INCOMPARABLE
One afternoon near the Sea of Galilee Jesus went up on a mountain side with his disciples. And while they were sitting there together a large crowd of people found out where they were and started to gather around Jesus - there were about 5000 men in that group, plus women and children. But these people were far from home, they were hungry, and it was getting late. And so with just five loaves of bread and two small fish, Jesus fed this crowd of probably 10,000+ people and even had twelve basketfuls of leftovers after everyone had eaten their fill. You know this story; you’re familiar with the miracle of the Feeding of the 5000; but don’t forget about what the gospel writer John says the people were thinking because of what had just happened, “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself” (John 6:15). The people wanted Jesus to be their ruler right then and there on this earth; and you can see why! He could supply them with all the food they could ever want, after all! He could make it possible that they would never have to work again! What a great deal! What a wonderful leader he would be! But Jesus wasn’t interested in staying here. He didn’t come into this world in order to give us a good life here. Instead, he came from heaven to earth so that we could one day go from earth to heaven. And those people who were miraculously fed by those few loaves of bread a couple fish didn’t realize that whatever blessings they might enjoy here would be incomparable to the joys awaiting them in heaven.
It’s always been a product of the sinful nature of human beings to be a little impatient, to want instant gratification, to want God to be an earthly ruler right here and right now and supply us with everything we could ever imagine. The Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob’s well thought he was going to give her some kind of special water that would quench her physical thirst for the rest of her life! She didn’t realize that Jesus was talking about faith in her Savior and ultimately life in heaven. Pontius Pilate was under the impression that the Lord’s kingdom was supposed to be somewhere here on this earth; not somewhere up above. Even Jesus’ own disciples asked him right before he ascended into heaven if he was going to restore at that very moment the nation of Israel to a great world power again. No one seemed to understand that while Jesus was here on earth, he was always looking ahead to heaven. And all of the joys of this world and all of the glory that could be gathered here and all of the happiness that could be experienced and all of the wealth that could be enjoyed could not compare to what was to come. Only in heaven will Jesus finally unleash the full might of his power and release all of the blessings that he can give.
But is that good enough for us? Are we satisfied with what we will receive, what the future is supposed to bring? Are we happy and perfectly content if we don’t have the things we want in this life? Sometimes that’s not enough, is it? Sometimes we act as if we aren’t really all that happy if we don’t get some of those good things right away. Because we like to think to ourselves, “Yeah, but what about now?” “Why can’t I have some of the things I want in this life now, Lord?” “Why can’t you help me out with this problem now, Lord?” “Why can’t my body work the way it should now, Lord?” “Why do I have to be in so much pain now, Lord?” “Why do you allow me be so lonely now, Lord?” “Why is it so hard for me now, Lord?” “Why can’t I have the life I want to have right now, Lord?” I think there are times in every one of our lives when we would like Jesus to be a ruler of this world, a president of sorts on this earth - to do for us everything that we want and to give us everything that we desire.
But we forget, just like many people during Jesus’ day forgot, that the Lord’s goal isn’t to bless us with every good thing on this earth. His ultimate goal is to bless us with every good thing in Paradise. Yes, he likes to give us blessings in this life to enjoy and to use and to appreciate, but those gifts - no matter how great they may seem - are nothing when it comes to what God has in mind for his children for the rest of eternity. What Jesus has planned for you in heaven is incomparable to any little gift he could possibly give you on this earth. Because think of the nice blessings you have in this life: The best food in this world will eventually spoil. The healthiest body will grow old. The most loving friend will pass away. The nicest house will start falling apart. The easiest and most enjoyable life that you can think of will still be filled with difficulties and sorrows. And so don’t get too attached to the things of this world. Don’t put too much stock into their ability to make you happy. And don’t try to pull God down onto an earthly throne in some way and long for him to be a ruler of this world. He’s not going to do it. He doesn’t want to do it. This world is too messed up. It’s too sinful. Being a ruler of this sinful world and giving us all of the things that we want in this sinful world is like putting new tires and a new windshield and new upholstery in a car that doesn’t run. Those things might be kind of nice at first, but they’re not really going to make a difference in the end. The blessings that God gives us in this world might be kind of nice at first, but they’re not really going to make a difference in the end. No blessing in this life can last. And the Lord’s got something better waiting in the wings anyway. And what the Lord has waiting for us he describes through the prophet Isaiah:
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.
