Do you want to go to Heaven when you die? Why is that, pray tell? Oh, it matters.

There are lots of reasons why people want to go to Heaven and, sadly, most of them are the wrong ones.

Some folks want to go to Heaven just to avoid the fires of Hell. Many want Heaven for the “perks” (streets of pure gold, no more tears death or pain, your own “mansion,” etc.) Others like the idea of rolling around in clouds of glory with nothing to do.

Newsflash: Such paltry reasons point to a deeper spiritual problem.

To illustrate, movie stars and celebrities always have to be on the lookout for gold diggers — people feigning honorable intentions but who are just after the money.

Likewise, God looks at the heart of those who come to Him. Are they pursuing a genuine personal relationship with Him, or just after the perks?

In Psalm 73:23-28, the Old Testament Psalmist illustrates someone whose heart intentions are pure and pleasing to God:

“Nevertheless, I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
You will guide me with Your plan,
And afterward receive me to glory.

Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
… But as for me, the nearness of God is good for me;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
So that I may tell of all Your works.”

A person who has been born again has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And among the Spirit’s many “jobs” in the believer is to plant an internal “homing instinct” for God in their hearts.

True believers will not, indeed cannot, be satisfied with anything less than an intimate personal relationship with the Lover of his soul.

The late Christian philosopher Dallas Willard challenged us with this:

“One should seriously inquire if to live in a world permeated with God and the knowledge of God is something they themselves truly desire. If not, they can be assured that God will excuse them from his presence … they have become people so locked into their own self–worship and denial of God that they cannot want God.”

Christianity is not defined by what you turn away from (sin), but by what/who you turn toward (God). Many folks stay away from Christianity because they mistakenly believe its all about giving things up that they still want to do.

That’s backward. Authentic Christianity is not about what you must give up, but about where you want to go with your life (hopefully, in pursuit of God Himself). 

I have always been struck by an emotional exchange in John 6:67-69 between Jesus and the Apostle Peter at a pivotal time in Christ’s ministry when many of His followers were deserting Him: 

“So, Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to leave also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have already believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.’”

Jesus was a hard act to follow for those who took the time to listen to Him. After hanging around with Him, everywhere else would feel like a dystopian wilderness.

Imagine what it will be like in Heaven where His children will have unhindered access to the Creator and Sustainer of the universe forever and ever.

The Book of Revelation gives us a taste in Revelation 21:1-4 :

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

How About You?

God is the point of Heaven, the whole point. The rest is window dressing. Agree?

According to the late Christian philosopher Dallas Willard, your eternal destiny is not cosmic retirement; it is to be part of a tremendously creative project, under unimaginably splendid leadership, on an inconceivably vast scale, with ever increasing cycles of fruitfulness and enjoyment.

That is the prophetic vision which “eye has not seen and ear has not heard.”

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