saints now have the words of our Lord Jesus himself saying it is coming. There will not be a physical temple. There does not need to be a physical temple because our dwelling place is God.
Now, here is the thing that strikes me. When you think about heaven, we tend to think about what it is not and we think about what it is, gold, and all that stuff. We also think in terms of what it is not. It is not death--that is good. It is not sorrow. It is not suffering. No pain, whatever, and all of that is good, but, you know, here is the interesting thing. God has in the present time chosen to dwell amongst us in the midst of all those things. It is Romans 8:18-25, This present world is suffering and groaning and we are in this kind of angst where we are waiting for the freedom from all those things, but you know what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches us that in the midst of all of that, we can grow in a depth of understanding and love for Him. As the psalmist in Psalm 73 said, I am watching all these guys prosper and I am doing badly and I am thinking where are you God? Then he says, wow, I forgot, you are always with me and I will always be with you. You notice he is not really grumbling and saying, man, I wish we would get this over with and get on to that, although it is better. He is saying I have entered into that relationship with God through Christ where in the midst of these terrible things I find God is nearer to me than ever. That is why Paul says that I can enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. That is why Peter can say if you think you have it bad rejoice so that there is a sense in which there is heaven on earth. Not heaven in the sense of streets of gold, not heaven in the sense of no sickness. Heaven in the sense that when we enter into suffering we know our Lord entered into suffering and we know Him better because of the affliction we have now.
So, my big message is this. We need to stop thinking about place, buildings, streets, and making that our focus. It is there, but we need to think about heaven as the place where we will dwell forever with God. In that sense, folks, when we gather on Sunday mornings, it is a taste of heaven or it should be. It ought to be a taste of heaven. We ought to be saying to ourselves this is what it is really meant to be for now. I look forward to that time when we will do it without the distractions and all the difficulties we face, but for now God dwells in us for all eternity. We dwell in Him.
I hope that everyone here has known the Lord Jesus and has come to trust in Him as He is the way. He is the way to heaven. As Jesus says a few more verses down in 14, “no man cometh unto the Father but through me.” You want the keys to the house, the big house, the really big house? It is Jesus. You have to acknowledge that you will never get there on your own. It is only through Him and His death in the sinner’s place that you could be saved.
Father, thank you for this great book of John and thank you for the reality that heaven is going to be the place where we know you in great intimacy. Thank you, too, that You are dwelling in us now through your Spirit and we find that a delight and a privilege and a joy in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Years ago, my wife Jeannette and I worked on an island a few miles from Seattle, Washington. This business served a salmon dinner, cooked over an open fire in an authentic Pacific Northwest Indian style. One day a couple of men capsized their speedboat and spent a few minutes in the cold waters of Puget Sound before being rescued. They were suffering from hypothermia and were brought on shore and placed beside the open fire to warm up. When one of the men regained consciousness, the first thing he saw was the fire in front of him. He concluded that he had died and had awakened in hell, and his cries of horror were sobering.
That was over 40 years ago. These days the subject of life after death (by various names) has become very popular. I looked at Amazon.com on the Internet and found that they listed 204 books on the subject. The first of the books listed was by P.M.H. Atwater and titled, The Big Book of Near Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Die. Needless to say, I would challenge the book's claim to be the "ultimate guide to what happens when we die." The Bible is the ultimate authority in these matters. I suspect that Lazarus and Paul are the men whom we would want to ask about their after death experiences when we get to heaven.1
Since this message is about Paul's teaching on heaven, we'll be concentrating on his experiences with heaven in this lesson. Paul was saved as a result of a heavenly vision of the Lord Jesus.2 He then had a brush with death at Lystra as we read in Acts 14. It would appear that Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 refer to his experiences as a result of that "near death" stoning at Lystra. But as much as Paul had experienced of heaven, he is remarkably tight-lipped on the subject in his epistles. Only 2 Corinthians refers to this incident, and then only in sketchy terms.
I will begin this message by looking at Acts 14 and 2 Corinthians 12 to see what we can learn from Paul's experience, both by Luke's account and by Paul's. We will then consider several other texts in which Paul (sometimes obliquely) deals with heaven. We will then consider Paul's words about this life and the afterlife in 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 and conclude with a few words of application.
8 In Lystra sat a man who could not use his feet, lame from birth, who had never walked. 9 This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul stared intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed, 10 he said with a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." And the man leaped up and began walking. 11 So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" 12 They began to call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of the temple of Zeus, located just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15 "Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy." 18 Even by saying these things, they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them. 19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and after winning the crowds over, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. 20 But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back into the city. On the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch. 22 They strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions." 23 When they had appointed elders for them in the various churches, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the protection of the Lord in whom they had believed (Acts 14:8-23).3
Paul and Barnabas are on their first missionary journey. From the island of Cyprus, they made their way to Asia Minor, preaching first at Perga, where John Mark forsook them and fled back to Jerusalem.4 One can only conjecture that the dangers were so great there that Mark could not deal with them. Paul and Barnabas then pressed on to Pisidian Antioch where they had an attentive audience, with a number of Jews and Gentiles coming to faith.5 Within a week, the unbelieving Jews had created such opposition that they were forced to leave the city and press on to Iconium.6 At Iconium, a good number of Jews and Gentiles came to faith, but the unbelieving Jews instigated such strong opposition that the apostles were in danger of being stoned, so they fled to Lycaonia and to the city of Lystra.7
While they were in Lystra, Paul saw a man sitting there who had been lame from birth. He noted that this man had faith to be healed, and so Paul loudly commanded the man to stand up and walk - and he did! The crowds saw and heard what happened and immediately concluded that Barnabas and Paul were gods who had come to visit them. They assumed that Barnabas was Zeus (the leading god) because he remained quiet (as they assumed that leading gods acted); Paul, being the more verbal apostle, was assumed to be Hermes, the spokesman for Zeus. There was a temple of Zeus just outside the city and a priest, who quickly brought the needed articles to offer sacrifices to Barnabas and Paul. When the apostles realized what was happening, they immediately began to seek to dissuade the crowd from worshipping them as gods, preaching instead about the One True God. With great difficulty, they were able to persuade the crowds not to worship them.
