Last Sunday, we considered what Jesus teaches about heaven. And we found that what Jesus teaches about heaven is very different than what our culture teaches about heaven.
Our culture is shaped by a decided this-worldliness. We live for the moment. We struggle with FOMO. And we spend our lives trying to find the meaning of our lives in this life.
But, as the great Dutch theologian Geerhardus Vos has written,
“Ours is a religion whose center of gravity lies beyond the grave in the world to come.” Geerhardus Vos
If we try to find the meaning of our lives in this life, we will never find it. We will be miserable.
Thankfully, we know that we were born for another world. God has put eternity in our hearts (Eccl. 3:20). Jesus has filled us with the Spirit, a downpayment of the full inheritance we will receive in glory (Eph. 1:14). And one day, we will be ushered into a new heavens & new earth—there, we will “know fully” the meaning of our lives (1 Cor. 13:12).
BE PREPARED FOR DEATH
If all that is true, we should prepare ourselves & others to die.
We should make sure we are not searching for the meaning in this life.
“The old guys” were much better at being prepared to die than we are. Some of it was because they lived before the massive benefits of modern medicine, in which the average life span was much less. But it was also because they were more heavenly-minded & more convinced of the need to be prepared to die.
Jonathan Edwards was one of these guys.
In fact, Owen Strahan & Douglas Sweeney have written: “To live in the Edwards household was to come into regular contact with the reality of death and the necessity of gospel preparation for the afterlife.”
In 1747, the missionary David Brainerd got sick with tuberculosis while living with Jonathan Edwards & his family. On October 9 of that year, he died. Several months later, Jonathan Edwards’ daughter Jerusha died of tuberculosis after contracting it from Brainerd while caring for him.
The week after Brainerd’s death, Jonathan Edwards wrote the following letter to his daughter Esther who was away:
DEAR CHILD,
Though you are a great way off from us, yet you are not out of our minds: I am full of concern for you, often think of you, and often pray for you. . . .
The week before last, on Thursday, David died; whom you knew and used to play with, and who used to live at our house. His soul is gone into the eternal world. Whether he was prepared for death, we don’t know. This is a loud call of God to you to prepare for death. You see that they that are young die, as well as those that are old. David was not much older than you. Remember what Christ has said, that you must be born again, or you never can see the kingdom of God. Never give yourself any rest, unless you have good evidence that you are converted and become a new creature. . . .
I am, your tender and affectionate father, Jonathan Edwards
What a provoking letter!
And what a provoking reminder of our need to be “prepared for death.”
LET AS STRANGERS & ALIENS NOW
Until we gain our eternal world, we are to live as strangers & aliens.
This world is not our home. We are seeking a homeland (Heb. 11:14). We are desiring a better country, a heavenly one (Heb. 11:16). Like the saints of old, we are “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10).
And in the meantime, we have the awesome privilege of preparing others for eternity as well!