A "Grain Of Wheat" Ministries publication

Written by David W. Dyer

INDEX

Chapter 1: THE MILLENNIUM LOST

Chapter 2: ARE WE IN THE MILLENNIUM TODAY?

Chapter 3: MORE SIGNS?

Chapter 4: SOME SPURIOUS ARGUMENTS?

Chapter 5: FOCUSED ON HEAVEN (Current Chapter)

Chapter 6: WHY IS THE KINGDOM IMPORTANT?

Chapter 7: "OUTER DARKNESS"

Chapter 8: OTHER SCRIPTURES

Chapter 9: SOME REALLY BAD THEOLOGY

Chapter 10: REAL TRANSFORMATION

Chapter 5: FOCUSED ON HEAVEN

As stated before, today's church seems to be focused on heaven. Everything revolves around “going to heaven.” But a careful examination of the scriptures reveals that this focus is misguid'ed. In the book of Revelation, we are informed that the New Jerusalem comes “down out of heaven.” This is repeated twice (Rev 21:2,10)!

While some have speculated that it is com'ing down from one heaven to a lower heaven. This is not logical. Why would God leave the highest heaven to come and live in the atmosphere above the new earth? It should be obvious that the New Jerusalem is “coming down out of heaven” to the new earth.

This is a very important point. It really makes a difference in how we understand God's plans.

Not only is His bride, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, but the throne of God is moving to the new earth also. His throne will be in this new city (Rev 22:3). It would be ridiculous to suppose that God moves His throne from the highest heaven to a lower one somehow suspended above the earth. Instead, it is the new earth which becomes the place from which Jesus will reign together with His new bride, for eternity.

Although we read that our “reward is laid up for us in heaven,” this reward does not stay there. Jesus will bring it with Him to the new earth when He comes. We read in Revelation 22:12: “Look, I will come promptly and my reward is with me to recompense each man according to his work” (FLNT). So our reward will not be waiting for us in heaven but will be brought to the earth with Jesus when He returns.

This is all to say that while most Christians are interested in going to heaven, God is inter'ested in coming to earth. We must give up our heaven-centered theology and conform our ideas to what the Bible actually teaches.

This then brings us to one of the more con'fusing phrases in the Bible. It is a phrase that only appears in Matthew, but it does appear there over thirty times. It is the phrase: “the kingdom of heaven.” There are many parables in Matthew where Jesus is teaching us things about the “kingdom of heaven.” How are we to understand this? Most Christians, without much contemplation, just imagine that He is teaching us about what heaven will be like. But this is exactly what He is NOT teaching us.

To begin, let us note that the Greek word “heaven” appears in the plural form in these parables - “heavens.” It is not in the singular as so many versions wrongly render it. Possibly some translators, influenced by the “heaven” tradition in today's church, tried to push their erroneous understanding by making it singular.

In this way, they “help” the readers under'stand. But this is wrong and misleading. When Bible translators fudge their translations to sup'port some doctrine or other, the readers suffer by being misled.

There are actually three kinds of “heavens” mentioned in the Bible. The atmosphere, outer space, and the presence of God on His throne. So, since the word is plural, these verses are not only speaking about the “third heaven,” - or the presence of God - which many understand to be “heaven.”

Furthermore, the preposition “of” does not appear in the text. The actual Greek text literally says: “The kingdom the heavens.” In this case the article “the” in Greek can imply the exis'tence of a preposition. But which one? The preposition “from” comes to mind.

Using this preposition we would read: “the kingdom from the heavens” or “the kingdom which comes from the heavens” which is much more clear.

This translation corresponds exactly to the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray: “May your kingdom come ... on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt 6:10 FLNT). Therefore, God's desire is for the heavenly kingdom to come to earth, not for us to go to heaven.

Obviously the new Jerusalem - which is the bride of Christ - is heavenly in origin and nature. It is truly “the heavenly Jerusalem.” But it is not “heaven” and it will ultimately not stay in, or be located in, “heaven.” It is clearly seen as “descending from heaven.” I wonder, what so many Christians are planning to do up there in heaven all alone without Jesus or His bride?

THE EARTH IS IMPORTANT

Why did God create an inhabitable earth? Why did He make mankind in His image and put them on this planet instead of in some heav'enly place? Why did He create man with flesh and blood, instead of making him a spirit being, as are so many other heavenly beings? Why did He send His son to men on earth? Why did He “partake of flesh and blood” (Heb 2:14), becom'ing a man Himself? Why is it this world that He loves so much (Jn 3:16), even enough to send His only Son to die for us?

Obviously, this place, earth, is important to Him. He has a special interest in it. It is a very unique place, created by Him for a special pur'pose.

For some reason, human beings with physi'cal bodies are also important.

God has decided to take Himself a bride from mankind. It seems that humanity express'es His nature - who and what He is - better than any other kind of being. He did not take on the likeness of angels (Heb 2:16). No merely spiritu'al beings were qualified for His marvelous, eter'nal plan. He, in His infinite wisdom, chose to make man in His own image and after His like'ness. This included physical bodies. Then He further chose to be born into the human race, having been birthed by Mary.

Even after His death, Jesus did not discard His human body. It was not left in the grave. Instead, He glorified it. When He appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He gave them proof that He still had a human body.

Luke 24:39 reads: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (ESV). See also John 20:25-27. This is an important truth.

We too will never lose our human bodies. They also will be glorified when Jesus returns. So we will never be merely spirit beings.

