Articles
Leaving Heaven
We all know the feeling of dread that accompanies the end of a vacation. No more freedom from stress, no more fun in the sun, no more rest and relaxation. It’s “back to the daily grind.” The transition from vacation to vocation is taxing on the emotions, but what if we spent a vacation in Heaven? Can you imagine the trauma of having to come back? In Heaven, there is no death, no mourning, no crying, and no pain (Rev. 21:4). In Heaven, there is no curse on the ground so it yields its fruit in abundance as the trees are nourished by the crystal clear water of life. There is no night and no need of light because God Himself illumines it (Rev. 22:1-5). John makes a startling statement about Jesus in John 1:2. Referring to Jesus as “the Word,” he says that He was in the beginning “with God.” Jesus was not with God for a short vacation; He was with God since before creation! Heaven was all Jesus had ever known, yet He “emptied Himself” to come to this earth (Phil. 2:7). What a contrast!
The earth is cursed because of sin (Gen. 3:17). It is inhabited by wicked men whose every intent is only evil continually (Gen. 6:5). There is pain, suffering, mourning, and darkness -- all completely foreign to the heavenly Jesus. There is bickering, backbiting, anger, malice, slander, hatred, murder, adultery, lying, sexual immorality, and no self-control. “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Rom. 3:10-12). Imagine the transition of entering this place from Heaven! Peter, James, and John received a taste of Jesus’ transition when they come back down from the mount of transfiguration. They were alone with Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and God 9,000 feet up, yet they descended to earth only to find arguing and a lack of faith (Mark 9:14,19).
It is impossible to imagine how difficult it was for the Light to come dwell among the darkness. Jesus not only emptied Himself enough to make the transition of leaving Heaven to come to earth, but He became obedient “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:9). It is amazing enough that Jesus came to live on this cursed planet, but He also died one of the worst deaths
imaginable while He was here. Perhaps most notable is that Jesus left Heaven and died on
the earth so that we could leave earth and live in Heaven. As the old hymn goes, “Out of the ivory palaces, into a world of woe; only His great eternal love, made my Savior go.” Praise God for sending Jesus so that we could experience the greatest transition of all: the one from earth to Heaven!
