Read:
Revelation 1:9-20, NLT
Reflect:
“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, ‘Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.’” Revelations 1:17, NLT
Is heaven real or a figment of human imagination? The stories of the bible are to open our eyes to see that heaven is not a human fantasy but God’s dream for us. Jesus came to give us the abundant life1 – not a life of material prosperity but the life in the kingdom of heaven that is filled with unconditional love, unspeakable joy and the peace that is beyond human understanding.
The apostle John was worshiping in the Spirit on the island of Patmos when he saw the risen Christ and received the instructions to write the letters to the seven churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyratira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. John fell at His feet as if he were dead when he saw the Risen Christ but he was encouraged with the wonderful truth:
“’Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look – I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.”2
The Good News is that Jesus is the Rock that will bring an end to all the kingdoms of this world. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that deeply troubled him which only Daniel was able to interpret after a revelation from God in a vision:
“There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future.”3
King Nebuchadnezzar had dreamt of a huge shining stature of a man that was subsequently crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold by a rock which became a great mountain covering the whole earth. God was showing King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future:
“During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.”4
The future that was revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar is our present time. Jesus came to fulfill Daniel’s prophecy of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Jesus has given us the Beatitudes – the keys to the kingdom of heaven5 and taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come on earth6. Jesus died to give us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth7:
“The Spirit alone can turn a cold, stony, apathetic heart into a heart of flesh. Only the Spirit can make us lovers of God. And the Spirit does this as we concretely apply the truths of God’s word to our everyday lives.”8
Heaven is found when we are living in God’s loving embrace through faith in Jesus Christ. Heaven is not a myth but a mystery and the adventure of being transformed from a goat to a sheep who is led by the Shepherd of love. Heaven is not just a destination we go to after we die. It is folly to search the Scriptures to look for eternal life:
“Your search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”9
Eternal life is life with Christ – a life that begins now and extends beyond death. The Scriptures are to draw us to the Risen Christ. We are to use the Scriptures to unlock the wonderful truths of the Kingdom of the Rock.
To experience the reality of heaven in the here and now, to have the abundant spiritual life, I need to embark on the journey of faith and to receive the kingdom of God as a little child.10 When I seek God’s dream for my life, I will not be living my dreams and nightmares. When I tune my heart and mind in silence to hear God’s word of unfailing love in the moments of today, I will have God’s dream of heaven which gives me a song to sing and I can cope with anything.
“Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Savior all the day long
Praising my Savior all the day long”11
Respond:
Lord, hold me close in Your loving embrace so that I may have a foretaste of heaven in the here and now.
Reframe:
- What are my motivations for reading the bible?
- What do I believe about heaven?
- How can I discover the truths about the kingdom of heaven?
Song of Praise:
Blessed Assurance
SDG
Notes:
1. John 10:10, NKJV
2.Revelation 1:9-18, NLT
3.Daniel 2:27-28, NLT
4. Daniel 2:29-45, NLT
5. Matthew 5:3-10, 16:19, NLT
6. Matthew 6:10, NKJV
7. John 16:13, NLT
8. Uche Anizor, Overcoming Apathy, 135
9. John 5:39-40, NLT
10. Luke 18:17, NLT
11. Blessed Assurance, Fanny Cosby
Reflections On Following Christ 