Heaven and "Your Ever After"

Today we are continuing our focus on matters of life, death and eternity because of the passing of our friend Merv.

Eternity is in our hearts

……He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], …. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (AMP).

I have really enjoyed this book - Heaven - by Randy Alcorn. It is a cracker!


Here are some snippets from the book.

God has provided glimpses of Heaven in the Bible.
We don’t have so much information that we can claim full knowledge.
What we must do is remove from our minds any preconceived ideas and allow our biblically inspired imaginations to fuel our comprehension of the afterlife.
Instead of looking up into the clouds, we should look around us and imagine what everything would be like without sin and corruption.
Certainly, Heaven contains many surprises which we will never be able to comprehend in this life. However, we must not neglect studying what God has revealed to us in the Scriptures.
The Bible says, “Set your hearts on things above” (Colossians 3:1), suggesting a diligent investigation, an ongoing process.
It also talks about God’s people “longing for a better country” (Hebrews 11:16).

I am so glad that we did the Your Ever After Sunday AM preaching series in October 2008.

It was a snappy 3 part series as follows:

Part 1 - Eternity

Part 2 - Heaven, our Home

Part 3 - Hell - Life's Tragic Default

Here are some more snippets from the book.

We often refer to Heaven as our future home. Home represents familiarity.
Home is a place with family, a place where we belong, a place that God is preparing that will far exceed our imagination. Our greatest of experiences on Earth are merely foretastes of what our home in Heaven will be like. To long for Heaven is to long for God. Being with God for eternity is the ultimate blessing of Heaven. Every other pleasure we experience will pale in comparison.On this Earth we can enter the presence of God at any moment of any day through prayer. On the New Earth we will be able to live in His presence in our resurrected bodies. Can there be any greater joy than this?


“Of this we may be absolutely certain: Hell will have no power over Heaven; none of Hell’s misery will ever veto any of Heaven’s joy.”

The fact that our true home is in Heaven should motivate us to make sure we invest our days on Earth in deeds of service that have eternal value.

We should make every effort to lead as many people to Christ as possible.

We should recognize that every choice we make each day has a direct influence on the world to come.

We should seek to live a Christ-centered, righteous life.

We should do all we can to feed the hungry, minister to the sick, and provide hope to the hopeless.

“As a Christian, the day I die will be the best day I’ve ever lived. But it won’t be the best I ever will live. Resurrection day will be far better. And the first day on the New Earth that will be one big step for mankind, one giant leap for God’s glory.”