Imagine There"s No Heaven...
Most of us have heard John Lennon singing the famous song "Imagine" - his second hit as an ex-Beatle.
I heard it this morning and that line keeps running over and over in my head.
"Imagine there's no Heaven.
" Ok, let's play along.
Let's imagine there's no Heaven.
What then? Would you still be a Christian? Let's face it, most of us signed on because we didn't want to go to Hell.
In most cases, somebody presented to us an "escape clause" which spelled out for us how exactly we could avoid the "wages of sin" which we all deserved, the eternal torment of Hell.
Our interest was peaked.
We recited a prayer or got baptized, jumped through some denominational hoops and - BAM! - in an instant, we were Heaven bound! But what if there WERE no Heaven? Would you have signed on? Years ago, I heard a cassette tape of a preacher named Jesse Duplantis.
Though I can't recall the subject, I do recall that he was screaming and yelling and preaching up a storm on this tape, all the while making me laugh.
Then, he said a few words that I'll never forget.
In a soft, gentle tone, in a near whisper, he uttered, "Jesus Christ wants to be a real person in your life.
" At first, I was offended.
"Of COURSE Jesus is a real person in my life...
" Then I was gripped with the cold reality that He was no more real to me than Davy Crocket or George Washington or any other historical figure.
He was the baby at Christmas and the resurrected individual at Easter...
but he wasn't real to me.
A few years later, I was listening to a preacher named J.
Vernon McGee on the radio.
Again, I heard him speaking of the reality of Jesus Christ and how He desires to be as real to us as one's closest friend or spouse.
We fall in love with Jesus in the same way that we fall in love with any other person, i.
e.
, we spend TIME with them.
In fact, it's been said that "love' should be spelled T-I-M-E.
When I was single for 10 years, before I met my beloved Barbara, people would occasionally ask when I was getting married.
I would answer, "I AM married...
I'm married to Jesus!" An old man from Barbados once told me that, when he met his wife, he KNEW she was the one for him because, as he put it, "We were in love with the same person.
" Speaking of my wife, Barbara, I knew she was the one for me on our first date.
I actually never asked her to marry me.
We both simply knew that God wanted us together.
What gave it away? We weren't needy! We were complete, alone in our relationships with Jesus.
Yet, somehow, we knew we'd be stronger together than apart...
just the THREE of us (a threefold cord is not easily broken, Ecc 4:12).
Over the years, I have lost my enthusiasm for Heaven.
I rarely find myself talking or thinking about it much anymore, certainly not the way I did as a Christian babe.
I've come to understand what Paul meant when he wrote, "to live is Christ, to die is gain.
" In other words, if they killed him, he'd get to be with Jesus.
If they let him live, well...
he'd get to be with Jesus! "Kill me and I'm with the king; let me live and I'll build His Kingdom.
" What does Satan do with people like that? Truth is, the world is full of people like that, folks who stare fearlessly in the face of Persecution, content to know that the Lord promised there would be days like this.
I speak with quite a few Believers of this caliber and, frankly, it's encouraging.
They're not in this for Heaven's sake; they're in it because they love Jesus and they love His people.
Are tough times coming YOUR way? Jesus said, "in this world you will have many troubles, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world, "(Jn 16:33) Do you know the Overcoming One? I mean REALLY know Him? Is there an intimacy of relationship that grows with each day between you two? Would you be a Christian (literally "a little Christ") if there were no promise of Heaven? I'm convinced that Heaven is a mirror image of Earth.
After all, Jesus Himself taught His disciples, "thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
" He didn't do or say anything unless His Father in Heaven gave the directive.
I'm prone to saying, "as it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.
" We have many wars upon the planet right now because there are wars going on in the spirit realm.
We have many fatherless children on the planet because The Church is failing to "father" those who come into the Kingdom.
America's obesity problem is the result of being spiritually fat and lazy.
You get the picture, I'm sure.
Even the Amplified Bible version of Matthew 18:18 - a verse often misquoted and misapplied by many who teach that Heaven takes its orders from us - quotes Jesus as saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is ALREADY FORBIDDEN in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is ALREADY PERMITTED in heaven.
" We are the reflection of what goes on n the Heavens; NOT the image-maker.
When Lennon sang, "Imagine there's no heaven...
it's EASY if you try," he was sadly mistaken.
Psalm 19:1 tell us, "The heavens declare the glory of God...
"It would be very hard to deny something so glaringly obvious.
In fact, Romans 1:20 says, "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" No excuse? Sorry, Mr.
Lennon.
On December 8th, 1980, he was murdered in cold blood by a deranged fan.
Where his belief in Heaven is concerned, I'm sure he's singing a different tune today.
When I was a Youth minister and a College Church pastor, one thing that I often detected was the complete lack of sincerity displayed by many of the kids.
They LOVED the social aspects of being a Christian.
Visiting the water parks, attending concerts, having fellowship, wearing the T-shirt - these were all quite shallow evidences of a relationship with Christ.
When the tests and trials came, many kids failed, even turning their backs on Christianity all together.
If you want to know the truth, the same exists among adults.
Trails will come.
Everything WILL be tested, including Jesus Himself (remember His wilderness encounter with Satan; He was led there by the Holy Spirit, we're told).
Will you pass those tests? If your Christianity is all about Heaven and NOT all about Jesus, probably not.
Don't fret.
You'll get to take the test again later.