Doesn’t that life sound nice? Everything is going to be “new” - it will be nothing like we have right now: no weeping or crying, no death, no disaster, no war, no heartache, no pain, no friction of any kind. It’s not just going to be an improvement; it’s not just going to be a revamping of what we know now. No, it’s going to be completely new; it’s going to be altogether different. And it’s going to be so great that God himself says that “the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” The blessings you will enjoy in heaven are going to be so overwhelmingly wonderful that whatever good things you had on this earth will be forgotten about! They won’t even cross your mind!
Would you allow me to tell a story that I’ve told a number of you already? There was an orphanage in the middle of Moscow. It was an inner city orphanage in a rundown building with little to no government funding. There wasn’t much to eat; there wasn’t much to wear; and there wasn’t much to do about it. There was a little boy named Andre in that orphanage, six years old, there almost from the day of his birth. He didn’t know anything else; he didn’t know any other life. But one day the head of the orphanage ran up to him and said, “Andre, you’re going to America! An American couple has decided to adopt you and you’re leaving next week! It’s going to be the greatest thing that has ever happened to you! I can’t tell you how wonderful it’s going to be!” Andre looks at her and says, “I guess it sounds all right, but will they have potato soup there?” “Potato soup?” the owner of the orphanage says. “You mean the old pieces of potato boiled in water that we get once a month? Why would you ask that?” “Well,” Andre says, “potato soup is my favorite meal here. If they don’t have it in America I don’t think I’ll be happy.” “Oh, but Andre, you’re going to have so much food in America that you won’t be able to eat it all. And it will be better food than you have ever had before. And you’ll have your own family and your own bed and your own back yard and brothers and sisters… You don’t understand! That life will be nothing like this one. That life will be incomparable. And once you get there you won’t ever want this potato soup again.”
This life is nothing but potato soup. Sure, there are moments: things that make us happy and experiences that we can and should enjoy. But it’s really nothing but potato soup. There is no bland morsel on this earth that can possibly compare with the rich and mouth-watering flavors of heaven. And so you can see why the Lord isn’t all that concerned about supplying us with extra glasses of dirty water of this world and more pieces of stale bread of this life just because that is all we know and that is what we think we really want. Jesus didn’t go through the effort and the humiliation of taking the form of a human being and living in a sin-filled world and allowing himself to be harassed by his arch enemy the devil the entire time just so that he could supply us with things in this life that don’t even last! Jesus did not pour out his own blood and give up his own life so that we might be able to be somewhat happy with a few meager possessions on this earth! Jesus didn’t throw himself into the torture chamber of the deepest pits of hell while he hung on that cross just so that we might have a relatively easy life on this earth and die a peaceful death! Jesus did not rise from the grave and conquer every possible enemy we will ever have just so that we can taste some good food and take some nice vacations and see some nice people and accomplish some nice things and enjoy a nice life for the few years we are living in this sinful world! All of Jesus’ efforts and his bloody selfless sacrifice were for something much more permanent and much more important than that. All of Jesus’ efforts and his bloody selfless sacrifice were for your forgiveness and for your life - but for not your life here; for your life there. And so as long as you are still living here, that’s going to be Jesus’ main focus: to get you from here to there! And if that means he gives you some earthly blessings along the way… then great! And if that means he takes some of those blessings away from you to make sure that you end up where he wants you to be… then great! He always has your eternal life in mind. And so he’s going to do everything necessary to guarantee that you will one day enjoy that eternal life with him in heaven.
That’s why when he describes his heaven in Isaiah 65 he says, “Be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create.” We should be thankful for what he has given us here, but we should rejoice in what he will give us in the future. Because he knows that life here isn’t always all that great. He’s been through it! He knows that life here can be a little painful. He’s suffered it all! He knows that life here is filled with sorrows and disappointments and death. He knows that better than any of us. And so he wants us to look forward and to rejoice in and to be glad with what he is creating for us in the life to come. He wants the best for you. He’s creating the best for you. And he doesn’t want to give you anything less. This life, this life is not the point. This life is just a waiting room, it’s a hallway, it’s a cold front porch. And on this cold front porch there’s nothing here worth holding on to. On this cold front porch there’s nothing worth distracting you from the goal. On this cold front porch there’s nothing here that is comparable to the riches inside the mansion that you will one day soon call your home. You don’t have a home here; you have a home there. Look forward to that home because God himself promises you that you will walk through its front doors arm in arm with your Savior.
Amen.
“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory.” - Rev. 19:6-7
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