Through all this, we can conclude that God is much more focused on the earth than Christians imagine. He created mankind and put him on the earth. The earth is a place for those with physical bodies. This includes Himself (Heb 2:14).

Now let us think about these facts. Why will He create a new earth? If He is just going to whisk all believers off to heaven, why would He want a new earth? Could it be just for the wild animals to have a place to live? It must be because the earth is important to God. It has a special place in His plans. Earth, both this one and the new one, is for humans with physical bodies.

I don't know why, but God has chosen this earth. Out of the countless galaxies, stars, and planets, He chose this one. I cannot understand or question His reasoning. But far too many Christians are giving up on the earth and plan'ning to “go to heaven.” They have an escapist philosophy.

WILL GOD BE DEFEATED?

Furthermore, heaven-centered believers seem to accept that in an important way, God will be defeated. They may not realize God's defeat is part of their theology, but it is there just the same.

Their idea seems to be that Satan succeeded in seducing man to fall, thus corrupting the earth. He proved his power and authority over this planet by causing men and women to become part of his kingdom and express his evil nature. What God made has been corrupted by the devil and he is firmly in control of it still today.

So, although it is not stated clearly, today's Christian church just concedes the territory to Satan and hopes that God will whisk everyone off to heaven. Then, they think, God will just destroy the earth, admitting that He was not able to recover it from the devil's grasp. Essentially, the church seems to think that God is defeated concerning who will control this earth.

Let me try to use an example here to explain this. Recently, Russia invaded Ukraine. At this moment, they have taken some territory. If an accord is reached to end this war and this territo'ry is ceded to Russia, then to some degree the Ukraine will have been defeated.

The only way for them to have what could be seen as a victory is to take back all the land which has been invaded. Even if Russia just destroyed everything in the occupied territory so that it was left a useless wasteland, the defeat would still exist. In the same way, if God just whisks believ'ers off to heaven and then destroys this present earth, it represents a defeat for Him.

But it is Satan, not God, who will be defeat'ed. Jesus' plan is to return to this earth, establish His holy kingdom here, and reign until all rebel'lion is subdued. All His enemies, all sinful behavior, all outward unrighteousness, will be eliminated during the earthly reign of Christ, with the aid of the overcoming believers who will reign with Him. Jesus' reign will recover this physical earth from the reign of the devil and place it again under the Father's control (1 Cor 15:24,28).

The final victory will belong to God and not the devil. He will recover the earth from his influence and grasp - every bit of it. God will not be defeated in any way.

While some amillennialists think that Jesus is reigning now over the earth, this is absurd. If Jesus has been reigning right now to subdue the earth to His righteousness, He is doing a terrible job. After almost 2,000 years, the world is not a better place. Nothing has changed for the better or gotten more righteous.

To imagine that this is true is the worst kind of self-delusion. Evil of all sorts is abounding. Wars are still occurring. Murder, hate, robbery, lying, adultery and fornication, cheating, and every other kind of sin are flourishing among men. Unfortunately, this is true even among those who call themselves Christians.

Along this line, although many people have come to Christ throughout the centuries since His death and resurrection, many of these same people have not become holy. The sad truth is that many, if not most, people who call them'selves Christians are more influenced by the devil and the world around them than by Jesus.

While some may see the advance of Christianity in terms of numbers as proof of Jesus' kingdom on the earth, this is only part of the story. The world as a whole has not changed.

Furthermore, it can easily be argued that many Christians are not really living in God's kingdom. They are not under His authority. They are rebellious, self-willed, and full of sinful behavior. Although they are His children, they cannot be thought of as living in His kingdom.

Not only this, there are places where in the past there were many believers, but now they are spiritually barren, almost devoid of the gospel and real believers. Furthermore, the increase of believers today is parallel to an increase in the total number of inhabitants of the earth. I doubt that the number of the truly con'verted - not just those who call themselves Christians - is proportionally much different today than it has been for the last several cen'turies.

In short, if what we are seeing today on the earth is Jesus' millennial reign, it's not working. It's a fiasco. The world is not becoming a better place. To believe that it is, is just self-deception. Satan is still deceiving the nations. The nations are still learning war. Injustice is rampant. Sin is abounding. I don't like this so-called “millenni'um.” I want a refund!

If there is any progress - and there isn't any real progress - it is so slow as to be indis'cernible. At this rate, for the earth to be subdued in righteousness, it will take uncounted millions of years.

Yet, although many Christians seem to have given up on the earth and are waiting to go to heaven, God has not given up. He will not be defeated! He will return, set up His kingdom here, sit on the throne of David, and subdue the entire earth in righteousness. He will never, even in some small way, be defeated.

The earth is evidently very important to God. It is not an afterthought. It is central to His eternal plans. He has not given up on it. It is so important that when He makes His new cre'ation, He not only will make new heavens, but a new earth. This new earth is the place to which He will move and where He will establish His throne (Rev 21:1-3). Did you realize that?

End of Chapter 5

Read other chapters online:

Chapter 1: THE MILLENNIUM LOST

Chapter 2: ARE WE IN THE MILLENNIUM TODAY?

Chapter 3: MORE SIGNS?

Chapter 4: SOME SPURIOUS ARGUMENTS?

Chapter 5: FOCUSED ON HEAVEN (Current Chapter)

Chapter 6: WHY IS THE KINGDOM IMPORTANT?

Chapter 7: "OUTER DARKNESS"

Chapter 8: OTHER SCRIPTURES

Chapter 9: SOME REALLY BAD THEOLOGY

Chapter 10: REAL TRANSFORMATION