Unbelieving Jews from Pisidian Antioch arrived and turned the crowds (who once were prepared to worship Barnabas and Paul as gods) against the apostles. This is an amazing thing to me. As a rule, the Jews loathed Gentiles and were happy to condemn them and their pagan worship. But somehow (like the coalition which formed against Jesus?) they managed to overcome their strong differences and prejudices and to win the cooperation of the people of Lystra and were thus given the freedom to stone Paul, dragging his body out of the city where they left him for dead.8 It is difficult for me to believe that these Jews would have left Paul's body without convincing themselves that he was "good and dead," although Luke is content to leave us with a measure of ambiguity, telling us merely that they "supposed" him to be dead.9 As the disciples (those who had come to faith through Paul's preaching) stood around Paul's body, he got up and returned to the city, the very city where he had been stoned! The next day he and Barnabas moved on to the city of Derbe.
Several things are worthy of note in this text as it relates to our study of heaven. First, I am impressed with the brevity of Luke's account of Paul's stoning and resuscitation. The Book of Acts contains many miraculous events, and this certainly appears to be one such miracle. Even if Paul had only been rendered unconscious for a time, you would have thought that Luke would have made more of it than he did. Luke was content to describe this stoning in few words.
Second (and closely related to my first observation), I am impressed with the fact that Luke does not make any attempt to sensationalize this stoning. Many would have been tempted to sensationalize this incident, but Luke is very matter of fact about it (something like my veterinarian friend, Bob Barlow, now with the Lord, who once described his encounter on the inside of a cage truck, where he was attempting to give a 400-pound lion a shot). I would have been tempted to play up this matter, making it look more spectacular than Luke.
Third, I am amazed at Paul's courage. Things had already gotten so bad that John Mark had abandoned them at Perga. When Paul arose as his friends looked on, he was already on the outskirts of Lystra. How easy it would have been to just keep going to Derbe. But instead Paul returned to Lystra, where he had just been stoned, and spent the night. He did leave the next day for Derbe, but we should note that after they had gone on to preach in Derbe, they then retraced their steps as they returned, going back to Lystra once again!10 As they passed through these cities once again, they encouraged the believers by reminding them that it was "through many tribulations that they must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:21). Paul was living proof of that. How his example of courage must have encouraged these saints.
Fourth, I take note of the fact that this stoning at Lystra took place during Paul's first missionary journey - early in Paul's apostolic ministry. Whatever happened in Lystra seems to have stuck with Paul for the rest of his ministry. If, indeed, Paul's experience here is that to which he refers in 2 Corinthians 12, one can see how death was not an enemy to Paul, but a friend, bringing him into the presence of God. After Acts 14, I can see how Paul could later write to the Philippians in such a way as to see death as better than life, for that meant he would be with the Lord.
1 It is necessary to go on boasting. Though it is not profitable, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows) was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know that this man (whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows) 4 was caught up into paradise and heard things too sacred to be put into words, things that a person is not permitted to speak. 5 On behalf of such an individual I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except about my weaknesses. 6 For even if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I would be telling the truth, but I refrain from this so that no one may regard me beyond what he sees in me or what he hears from me, 7 even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me - so that I would not become arrogant. 8 I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:1-10).
We need to understand Paul's words in these verses in the light of their context. Beginning in 1 Corinthians, Paul has been seeking to correct problems in the church. These problems included divisions,11 departure from the fundamentals of the gospel,12 fleshly immaturity,13 immorality,14 litigation with one another,15 participation in heathen worship (including eating meat offered to idols),16 misconduct at the Lord's Table and in the church meeting,17 and a denial of the resurrection of the dead.18 By the time we reach 2 Corinthians 11, it has become apparent that many of the problems in Corinth were the result of the teaching and example of those who were false teachers:
12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions (2 Corinthians 11:12-15, emphasis mine).
These false teachers sought to enhance themselves and their teaching by claiming (or giving the appearance of) apostolic authority. In order to refute their false claims, Paul felt compelled to resort to things he felt were foolish, but necessary. The first "foolishness" Paul employed was his boasting with regard to his status as a Jew:
18 Since many are boasting according to human standards, I too will boast. 19 For since you are so wise, you put up with fools gladly. 20 For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. 21 (To my disgrace I must say that we were too weak for that!) But whatever anyone else dares to boast about (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking like I am out of my mind!) I am even more so: with much greater labors, with far more imprisonments, with more severe beatings, facing death many times. 24 Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with a rod. Once I received a stoning. Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. 26 I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers (2 Corinthians 11:18-26, emphasis mine).
It is apparent that these false apostles were Jewish and used their ethnic and religious heritage as part of their claim to authority. Paul then "boasts" in such a way as to show that he is more Jewish than they are. And if these folks considered themselves to have earned a hearing, Paul goes on to enumerate the many ways in which he had "earned his stripes" by suffering for the sake of the gospel he preached. If anyone had the right to be heard, it was Paul, not the Jewish false apostles (who obviously were much more accustomed to the good life).
The second area in which Paul felt compelled to boast was in regard to the vision he had received in his "near death" experience. This is the subject of 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. We know from the Scriptures that some false teachers appealed to "visions" or revelations that they allegedly received, visions not given to others, which thus appeared to set them apart as more spiritual and authoritative:
Your prophets saw visions for you that were worthless lies. They failed to expose your sin so as to restore your fortunes. They saw oracles for you that were worthless lies (Lamentations 2:14).
18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God (Colossians 2:18-19, ESV).
Reluctantly, Paul refers to his revelation of heaven in 2 Corinthians 12. He does so in a way that seeks to draw attention away from himself and in a way that is deliberately vague. He doesn't know, for example, if he was "in the body" or "out of the body" when he was caught up to Paradise.19 Paul's reticence to describe what he saw seems to stem from two factors. First, the things he saw were too incredible for words - they were inexpressible, so glorious that words could not describe them. It would be like trying to explain Einstein's theory of relativity to a baby. There were no words to describe what he saw. Secondly, Paul was not permitted to describe what he saw, even if he found the words to do so.20
In those times when Paul does speak of heaven, it is usually for one of two reasons. Paul sometimes spoke of heaven to correct misconceptions or false teaching on the subject:
Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:12)
1 Now regarding the arrival of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to be with him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to be easily shaken from your composure or disturbed by any kind of spirit or message or letter allegedly from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).
