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Introduction: When I was growing up, I thought of heaven as Disneyland. Disneyland was “the happiest place on earth.” Heaven would just be the best Disneyland ever and forever. What added to my belief was that it did not seem anyone really knew anything about heaven except for streets of gold, which frankly, didn’t really impress me – Disneyland with streets of gold?
What I have discovered since is that God has given us beautiful pictures of our future hope. The reason we miss them is because they are not immediately obvious because they are only seen at the 30,000 foot level.
Before we begin, I want you to have a better understanding of prophecy: Matt. 2:15 – Hosea 11:1; Matt. 2:18 – Jer. 31:15. By repeating historical statements in a NT context, God was signaling a new Exodus and a restoration from their punishments & captivity.
Pictures of Hope: Genesis 1-2
1:27-28
Only man is endowed with a spirit capable of fellowship with God, who is also spirit.
“Made in his image” is also a pre-ordained picture of God’s purpose for his creation. “Image is “icon” in the LXX. Thus we are to reflect our Creator, filling the earth with his image. Even though we fractured the image, through Christ we are being re-created in his image (2 Cor. 3:18).
“Filling the earth” carries the idea of expanding the borders of Eden so that God could dwell with man through the whole world, a concept repeated in Isaiah 11:9; 54:1-3.
Next, we see the introduction of the 7th day after the “inclusio” of the creation story (1:1 – 2:1). Once the sixth day is finished, we see the seventh day pattern and language dramatically change.
God rested* on the 7th day; there is nothing created on this days
“Seventh” is repeated three times and alluded to a two more times to give emphasis to its importance.
Unlike the other days, the 7th day is “blessed,” indicating that it will grow and multiply, providing something greater than simply a day God rested.
There is no “evening and morning.” It is the reason it is blessed. The 7th day has no end, as we will later see.
*God resting does not mean he was tired. The idea is that he ceased from his work of creating. This is where the Jews missed the connection of “work” and the Sabbath. In John 5:17, Jesus say, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” Jesus was not suggesting that the Jews do their normal daily work on the Sabbath. He is stating that God’s spiritual work is not yet accomplish and it is that work that is especially appropriate on the Sabbath.
As soon as the language of the 7th day is completed, the text turns to God’s creation of man and the Garden of Eden. We immediately notice the abundance of the Garden, and when compared to after the Fall when man has to labor by the sweat of his brow, the Garden is a picture of the 7th day rest. In the Garden, man does not have to work so much that he does not have time to spend with God. The 7th day rest is made for man to have time with God. Notice that this is God’s desire. This is illustrated by pictures God later gives to Israel:
- The tabernacle/temple is a Garden picture (Ex. 25:8).
- Canaan, the Promised Land is a Garden picture (Cf. Joshua 5:13-15). It is clearly pictured in the “land promise” God gives to Abraham. Consider what God promised them in Canaan and we will better understand what he has promised in eternity: victory, protection, abundance, God’s dwelling (Cf. Deut. 11:10-12).
- The Sabbath
- The Sabbatical year
- The Year of Jubilee
- This is the reason God was so angry when Israel would not keep his Sabbaths.
Applying the Rest to Us
If there is any doubt as to how this rest applies to us, consider:
Genesis 22:16-18 further illustrates that the physical nation and Canaan were only pictures of a greater rest for God’s kingdom people. This text is further referenced below in speaking of the Messiah’s kingdom:
- Isaiah 54:1-3 mentions both the offspring possessing the nations and God’s “image” promise and great nation promise filling the earth, and not just the physical land of Canaan.
- Hebrews 4:1-10. God was still speaking of a “rest” in David’s day (Psalm 95). Further, just as we suspected when we noted there was no “evening and morning” at the end of the 7th day, the 7th day never ended. In fact, not even Joshua had given them rest.
- Hebrews 6:13-20 cites God’s oath, “I swore by myself” in reference to the land promise. Why? Because the land promise was not a piece of dirt with borders, but rest, protection, and dwelling with God. Further, this was a “unilateral” promise, something God would never take away.
There is one more picture we see in Genesis 2: marriage.
Note the words of Adam: “Therefore a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.” Does anyone recognize those words in the NT?
Ephesians 5:31-32. God was not just creating the marriage relationship so man would not be alone. God was picturing the ultimate need for man throughout eternity and the ultimate picture of joy and rest with the Lord in the heavenly Garden.
John 6:41-45 No one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws him… Is this the God you have been worshiping all these years? Have you been worshiping a God who desires to dwell with you, to have a daily relationship of deep love with you that is pictured by our own earthly marriages? Or have you been worshiping God simply because you are afraid of him? “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us”” (1 John 4:18-19).
Are we getting the picture? What has God been doing from the very beginning? What has been his purpose? As Jesus said in John 14, “I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be also.” If we are thinking of our hope as anything other than being with the Lord, we have missed the purpose to which all scripture has been pointing. Cf. Psalm 63:1-8
That thought may not make some people happy because they were looking for heaven to be their Disneyland. But there is only one reason why a person would want heaven to be anything other than being with Jesus – they have not grown to know Jesus well enough to have fallen in love with him. This is a widespread problem! A go-to-church society that does not know the Lord or strongly desire him, and is therefore religious for the wrong reasons. Heaven is not heaven if Jesus isn’t there.