Every blessing, Michael Tummillo A servant of God http://www.
YourTown4Jesus.
com
I heard it this morning and that line keeps running over and over in my head.
"Imagine there's no Heaven.
" Ok, let's play along.
Let's imagine there's no Heaven.
What then? Would you still be a Christian? Let's face it, most of us signed on because we didn't want to go to Hell.
In most cases, somebody presented to us an "escape clause" which spelled out for us how exactly we could avoid the "wages of sin" which we all deserved, the eternal torment of Hell.
Our interest was peaked.
We recited a prayer or got baptized, jumped through some denominational hoops and - BAM! - in an instant, we were Heaven bound! But what if there WERE no Heaven? Would you have signed on? Years ago, I heard a cassette tape of a preacher named Jesse Duplantis.
Though I can't recall the subject, I do recall that he was screaming and yelling and preaching up a storm on this tape, all the while making me laugh.
Then, he said a few words that I'll never forget.
In a soft, gentle tone, in a near whisper, he uttered, "Jesus Christ wants to be a real person in your life.
" At first, I was offended.
"Of COURSE Jesus is a real person in my life...
" Then I was gripped with the cold reality that He was no more real to me than Davy Crocket or George Washington or any other historical figure.
He was the baby at Christmas and the resurrected individual at Easter...
but he wasn't real to me.
A few years later, I was listening to a preacher named J.
Vernon McGee on the radio.
Again, I heard him speaking of the reality of Jesus Christ and how He desires to be as real to us as one's closest friend or spouse.
We fall in love with Jesus in the same way that we fall in love with any other person, i.
e.
, we spend TIME with them.
In fact, it's been said that "love' should be spelled T-I-M-E.
When I was single for 10 years, before I met my beloved Barbara, people would occasionally ask when I was getting married.
I would answer, "I AM married...
I'm married to Jesus!" An old man from Barbados once told me that, when he met his wife, he KNEW she was the one for him because, as he put it, "We were in love with the same person.
" Speaking of my wife, Barbara, I knew she was the one for me on our first date.
I actually never asked her to marry me.
We both simply knew that God wanted us together.
What gave it away? We weren't needy! We were complete, alone in our relationships with Jesus.
Yet, somehow, we knew we'd be stronger together than apart...
just the THREE of us (a threefold cord is not easily broken, Ecc 4:12).
Over the years, I have lost my enthusiasm for Heaven.
I rarely find myself talking or thinking about it much anymore, certainly not the way I did as a Christian babe.
I've come to understand what Paul meant when he wrote, "to live is Christ, to die is gain.
" In other words, if they killed him, he'd get to be with Jesus.
If they let him live, well...
he'd get to be with Jesus! "Kill me and I'm with the king; let me live and I'll build His Kingdom.
" What does Satan do with people like that? Truth is, the world is full of people like that, folks who stare fearlessly in the face of Persecution, content to know that the Lord promised there would be days like this.
I speak with quite a few Believers of this caliber and, frankly, it's encouraging.
They're not in this for Heaven's sake; they're in it because they love Jesus and they love His people.
Are tough times coming YOUR way? Jesus said, "in this world you will have many troubles, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world, "(Jn 16:33) Do you know the Overcoming One? I mean REALLY know Him? Is there an intimacy of relationship that grows with each day between you two? Would you be a Christian (literally "a little Christ") if there were no promise of Heaven? I'm convinced that Heaven is a mirror image of Earth.
After all, Jesus Himself taught His disciples, "thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
" He didn't do or say anything unless His Father in Heaven gave the directive.
I'm prone to saying, "as it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual.
" We have many wars upon the planet right now because there are wars going on in the spirit realm.
We have many fatherless children on the planet because The Church is failing to "father" those who come into the Kingdom.
America's obesity problem is the result of being spiritually fat and lazy.
You get the picture, I'm sure.
Even the Amplified Bible version of Matthew 18:18 - a verse often misquoted and misapplied by many who teach that Heaven takes its orders from us - quotes Jesus as saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is ALREADY FORBIDDEN in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is ALREADY PERMITTED in heaven.
" We are the reflection of what goes on n the Heavens; NOT the image-maker.
When Lennon sang, "Imagine there's no heaven...
it's EASY if you try," he was sadly mistaken.
Psalm 19:1 tell us, "The heavens declare the glory of God...
"It would be very hard to deny something so glaringly obvious.
In fact, Romans 1:20 says, "For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:" No excuse? Sorry, Mr.
Lennon.
On December 8th, 1980, he was murdered in cold blood by a deranged fan.
Where his belief in Heaven is concerned, I'm sure he's singing a different tune today.
When I was a Youth minister and a College Church pastor, one thing that I often detected was the complete lack of sincerity displayed by many of the kids.
They LOVED the social aspects of being a Christian.
Visiting the water parks, attending concerts, having fellowship, wearing the T-shirt - these were all quite shallow evidences of a relationship with Christ.
When the tests and trials came, many kids failed, even turning their backs on Christianity all together.
If you want to know the truth, the same exists among adults.
Trails will come.
Everything WILL be tested, including Jesus Himself (remember His wilderness encounter with Satan; He was led there by the Holy Spirit, we're told).
Will you pass those tests? If your Christianity is all about Heaven and NOT all about Jesus, probably not.
Don't fret.
You'll get to take the test again later.
Every blessing, Michael Tummillo A servant of God http://www.
YourTown4Jesus.
com
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