A second reason why Paul spoke about heaven was to encourage those saints who were undergoing persecution for their faith:
6 For it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed - and you did in fact believe our testimony (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
Paul spoke (somewhat vaguely) about his "after death" or "near death" experience in 2 Corinthians to show that he could easily outrank the false apostles in terms of spectacular revelations received. From what Paul says of his experience, we might easily conclude that his vision of Paradise was granted at the time he was stoned and left for dead at Lystra. One does not know for certain whether Paul actually died at Lystra or not; we do know that those who stoned him meant to kill him and assumed that they had accomplished what they set out to do. If, indeed, the stoning at Lystra is the setting for Paul's vision of heaven, it would have come very early in his ministry, and it would explain why he could look forward to death as he did.21 No wonder Paul went right back into the city after he was revived and then returned to Lystra again after going to Derbe. And no wonder Paul once again visited Lystra on his second missionary journey. Having seen what awaits him in heaven, Paul does not cling to life on earth; he lives dangerously in the preaching of the gospel.
I believe there is an important lesson to be learned here. If Paul the apostle was neither able nor permitted to give a detailed description of his after death experience, I would be very reluctant to accept any other person's account of an after life (or after death) experience as authoritative. No doubt they would interesting, but one would have to be wary of their accuracy or authority. From what I know of such accounts, most of them do not speak of hell or eternal judgment, and often the impression one is left with is very calming and peaceful, giving one a false hope of finding salvation after death. Such is not the teaching of Scripture:
27 And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation (Hebrews 9:27-28).22
While there are a number of texts in Paul's writings which speak of the resurrection of the dead, or of the Lord's return, there are not that many texts which directly speak of heaven, and particularly regarding what it looks like. In 1 Corinthians 14, for example, Paul spends a great deal of time and energy defending the doctrine of the resurrection, due to the fact that some were denying this doctrine.23 While he does not seek to describe what heaven will be like in this text, he does set forth two important truths related to the resurrection as it relates to heaven. The first truth is that our Lord will hand over His reign to the Father once He (Jesus Christ) has subdued all of His enemies:
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be eliminated is death. 27 For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says "everything" has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. 28 And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:25-28).
To be honest, I'm not sure of all of the implications of this statement, but I certainly do see a clear contrast in our Lord's attitude toward the Father's headship, as contrasted with Satan's response to the Father's authority:
12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! 13 You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit (Isaiah 14:12-15).
The second thing that I see in this chapter is Paul's emphasis on how different our heavenly bodies will be compared to our physical bodies:
35 But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?" 36 Fool! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare seed - perhaps of wheat or something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as he planned, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same: People have one flesh, animals have another, birds and fish another. 40 And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. The glory of the heavenly body is one sort and the earthly another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory. 42 It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living person"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit (1 Corinthians 15:35-45).
Those who seek to emphasize the continuity between this life and the next must be careful not to overlook the contrasts, such as those mentioned by Paul in this text. So, too, our Lord has made it clear that relationships will not necessarily be the same in heaven as they were on earth. The earthly institution of marriage will not be continued, as such, in heaven.24 Heaven is not merely an extension of life here on earth; it is a whole new life, based on decisions and choices we have made while living on earth.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each builder's work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. 14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If someone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:10-16, emphasis mine)
1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the message, be ready whether it is convenient or not, reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and instruction. 3 For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. 4 And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths. 5 You, however, be self-controlled in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist's work, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for me to depart is at hand. 7 I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith! 8 Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day - and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on his appearing (2 Timothy 4:1-8, emphasis mine).
These texts indicate that after their resurrection, the saints will stand before God, where their works will be judged. The issue and the outcome is not salvation, but rewards. Heaven will commence with the believer's judgment and the Lord's distribution of rewards for faithful service.
18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility - not willingly but because of God who subjected it - in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God's children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance (Romans 8:18-25).
Romans 8 is the climax of Paul's teaching on sanctification in Romans 6-8. In chapter 6, Paul showed the necessity of sanctification. One dare not persist in sin after coming to faith in Jesus because when we were saved, we died in Christ to sin, and in Him we were raised to newness of life. It is inconsistent with the gospel to die to sin and yet continue to live in sin. Romans 7 makes it clear that we need more than mere desire to live the Christian life. That is because sin is more powerful than the flesh. Christians need divine enablement to give life to our bodies, which are dead with respect to righteousness. The solution is the saving work of Christ at Calvary and the power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer (chapter 8). The same Spirit that raised the dead body of our Lord to life is the Spirit that indwells believers, allowing us to live as God requires.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. 11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:8-11).
Having said this, Paul wants to make it very clear that God did not promise Christians heaven on earth (Romans 8:18-25). Indeed, he is very clear in telling them that salvation almost certainly means suffering, with heaven and its blessings to follow after death and resurrection:
21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch. 22 They strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions" (Acts 14:21-22; see also 1 Thessalonians 3:1-4; 2 Timothy 3:10-12).
Thus, Paul reminds Christians that the effects of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden will continue until Christ comes and Satan and sin are forever removed.
Paul speaks of our future complete and glorious deliverance from sin and a fallen world as "the revealing of the sons of God" (verse 19), "our adoption as sons" (verse 23) and "the redemption of our body" (verse 23). The significant contribution of Romans 8 to our understanding of heaven is Paul's emphasis on the earthly dimensions of heaven. Here, he speaks of all creation as having been corrupted and subjected to slavery and futility. That condition remains until the coming of Christ and His kingdom. The solution to this condition is the transformation of man into righteous men and women who reign (over creation) with Christ. Thus, all creation benefits from the transformation of saved sinners into sinless servants of God who rule with Christ over His kingdom. Heaven has its earthly dimensions. This is consistent with what we read in the final chapters of the Book of Revelation,25 where we seem to return to something reminiscent of a restored Garden of Eden.
6 For it is right for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. 8 With flaming fire he will mete out punishment on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength, 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired on that day among all who have believed - and you did in fact believe our testimony (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10).
