If this isn't true it doesn't matter -- but if it is true, nothing else matters quite as much. The first thing I want to mention is that no human is perfect, but that God is. Not only is God perfect, but God is also holy, which means nobody imperfect (like you or me) can live with God in heaven. I'll anticipate the next questions...

• What's the big deal about being with God in heaven? -and-
• Assuming the above is all true, how to address the incompatibility between God's holiness and my imperfection?

OK, so, why worry about being in heaven with God? This brings up the question of what the point is in life. Some people seem to only live for the pleasure of the moment, or to accumulate wealth or power. You already know there's more to life than that. So what is the point of life?

Something Beautiful

The Bible teaches that people are created in God's image -- meaning, among other things, that we have a capacity for relationship. We were built to have a relationship with God. And we were designed to aspire to glory. Here "glory" doesn't mean fame, but rather it means becoming all we were meant to be. You've seen the beauty of a sunset on the beach, and the snow-covered mountains. It's the kind of beauty - or glory - that deserves admiration. Regardless whether it's seen or known by everyone or no one, it's still beautiful, a reflection of its creator. We were made to be beautiful on the inside -- even more beautiful than sunrise in the Sierras -- and that's the reason nothing less satisfies our hungry souls.

The Bible teaches that only in heaven, with God, will we become all we were meant to be. Jesus gives a picture of what that kind of beauty is like -- not only by his example of a perfect life but also in his sermons. To be beautiful inside - to be holy - doesn't mean just avoiding murder, larceny and adultery; it means having a pure heart completely free of envy, resentment, bitterness, and lust. This is what self-actualization is all about. Maslow's hierarchy is helpful to understand our strivings, but "self-actualization" cannot be complete without help from God. Only in heaven will we really be self-actualized (really God-actualized). And only there will our thirsty souls be truly filled and our aching hearts fully healed. Certainly we can have deep relationships here on earth, but only in heaven will our relationships be free from defensiveness, fear of rejection, resentment, and so on. And only in heaven will we see God face to face. So if all this is true, heaven is a great place to be - in fact the only place where our lives can really become meaningful and the only goal that will satisfy our souls.

A Courtroom Analogy

And that brings me to the 2nd question: assuming all the above is true, how do people like us get into a perfect place like heaven? I mentioned above that God is holy, but God is also very merciful. To take an earthly example of a just and merciful judge, suppose I get a speeding ticket and go to court. The judge hears the evidence and finds me guilty. (Justice requires that I be found guilty because I really was going 41 in a 25 zone.) Fine is assessed: $200. But suppose the judge is also merciful, and knows the fine is more than I can afford. He could adjourn court, take money out of his own wallet, and offer to pay my fine for me.

Now let's change the example a little bit. At the end of my life, I stand before God, the holy (and just) and merciful judge. The charges: envy, resentment, malicious thoughts, being angry without cause, etc. The verdict? Guilty! The penalty? Death! These sins here are not small matters to the holy God, much as we excuse ourselves (and occasionally others). Because God is just, we must be found guilty. But because God is also merciful, God offers to pay the penalty for me instead of me.

This is effectively what God has done in Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was in fact God in the flesh. Nearly 2000 years ago, he died at the hands of Roman soldiers. He was no victim of circumstances, but he chose to die on our behalf. His death is sufficient to pay the penalty for my sins, and yours, and everybody else's. It's because Jesus is God and therefore perfect that his one death can pay the penalty for the sins of all humankind.

So What?

Now if the offer is open, what are we to do? In the case of the traffic court, I can say either "Thank you, sir, that was more than I could afford" or "No thanks, I can pay it myself." But in the case of the Final Judgment, none of us can afford the fine; we are bankrupt! We can be saved, though, by acknowledging our own broken-ness and accepting the offer God makes in Jesus Christ.

If you want to accept God's generous offer, then (I hate to sound like a low-budget gospel tract but hey, you get what you pay for), you can sincerely say a prayer like this one:

Lord Jesus, I confess that I'm not perfect; I have sinned, and recognize that I deserve eternal death for them. Thank you for offering to pay the penalty for my sins. I'm bankrupt, so I sure can't afford to pay it myself. Thanks.

Frequently Raised Objections

I've discussed some of these ideas with folks at the office before. I've heard a lot of objections, and actually made most all of them myself before I became a Christian.

1. If all this is true, why doesn't God write something in the clouds, visible to all today? Why do we have to believe something that allegedly happened nearly 2000 years ago? The answer, from the Bible, is that God already did all that. In the beginning, Adam and Eve spoke with God face to face, and they didn't believe him. The Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years had manna on the ground 6 days a week, with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them (somewhat like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS), not to mention the parting of the Red Sea and so on. Jesus cured many people, raised several from the dead, and was himself resurrected after being killed. But people were divided; some believed in him and others were determined to suppress the news!
2. Why isn't sincerity enough? I mean, there are many buddhists and muslims etc -- many good people in the world. What about Mahatma Ghandi? The answer to this one is that trying to meet just about any standard of morality is like trying to swim to Hawaii. There are some great swimmers, but even the top .01% of swimmers can't swim from Long Beach to Pupukea. Nobody, but nobody, is that fast or strong. The only chance is to get on a boat. And you have to get on a boat that's going to the right place. If you study the teachings of most all religions, they either provide "swimming lessons" (i.e., they're not boats at all) or they're boats headed back to Long Beach, or maybe Seattle.
3. The world is in such lousy shape, why should I want anything to do with somebody who claims to have made it? (This was one of my objections, many years ago.) Another variant is "how can there be a god when there is so much evil in the world?" This is to me really a matter of perspective. One could just as easily ask, since we haven't killed each other off yet, how could there not be a God?
4. If I haven't been interested with God for much of my life, is the offer really intended for me? The Bible tells of someone who could well have asked this question. He was a thief I think, who was crucified on the cross next to Jesus's. He is recorded as having said to another thief, "You and I deserve our punishment, but this man has done nothing wrong." He turned to Jesus and said, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." What did Jesus say? "I tell you the truth, this day you'll be with me in Paradise."
5. (This was one of my favorite objections.) The linch-pin that holds this whole thing together is that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead; this supposedly proves he's God. But really, couldn't the resurrection have been just a hoax, or a mass illusion? The question of a mass illusion doesn't seem very likely, especially since Jesus Christ's body has never been found. The priests and so on had a big problem in suppressing the truth of Jesus's resurrection because they simply could not produce his body. About its being a hoax or a conspiracy, Charles Colson makes this comparison. In the case of the Watergate break-in, perhaps a dozen men knew what really happened. Although they were threatened with unpleasant consequences, certainly none of them was threatened with death. Yet the entire story was blown after a few months. In the case of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, literally hundreds saw him after he was raised, and many were tortured and died, still refusing to renounce Jesus or to disclaim his resurrection. This continued for decades, with one eye-witness after another tortured and killed, without recanting the truth of Jesus's resurrection. It is now nearly 2000 years later, and Jesus's body still cannot be found. It's because his body is gone -- he rose into heaven as the Bible records.

Why indeed? As you can see from the above, I really believe that this world isn't all there is to life. And I want you, dear reader, to have the assurance, the security of knowing that your future is settled. The bible is full of wonderful promises, and I want all of my friends to know about them. Besides a secure future, there's the benefit of knowing who we are and what the point of life is.

Copyright © 1995,1997 Collin Park
Revised -- 97/01/27