Eternity in Our Hearts

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

April 12, 1998

by Dave Wilkinson

Winston Churchill planned his own funeral which took place in London's St. Paul's Cathedral. He kept the plans in a file labeled "Operation Hope Not." In his plans, he included many of the great hymns of the church and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler positioned high in the dome of St. Paul's intoned, after the benediction, the sound of "taps"-- the signal that says the day is over.

But then came the most dramatic turn. As Churchill instructed, as soon as "taps" was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of reveille -- "it's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the morning."

This was Churchill’s testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be "taps;" it will be "reveille." The trumpet will sound and we shall be raised incorruptible.

God has "set eternity in the hearts" of men and women. That's what Solomon declares in Ecclesiastes 3:11. Solomon sees that God created men and women with the awareness that human life does not end at the grave. God has given us an instinct, a sixth sense if you will, that there is an afterlife.

When you look at the ministry of Jesus during his stay on earth, you discover that one of the central themes of his teaching was the need for all people to prepare today for eternity. His famous words, "think. What does it profit a person to gain the whole world in sixty or seventy years and lose his or her soul for eternity? Think. God has set eternity in your heart. You know better. There is life beyond the grave. You will spend infinitely more time in the afterlife than you will in this life. So think.

Pastor Bill Hybels of the Willow Creek Church in Illinois writes,

"I recall one time being in a restaurant studying for a message, and a gal looked over from her table and saw me reading my Bible. She said, "why do you study that stuff?"

And I thought, just to stimulate a little discussion, I'd try to knock her off balance. So I said, "because I don't feel like going to hell when I die." I was going to be really blunt, but I took the edge off it a little bit.

And she said, "There is no such thing as heaven or hell."

I thought, well, I got something going now. So I turned in my chair and I said, "why do you say that?"

She said, "everybody knows that when you die your candle goes out...poof!"

You mean to tell me there's no afterlife?"

"No."

"So that means you must be able to just live as you please?"

"That's right."

"Like there's no judgment day or anything?"

"No."

I said, "Well, that's fascinating to me. Where did you hear that?"

She said, "I read it somewhere."

"Can you give me the name of the book?"

"I don't recall."

"Can you give me the name of the author of the book?"

"I forgot his name."

"Did that author write any other books?"

"I don't know."

"Is it possible that your author changed his mind two years after he wrote this particular book and then wrote another one that said there is a heaven and a hell? Is that possible?"

"It's possible but not likely."

"All right," I said. "Let me get this straight. You are rolling the dice on your eternity predicated on what someone you don't even know wrote in a book you can't even recall the title of. Have I got that straight?" I was playing a little Columbo act with her.

She looked me right in the eye and said, "That's right."

And I said back to her, "You know that I think, sweetheart? I think you have merely created a belief that guarantees the continuation of your unencumbered lifestyle. I think you made it up, because it is very discomforting to think of a heaven. It is a very discomforting thought to think of a hell. It is very unnerving to face a Holy God in the day of reckoning. I think you made it all up." We had quite a conversation after that."

I have never found a more authoritative truth source for information concerning eternity than God's Word. When God's Word speaks on the afterlife, there is an unmistakable ring of truth to it. You find yourself saying, "Yes, I don't like it, but it makes sense.

The Bible teaches that beyond the grave you will be resurrected to either eternal life in heaven or eternal condemnation--no middle ground--if you're a golfer, no mulligans-one place or the other for eternity.

In a moral universe, it is unthinkable for a Mother Theresa and a Saddam Hussein to experience or to have the same accommodations in the afterlife. And God's word says they probably won't. There is a day of reckoning. Justice will roll from the mountains like a river. Justice will prevail someday.

Now we moderns do what we can to deny the reality of death--and therefore the possibility of judgement and the need to prepare for life after death.

Cosmetic companies, for example, offer lipstick and hair oil which guarantee the illusion of eternal youth. The funeral director measures his art by his ability to make the corpse look as if it were not dead at all. As critic Peter Berger has said, "the procedures, terminology, and professional ideology of the mortician's trade in this country all revolve around one fundamental aim--the camouflage of the reality of death." Then there are the new-style cemeteries, or rather, memorial parks, which shun tombstones like the plague. A recent newspaper article is headed, "the happy graveyard," and the subtitle continues, "California's Forest Lawn is for the living; has a third as many weddings as interments. This popular tourist attraction boasts gigantic works of art, piped music, 'sleeping rooms' for the departed, a souvenir shop, Babyland, Lullabyland, Slumberland, and Vesperland. After all, its only a little way to Disneyland. What a nice place to be married."