Paul has already made it very clear that the Thessalonians had suffered at the hands of their fellow countrymen:
For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God's churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews (1 Thessalonians 2:14).
For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know (1 Thessalonians 3:4).
When we come to the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians, Paul speaks of both heaven and hell. He comforts and encourages the Thessalonians by informing them that when Jesus returns, it is for a two-fold purpose. He will come to reward the righteous who have faithfully persevered in their faith, and He will punish those who have rejected Christ and have persecuted His saints. The righteous will spend eternity delighting in His glorious presence, while the wicked will spend eternity apart from His presence and agonizing in the torment of His wrath.
7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 8 We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, 10 always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body. 11 For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body. 12 As a result, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, "I believed; therefore I spoke," we also believe, therefore we also speak. 14 We do so because we know that the one who raised up Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. 15 For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison 18 because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. 1 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this earthly house we groan, because we desire to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed, after we have put on our heavenly house, we will not be found naked. 4 For we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord - 7 for we live by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 4:7-5:10).
One way to look at the argument of these verses is to track the relationship between death and life. In verses 7-15 of chapter 4, Paul shows how the "dying" of the apostles produces life in the Corinthians. Paul and Timothy26 are constantly being delivered over to death for the Lord's sake so that His life can be produced in them. Unlike 1 Corinthians 15 (where Paul speaks of literal death and resurrection), Paul speaks of death and life here in a metaphorical way. Paul and Timothy put themselves in harm's way, risking death for the sake of the gospel and for the sake of the Corinthians (in this particular circumstance). Their "dying" is what brings "life" to the Corinthians through the gospel and the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. Not only does Paul's "dying" bring life to the Corinthians; it also brings glory to God (4:15). So, death is not a dreaded foe to Paul, something to be avoided at all costs, but rather a necessary price to pay for the advancement of the gospel and the benefit of the Gentiles. If literal death does come to Paul, he is absolutely confident that the One who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise him to new life. Death produces life.
In 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10, Paul speaks of death and dying, not in the sense of martyrdom (as he did above), but in the sense of the normal aging and dying process of life. The same principle (death produces life) is applied, but in a different way. Those of us with a number of years behind us (and often with gray hair - or none - to prove it) can readily agree with Paul when he speaks of the gradual, but steady, decline of the physical body. The minute we are born we are on a path that will inevitably lead to our death. For some, it simply comes sooner than for others. But in spite of our "dying by degrees" in the normal aging process, Christians also experience life. As the outer man continues to perish, the inner man is being renewed (given life) day by day. This is not spoken of as maintaining a certain level of spirituality, but of actually growing and increasing in our walk with God.
Actually, the dying process of the body is a welcome thing because we will exchange these mortal bodies for new spiritual bodies which are vastly superior. Our present bodies are a tent, while our permanent spiritual bodies are a temple (so to speak). To be at home in this physical body is to be absent from the Lord; to be absent from this physical body (by death) is to be at home with the Lord. And so it is that just as Paul did not fear the death of martyrdom, neither did he fear the death of old age. Death produces life for the Christian. And thus death is not to be fearfully avoided by living in the safe zone; we can live dangerously for Christ, knowing that death brings life, both for those whom we serve (4:7-14) and for us when we die, whether as martyrs (4:14) or due to old age (4:16--5:10).
19 for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 20 My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. 22 Now if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean productive work for me, yet I don't know which I prefer: 23 I feel torn between the two, because I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, 24 but it is more vital for your sake that I remain in the body. 25 And since I am sure of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for the sake of your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that what you can be proud of may increase because of me in Christ Jesus, when I come back to you (Philippians 1:19-26).
Hopefully, we will see that Paul's near (or after) death experience at Lystra (Acts 14:19-20) provided an occasion for God to give Paul a vision of heaven to come (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). I am convinced that this vision had a great impact on him, removing the fear of death and making him bold, even when faced with great danger. But I would not wish you to conclude that the entirety of Paul's boldness was due only to that vision. I believe that the more Paul understood the gospel and His God, the more confidence and boldness he gained from sound doctrine. That is why Paul was so intense in his defense of the doctrine of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. The Old Testament saints died without receiving the promises because they trusted in God and in His Word. They knew that it was a heavenly city they sought, not an earthly one.
The sum total of Paul's confidence (through his vision of heaven and his sound doctrine) is evident in his response to his circumstances as he writes to the Philippians. He was standing trial before Caesar, and the outcome was not known at that moment. It was possible that he would be freed, in which case he would continue to travel about and to minister to churches like the one in Philippi. It was also possible that he would be executed. Truth be known, Paul would have preferred death, for that would have immediately taken him into the Lord's presence. What could be better than that? But if God allowed him to remain alive, he would have more time to give up his life in service to others. The confidence we see in Paul is due to his own experiences (including his heavenly vision) and his knowledge of God's Word. Heaven is the certain outcome for those who have entrusted their eternal future to the hand of God by trusting in Jesus as the One who died in their place, bearing the penalty for their sins.
I've been struck with several things as I've studied Paul's teachings on heaven. The first is that while Paul had ample opportunity to tell others what heaven is like, he opted not to do so. As noted earlier, that was because he was forbidden to speak of his unusual revelation in any detail, and words were inadequate to describe what he saw. Second, when Paul did speak of heaven, his most consistent emphasis was that heaven is the place where God is, and where men are privileged to enjoy His presence. To put it in its most concise form, heaven is to be "with Him." Third, hell is to be understood as the converse of this: Hell is to spend eternity away from God's glorious presence. Those who have trusted in Jesus and who desire to be in His presence are rewarded with an eternity in His presence. Those who have rejected Christ and who want nothing to do with Him will be doomed to spend eternity away from His presence, just as they have avoided Him in life.
Fourth, there are only two alternatives for where you will spend eternity. If you reject God's salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ, then you are destined for hell:
16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God (John 3:16-18, emphasis mine).
Fifth, when we present the gospel to lost sinners, we should be careful to tell them the truth, and that truth is that just as trusting in Jesus will bring the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of spending eternity in God's presence, so it will bring us tribulation in this life. We dare not distort the gospel in such a way that we promise sinners heaven on earth, with popularity and prosperity guaranteed. Trusting in Jesus for salvation will put us at enmity with the world:
12 Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name (1 Peter 4:12-16).
