Eternal Life Is Where It's At

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For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.

Father, we worship you because you're worthy of worship.

Jesus, thank you for who you are.

God, we go through mood swings and fatigues and energy surges and you don't.

We praise you that you don't get epiphanies.

Leave your eyes open the whole time.

Lord, thank you for all that you are.

We ask you in this moment just to open our hearts to receive your truth.

Jesus, we're thankful for you.

We love you.

We ask now that the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, would just soak in this room.

We pray these things in your holy name, Jesus.

Amen.

Alrighty.

Hey, if you have your Bibles, would you go ahead and grab those and go to Revelation 21 and 22?

Okay, the last two chapters of your entire Bible.

I'm gonna do some work all throughout the New Testament, and I'm gonna keep referring back, referencing back to Revelation 21 and 22.

And there should be a Bible somewhere around you.

Um, but if not, you can obviously access the scriptures on your device.

Um I'm I'm a youth pastor of at Cornerstone Community Bible Church, and I love making the joke over there.

I love making the joke that you know, 2,000 years after the scriptures were written, and somehow um we're back to scrolls and tablets.

Right?

We're just we're back, we're back there, there.

Um, nevertheless, um as you're flipping there, as you're scrolling there, um, I'd just love to tell you how exciting and encouraging it always is for me to come here and worship alongside of you.

Um, this pocket of believers always um finds a way to really refresh my soul.

So I walk out of here every single time with my soul refreshed.

Um so thank you so much for having me and letting me proclaim these truths to you.

And today they're gonna be in Revelation 21 and 22.

Now, um, back in 2009, um, before germs existed, um, as a society, we used to go to these things called um college football games, right?

We would huddle up together with 80,000 of our closest friends sitting right next to each other.

And if something particularly awesome happened on the field, you would high-five the stranger next to you with no regards of their hands, your hands.

And with that same hand, you dip it in a bowl of nachos.

It was a, it was a uh, it was a simpler, simpler time.

It was a simpler time.

Um, those are the days.

But I'm not the biggest um college football plan uh uh fan in the world, but I do remember January 8th, 2009.

Okay, that was the day, that was a national title game for college football, where OU was slated to play against the Florida Gators.

Now, going into the game, these teams had identical records, both of them were 12 and 1, but by and large, most experts, most analysts, um, most commentators were picking Florida to win.

Why?

Is it because OU is kind of awkward and you should disciple your kids to root for my alma mater, Oklahoma State go pokes?

Maybe, okay, but it's mostly because of who the quarterback was for Florida.

Florida at the time was being led by a man named Um Tim Tebow.

Okay, Tim Tebow was probably the best player in college football at the time, and in hindsight, he grew to be one of the um best players in college football history.

Now, this wasn't that long ago.

Okay, I don't know how many of you remember, but he was not just some popular kid.

He was full-blown famous here in America.

Granted, he was 21, 22, but we put him on a pedestal.

He was a famous athlete here in America.

He was known for his play on the field, but he was also known for his faith in Christ off of the field.

So much so that before games, he would put a piece of black tape under each eye and with silver sharpie, he would write in there, Philippians 4.13.

Okay, Philippians 4.13.

And because of how famous he was at the time, the camera would always find his face.

Literally every time he took off his helmet, the camera would zoom in on his face, so the whole world would see Philippians 4.13.

And because of that, I remember being in high school, because of that, that verse exploded in popularity.

It was everywhere.

Okay, every athlete had it on their shoe or on their jack, on their letterman jacket, or um on lockers, that was on t-shirts, it was on banners, it was on stickers, stickers, and it actually became synonymous with Tim Tebow.

People would say, Hey, go get him, Tim Tebow, Philippians 4.13.

And they might not even know what that means.

That passage absolutely blew up.

And I love hearing Tim Tebow tell this story, but before the national championship game against OU, he felt the inkling from the Lord to change the passage on his face.

So you put in there John 3, 16.

Okay?

And they went out there and they won.

Two days later, he's having a meal with his family.

Okay, his mom, his dad, his aunt, and his coach is there.

And throughout the course of the meal, the coach gets a phone call.

And the phone call goes like this Hello?

Yeah.

Wow.

Wow.

Okay.

Bye.

And Tim Tebow was like, what was that?

And Urban Meyer, the coach, uh, proceeds to explain to him, hey, that was our PR person for Florida.

He just told me that throughout the course of the game, 94 million people Googled John 316.

