What is Heaven Like?
July 26, 2026. Matthew 13:44-46. Richard Senum
“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
These are the familiar words we say in the LORD’s Prayer. So let me ask a rhetorical question;
How does God’s kingdom - come to earth - and be like God’s kingdom in heaven?
In one of my Bibles there is the following comment;
“The kingdom of God (or heaven) carries the idea of God coming into the world to assert his power – glory and rights against Satan’s dominion and the present course of this world. It is more than salvation or the church; it is God expressing himself in all his works of creation.”
But how does that happen? How does God manifest himself on the earth and in the world of the people he created? These are good questions for us to think about. Especially if we believe what we profess when we say those words in the LORD’s prayer – what do they mean to us individually?
What do they mean in our heart?
As we read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation - one thing is absolutely clear. That is that - the authority – the power – the splendor – the majesty of God is visible and active in the world and in the lives of people. In doing so he saves people like you and me from the quilt and shame of our sinful nature while at the same time opposing and restraining the power of Satan – his Demons and those who willingly and unwittingly follow him.
As we look around us - God’s power and splendor are revealed daily in the natural world. It’s complexity and wonder are not accidents of evolution as the secular humanist would like you to believe. They are the handiwork of the divine creator. Besides the chances – that is, the mathematical odds - of the DNA changes - required to advance from a single celled life form in the primordial soup to humans of today would take hundreds of billions of years – not the 4 ½ billion years the earth has been around. Not to mention the billions of years it would take to get to the single celled life form in the first place. Assuming that such creation could happen without our divine creator.
God’s truth and presence in the physical world is clearly evident for us to see and wonder about. Paul says the following about belief in God because of what we see in the natural world around us. In his letter to the Romans in 1: 19-20 we read;
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
“Without excuse.” – Now imagine a secular humanist – who denies the existence of God and denies Jesus – stands at judgment - before the God they denied and the Jesus they rejected. There is nothing they can say – no excuse – no rational explanation they can give to justify their denial of the truth of the God who is about to judge them. They will instantly know what fools they were during their lifetime and that now they are without any hope.
And - God is also active in the affairs of human conduct through out history. Think of how God’s Spirit worked through Moses – Joseph – Samson – David – Elisha – Peter and Paul. And the early church Fathers – the early Reformers -William Wilberforce – Martin Luther King Jr. – Mother Teressa and so many others whose name we never hear about – like all of us.
God works in human history with or without a human intermediary.
During the reign of King Hezekiah of Judea. The Assyrian army of Sennacherib had laid siege to Jerusalem. Facing this danger King Hezekiah prayed the following prayer in 2 Kings 19: 15-19;
“Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Then God acting alone but with the pray of Hezekiah destroyed the Assyrian army as we read in 2 Kings 19:35; “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp.”
I know a fair bit of history and there are numerous incidents where the “Finger of God” on the Battle field or in a particular human event - changed the outcome that most expected.
Clearly God’s influence and power are very active and visible in the natural - physical world and in the world of human affairs.
So - What is the Kingdom of Heaven like? I keep thinking about this question while being reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 4:17. - after Satan failed to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus begins his preaching ministry in Capernaum saying; “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
In Jesus - he brings the Kingdom of heaven onto the earth. That is to say - into enemy territory – territory that is heavily influence and, in many ways, controlled by Satan and his followers. And the enemy is terrified of Jesus and what he can do to them.
When Jesus healed a demon-possessed man in the region of the Gadarenes. We read about this encounter between Jesus and the legion of demons in Matthew 8: 28-31. Right off - they recognize Jesus and the Son of God and fear that he has come to torture them. At v 29 they say; “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” (Think about the irony here. Jesus has the power to torture and destroy demons but we do not. Yet we torture and destroy Jesus - the author of life.)
It is clear that Jesus is exercising his right to be King of the world with the power of the Kingdom of Heaven here on the earth.
Jesus does and says so many wonderful and miraculous things while in the world with us. But in regard to the Kingdom of Heaven there are a few things that come to mind.
For example - In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us how we should live in the Kingdom of Heaven on the earth. How to be blessed. How to control our anger and our lust. That we should love our enemies and not hate them. (Not easy to do when they destroy your way of life and family.) How to pray and how to fast. How not to worry. To do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It seems to me that our society has ignored or maybe lost that kind of tolerance of others.
Then at the ascension he instructs the Disciples with the Great Commission telling them to; “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” That is to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to all of humanity.
Then at Pentecost the Holy Spirit of God fills Jesus’s followers – like all of us – so that we – as sinful fallen people can apply what Jesus taught and share it with the world.
And so – is the Kingdom of heaven when we share Jesus with the world?
Now the realistic side of us knows - that the Kingdom of heaven on earth will never be fulfilled until Christ returns at the Second Coming. We will proclaim Jesus as LORD and King but many will completely deny him – some will say he is a prophet but not God incarnate and some will simply choose to live according to secular humanistic cultural standard - where there is no recognition that there is a God. And for those who might recognize God – there is no fear of God in their hard heart.
Certainly – living the kind of life Jesus and the Old Testament prophets tell us to live is the right thing to do. But we know that it is not always easy. Sometime the worries and cares of this world are a hinderance.
But notice something about the parables Jesus teaches in Matthew Chapter 13. The Kingdom of Heaven has less to do with socio – political action than with the work of the Holy Spirit in our heart. To know and believe that Jesus Christ is YOUR Lord and Saviour who willingly died for your sins and mine. To set us free from the condemnation of our sinfulness. To go and do the good works that were assigned for us to do before the creation of time.
In the last few weeks as we read through the parables of – What is heaven like - Jesus is telling us about that our hearts should be like that of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Nowhere does Jesus give us a physical description of quiet green pastures and still waters or the daily weather.
From the parables Jesus tells us that not all who hear the Word of God will listen and accept it. Yet - those who hear and accept the Word of God will be beset by Satan and the attractiveness of the world but they will also be fruitful. And that the word of God and the Kingdom of Heaven will grow and fill in the earth.
The words of Matthew this morning were these;
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
To have a heart that is like that of the Kingdom of Heaven and then actually entering The Kingdom of God in Heaven after we pass from this life - is worth more than all the wealth the world can afford to give. It is priceless beyond our ability to comprehend it.
So what is the Kingdom of Heaven like? I do not know.
The Christian Rock group Mercy Me – said this in one of their song “I Can Only Imagine”;
I can only imagine what it will be like.
When I walk by your side.
I can only imagine what my eyes will see.
When your face is before me.
I can only imagine.
Surrounded by your glory,
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus?
Or in awe of you, be still?
Will I stand in your presence?
Or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing halleluiah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine.
How important is the Kingdom of Heaven? In Mark *: 34-38, Jesus tells the crowd around him and his Disciples how important heaven is to our eternal soul.
“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
So what is in your heart? The Kingdom of Heaven or the Dominion of Canada or any other nation.
As Christians the answer should be obvious – The Kingdom of Heaven. We simply occupy the space in the nation of Canada.
We are in the world but not of the world. Our forever and eternal home is in the Kingdom of Heaven.
AMEN
Come LORD Jesus
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