Why Are You Looking Forward To Heaven?

Why are you looking forward to heaven? Really another question needs to be asked before that one; why did you get saved? The answer to the last question ranges depending on who you are talking to. I have heard answers such as; I wanted my guilt removed, I wanted to be forgiven, I did not want to go to hell, I wanted to be with my family members that have gone to heaven before me, and I want to go to heaven myself. But are all these answers valid? Is there one right answer to this question from someone who has truly been born again? The answer is, “YES”!

In 2 Corinthians 4:6 Paul states that the gospel is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. As John Piper states, “the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment”. What Paul and Piper are saying is simply this; God is the Gospel. There is no gift Jesus can give that is greater than Himself; not forgiveness, not righteousness, not the removal of guilt, not the missing of hell, not the gift of heaven, none of them are greater than God Himself. In fact, those gifts such as forgiveness, righteousness, the removal of the wrath of God, are there to get everything out of the way so we get the greatest gift-God.

I agree with Piper when he states that, the critical question for our generation-and for every generation-is this: if you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

The answer for the true born-again believer is a resounding, “No”! Christ is our greatest treasure and our most valued gift. He is not a means to an end, He is the end. The answer to our two questions are the same. Why do you get saved? Why are you looking forward to heaven? Jesus Christ. If you answer those questions in any other way, then you have never truly met the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

For more information on this topic please refer to John Piper’s book God is the Gospel.