What probably happened is the camera zoomed in on his face, people would be like, Where's Phil?

Who's John?

What happened at 316, right?

And it got Googled 94 million times.

Now, fast forward three, exactly three years later, literally exactly three years to the day of the OU game, he's now playing in the NFL as a starting quarterback for the Broncos, and he makes the game-winning play against the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the game in overtime.

And he's all pumped up and he's about to go do press, and he's about to go in to do his interview, and one of the PR people for the Broncos grabs him and goes, Do you realize what just happened?

And he's like, Uh, we just won the game.

And then the guy goes, No, no, no, I don't think you understand what you just did.

And T was like, Wait, what happened?

And he proceeds to tell him this during the game, you too, you threw for 316 yards.

Your yards per rush were 3.16, your yards per completion were 31.6, the ratings for the game were 31.6, the time of position with possession was 31 minutes and six seconds.

And people online started noticing 316, 316, 316.

So, John 316 was Googled 90 million times throughout the course of that game.

And it's the number one trending topic on Facebook and Twitter.

Now, I love hearing Tim Tebow tell that story.

He obviously tells it much better than I do because he was literally there.

Um, but this is an amazing story.

Um, but as I hear it, I can't help but to feel a little bit of jealousy.

I feel a little bit of jealousy.

Okay, not of Tim Tebow, of his talent or his influence, not of Tim Tebow.

Okay, I'm pretty cool too.

Okay, I throw, I can throw a football like 10 yards, but I get a little jealous of people reading John 3.16 for the very first time.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whomever believed in him might not perish but have eternal life.

Imagine how weirdo that passage is reading it for the first time.

How explosive it is, how surprising it is.

Wait, God loves the world.

Has he seen us?

Look at us.

He gave his only son.

I thought we were all God's children.

What in the world?

Believe?

Are we believing believing is the work?

I thought you had to do all these, jump all through all these hoops.

Believing is the work?

Wait, perish?

That's on the spiritual menu, perishing?

Like, imagine how bizarre that is.

Or even imagine how future-oriented that passage is for people who are reading for the first time.

How future-focused it is.

How future-oriented is that passage for you?

Those of us who grew up reading John chapter 3, verse 16, tend to read it like a geometry teacher from Seven Lakes High School.

John 3:16

I went to Seven Lakes High School, there's a geometry teacher there who never finished like any of his sentences.

He would start every sentence talking like this, but by the middle of it, he would just kind of and you'd kind of land in, like, what did he what did he say?

There are people in this room that have been reading their Bible faithfully for the last 50 to 60 years, and that is good and godly in every way.

But the challenge you'll find is how many times does our familiarity with the specific passage hijack our attention span halfway through to the point where we kind of mindlessly auto-fill the rest.

What we do with John chapter 3, verse 16, we kind of just park at God's love.

John 3:16

Okay?

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.

We gotta just park there.

And listen, if you're gonna park anywhere, park at God's love.

Okay, it's safe there, it's good there.

Okay, he welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor.

Our sins, there were many, okay, but his mercy was more.

But it's a good place to park.

But we park there, not realizing God's love is picking us up and it's taking us somewhere.

Namely, eternal life.

That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Whenever John uses the words eternal life, it's he uses it in two ways.

In one sense, he's talking about the abundant life now, okay, the the abundant joy available to Christians now, the resurrection power available to Christians now, the bulletproof confidence that we're called to have now, the fullness of assurance that we're called to have now.

So in one sense, John is talking about the believers now or eternal life, he's talking about believers now, but in another sense, he's talking about the ultimate destination and the fulfilled hope of the Christian, namely heaven.

More specifically, the new heavens and the new earth.

That's how I want to encourage you this morning.

I want to talk to you about that eternal life.

There could be so much said on this topic.

From the millennial kingdom to second coming of Jesus Christ, or with the difference between heaven versus the new heaven and new earth.

There is so much that can be said here, but I want to be brief by encouraging you with this grammatically incorrect sentence.

Eternal life is where it's at.

Eternal life is where it's at.

I want to show you this in three ways this morning.

Number one, eternal life is where faith becomes sight.

Eternal life is where faith will become sight.

Now, Grant Park went, I say this at the risk of making you feel like a kindergartner.

But listen, you will see God.

If you are in Christ, okay, you will see God.

God is invisible, God is spirit, but Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and one day you and King Jesus will make eye contact.

