Read 1 Corinthians 1 & 2
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 2;9 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
“Pie in the sky when you die by and by.” That’s how the Christian hope is cynically described by those who have a low view of heaven. It’s easy, of course to make fun of adults who hope for a glorious future with God, just as it’s easy to make light of adults who believe in leprechauns or any other mythology. Why? Because heaven is not available to the senses. And in a world where the empirical is king, any hope-defying scientific verification is seen as foolishness.
Paul says, “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1:18). Those who embrace the hope are those who believe the Messenger, and who is He? Later, Paul says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (2:14). The Messenger is the Spirit: God Himself. The hope has God as its initiator. So heaven has meaning only to those who have heard from heaven.
So what kind of mind is open to talk of heaven? The Christian mind — “we have the mind of Christ” (2:16b). It’s a mind that embraces the realities of heaven, hell, God in the flesh, resurrection, sin, and salvation. A mind that accepts dependence rather than seeking independence. Yet, even in its childlike dependence, it soars mentally and loves practically, It stretches out to the far horizon and cares for the beggars at the door. It joins an orchestra of fools and plays the rocketing music of eternity. It is deep responding to the call of Deep.
