It speaks of a large hope for the future, so large that many men fail to comprehend its magnificence (John 11:23-26; Mark 16:11). It declares that while the body may be placed in the grave, the real man never dies. Man in all that he thinks and does lives with two worlds plainly in view, the one that now is and the one which is to come.
The disciples immediately after the ascension of Christ began to preach and teach the resurrection from the dead (Acts 2:30-32; 3:15; 4:10,33; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8). They used this fact of the resurrection as a reason for the belief in Christ as the Saviour of men, a forsaking of sin and an incentive to a life of righteousness. They taught, as Jesus Himself did, that this life, no matter how great its opportunities, was but the vestibule to a new and larger life beyond the grave. It is better to sacrifice everything in this life, if necessary, rather than to miss the glory of the life to come (Matthew 5:29; 10:28; Mark 9:47). No good deed done in this life, in the name of Christ, can fail of large reward in the life to come (Matthew 19:28,29; 25:34-40). By this emphasis, which was laid upon the future life, the horizon of thought and action was marvellously widened. Men were taught no longer that they were to exist for a few years and then go out forever into the darkness of annihilation, good and bad alike, but that they were to live forever.
Conscious Personal Existence of the soul after death. This fact is conspicuously taught in the Gospels, the Acts, the Epistles and Revelation. In the world to come people are not shades or ghosts, but they have certain bodies (1 Corinthians 15:44), they know themselves to be and are known as the same persons who once lived on the earth (Matthew 17:2-4; Luke 24:36-48; John 20:24-28; 11:25,26; Luke 16:19-31; 23:42,43). Christ said, "But as touching the resurrection of the dead have ye not read, that which was spoken unto you by God saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but the living" (Matthew 22: 31,32).
Eternal Citizenship in heaven. The aim of Christianity is to make men righteous. The abode of the blessed hereafter is one wherein dwells holiness, purity and truth.
There are conditions and hindrances to the entering of the abode of the blessed.
1. Conditions. The great prerequisite to entering into the joy of heaven is righteousness, perfect obedience to the law of God. But every man of himself, when he enters into an honest self-examination, feels that he comes far short of the perfect keeping of the divine commands (1 John 1:8,9; Romans 3:23). He needs forgiveness for past disobedience, he needs help to lead a righteous life. Hence Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, came that through His life and death we might receive pardon for past sin and help to live the righteous life (John 3:16-23). What man could not do for himself Jesus Christ does for him (Romans 3:20-26). The disciples of Christ were rightly enthusiastic in proclaiming Him as the propitiation for man's sin and belief in Him, with all that it implied, as the entrance gate into the heavenly life. Jesus said of Himself, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). "In My Father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2,3).
2. Hindrances. The great hindrance to the entering of heaven is disobedience of God, not only acts of disobedience but a state of disobedience, where the soul of man desires to have no fellowship with God or His righteousness. There is a disobedience of God through carelessness, through ignorance and through willfulness; there is little hope for a man when he deliberately turns his back upon God. It is wonderfully shown in the Bible how God has sought to make Himself known to man and to save him here and hereafter. Every possible appeal has been made to man to turn to God. The Scriptures give no answer of hope for a happy hereafter for those who deliberately reject all of God's invitations and pleadings in this world (Matthew 25:46; Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Romans 2:1-6).
The Glory of Heaven.—The New Testament writers vie with each other in striving to make plain the glory of heaven. John describes it, in a vision, as a magnificent city of gold and precious stones, wherein can come no evil thing (Revelation, chapters 21,22). "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their honour and glory into it" (Revelation 21:23,24). The real glory of heaven, however, is not in its outward adornment or pageantry, but in the triumph of righteousness and the supreme reward of constancy to the truth of God (Revelation 7:9-17). The holiness of God is vindicated (Revelation 4:8,9). "The tabernacle of God is with men" (Revelation 21:3,4), and every good deed stands out glorified in the clear white light of eternity. Every saint in heaven will feel that he has the hundredfold reward for all the sacrifices he made when upon the earth for the kingdom of God.
The effort of the New Testament writers is to make the followers of Christ joyfully do their work here, much of which may be distasteful and difficult. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). It is worth while to work for a limited future earthly reward; it is much more worth while to work for a heavenly reward which shall endure throughout eternity.