You will see God.

It sounds so bizarre, but it does not get said enough, but it is true.

In your New Testament, there's a letter that is sent to the church in Corinth by Paul, and in it we find the love chapter.

You might have heard it at the last wedding you went to.

Okay?

Love is patient, love is kind, love is not envy, it doesn't boast, it doesn't rejoice at wrongdoing.

The love chapter.

It's in 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

What's important for us to understand about the love chapter is that Paul is not just grabbing these attributes of what love is and what love does.

He's not grabbing those out of thin air.

Okay?

He's thinking of Jesus.

As he's writing that, he is thinking Jesus is the only one that perfectly personifies that list.

He is thinking of Jesus, and he doesn't say Jesus' name, Jesus' name, but he spills the beans about verse 12 when he says this.

But then face to face.

For now we see as in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.

This is a brilliant metaphor that would have been very, very relevant to them.

The same way that Idaho is known for its potatoes, and Texas is known for cowboys, I guess.

Um one of the ways that Corinth was known was for their mirror making.

Okay, they made a lot of mirrors.

They were the mirror capital, one of the mirror capitals of the world.

And mirrors back then were different than our mirrors now.

Okay, mirrors back then were usually just polished, a polished-off piece of metal, usually polished bronze.

So when you look at it, it looks kind of dim.

And Paul is having a conversation about spiritual gifts.

He actually starts in chapter 12, but he's talking about spiritual gifts.

And he's saying this, listen, the best prophecy you can hear down here, the best sermon you can hear down here, the best miracle you can see down here reveals God.

Those things reveal God, but it'll still be blurry.

It'll still be dim.

Those things reveal the living God, and you'll be you'll be looking at the living God through those things, but it'll still be indirectly.

But later on, there's something coming that's better.

Now, this doesn't connect with us because our mirrors are awesome.

Ladies, the mirrors that you have in your purse right now are way better than the Corinthian mirrors.

So think of the evolution of computer videos.

If you're under the age of 18, I'm gonna speak Russian to you right now.

You have no idea what I'm talking about.

But does anyone remember watching computer videos pre-Youtube?

Okay?

Circa 01-02.

You press play and it didn't play right away.

It had a buffer.

I specifically remember pressing play and then going to the bathroom, going downstairs, getting a snack, and then coming back, and it was still buffering.

And then when it started, it was pixelated, it was blurry.

And I don't know if it was just my house, but the sound was always slightly off.

And I had dial-up, so you couldn't be doing that and be on the house phone.

Okay?

But look at videos now, they are more than HD.

They're 720 and 1080p.

Some of you watching at home are watching this in 1080p.

It's extremely clear.

Furthermore, think of video chatting back in the day.

01, 02, 03, 04.

Zoom is a different universe compared to what we had pre-Skype.

Right?

The quality was bad, the connection was fragile.

You had to buy a webcam.

For those of us under 18, a webcam is this, never mind.

There's no use.

Zoom is flawless compared to that.

Now look at me.

Paul is not saying you're gonna go from blurry mirror to clear mirror or blurry video to clear video.

What he's saying is actually better than that.

Paul's point is actually better.

He's saying this, right now we see things, we see God in such a pixelated way, but what's coming next will be infinitely times better than 4K.

You will see him.

You will actually see God.

And this is not just a one-off thing that's said a couple times in the Bible.

This is kind of everywhere.

Matthew chapter 5, verse 8 says this: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matthew 5:8

1 John chapter 3, verse 2 says this, beloved, we are God's children now, and what will what we will be has not yet appeared.

1 John 3:2

But know that when he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

And in Job, who gets a lot of flack for being a sad sack in the Bible, but he says this after my skin has been destroyed, yet my flesh, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

Friends, that's how the Bible ends.

Look at Revelation 22, verse 4.

Revelation 22:4

22 verse 4.

Look at that small sentence right there.

Just right before the comma.

Look what it says.

They will see his face.

Friends, this is not a glimpse.

You could pay like five bucks and go to the Rockets game and go sit at the very top and with binoculars watch the game.

It's not that.

And his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more, and they will need no need, they will, they will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Right now, we close our eyes and we we pray to the light of the world, but later, what's coming will be completely illuminated by the light of the world.

We will see him.

On this topic, Charles Spurgeon writes this will be the greatest glory of heaven.

To know God, to know Jesus more intimately and wonderfully than we ever could on earth.

Watch this.