The Bible on the other hand, is very realistic about death. In 1 Corinthians 15, despite Paul's confident expectation of Christ's victory, there is no superficial triumphalism in his attitude to death. He acknowledges the bitterness of its sting. Death is not just a natural and unpleasant phenomenon, but a punishment. Death is an evil which exists because of human rebellion against God. In that sense it is completely alien, and we can appreciate the crucial importance of forgiveness.

Death, considered simply as the passing out of this life into the immediate presence of the Lord, is a gain, not a loss. This is what Paul says about his own impending death in Philippians 1. Where sin is pardoned, death has no sting. But where sin has not been dealt with, death is a powerful antagonist. There is a life after death, and if we don't know where we are going, it's not safe to die.

The only alternative to eternal spiritual death, Paul writes, is to be raised from death through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul writes: "Now I say this, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed."

"Flesh and blood" refers to the mortal body-our present humanity, which Christ fully shared through his birth. This mortal body is perishable and cannot inherit that which is imperishable. So the unsaved cannot be in heaven at all, and even the saved must have their bodies changed.

By using "mystery" in reference to the resurrection body, Paul implies that there are things about the body that the Corinthians do not understand, and about which he wants to inform them.

First, not all Christians will "fall asleep" or die. Some will be alive when Christ returns. Second, all Christians will receive changed bodies when Christ comes back and summons his people at the sound of the last trumpet. This is called "the rapture." Third, the change will occur instantaneously and completely for all Christians, whether living or dead. Fourth, the change will occur from one kind of body to another.

The change will not be a long-drawn out affair. The change will take place with startling suddenness. "Moment" is atomos, that which cannot be cut or divided. We get our word "atom" from it. It signifies the shortest possible moment of time -- less than an nano-second.

Jesus said, "because I live, you shall also live." That's a promise. And that promise is guaranteed to us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We’ll talk more about this next Sunday. Because of the victory of Jesus Christ, we may safely build today upon the promises he made two thousand years ago.

Have you ever thought of all the promises Jesus made? On the eve of Holy Week, Jesus said to the repentant tax collector Zaccheus, "truly, today salvation has come to your house."

Men and women, boys and girls, the huge question we have to ask is this: "Jesus said it, but does it stick? Can you build your life on it?" Some three weeks after Jesus' promise, does Zaccheus still count on what Jesus said? Remember. Jesus has been crucified, Zaccheus knows it. What about four weeks? What about five weeks? What about two months later; a year later? "Salvation, wholeness, health, has come to your life?" Does Zaccheus build on it? Can he count on what Jesus said? On the cross, while our Lord is on the cross itself, he prays: "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do." He says to the thief, "today you shall be with me in Paradise."

What do you do with these statements? Are they the kindly thoughts of a heroic man who is being swallowed up by death and by evil, and yet He has enough goodwill left over that he can wish well those who are harming him, or a thief who is hopeless? Is that what you do with these words? Or do these words have authority? Can you count on these words? Do you dare build your life on these words today, twenty centuries later? Jesus said to his disciples in the Upper Room, "you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you I go to prepare for you? -- because I live, you shall live also."

Do these words have authority--simple authority? The Apostle Paul says yes -- because of the actual victory of Easter. Jesus' love for you is not only concrete. His victory over our sin and death is also concrete. The grave is empty. Jesus Christ won! That's why Paul can say "death is swallowed up in victory! Oh death where is your sting?" Paul actually mocks death. He makes fun of it. "Because I live," Jesus said, "you shall live also." These words are not sentiment. The resurrection proves that Jesus' promises have authority. We can build our lives on them.

