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Good morning friends who are “Walking with Jesus”.
I begin writing these early in the morning, well before daybreak, and often I spend some time standing outside looking up, to be awed by the stars, and this morning, a sliver of a moon. It can be a bit overwhelming when you consider all we see when we look up, day or night… stars, moon, clouds, sun. Does the fingerprint of God seen in His creation amaze you?
When you look up do you sometimes wonder about heaven? Paul begins this 12th chapter by speaking of someone he knew who had an experience in the ‘third heaven’. What do you suppose he’s talking about? Was it a vision, an ‘out of body’ experience? We don’t know for sure, and while most people believe Paul was speaking of Himself, he’s careful not to boast that it was him. What is important is the place. … heaven!
Most Bible scholars suggest the ‘first heaven’ is what we can see with our naked eyes, looking up, especially at night. The ‘second heaven’ would be what telescopes have shown us… space far away, unseen by our eyes, but just as real as the moon and stars we see.
This “third heaven” then is unseen, even by telescopes. Not necessarily because it’s so far away, but because it’s in a different dimension, it’s a spiritual but very real place. When the Bible uses the word ‘heavens’ (plural) normally God is speaking about the first & second heavens, as I’ve described them.
So in Psalm 19 “The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display His knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the world, their words to the ends of the world. (19:1-4)
We understand what the Psalmist is trying to tell us, right? What we see when we look up proclaims to us the wonders of Creator God. Anyone, anywhere, regardless of the language they speak, the color of their skin, the level of education they have… if they can see the skies, they should be awed by the Creator who made them, right?!
But what is Paul talking about in 2 Corinthians 12:4? Do you remember the account of Stephen’s martyrdom, which we looked at some weeks ago, in Acts 7? As they are preparing to stone him to death, 7:55,56 says “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look’, he said, ‘I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Unlike in Psalm 19, do you see Stephen is reported to be looking into “heaven” not ‘the heavens’? Do you see Stephen says he sees ‘…heaven open…’ Stephen is miraculously being given a glimpse into heaven, the place where Jesus ascended to after His resurrection. Stephen says he sees ‘the Son of Man’, and of course that’s the phrase Jesus used often in describing Himself. (Mark 10:45)
So this ‘third heaven’ Paul speaks about, which he also refers to as “paradise”, in vs 4 of 2 Corinthians 12, is evidently the same place Stephen saw, and to which Jesus returned. That word “paradise” is the word Jesus used on the cross, when speaking to the repentant thief hanging next to Him, remember? Luke records it for us…the criminal said to Jesus “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42,43)
So I have an important question for all of us. Is this “heaven” a real place, or just a myth, an imaginary place? What do we know from the Bible about this place called ‘heaven’? Well, we know Jesus came from there, and after His resurrection Jesus returned there, and is there now! (Rom. 8:34)
The evening before His crucifixion Jesus said to His disciples “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and returning to the Father.” (John 16:28) And 43 days later, as Jesus ascended from the hill east of Jerusalem called the “mount of Olives”, angels appeared and said “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
And Hebrews 1:3 says “After He (Jesus) had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” The Majesty, of course is God the Almighty Father. And of course we know the angels are in heaven. Remember what Gabriel said to Zechariah? “I am Gabriel, and I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and tell you this good news.” (Luke 1:19)
And Jesus will bring with Him the souls/spirits of those who have died as believers in Jesus Christ, as we saw in 1 Thessalonians 4:14 “…Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him…” Therefore heaven is populated with millions, perhaps the billions of people of all time who have died, trusting in Jesus for their salvation! So when Paul speaks of this ‘third heaven’ where he or someone he knew went briefly, we now understand why Paul wrote “He heard inexpressible things…”
Yes my friends, heaven is a very real place, and because of who is there and the worship which Isaiah described in Isa. 6, we can only imagine what it must look and sound like! So, if you have family and friends already there… rejoice! If you are confident that your are going there at the moment of your death… rejoice! If you aren’t so sure… then would you do me the favor, give me the privilege of opening God’s Word with you to help you find out HOW you can be absolutely confident heaven is waiting for you? Email me, call me, come over to my house if you live in Florida! I’d sure hate to think that any of you our friends, who’ve been on this ‘walking with Jesus’ journey, won’t spend eternity together with the rest of us & Jesus in heaven!
Do you notice in vs. 7-10 Paul speaks of a problem he had, which he called his “thorn in the flesh”? “To keep me from becoming conceited…there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me… for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
I’m sure you’ve heard many suggestions of what this might be. An eyesight problem, or stomach digestive problem, or bones which may have been fractured in the beatings Paul suffered that did not heal properly? We of course don’t know, but these few verses are really the crux of this 12th chapter. Paul teaches us how to live with pain, especially pain that he believes is inflicted by Satan, for the purpose of discouraging or defeating him, or causing him to give up, on the calling he believed he had received from Jesus.
Does God allow Satan to inflict pain on God’s people? Oh yes my friends. Paul’s clear statement here, and the story of Job are two of many examples. But why would God allow that, we might ask?
Paul’s words in vs 9 & 10 make it clear, don’t they? Our pain provides God the opportunity to supply us with His sustaining power, and thus we have the chance to experience the unique, individual, unleashing of God’s power into us, so we can withstand the pain! That’s a closeness with God that is almost indescribable! As we experience this, we are a trophy of God’s grace, for He is greatly honored and glorified, as we walk the challenging paths of life, sustained by, and relying upon, God’s power.
That’s what Paul wrote about in Romans as we’ll see next week. “…we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Rom. 5:3-5)
So what could it be like for us, my friends, if we viewed life’s challenges, sufferings, the painful things, as actually opportunities… for us to experience God pouring into us His mighty power, through His Holy Spirit? The same power with which He created and sustains what we see in the skies at night! The same power He poured into Jesus as He suffered. And what might we learn from Jesus, in those painful times of our lives, if this was our attitude my friends?
Let me close today with a verse, that has always challenged me to consider what Jesus was learning through the difficult and painful times He experienced here on earth “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions, with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.” (Hebrews 5:7-9).
Wow! Jesus was learning through His pain here on earth? Oh yes my friends... and we have so much we can learn about Jesus, about the Father’s sustaining power, about the miracle of the indwelling Holy Spirit. So today, whatever your pain… physical, emotional, relational, financial… please know that God understands it better that you do, and He may not take it away from you, rather, He may show you His love by sustaining you in your painful situation, through His power, and giving you the opportunity to be drawn very close to Him and learn even more of the journey Jesus walked, so as we ‘walk with Jesus’ we learn and grow in Him!
Click to read today’s chapter: 2 Corinthians 12. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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