Articles
Think of the Home Over There
Think of the Home Over There
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:3-4). Christian, do you often think about that inheritance in heaven? Consider some of the things God has told us about heaven, “the home over there” as we sometimes sing.
Here we have no enduring habitation, but heaven is a place that is eternal. “And there shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever” (Rev 22:5). The faithful will dwell there in an unfailing, eternal body: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor 5:1).
Here we live among unrighteousness, but heaven is a place wherein only righteousness dwells. There will be no more temptation, no more sin, no more wickedness: “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or casus and abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of life” (Rev 22:15). “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet 3:13).
Here beauty fades and fails, but heaven is a place of unfailing, unsurpassed beauty. “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (Rev 20:10-11). And the twentieth chapter continues with descriptions of beauty in human terms that you and I can understand.
Here labor continues, but heaven is a place of rest from labor on this earth: “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’” (Rev 14:13).
Here we rejoice (1 Pet 1:6) and sometimes mourn and weep, but heaven is a place of final and complete joy, a place of settled happiness. The reward to the faithful in the parable of the talents tells us that joy awaits the faithful in heaven: “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’” (Matt 25:23). And the apostle John writes, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4).
I’m afraid we don’t spend enough time thinking about heaven. Could it be that we are too busy with the affairs of this life and enthralled with the things this world has to offer that we don’t desire heaven as we should? If so, that’s worldliness, and we cannot love both the world and God (1 Jn 2:15; Matt 6:24). Which do we love?
We need to make time to meditate on the home over there. Doing so will help us to remember that there is something much more important than any treasure on earth that this world can offer, it should motivate us to live not for ourselves but for Him who died for us, and it will help us to endure struggle and suffering for Christ so that we can be one of those who “believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb 10:39), inheriting the home over there.