You see, because of the victory of Jesus Christ, not only are his promises sure, but what we do as his disciples will last. Now this is the more subtle point but it really is the main focus of 1 Corinthians 15--and that is "because Jesus Christ won, we shall win." After Paul says "Oh death, where is your sting," he says "the sting of death is sin: the power of sin is the law." And now listen to the next sentence: "but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our lord Jesus Christ," and then notice the last sentence, "therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your work is not empty." Because Jesus Christ won the victory on Easter, it means not only that He reigns and that His victory is sealed and that his words have authority, but it also means that what we do for the Lord in our lives on this earth is going to last. What we accomplish together in this church is going to endure. Because our work is "in Christ" as Paul writes, our work can't perish any more than Christ can perish. When the going gets tough or is simply unexciting, we need to remember that our toil is not in vain in the lord. We have a great present and we have a greater future. What we do now sets the course for our eternity.

Do we believe we serve a living Christ? Do our actions reflect that we serve a living Chirst who is in control of our lives? How many times have we felt discouraged or felt rejected or felt that we just wanted to give up? How many times have we questioned if God has everything under control in our lives?

In Philippians 3:10-11 Paul writes: "I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection." Paul didn’t see himself as someone who had turned over a new leaf, made a life-changing New-Years resolution, or pulled himself by His boot straps. He had been touched by more than a self help book or a motivational speaker. He had experienced the risen Jesus Christ. That experience with the grace of God gave Him the energy to live with enthusiasm and zest.

We have hope for this life and also for the life to come. We need that hope because God has set eternity in our hearts.

I cannot believe that heaven is anything like the place that folklore or the cartoons have often made of it: people strumming harps all over the place and baldheaded ex-businessmen with wings, sitting on clouds.

I know enough about heaven to look forward to it with pleasure rather than with misgiving. There God is King, and everybody recognizes it. He is not the killjoy that he is made out to be by the people who do not know him. Why shouldn't there be fellowship in heaven, unstinted intellectual activity, aesthetic creativity, sensuous beauty, exploration, literature, music, art, love, and anything else that can be truly cherished and enjoyed? God has set the desire for that in our hearts.

The Bible says that heaven is going to offer you community like you have never experienced here on this earth--trust-filled, transparent, magnetic, deep, significant, open relationships forever. I don't know if some of you can relate to what I'm talking about, but in the small group of pastors I fellowship with, we have had moments together where all us men have felt our hearts were so melted together and there was such a degree of joy and trust and honesty and rapport, that we could have sat and talked for the rest of the day. We just look at our watches and say, "oh, we gotta go."

But in heaven you're going to have uninterrupted, quality fellowship like that forever. No more loneliness. No more isolation. No more misunderstanding. None of it. God has already set the desire for that into our hearts.

And some of you have heard about white robes. You realize that you're an "autumn" and it's not your color. And you say. "Robes make me look hefty," and you get a little concerned about that. Again, you're thinking materially. Don't think materially. The Bible is teaching that in heaven you will finally experience the joy of never sinning again. The white robes are just a symbol of a pure, clean conscience for the first time--a permanently clean conscience. God has already set the desire for that in your heart.

Just last week I sat on some cliffs overlooking the Pacific and watched the huge ball of fire set on the western horizon, casting an orange and purple glow over the sea. I thought to myself, I'd sure like to live here because I could see this every night.

But friends, listen to me: if we gasp in awe at the handiwork of creation, what will it be like to behold the creator of the wonders of the world face to face? We shudder at the reflection. What will happen when we see the substance? And the Bible says you will behold him face to face and you will live in his presence forever. God has set the desire to know him in our hearts.

Eye has not seen and ear has not heard and words cannot describe a fraction of what God has in mind for you. It is real. It is for real people. It is forever. And not only is it available to you, but God has invited all of you personally to behold Him and to live with Him in joy forever.

What have you done with his invitation? The most important decision you make in your life is where you are going to spend your eternity. Buy a home; sell a home; have a family; buy a business; sell a business-it all pales in comparison to the significance of what you have done with God's invitation.

You say, "well, how do I get to heaven?" The Bible says you can't work your way, you can't buy your way, you can't deal your way, you can't plead your way. You repent of your sinfulness before God. You ask Jesus Christ's forgiveness. You believe that when Jesus died on the cross that He paid the penalty for your sin. And then you thank Him, follow Him, and trust Him. Then you'll gain the assurance of being with Him forever.

Some of you need to make that decision this morning. But if you've already made that decision, friend, rejoice! The battle is over. The only thing yet remaining is a victory celebration that will go on for eternity.