Sixth, we need to think differently about those whom we will spend eternity with in heaven. All too much emphasis is made of being with our believing friends and loved ones in heaven, rather than on our being with God. Believing husbands will see their believing wives in heaven, but they will not relate to them in marriage as they have done on earth.27 Heaven is spending eternity in heaven in the presence of God; hell is spending eternity apart from God. That is the main thing. The fact that others we have loved on earth will be there is "icing on the cake," but it is not the essence of what heaven is about.
Seventh, Paul's teaching about heaven and hell has caught me off guard in terms of my motivation to preach the gospel to those who are lost. I must confess that my motivation has been primarily negative: I want to preach the gospel to lost sinners (especially my unsaved loved ones) because I don't want them to go to hell. That is a valid motivation, but Paul places a great deal of emphasis on the positive side of this coin. I should desire to preach the gospel to lost sinners so that many of them can enjoy the blessings of heaven in the presence of God. More than that, I should desire to proclaim the gospel to lost sinners so that God will be glorified by their salvation:
For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:15).
I must preach the gospel for the good of men and for the glory of God. To Him be the glory!
Copyright © 2010 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 7 in the series Hope and Change, God's Way, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on May 16, 2010. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
1 This assumes, of course, that you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.
2 See Acts 9:119a; 22:3-21; 26:4-18.
3 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
4 Acts 13:13.
5 Acts 13:14-43.
6 Acts 13:44-51.
7 Acts 14:8ff.
8 My impression is that the Gentiles of Derbe did not actually join in the casting of stones (stoning was the preferred Jewish method of executing), but were willing to allow the Jews to carry out this mission without interference. (Perhaps the Jews had portrayed the apostles as criminals who had escaped their grasp in Antioch.)
9 Acts 14:19.
10 Let us not overlook the fact that on Paul's second missionary journey, he once again passed through Derbe (first) and then Lystra, as he made his way north. It was at Lystra that Paul encountered Timothy and invited him to accompany him on his journey (Acts 16:1-5). Was Timothy a convert from Paul's first visit to Lystra? No wonder Paul referred to Timothy as his "son" (1 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 2:21).
11 1 Corinthians 1:10ff.
12 1 Corinthians 1:18ff.
13 1 Corinthians 3:1ff.
14 1 Corinthians 5-6.
15 1 Corinthians 6:1-11.
16 1 Corinthians 8-10.
17 1 Corinthians 11-14.
18 1 Corinthians 15.
19 See 2 Corinthians 12:2-3.
20 2 Corinthians 12:4.
21 Philippians 1:19-24.
22 The rich man of Luke 16:19-31 was certainly not given a second chance.
23 1 Corinthians 15:12.
24 Matthew 22:29-33.
25 See Revelation 22:1-2; also note Romans 16:20.
26 1 Corinthians 1:1.
27 Matthew 22:29-30.
The manuscript version of this article is unavailable. This is a lightly edited transcript of Bob Deffinbaugh’s preached message (available in the related media). Appreciation for the transcription work goes to Marilyn Fine.
Good morning. Well, as you can tell, this is the last on the series, Hope and Change God’s Way with the focus these last several weeks on the hope of heaven. The next series, Lord willing, will be on I and II Thessalonians. I need to apologize to Derek, by the way, he had practiced another text and I pulled a switcheroo on him. If you can imagine having that Scripture reading thrown at you without a chance to rehearse. Those are nightmares, but he did exceedingly well.
All right, let us think about this last message. I think, as we do, we need to keep in mind a couple of texts. I Corinthians 2:9, you remember, has a quote from the Old Testament which says,
“things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
These are incredible things that we are speaking about. As Paul writes in II Corinthians 12, their thoughts and ideas that are beyond words, they are indescribable in human words and so these are incredible things that we are dealing with and these last chapters of our Bible give us a picture of what the new heavens and the new earth will look like. I should point out, too, that in Revelation 21 and 22, there is a fairly clear break and you see the difference between earlier periods in these last days. You see before Chapter 21 that there is a temple that is referred to. You see that there is death that is spoken of. There is a sea that is spoken of. All those things change in Revelation 21 where the new heavens and the new earth come down to earth. That is the period, that is the element that we are focusing on this morning. There are, of course, many other things in the book of Revelation. I have to tell you I have read Revelation a number of times. I have talked through Revelation and I still, when I read through Revelation, my eyeballs just roll. I wish I could say to you that I have nice, clear picture. I think maybe one of the reasons that Revelation is written that way is that we ought to get the main points. We ought to get the big picture. As somebody said, “Jesus wins” is not bad. That is really what it is all about. I suspect that for those who are living in a particular period that is described in Revelation, they will look at that text at that moment in time and say, “Ah-ha –that is what He was writing about.” We will talk about some things which are mentioned in other parts of Revelation because I think they do give us a picture of heaven in terms of the new heavens and the new earth.
I want to approach this lesson by just asking a few questions and see if you can answer them from our text. Who will be there and who will not? What is heaven like? What will the saints be doing in heaven? What does Revelation confirm that we have found from other passages in the scriptures and what is the unique contribution of the book of Revelation to our study of our heaven? Finally, some applicational thoughts.
So, let us go to the first question; i.e., Heaven, who will be there and who will not?
Obviously, God will be there. Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be present in heaven and I was thinking of that text in I John 3:2 where it says,
“We will be like Him for we will see Him as He is.”
When you look at Exodus 33, Moses got a pretty good view of God from the back side, but he did not see everything. What we are going to see when we get to heaven is—we are going to see God face to face in all His glory. So, you have God the Father, who is described as being there, God the Son, who I think is probably the star of the show in the book of Revelation, and then the Holy Spirit.
Now, here is something kind of interesting. The expression, Holy Spirit, is never used in the book of Revelation. I am not sure why, but if you looked up that term, Holy Spirit, you would not find it in the book of Revelation, at least not in the American Standard translation. You have “in the Spirit” used four times. That is when John is talking about him, I think, under the influence of the Spirit and seeing the revelation that God is giving and then you have the word, “Spirit,” used nine times. What I did not put in your notes is the expression, “Seven Spirits.” Four times in the first five chapters it talks about the seven spirits. I wish I understood all that, folks, I am just telling you that is the way it is. The Holy Spirit is going to be there, too.
