The Kingdom of Heaven

Heaven
The Choir
Experiencing God
The Kingdom
The Love of Christ
No More Sin
The Treasure

Heaven
There's a place i've really been waiting to go and see. Have you ever tried to imagine what Heaven is like? It's mind blowing to know that Heaven will be infinitely greater than we can even imagine. Take a few moments today to try and imagine heaven. What will it look like? What do the angels look like? What kind of spiritual bodies will we have? Will it be like flying over the clouds with a bright light everywhere? What would it be like to encounter the full essence of God? What exactly is heaven?

The Choir
Heaven will be like nothing we've ever seen. Have you ever had a small glimpse of heaven? Sometimes i can hear the voices of heaven echoing throughout His courts. I can hear them singing and praising "Hallelujah!" I can hear His people shouting in victory and triumph. I can hear the choir of angels singing over and over, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" I can hear the sound of the trumpets roaring across the land and all of God's creation adoring Him in worship. But even more impressive than all of these, is the personal voice of God that speaks directly to my soul.

Experiencing God
We already get a small taste of heaven in this life. Sometimes my body just gets swept by this full rush of God's love and spirit. My heart begins to tremble rapidly and my breathing gets short in amazement. I can feel His presence within my spirit and hear His gentle voice of comfort. He often reveals Himself through our thoughts, senses and emotions. You can normally tell when it's God when you get this sudden jolt of joy out of nowhere. It's highly addictive. Sometimes He catches you off guard. Sometimes you can see it in a child's face, in the love of a family, the laughter in a friend, and especially in nature. Other times we miss the opportunity because we weren't aware. And sometimes you can intentionally direct your focus on Him and meet with Him one on one in the quietness of your heart. If you have some time, why not sit down in a quiet place, perhaps out in nature, and see if you can experience the creator of Heaven and Earth. God says we'll find Him when we seek Him with all our heart and soul. The question is, have we really been seeking Him?

The Kingdom
The Kingdom of Heaven has already been at hand the resurrection of Christ. It is existing here and now in His church. Those that are His and that do His will make up the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is also near and coming. This will happen at Jesus' second coming and at the time of judgment. All of His promises will be fulfilled. God's will with this world will be completed. He will reign with His church for eternity in this heavenly kingdom. This kingdom is above all others, will endure forever and never pass away. God has set up a marriage between His church and Himself, where we make up one body as a church and have God the Holy Spirit dwell within us. God's eternal kingdom is spiritually separate from the strongholds of darkness. But in the end God's righteousness and justice will be made known to the world. Heaven and Hell is a reality. What determines where we go? Well that depends on what we have done with the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever." Daniel 2:44

"Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him." Daniel 7:22

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." Matthew 13:44

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:1-4
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." Revelations 11:15

The Love of Christ
The main event in heaven will be Jesus. The climate and room temperature of heaven will be the full embrace of His warm love. We will be fully engulfed by the Holy Spirit. It'll be crazy exciting to be ignited like electric dynamite. Can you imagine standing face to face in the full presence and being of God? We will all sit at His feet adoring His wonder, power, and majesty. We will see the holes in His hands and feet, reminding us of the cross. And how His blood covered our sin.

He will be like a well spring of life, gushing out everlasting water. We will be more than just satisfied. We will grow closer and deeper to Him by the moment. I forget who told me this, but they described heaven like this. (Paraphrased) "Although there may not be days and sleep in heaven, it'll be like waking up each day and falling in love with God more and more by each moment. We will never cease to be astonished and amazed by His holiness." Pastor Waxer once describe it like this. "Imagine seeing one view of God and being entirely in awe. Then seeing Him turn just an inch and having your mind blown away again. And He turns an inch again and again for eternity as we cry out Holy! Holy! Holy!" It will be far from stagnant. It'll be like abiding in Him and growing closer to Him non-stop. In fact we can already experience that in this life when we have an authentic relationship with Him.

It's crazy how John describes Heaven in Revelations. He obviously saw a tiny glimpse of Heaven and could hardly put it into words and imagery that we could understand. All of my illustrations and analogies don't even scratch the surface. Our human terms and thinking can never truly comprehend or imagine the true essence and magnitude of Heaven. I like how my friend once told me that there are probably colors we have never even dreamed of. Think of a new color that no one has even seen before. That's a small taste of what Heaven may be like. Just an entire new place, where we can finally be fully connected with Him. Fully sanctified, no suffering, sin or death. Just Jesus.

We will see the full radiance of His transfiguration like how John, Peter and James saw. And even greater than how He appeared to Paul in His resurrected form. We will be fully immersed, consumed and clothed by His never ending love. Nothing will be able to separate us from His love and He would be our one and only desire of our heart. Our minds will joyfully be stuck on worship mode. The only thought that would flood our minds is the love of Christ.
There may be other activities and responsibilities given to us, but again the beauty of heaven will be praising the Lamb of God. The things we never understood in this world will be revealed. We will come to the knowledge of knowing God in His entirety and yet be constantly astonished and amazed by His infinite supremacy. He will be over all, and all will worship Him. The church will be part of a divine communion; a fellowship closer than marriage. So if you're like me and often need some motivation to continue pursuing Christ, take a second to ponder the full intensity of His love. Soak, saturate and savor His love. 

No More Sin
Another thing I'm excited to experience is the full completion of my sanctification. The sins of His church were all nailed to that cross. And the perfecter of our faith will see the completion of it. God is not only the Author of our salvation and redemption, but the Finisher. In Heaven He will see us as completely holy, righteous and pure in His sight. We will be without a blemish and all reflect the glory of the Lamb. In other words, it will be impossible for us to sin in heaven, because through Christ we have become the righteousness of God. Our hearts will be directed and fixed correctly on Him. We will worship Him in spirit and truth, as we were created to do. There will be absolutely no sin or death. There will be no more shame, guilt, sorrow, resistance, frustration, darkness, agony, stress, suffering, worry, fear, doubt, remorse, hatred, anger, failure, rejection, abandonment, betrayal, loneliness, pain, sickness or sadness. I dunno about you, but that sounds pretty awesome! The entire atmosphere of heaven will only be filled with His love. In this universe, our entire world revolves around the Sun. In a similar way, everything in heaven will revolve around the Son.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor 5:21
With child-like faith, we will surrender everything in our past, and will dance in His freedom! The entire essence of who we are; our soul, spirit, mind, heart, will, love and life will be given back to Him in worship and praise. We will have no temptation to sin because our eyes will be perfectly set upon His righteousness. We will receive the fullness of His forgiveness and grace. He will call us each by name and treat each individual as His unique and beloved child. We the church will make up the kingdom of heaven and He will sit high upon His throne as our everlasting King. There will be a massive party and celebration in heaven for eternity. But our Abba Father will also offer us rest in His arms. God will breathe a calm peace throughout heaven that we could never fathom in this life.
The Treasure
Stop, to hear the sound of His voice. Can you feel His heartbeat? Some people go there entire lives thinking they know that God loves them. But in part, it's only truly those who have experienced His love, practiced waiting upon Him and abide in Him who have a relationship with Him. Heaven is here and near. Are you ready to meet the King? Are you prepared to stand before Him? What do you worship? How are you spending your time? What are you living for? What are you investing in? Are you storing up treasures in Heaven or Earth? Meet with God first hand, pray for intimacy, and dream of heaven.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21