If heaven doesn't exist, then what are Christians looking forward to?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Dreamy_Twilight.jpg/320px-Dreamy_Twilight.jpg

This essay is in reply of my friend who post this on Facebook:
"If heaven doesn't exist, then what are Christians looking forward to?"

 This question reminds me Blaise Pascal's wager on existence of God with the following logic:

	God exists	God does not exist
Believe in God	Infinite gain in heaven	Insignificant loss
Disbelieve in God	Infinite loss in hell	Insignificant gain

  from Pensées


Hence, Pascal concluded that even if God does not exist, it is still worth it to believe in God because it only cost "insignificant loss" compared to the more costly losses should God really exist and yet if we don't believe.


However, while I do respect and admire Pascal's geniuses and contributions, I think Pascal misses the point. The incentive of being a Christian is neither heaven or hell.

Think about it:

Heaven no matter how wonderful the place is but after awhile anyone will get bored. A day or two in Universal Studio in Singapore would be fabulous. The unlimited ride, the amusement and entertainment, but I won't want to be stucked there for even 1 week! And frankly speaking, I don't have much liking of the aesthetic part of gold besides the fact that it is a rare commodity and hence it's rising price and value. And gold in heaven is no longer rare. So it is not about the place. It is about something else.

If not the place, then, what is it about?

"It is about Promise and Trust."

You see, the Bible says that we had and have sin (sin is a big concept which I will explain next time) and the consequence of sin is great and many. Of many consequences, there are 3 main ones:

1) One of the dread consequence of sin is that we become slave to Sin. Some of it may be subtle, and some of it may be evident like Alcoholism, Internet addiction, etc.  Romans 6:18 promise us that with Jesus's power: "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." He also promises in Psalm 119:11 that If we hidden God's word in our heart, that we might not sin against God. Those who had memorized the Bible can testify that Psalm 119:11 indeed is true and powerful. Because Psalm 119:11 and Romans 6:18 works, we have confident in the Bible and hence, we can trust in God and what God says must be true!

2) The other consequence of sin is that we are separated from God. Sin is so offensive to God that we are so separated from God. With all our needs and wants taken care off, with all pleasure and gain, at the end of the day, we felt that emptiness in us. We look for something "spiritual" to fill that gap. We, however failed miserable. Jesus had taken our guilt and offenses, and pay the penalty of sin with His blood, and because of that we became a righteous man (or a good man) as if we have not sin before! As the result, we become without sin and was adopted as sons of God and no longer separated from God!(Luke 19:10, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Peter 2:24, Rom. 8:3-4, Gal. 3:13) And as a result, we become so close to God that we live everyday as if God is beside us. That means, whatever bible text we read in the morning, we trust that He as if speaks directly to us. And we trust whatever God says.


3) The third consequence of sin is that this planet earth is breaking apart. Matthew 24, predicted the dooms day of this planet earth and every single detailed had and has come to pass. Sin has cause disaster, war, famine, global warming, political instability, corruption, disease, death... you name it! And God promises that He will end all this sorrow by preparing Heaven for us. He promise that during dooms day (which the Bible says, will happen any time soon), He will come back and destroy this Earth and make a perfect world again called Heaven. And He promise that it is going to be an awesome place to stay. 1 Corinthians 2:9 promises that:  "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him

That means, Heaven is not like one chunk of Gold building like I can imagine. It must be something better than that. I dont know. But I trust God, that I am going to like it and won't get bored (no matter how I try to perceive Heaven) because God said so. It is trust and promise!

So coming back to the question...

If heaven doesn't exist, then what are Christians looking forward to?

If that statement is true in an absolute sense, I think the short answer is: We, Christian will be so utterly disappointed. Not because we wanted to go there so badly, but because we trusted in what God has promise us. Is like when your boyfriend promise that he will marry you but later change his mind and go for another girl. How would you feel? Cheated right?

However, we know that most of God promise had fulfill and come to pass. And our daily walk with Jesus on this planet Earth had evident that He can be trusted and His Word can be taken word for word. So, even though we can't see Heaven yet, we can be sure, it really exist. That is what the Bible call: HOPE!

"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

-- Paul the Apostle (1 Cor 15:13-14)