It is the chief blessing of heaven.

Okay, the cream of heaven, the heaven of heaven, that the saints shall there see Jesus.

Friends, heaven is someone to look forward to.

It's not gonna be awesome because of the piles of pizza that are lit.

It's it's Jesus is what makes heaven awesome, and we will see him and be with him forever.

So eternal life is where faith, where faith will become sight.

Further still, um, eternal life is where ultimate healing will be available.

Look at Revelation 21, verses 3 and 4.

Revelation 21:3

Look at 21 verses 3 and 4.

Says this.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Did you see it?

He will wipe away every tears, every tear from their eyes.

How many people's faces have you wiped tears away from?

Probably not a lot.

That's a very intimate thing.

Matter of fact, in our culture, if somebody in the room starts crying, what we should do at most, we put a hand around them, but we actually get them Kleenex.

That's what we do here in our culture.

You're not gonna rush to touch someone, well, especially today's pandemic.

You're not gonna rush to touch somebody in the face.

That's a very intimate thing.

So you could probably count on one hand how many people whose eyes you have wiped tears away from.

And that's a very intimate thing, but that's how the Bible ends.

Ultimate, eternal healing and comfort.

And friends, this isn't just a cool bonus.

Oh, this is cool.

It's not just a cool, it's what we need.

It's what this world actually needs.

Over the past few years, it's been phenomenal to watch mental health get the attention I feel like it deserves.

Okay?

Um, Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23.

Proverbs 4:23

Yeah, Proverbs 4, 23 says, Um, guard your heart with all your vigilance, because from it flows the rivers of life.

When Solomon is writing that, he talks about guarding our heart.

I don't think he's talking about wearing a bulletproof vest.

The mind is in mind there.

So when the world is Christian and non Christian, thinking and talking about mental health issues.

They are actually stumbling onto an ancient path.

So it's been awesome to watch mental health becoming something that people actually talk about.

Furthermore, it's been great to live in a country.

I was originally from Angola, Africa, and it's been just great to live in a country where complicated surgeries have such high success rates.

It's been a blessing to live in a city specifically where the medical field is so robust.

People from all over this planet come get their bodies fixed here.

It's a huge blessing.

Huge blessing.

However, even though I herald doctors and our surgeons and our nurses, I didn't put counselors on that list.

Even though I herald them as heroes, I think we can all collectively walk out of 2020 and agree the healing we need, human hands can't provide.

The healing that we need, human hands cannot provide.

We need someone from the outside to fix this.

We need this curse completely reversed.

The Bible is a unique book because it starts at the beginning of human history.

It records the very beginning of human history.

Not the beginning of some nation state or so, it beg it starts at the beginning of human history.

And what we have documented in Genesis chapter 3 is the most insidious act of chivalry of all time.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Sin enters the world and makes himself at home by opening the doors and the windows for his friends to come on in.

So sin enters the world and opens the door for death, for mourning, for shame, for crying, for pain, for disease, for chaos, for anxiety, and things like these.

And death shall be no more.

Right?

Just pause there.

I mean, how many of us have ever experienced the sting of a funeral?

Or the sting of the worst news?

This might be lost on some of the some of the younger people in the audience, but most of us here are aware that our lives could change with one phone call.

And some of you have gotten that phone call.

How many of us have ever heard a widow give a eulogy?

How many of us have had to had to have or how many of us have had to give a eulogy?

That shall be no more.

Our destiny, that shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning or crying.

Think of the billions of tears that have been shed last year.

The billions of gallons of tears that were shed this past year.

Now I want you to understand that there's only one place where the full sum of human suffering lives.

There's only one place in the universe where the sum of human suffering lives.

That's in the heart of God.

He sees everything.

He hasn't blinked once.

Nothing's ever dawned on him.

He's been watching this entire time.

This week and last year, I got home and I found out that one of my childhood heroes passed away, Kobe Bryant.

And him and his daughter passed away.

And as difficult as it was for me, I only knew them two.

God was intimately aware of the thousands of people all over the globe who passed away and got no media attention.

There's only one place in the world where the full sum of suffering lives.

That's the heart of God.

And even though we experience fragments of it here now, it is still unbearably difficult at times.

But tears should be no more.

Or even pain.

How many of us have experienced pain?

Whether it's you stubbing your toe or having to say goodbye to somebody at an airport, that shall be no more.

That shall be no more.

At the end, the Bible ends with finally the curse being reversed.