There are the saints, and I think there is a special honor that is given to those who are the martyrs, who have died for their faith in the Lord Jesus, many of them in the great tribulation. There are the angels. Seventy-four times they are mentioned in the book of Revelation. Twenty-five percent of all the references to angels in the Bible are found in Revelation. Lots of angels are there and I think we would probably expect that. There are the elders there. They occur 12 times. The apostles are also mentioned there and then the four living creatures.
Does that not just bend your mind? I think there is a tendency, at least in my mind, to think of heaven in terms of me and all my fellow human beings that are saved and then the angels, and pretty much God and that is it. But, you have these four living creates that are obviously beyond our dimension. When I read, for instance, in texts like Ephesians 3 where it talks about God giving this mystery to Paul that he has been playing out and now to make known the mystery of the Jews and gentiles being brought together in one body in the church and he says, in effect, so that all the celestial powers will see this and behold this. I think we all know that there is some kind of angelic celestial audience, but somehow in my mind those four creatures just did not have chairs in the auditorium that I was thinking about.
It almost gives you that Narnia feel, does it not? Where you are just saying, “Wow, there are these other things.” Hey, you know, God perhaps may have creatures that we are not aware of. I am not going down that trail very hard, but they are obviously here in the book of Revelation. But, I have to say this, we are not the only people who will be in heaven, but we are the only bride. The beauty of it is that when we are gathered together and assembled before God, we are going to be His bride and the object of His great affection and love.
Who will not be there? Well, the wicked will not be there— as you see in those texts in Revelation 21 and 22. Now, I may have overstated a point when I talked about the separation of the wicked from God and you get that clear impression from texts like II Thessalonians 1 “away from the presence of God.” R.C. Sproul, in a book I was reading this week, makes the point that if God is omnipresent (and remember when the Psalmist says “if I make my bed in sheol, behold thy are there”) then you have to say there is really nowhere that God is not somehow present. I think what you have to say is He is not present in the sense that He is with his saints. In fact, when you look at the punishment of the wicked, it actually describes them as being punished in the presence of the angels and of the Lord. When you look at the description of the abode of those who are unbelievers in Revelation 22, it describes them as being “outside the city” so when I look at a text like Luke 16 where you have the rich man and Lazarus and Lazarus is in Abraham’s bosom, it appears to me that you can actually sort of see the other side. There is not really a contact passed from one to the other, but one can see the other side. In a sense, that seems reasonable to me that those who are suffering in hell can actually see the delight, as it were, of those saints who are in heaven in the presence of our Lord.
What is heaven like? Well, the thing I did not say, and I wish I had said then, but I at least have a chance to say it now, is when I talked about heaven coming down in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate, dwelling amongst men, it really did not occur to me to say at that point (I guess I should say I forgot to say at that point) that Jesus is really the prototype of what heaven is going to be like.
Now, we see in Matthew 1:23 that He is to be called, Emanuel, “God with us.” Likewise in John 1:14, “He tabernacled amongst us.” Additionally, in John 2, Jesus speaks of Himself as being the “temple.” So, there are those indications that our Lord Jesus is certainly God dwelling amongst men and that, of course, is what heaven is about.
We see that in our Lord Jesus Christ the attributes of God are all displayed through the humanity of our Lord so that Jesus can say in John 14, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” Think about the miracles. I guess that is the thought that I had passed by that I should have mentioned back in that message. His miracles are sort of a snapshot of the things that are going to happen and the way it is going to be in heaven. So when you think about the turning of the water into wine you see our Lord Jesus taking something that is certainly of lesser value and converted it into greater value.
Now, it depends upon how you view the new heaven and the new earth. There are those that argue that “new” there does not mean entirely new. It means more “renewed.” This is sort of like your car having been in an accident and only it would now be better in this scenario. It would be better than the way it went into the shop—as something that God has reworked. In II Peter when it talks about the earth being dealt with in fervent heat, it may be that there is some kind of renewal. Our Lord Jesus is able to take that which is lesser and make it into that which is greater. That may be stretching it a bit, but the water to wine is at least an evidence of our Lord’s power over nature. As is the calming of the storm when the disciples looked at each other and said, “Who is this?” But, there will absolutely, of course, be control of over of nature in the kingdom of God.
Our Lord’s travel in the darkness. Remember in John 11 when Jesus has waited on purpose to go and to be with Mary and Martha because Lazarus has died? The disciples are saying, “Lord, they want to kill us.” He says, in effect, well, men normally travel in the daylight. The inference is He does not have to do that. He can travel at night because day and night does not matter. He is the light. So, therefore, He may travel at night when other people are in bed. He is the light in the darkness.
The casting out of demons is certainly a prototype of the defeat of Satan that we are going to see that takes place just before the new heaven and the earth. The healing of the sick and the raising of the dead. There will be no sickness. There will be no pain or sorrow. So, what Jesus did was a sample of that which is going to come. Of course, the transfiguration of our Lord is one more example of what heaven is like when you see Him in His radiance and His glory. That is a bit of a foreshadowing of what you see, for instance, in Revelation 1.
What is heaven like? Heaven is like God. Have you ever gone to somebody’s house and looked at their house and you say that is just you. Sometimes we say that about the way people dress. Somehow that is just them. When we get to heaven, it is going to be just God. It is so God-like, I think, in these ways. Think about glory. I had to start in my mind at Exodus 33 where Moses says to God, “Show me thy glory.” You remember in Exodus 34, he gets a pretty good view. Certainly, beyond anything that anyone else had seen to that point. You see the glory of God proclaimed in Isaiah 6:3 and John 17, our Lord speaks about showing His glory to His disciples, those who have followed Him, the glory that He had when He was with the Father in heaven. Then, in Revelation 21:23, it says,
“And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it for the glory of God has illuminated it and its lamp is the lamb.”
So, here the glory of God is such a bright radiance you do not need any other light. It is a glorious place. It is a holy place. Again, in Isaiah 6, “Holy, holy, holy,” and Isaiah 57, but look in Isaiah 21:27,
“Nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination of the line shall ever come into it.”
