Homesick for Heaven
By J. Vernon McGee
Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight); we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8, AMERICAN STANDARD VERSION)
Well, where is this home, and what is this home like? We are going to stand on the fringe and peer over the wall into a vast domain; we are going to look out upon the rolling waves of a seemingly endless sea concerning this subject of heaven. We're told here that we are to be "at home with the Lord." This is one of the lovely expressions - and Scripture is filled with these lovely expressions - that speak of the eternal state of the believer, "at home with the Lord."
Now this fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians is one of the highlights of the Word of God. It is of paramount importance to the careful student of the Bible. There are many different subjects presented here which are arresting, intriguing, and impressive.
The interesting thing is that for some of them no conclusion is reached. A problem is stated but not adequately answered - or perhaps not answered to our satisfaction. For instance, the apostle Paul writes, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). Does he mean there is a temporary body given to us when we leave this earth, before we receive our new body? There are many expositors who take that position.
Then we are told about the judgment seat of Christ. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Corinthians 5:10). There has always been a question about how much of our Christian life is going to be exposed at this judgment. I have always felt that it will be put on the screen like a motion picture and that no detail will be left out. But this concept could be entirely wrong.
Then in 2 Corinthians 5:17 we learn that if we are in Christ, we are a new creation: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." How much is involved in that?
Then God opens up the great subject of reconciliation:
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18, 19)
I do not think anyone has been able to probe the depths of that great theme.
Finally, we are told that we are ambassadors:
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
What is involved in being an ambassador for Christ? We know some things, but there are other things we apparently do not know.
Heaven - Where is It?
Now for this message we are going to restrict ourselves to one of these suggestive subjects - that is, it will not be adequate nor will it be all-comprehensive, only suggestive.
We are told here, as we are told elsewhere in the Word of God, that there is a heaven out in space. This is a revelation found in the New Testament.
Heaven is not the hope of the Old Testament. As far as I can tell from the Old Testament, God never told anyone that He was going to remove them from this earth to a place out yonder that we call heaven. He did say that our earth would become the Kingdom of Heaven, and I understand this to be the full and adequate meaning of that expression.
"The Kingdom of Heaven" is a progressive term, I grant that, but its final fruition will be the establishment of God's kingdom on this earth, and that means this earth will become heaven or a portion of God's heaven. Now that was the hope of the Old Testament, but it's not the hope of the New Testament.
The first mention of God taking a group of people from this earth out into space is when our Lord introduced the subject in the Upper Room. This One who had been the carpenter of Nazareth down here, said to His own,
... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2, 3)
And Paul, banking on that statement, wrote that to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.
Now what about this place? Paul confirmed its existence, but the only description I can find of it is in the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation. Therefore, we will have to go there to get the description of this wonderful place where we are to be at home.
We should note that our knowledge of it brings courage and comfort to the heart, and I am sure that one of the reasons so many of God's people have become discouraged along life's pathway is because they've lost sight of the place where they are going. If you've read John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress (which, by the way, was Bunyan's masterful expression of his own experience) you will find that this man Christian, though he went down into the Slough of Despond or went down into Doubting Prison, always could come out and face the future and move upward on the pilgrim pathway because, as he says, "I am on the way to the Celestial City."
Many of God's children are so wrapped up in this world today, like a kitty in a ball of yarn, that they have lost sight of the fact that we are pilgrims and strangers down here. They do not realize that to look forward to the Celestial City brings courage and comfort to the heart in our day.
Now we want to turn to chapter 21 of the Book of Revelation. And as we do, we want to see the description that is given here. We find that there are two features we want to develop at this time:
First is the topography of heaven. And second is the typography of heaven. These are the two themes: the topography of heaven and the typography of heaven.
Now when we speak of the topography of heaven, we mean that it is a place, a material place, if you please. I do not know why the notion has arisen that the difference between that which is spiritual and that which is carnal is that the carnal is material, something which you can see, and that the spiritual is something you can't see and has no physical qualities whatsoever. That is not true. Actually, some of the most carnal things in this world are things you can't see. Hate and covetousness are works of the flesh, but they are just as much in the unseen realm as love and unselfishness, which are the fruit of the Spirit.
On the other hand, a thing does not have to be out yonder in space with no tangible substance in order to be spiritual, my beloved. Heaven is a good example of this because it is a place with three dimensions: it has height, it has width, it has depth - all of these things. Yet it is in the realm of the spirit.
Notice the description of heaven that is given. And may I say again - I continually repeat it - that the interpretations I am giving you are only suggestions. Yet I trust if you have become discouraged, or perhaps you have not yet begun the pilgrim pathway to this city, that you will be encouraged by what is given here.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. (Revelation 21:1)
This tells us that there will come into existence a new heaven and a new earth. God is trading in this model on a new one, one that will be absolutely, of course, free of sin. And the only change that is called to our attention is the fact that there will be no sea. What a great change that will be!
Now we in Los Angeles are thankful for the ocean. If you do not see why, then take a trip 200 miles to the east or go to Chicago, and you'll see why the ocean is such a valuable asset here on the West Coast.
But can you conceive of this earth without any ocean, that which occupies three-fourths of the globe's surface? If now we had all that space, what a tremendous population could be put here - and will be put here in the eternal ages. Not only that, just think of the parking space we're going to have when we get rid of the ocean! "No more sea" is the one radical change we are told about. Then God moves on and tells about something else that will be new.
Up to this point heaven has been mentioned many times in Scripture, but never described. Our Lord said He was going to prepare a place for us in it; Paul wrote about being homesick for it and wanting to go there; and now it comes into view for the first time. I think it's already in existence, but I don't think we're going to see it until eternity begins; that is, until we have the new heaven and a new earth.
Now will you notice what he says,
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)