Matthew 5.4 says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

And that's big for me, even this week, as I'm thinking about some of the things that have been happening in my family.

But the the for they shall be comforted.

That's how the Bible ends.

In eternal life, healing will be available.

So eternal life is where faith becomes sight, eternal life is where healing will become available.

And lastly, eternal life is where our deepest longings will be quenched.

Eternal life is where our deepest longings will be quenched.

Now, um, before I came to Christ, um, I would hear people describe Christianity like a walk on the beach.

Okay?

There's one footprint, now there's two footprints, now there's one footprint.

And I was, to their credit, what was happening is they're probably trying to explain to me the serenity of prayer or how the peace of God surpasses all understanding.

But nevertheless, when I finally started following Jesus Christ, my walk with him felt a lot more like a tough mutter than it did a walk on the beach.

Okay, it resembled a lot more a marathon during a hurricane than it did a walk in the park.

And it's not because God is rude.

It's not because God likes seeing me go through pain necessarily, but it's because Leo is still a very weak man.

Friends, what God ultimately calls us to is painfully simple.

Just love God with everything you have and everything you are.

It's not quantum physics, y'all.

Like it's it's it's pretty simple, right?

It's not like if one train left, I go in 10 miles an hour and the other train.

It's pretty simple.

Love him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

It's simple, but it's not easy because we're sinful.

And I can't tell you how many days as a pastor I did all the right things, right?

I got up early and I read my Bible, and then I went over to Cornerstone Community Bible Church, preached all day long, preached all day long, encouraged students.

It was awesome.

Okay?

And then when I left church, I spent some time rescuing kittens for a couple hours, just rescuing as many cats as I could possibly find.

And then after that, put on my costume and fought some crime.

And then when I got home, I wrote one more chapter of the book I'm writing that's gonna end world hunger.

Right?

I did all the right things.

All the while, there was a civil war happening in my chest.

I was doing all the right things out here, but in my mind and in my heart, I am walking through the fire of internal temptation.

I'm preaching the gospel out here, but in my brain, I am thinking, Leo, don't think about that.

Leo, don't say that.

Leo, don't do that, Leo, don't click that.

That's that Galatians chapter 5, flesh versus spirit, civil war, that inner wrestle that's ongoing in me.

Galatians 5 · chapter mention

And I'm sure I'm not the only one.

But I find my hope in church history.

The Philippian church had the most awkward start in church history.

Here are three of the first members in the Philippian church.

You had one, Lydia, okay?

Businesswoman.

Okay, she's a seller of purple goods from Tayatara, which is Europe-ish, um, but she's a businesswoman, probably a fashionista, probably a very wealthy woman.

She's one of the first converts out there.

And then you have a formerly demon-possessed slave girl who used to make her money not as the businesswoman, but by fortune telling.

And then you have a jail guard who was on the brink of suicide right before he joined.

Friends, these people have nothing in common.

They wouldn't talk to each other outside of Christ.

They had nothing in common except Christ.

You talk to people who you you you you talk to and you hang out with people you do because your affinities match up and y'all think the same, you'll probably look the same kind of, y'all vote the same, but with these, they had nothing in common except Christ.

It's a weird place.

And yet, Paul encourages them by saying this in Philippians 1 6.

He says this.

And I'm sure of this.

That he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

As a pastor, I talk a lot about God as a creator.

He's the master artist, he's the Elohim who creates from nothing.

But I want you to hear me say this loudly, okay?

God is also really into finishing stuff.

He likes getting things done.

He's super into finishing stuff.

So those things that are being renovated inside of you, whether it's God removing the tumor of greed and putting in generosity, or God removing the tumor of doubt and putting in trust, or God removing the evil and putting in goodness, and God removing the idolatry and putting in worship of him.

So those things that are inside of you that are getting renovated, that renovation will one day be done.

It will one day be done.

But it's painful right now because we are in the messy middle.

God has begun his work, but it's not yet complete.

And listen, construction is messy.

The reason people don't wear full-blown tuxedos to a construction site is because construction is messy.

The reason plumbers dress the way they dress is because construction is messy.

Construction is messy and it is painful, and it's happening in the hearts of anyone that has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

We kind of grown numb to saying it, but Holy Spirit, it's the Spirit that makes us holy.

It's his job, and it's painful.

Construction is messy.

But consider the words of C.S.

Lewis.

He says this imagine yourself as a living house.

