Title: Time of Grace Ministry
Author: DeAnn Frey
Last saved by: Barb Bartz

Heaven Is a Happy Place 
Isaiah 65:17-25

Did you ever hear the saying, “Nature abhors a vacuum?” This means you might have a totally empty place, but the minute that the container is open something rushes in to fill the void. At your house, how long will a clean and empty closet stay that way - two weeks, maybe? All of a sudden other junk rushes in to fill the hole.  

In the same way, when our brain is empty, stuff rushes into it. For example, people want to know what heaven is like and what they are heading for. And because of that curiosity, somehow we have absorbed and visualized notions of people with halos and wings, sitting on clouds. Are you eagerly looking forward to sitting on clouds for eight trillion years?

Don’t worry - you won’t be sitting in clouds all day in heaven. And you’re not going to have wings; you’re going to stay a person. Halos and wings are not reality - they are romantic fiction. Sadly, some of these false ideas keep people from getting excited about heaven. Where do you think these ideas come from? They come from Satan, who’s trying to distract you and get you rooted in what he can offer you in the short-term. Christians who look down end up getting depressed and frustrated because down is where the pain is. We’re going to get rid of the vacuum and we’re going to let God put some real heaven-thoughts in our heads. We’re going to let him speak to us through the prophet Isaiah in Chapter 65.

Now, I don’t know what emotion goes on in your head when you hear the word “heaven.” That word is so abused that I don’t know what associations you have. I would hope that you know Heaven Is a Happy Place.  Even if you’re on a roll right now, heaven is better yet, for it will include all the things you most love about your life without the things that make your life frustrating.

Look at verse 17 of Isaiah, chapter 65. At this point in Israel, some people were believers, but many were not. God had let great hardship come on them so he wouldn’t lose them. But pain is a very tough schoolmaster, isn’t it? To people who were suffering now and will suffer even more, God gave great words of kindness. “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.” The new world that God will create will be a real, physical world that you can stand on. It will have grass and trees and tangible things that you will recognize, only without evil.

Painful memories will be gone

Here’s happy thought number one - painful memories will be gone. Some of the misconceptions people have is they think, “Won’t it make me sad if Uncle Louie isn’t in heaven with me?” Or, “Is everyone on Judgment Day going to find out what a weasel I was? I’m going to be so ashamed.” How many thousands of regrets do we have? All of us have missed opportunities, made dumb comments, and did shameful, foolish things. God is giving us some happy news. “The former things will not be remembered…” This is God’s way of saying we’re not going to have our nose rubbed in our failures. Isn’t that good news?  We’re going into judgment but our files are going to stay sealed.  

“The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” The painful memories of the past will be gone. I don’t know how God is going to take away the sting of a loved one from our family who is not going to be there. Either God will selectively erase our memory and it just won’t occur to us, or he’ll make the memories cause no pain. I don’t know how he’s going to do that, but I have his word that the painful things won’t come to mind.

“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight.” Jerusalem here is a symbol for God’s dwelling place. And Jesus will be there, our resurrected Savior. He went to heaven with his body, so he’s accessible to us and we can shake hands with him or hug him if we want to. Isn’t that amazing? Verse 19 continues, “I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people.” All of us are nervous about our first meeting with God, but because of what Jesus did for you and for me it’s going to be happy.  

“The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.” All the things that make our lives hard and miserable are going to be lifted from us and we’ll be freed from them forever. Verse 20 illustrates one of the most miserable parts of human existence – watching a loved one die. He uses the example of holding an infant who lives only a few days. I think that must be the worst pain anybody could ever go through. I can’t personally think of anything worse, and that’s never going to happen again. Life will go on without the invasion of the monster called death.

Our work is going to be a joy

A second happy thing will be that our work is going to be a joy. Adam rebelled against God because he wanted to be in control. Sin entering the world made work painful. Another misconception is that people think heaven is like eight trillion years of retirement where you’ll just lie around. God works all the time, and you will, too. “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 works of their hands.  They will not toil in vain …” On your best days, you kind of like working, don’t you? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every day were like that? That’s what God is designing for you. Great musicians will keep producing great works of art. Those of you who are good organizers of people and events will keep doing that and you will love your work. You will find work that clicks with your ability and passion and you will love it.

“They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord …” I think of all the slaves in America who thought, “Our children are going to be born slaves, too.”  I personally am sad that my children have to come into a world that has more pain and cruelty and temptation than mine did. There was a certain innocence you could preserve pretty long, but today our world forces children into the adult world way too fast. Never again are we going to have to fear and regret the world into which our families are plunged.

Our relationships will be peaceful

A third happy thing will be your relationships. One thing that makes your life difficult is the people around you. Think of the pain that certain people in your family have caused you. Think of others who have criticized you to make you feel small. Think of the hurt you have received - and in shame, the hurt you have dished out. Think of the ways you’re afraid of God because of your guilt. Fear makes you not pray the way you should. Fear makes you nervous about going to church, because you feel like a hypocrite. All of those things will be lifted.

Think of the way even nature turns on us. Tsunamis and hurricanes rise up and smash down what we build, and even kill us. Here’s what God says: “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox …” The dangerous things that make us afraid will work the way God originally intended. It will be like living in a wonderful park where nothing will threaten our lives ever again. “Dust will be the serpent’s food.” The serpent is Satan, who seems to own the planet. Sometimes he even seems to own our hearts. Satan has an incredible skill at manipulating you and me into sinning. Yet, Jesus says the time is coming when we will witness the crushing of Satan and will share in God’s righteous judgment of him. In hell, Satan will be prisoner #00-0001 and he will be busted down to the lowest part of the lake of burning sulfur. He will eat dust forever and ever and will never bother us again.

Repenting of your sin and trusting in Christ washes away the guilt of our sin. All of us are nervous about our first meeting with God, but because of what Jesus did for you and for me it will be a joyful experience.  Jesus will take us to a place where Satan will never again cast a shadow on our lives. Heaven Is a Happy Place!

You and I have an incredible opportunity to believe this for ourselves.  But there is a world full of broken and hopeless people who need us to tell this to them as well. Share Jesus’ hope with someone you know, someone who feels lonely, depressed, fearful, or hopeless. You can help someone find God’s happiness in his or her future. And I can’t think of a better source of future inspiration and comfort than Isaiah chapter 65. Amen.