So, uncleanness is out of the picture. Remember Paul says in I Corinthian 15,
“These mortal bodies cannot enter into the presence of God.”
That is why we have transformed bodies when we come into the presence of God.
Righteousness. Now this one I think we need to reflect on a bit more. You remember in II Thessalonians 1:6-10, Paul is talking about the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is talking to those who are suffering for their faith and he speaks about the reward that is going to come for them for their perseverance and endurance. He then says also,
“It is right that when He comes, He is going to bring judgment upon those who have afflicted you.”
There is a sense, my friend, and I do not think we always see it— because we have never been down that trail. We, you and I, have never been martyrs. We have never suffered the intense cruelty that some people have— and many more people will endure in the future when their faith becomes the occasion for great oppression and cruelty and martyrdom. Then the righteousness of God will be evidenced in that judgment.
So, you have the saints in Revelation 7 crying out to God, “How long, how long will it be before you (in effect) come to deal with this?” Revelation 16 talks about the angel in verse 2 going out, pouring out his bowl upon the earth and then the second angel pours out his bowl and the third angel in verse 4 and it says in verse 5,
“And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Thou art righteous art, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” (KJV)
That may sound harsh to you, but there is a sense that all of us are waiting, (is there not?) for all those unpunished evils to be reckoned with. All the wickedness in this life where men have died and not faced the judgment they really deserve, there is a sense in which when you are in heaven and you see the righteousness of God, you will praise God for His rightly dealing with those who have rejected Him and, in particular, those who have oppressed His saints. Our Lord takes that very seriously. Men will praise God for it in heaven. Now, we may have a little trouble on this side thinking those thoughts. Yet others do not have any trouble at all. Perhaps they just go to the imprecatory Psalms and pray them about their enemies… But, the reality is when we get to heaven and we see God as He is, we will rejoice that He is righteous in his judgment— since He is holy and glorious.
Deity. You see over and over the references to the beauty of God. In Revelation 21:8-10, it talks about the bride as the bride comes down. Now, folks, I think in bride terms here. I have never heard anybody say of a bride, “Uh, uh, she really needs some work.” Brides are beautiful, are they not? Brides are beautiful and the bride, as it comes down and is joined in this marriage ceremony, is beautiful. So, the description of heaven— with all these gems and gold and everything else— is a picture of that beauty, but that beauty is a reflection of God’s beauty. It is the appropriate thing for God’s place.
Immortality. You remember I Timothy 1:17 talks about “God immortal.” God cannot die. He has always been. So when we get to heaven there will be no death (Revelation 21:4), and there will be the tree of life (Revelation 22:2). So, there we will be in heaven with an “immortality” that we enter into. There is light described in Isaiah 60:1, and John 8:12. Then, obviously, in Revelation 21:23, light comes. He is the lamp, as it were, of heaven.
And the last one is joy. Heaven is going to be a joyous place. There are texts in Isaiah which speak about the celebration and the joy that will be ours in eternity, but in I Timothy 1:11, it talks about the blessed God. I remember my professor in seminary pointing out that that word means also “happy.” I did a message on the attributes of God on that, the “happiness of God.” God delights in us. He takes great pleasure and great joy in what He does. Heaven is going to be a joyous, happy place because it is a reflection of God.
So, what will we be doing in heaven? Well, if you look, (and this is where I kind of spread out over all of Revelation—not just chapter 21 and 22— because you see these heavenly scenes) we will be singing. We will be singing a new song. I thought about that this morning and I thought, “I wonder what the song leader in heaven is going to do when he introduces that new song?” We are probably going to be perfect and we will not have as much trouble with new songs there as we do here. But, it will be a new song. Then, there is the song of Moses in Revelation 15:3. Interesting, is it not, how you tie the new in with the old because there is that recollection and remembrance? People see the salvation of God in a sense of continuity and they see the song of Moses, therefore, as a reflection and a remembrance. Similarly, the saints of today can remember, as well.
Prayers. Very, very interesting to me. I see some prayers, for instance, like the martyred saints in Revelation 7:9-11, who are, in effect, saying “how long before you deal with these people?” The word “prayer” is not used. Yet that really is a prayer. But, the way in which prayer is described it comes across as something which God has stored up. So, look with me for a minute at a couple of those other prayer texts. If you look at Revelation 8:3-4, it says,
“And another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer and much incense was given to Him that He might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.”
It is like that text (Psalm 56) which says that He has gathered, collected all of our tears in a bottle and that He is going to deal with that. He does not overlook any of our suffering. But, there is also a sense in which we are very momentary. We are very “McDonald’s” in our thinking about prayer. That is, we want to sort of roll up to the window of heaven, roll down our window, give our order and then wait for God to deliver. What I see is that heaven is going to be the answer to a whole lot of prayers that were not answered earlier. I know people have said one of God’s answers is wait. Well, it really is in the sense that some of our prayers may wait in terms of their answer. But, the description is that God has saved those up and they go up as incense before God. He is ever mindful of the prayers of His saints from all of history and that at some point those prayers are not going to be answered in heaven.
Worship and praise. You see, of course, a lot of that all the way through Revelation. One of the things which fascinated me was several times God is worshipped as the Creator and that is interesting because, of course, there will be the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth. Our Lord Jesus, of course, is worshipped as the redeemer, the one who has brought about salvation for His people. Much worship, much praise is being offered. However, it is from all of heaven, not just saints. It is also from the living creatures and elders and all the whole group present.
Service. In Revelation 22:3, we will be serving. Remember our Lord Jesus speaks of Himself as the one who will, in effect, seat his disciples and He will serve them at the table. I think that we are inclined to think that serving ought to stop when we get to heaven. That is the part we “pay” on earth so we can do something else in heaven. If Jesus is right, and He surely is, we have an inverted table. Greatness is actually in serving. Naturally then the reward for us in heaven is to serve. It is Him giving us the greater part, the greater role.