God comes in to rebuild that house.

At first, you can understand what he's doing.

He's getting the drains right, stopping the leaks in the roof, and so on.

You knew those jobs needed fixing, so you're not surprised.

But presently, now, he starts knocking the house and knocking the house about in such a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense.

What on earth is he doing?

The explanation is that he's building quite a different house than the one you thought of, throwing out one wing here, putting in an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.

You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage, but he's building himself a palace.

And he intends to come and live in it himself.

Friends, construction is messy.

But let me encourage you in this way.

You might be 45, but unlike I 45 here in Houston, your construction will one day be finished.

Your construction will one day be done, right?

Friends, one day temptation will cease.

This whole pro no wander, Lord, I feel that this one day temptation will cease.

That wrestle will cease, and obedience will feel like breathing.

For some of you younger students in here right now, you know that sometimes God's commands feel like God's assault on your hopes and dreams.

But we're going to a place and a time when obedience would be like breathing because we'll be perfected.

How?

Well, our deepest longings will finally be quenched.

The deepest longings of our hearts and souls will finally be quenched.

In John chapter 4, Jesus has a conversation with a woman from Samaria, and we find out throughout the course of the conversation, the woman obviously has a God-sized hole in her heart, and she's trying to stuff the hole in her heart by filling in men and attention from men.

John 4 · chapter mention

And Jesus offers her living water.

In John chapter 7, we see people going through the comfortable motions of religious activity all the while ignoring Jesus.

John 7 · chapter mention

And it frustrates Jesus at such a point.

All who thirst thirst come get living water.

Now look at Revelation 22, verse 1.

Revelation 22:1

It says this.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life.

Bright as a crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Let me just stop there.

It's the river of life.

Okay?

No longer in a well, no longer in jars, but a river.

Available and unending.

God's people will live at the source of this life, life-giving stream, the very presence of God Himself.

He will quench the deepest longings of our souls.

And I know you know this, but I want to say this by way of reminder.

Listen, the greatest thing this earth has to offer will not fulfill you.

The greatest thing this world has to offer will not fulfill you.

And one of my best examples that I always give to my students at Cornerstone is the example of Tom Brady.

Somebody I respect and I love is a guy named Tom Brady.

And he was doing an interview, this might have been more than 10 years ago now.

He has six Super Bowl rings now.

I think he had three back then.

He was doing an interview with 60 minutes.

And they're talking about all he's accomplished and all he's done.

And he he says something interesting that surprised the guy who was interviewing him that didn't see it coming.

He said, Hey, why do I have I've won three Super Bowl rings, I've made more money than I thought possible.

Why do I have all this stuff?

And I still feel like there's something more for there, something better for me out there.

And the interviewer is thrown off, and he goes, Well, what is it?

And Tom Brady goes, God, I wish I knew the irony, the irony, he's in.

And I don't say that's disrespect him or anybody.

I'm not saying that he's depressed or anything, but I but I will say this in the most gentle way possible.

I know.

The reality is this, you were made for a person.

Okay?

There is a God-sized hole in our hearts.

And whatever you try to stuff down there that isn't God is going to annoyingly rattle.

Okay?

It will annoyingly rattle no matter what it is, whether it's romance, money, fitness, sex, power, attention, comfort, politics, children, you name it.

But one day he will fill.

His soul-quenching love will make obedience completely natural.

Okay, so in eternal life is where faith becomes sights and where healing will be available, and it's where our deepest longings will finally be quenched.

And I'll just end like this.

Um, this was not exhaustive at all.

There's so much more that could be said here, and this was not even exposition.

I usually like to get a big chunk and just work my way through a specific chunk.

This was not perfect exposition.

And I also don't believe I said anything new just now.

I think most of you know this.

But I'm saying this now because this is worth meditating on.

Why?

Well, author Peter Kreft says like this Suppose God took you on a crystal ball trip into your future, and you saw with perfect certainty that despite everything, your sin, your smallness, your stupidity, you could have free for the asking your crazy, your whole crazy heart's deepest desire, heaven, eternal joy.

He says, would you not return fearless and singing?

What can earth do to you if you are guaranteed heaven?

To fear the worst earthly, the worst earthly loss would be like a millionaire fearing the loss of a penny.

Scratch that.

A scratch on a penny.

Right?

End quote.

Friends, this is worth meditating on.