There is also the element of ruling which I would take as an aspect of our service where we will rein with Him. Then, I make the observation that heaven and what is done there is a lot like what we do every Sunday, is it not? Or, let us put it this way, what we do on Sunday ought to be a lot like what we do in heaven. You might even call Sunday a “rehearsal.” Even as related to the element of ruling, there is a sense in which when we come together in the meeting of the church that there are those men who God is going to lead to direct us, to guide us in worship of Him. So, all these elements, singing, prayer, worship, service, all those elements are here and we ought to be grateful. We ought to be looking forward to church just like we ought to be looking forward to heaven. The better if gets here, the more we know it is going to be even greater when we get to heaven.
What does Revelation confirm to us about heaven? Well, it certainly confirms that heaven is the place where God dwells with His people. Revelation 21:3,
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is among men. He shall dwell among them and they shall be his people and God, Himself, shall be among them.”
Heaven is the place where God is with His people. It is the place where we will be with Him. More than streets of gold, more than these other beautiful elements that we see in the description of heaven, it is the beauty of God and the presence of God that is our great joy and delight.
So, what are some of the unique things, contributions, that Revelation makes? It is really clear heaven does come down. You have this kind of earthly picture where I think we think of heaven mainly as us going up. Certainly that is true— when we die we do go up in the rupture as it is described in I Thessalonians 4—but here it is described as heaven coming down and God having His presence on this new renewed new heaven and new earth. Heaven comes down.
In Revelation 2, the preface to this is that it is addressed at churches. So, this is really specifically aimed at us as churches. There are specific things that God is looking at in his church that He expects them to do: to be faithful to sound doctrine, to correct those who are in error, to correct and avoid immorality, and all of that is described here. Then He says, “I know your deeds.” He also says, “Be careful lest I remove your lamp stand.” What a terrible thought. When you think about these seven churches of Asia, I am not sure there is a lamp there to speak of as there was in those days. The question is, how is our lamp doing? How is our lamp burning? We ought to be faithful to our Lord Jesus.
Now, suffering, martyrdom and heaven. I guess what I see is I am putting suffering and martyrdom on this side and then putting heaven on this side. Whatever you want to think about what the future holds, when I read the book of Revelation I see a lot of suffering on the part of saints. The scripture says that He even allows the beast to overcome the saints and to kill them. You see the martyrs crying out for justice. In my way of viewing things, I do not see that Christians are promised an escape hatch from the wrath of men. I see Christians promised an escape from the wrath of God. You can play that out in your eschatological scheme as you like, but it seems to me that in His words here He is talking to people who are going to have hard times. Those churches that He addressed already were having hard times and some of them were going to have more difficult times. The church, as we move toward the tribulation period, is going to undergo hard, hard times. Many are going to be martyred for their faith. What better thing to be saying to those in the midst of all the suffering of saints? Now there is the suffering that God pours out on the unbelievers, as well, but for the suffering of saints He holds out the joy of heaven. Is that not meant to give them comfort and courage and endurance and perseverance? So that they know, as Paul did from his experience as described in II Corinthians 12, and from His statements in II Corinthians 5 “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
So, anyway there is that great blend of suffering, martyrdom and heaven because heaven is the reward for those who persevere great suffering, Revelation 13. I get the impression as I read through the whole book of Revelation, do you not see a coming day when there is one world government? As I was reading that, I am saying to myself, whoa, and it is a little spooky, is it not, to watch the news and to see that movement toward this whole one-world setup. I do not know whether to be upset or excited. I guess I am both. As an American, I am upset. As a Christian I am saying bring it on. The Lord is just preparing the way, but I see that rather clearly that there is a movement toward one-world government and I see a movement toward opposition to Israel. Those things seem to be, in my opinion, in the making. Maybe they have happened before, maybe they will happen again. Yet as I read Revelation that part does not sound foreign to me any more—as it used to.
Satan’s defeat and judgment. What a great description of Satan’s destruction that we see in Revelation 12 and particularly in Revelation 20. So, where does all this go? Well, Revelation 22:17 says, “Come. Those who want a drink of that living water, come.” There is a message of salvation offered in the book of Revelation. Heaven is for those who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Come. Buy Gold. That is what He says in Revelation 3:18. It sounds like those conservative news shows, does it not, the commercials, “Buy Gold”? Well, I am not sure you want to buy it from them. Some of those guys are probably crooks, but, there is a sense in which we know that if the streets of heaven are paved with gold, then the “wood, hay and stubble” will not cut it. We are not taking a sack of ashes with us to heaven. So there is a sense in which we ought to buy that which lasts. Of course, it is not physical gold that we are talking about. But we ought to be, in effect, laying up treasures in heaven— preparing with those things that will last forever. As Luke 16 says, one of them is those people who have come to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and Paul makes a big point of that in his writings, as well. Be ready. The time is near.
When you read in Daniel 12, God says to Daniel, “Seal up that book.” Daniel, you are going to die. A lot of “times” are going to pass and then eventually you will be resurrected and these things are going to happen. Is it not what you read at the end of the book of Revelation? He says, “Do not seal the book because the time is near.” That ought to be a message to us that the coming of our Lord Jesus could be very, very near. As you see from Revelation 2 and 3, this means we ought to be active and faithful, not passive sitting back and as we see these coming up, cheering, checking off on our list the next set of terrible things that is going to happen before our Lord comes again! We ought to be actively out there proclaiming Christ, living Him before a lost world. Persevere. Over and over you see that word, perseverance.
I guess if I were to say anything to myself and to you, it would be this: Let us pray that God would give us an appetite for heaven. Is that not what it says in the prayer in Matthew 6, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? It is an interesting expression. Does it mean I pray that your will, will be done now on earth? I think so, but heaven is the time when heaven comes down to earth and God’s will will be done on earth, just as it is in heaven. Those ought to be wonderful thoughts. Those ought to be things that we, in a sense, daydream about. What it is going to be like then. For some of you younger folks it is going to be harder. For some of us who are older, we are saying bring it on. This is great news. It is a great place and I pray through faith in Jesus you are going to be there.
Father, we thank you for the hope that we have. Thank you for the glories of heaven that You will not only be there, but heaven we will be just like You. Help us to look forward to that. Help us in this life, perhaps as persecution grows in our own day, that we would endure and persevere and live out the life of the Lord Jesus before an unsaved world. In His name we pray, amen.