I encourage all of us when you get the time today or tomorrow to just read through Revelation 21, 22, um, Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

This is worth 1 Corinthians 15.

This is worth us meditating on.

Not because we're necessarily scared.

Not out of fear, but out of faith.

Not out of panic, but out of prudence.

There is power in aiming at the finish line.

That's what made the early church so effective during times of infectious diseases.

I don't know if you know this, but this is why Christianity exploded in Rome.

Because when plagues broke out or pandemics broke out or epidemics broke out, people from other religions, they left.

Okay?

Their aunts and uncles would get sick, they knew it was contagious, so they just left.

It was the Christians that were going in and risking their life knowing that this world is a prelude to the real world, to the real world.

That's what makes the people who are the most heavenly minded end up doing the most earthly good.

There is power in aiming at the finish line.

And friends, the best part about it is that this hope is kept.

Okay, the destiny of the Christian, this hope is kept.

So I want to leave you here with the words of Peter in 1 Peter 3 through uh chapters, uh, chapter 1, 3 through 9.

He says this Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

According to his great mercy, he's caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice.

Though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that per that that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Though you have not seen him, you love him.

Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.

Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Let me pray for you.

God, would you please make us eager to see you, eager to know you better.

We see now in part, we prophesy now in part.

We know now in part, but later we'll be face to face.

Oh, what was reserved for Moses and a few other people will be available for us to us forever.

Lord, will you please comfort us as we inch closer to that eternal, everlasting comfort.

And lastly, Lord, will you please help us to seek you?

Help us to look forward to the day where the deepest longings of our soul will be finally quenched.

Help us to fight sin like that.

Knowing that these momentary pleasures do not come close to the glory that awaits.

You're good.

Help us not be escape artists.

Help us to meditate on these things and then go back into our workplaces.

Or go back into our homes and go back into this world like lightning bolts.

Oh, we love you, Jesus.

All these things were only made possible for what you did for us on the cross.

Thank you so much for your sacrifice.

And the fact that we get the ultimate price by believing in you.

And the ultimate price is you.

It's in your amazing name I pray, Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

One of the things we do each week is we spend time responding to God's words.

I want to invite you to do that now.

We're going to leave the outline up on the screens if you want to bow your heads, if you want to look at it.

Let's just take time and do what Leo invited us to do, to meditate on heaven.

He said this real quick.

I don't know if you heard it and caught it, but he said that those who are the most heavenly minded do the most earthly good.

For me, that's my meditation right there.

So let's just take a moment, the next 30 seconds, minute, and let's uh meditate on what we've heard this morning.

Lord, thank you for the reminder that we were created to see Jesus, and that seeing Jesus changes us.

Father, we thank you for sending your son, that we may know you, that we may be able to love you, and that we may be able to live for you.

Take this word, Lord, plant it deep in us, bear fruit in our lives.

In Jesus' name, we pray.

And all God's people said, Amen.

Amen.

Thank you for joining us today.

If this is your first time, uh, we would love to meet you.

Uh, we'll have some pastors at the front of the stage.

Also, there's a card in the chair back in front of you.

Please fill that out and drop that in the boxes by the doors.

Also, if today's the day you worship through giving, uh, that's where you do that as well.

Uh, two things I want to make you aware of, and then we're gonna watch our video announcements.

Uh first, if you uh would like your giving statement from 2020, uh, those are available in the lobby, so avail yourself to that.

Secondly, um, if you are interested in joining a discipleship group, or you'll hear them referred to as D groups, we're having a meeting for that after this service, upstairs in 201.

Uh several of you uh may have been convicted last week in the message.

Uh it was pointed out.

There's some that are 20 years, they've called themselves Christians, and yet they have not learned to feed themselves, to grow in the faith.

Uh, discipleship groups are a great place for you to take that step to do that.

So uh find that upstairs in 201 after the service.

And then the last thing before Leo comes and closes us with a blessing, uh, turn your attention to the screens.

What you just witnessed is uh an event called Night to Shine.

It's a prom experience for those with special needs age 14 and older.

This year we're participating in that event again.

However, it's going to look different than it ever has before.

The one thing that remains the same is we need you to volunteer.

I want to encourage you to go to Grandparkway.org slash events, click on the volunteer button, and help us serve well these honored guests.

If you're new to Grand Parkway or have any questions about what you heard today, please seek out one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

Will you stand one more time for me this morning?

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

May the Lord watch over you and give you his favorite.

Please help us shine.