What would you like to be true of the coming of the Lord?

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalms 16:11—NIV)

Since God has promised to fill us with joy, what we want to be true of the coming of the Lord is important. His coming should bring joy to us.

We may think our greatest joy would be to be carried off to Heaven to live in a mansion, resting forever in a luxurious surrounding, no cares, no dread, no pain, no concerns, no deadlines to meet, there being nothing for which we are responsible, no pressures of any kind. We think we would enjoy an eternal vacation, something like going to Florida and laying on the beach while the endless ages roll by.

There is no scriptural assurance that the spirit world is this kind of place. Again, search the Scriptures and check me out.

There are several places in the Scriptures where a worry-free environment is discussed. But nearly every one of these places has to do with the earth.

First there was the Garden of Eden, located in the region of the Persian Gulf.

Then there is the description of the earth during the thousand-year Kingdom Age.

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9—NIV)

Finally the description of the new earth.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4—NIV)

If you want any of these delightful circumstances to be true of you, you will have to be on the earth to enjoy them.

This is why the resurrection from the dead is of supreme importance to you. The purpose of the resurrection is to bring you back to the earth. And the kind of resurrection you will experience depends directly on how you are living in Christ today.

"But what have you done with my mansion in Heaven?"

The Bible says nothing about mansions in Heaven. This idea comes from a faulty translation of a Greek term that actually means a room or place of abiding.

You do have a "house" that is being constructed for you before the Throne of God in Heaven. This house is being fashioned from your conduct on the earth. But you will not go to this house. Your house will return with the Lord Jesus and clothe your resurrected flesh and bones.

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (II Corinthians 5:4—NIV)

"Are there any passages that reveal what it will be like for me after I die?"

There are very few. The Bible is almost silent on our life between death and resurrection. Here are two passages, and you will see they probably are different from what you have pictured.

I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:14-17—NIV)

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (Revelation 6:9,10—NIV)

Do either of these two passages sound like what you truly desire for eternity? Probably not, if you search your heart.

You were not created to live in the spirit world. The spirit world is for the angels. God does not form you and then spend enormous resources of time and attention to educate you in His ways so you can spend an eternal vacation in the spirit realm. You have an endless life of service and responsibility ahead of you!

Right now you may be so pressured, so tired, so filled with dread and anxiety that the idea of going to a mansion and just doing nothing for a while sounds pretty good. What you need is a good long vacation with no worries. But think about it. Let's say you no longer are tired, there are no money problems, you are in perfect health, you can do whatever you like for as long as you like.

Now, think deeply about this. Where do you want to be? With whom do you wish to be? What would you desire to be doing? Remember, you are fully rested, in perfect health, and have no worries or responsibilities of any kind. What do you really want?

There may be some who still wish they could be in the spirit realm, laying on a mansion, perhaps surrounded by their loved ones, and doing nothing at all except talking and looking around for eternity. To me this would be Hell, not Heaven.

I am looking for the resurrection, primarily, so I can regain life on the earth. It is the earth, with its oceans and meadows, where I wish to spend eternity, not the spirit realm.

But after death and before resurrection I am hoping for access to the Palace where Jesus and His mighty men sit at the table and plan the Kingdom. But especially I am looking forward to a time of relaxation, of returning to the scenes of my childhood where my roots are, maybe rowing out to the breakwater like I used to do and sitting on one of the rocks, listening to the seagulls and the waves lapping against the huge stones.

I need time to think, time to realize the cross no longer is cutting into my back. Time to remember. One of the greatest blessings of living the victorious life is that God will give us the choice of what we wish to remember and what we want to forget. Those who are to be punished have no such choice. Tormenting memories are part of Hell and the outer darkness.

After this I probably will want to visit the new Jerusalem and the palace, maybe renew old acquaintances. There are a few authors I would like to visit, such as C. S. Lewis, and tell them how much enjoyment they gave me. Hopefully there will be an opportunity for Jesus and me to come before the Father and present to Him whatever fruitfulness there has been from my life.

They say time passes very rapidly in the spirit realm, so I suppose the next event will be to suddenly awaken once again on the earth, surrounded by saints in shining bodies, and then ascend to find my place in the air in the ranks of the Lord's army.

Down through the clouds, the furious destruction of the armies of the wicked, and then to the coronation ceremony on the Temple Mount. I look forward to returning with Jesus on a white war-stallion. I understand the battle will be fierce and very real. But I have no fear because God is in control and Christ is leading the way.

I anticipate with the greatest joy seeing the King crowned on the Temple Mount, and then being sent out to take charge of people who have survived the onslaught of Armageddon. Here will be a whole new family of human beings to guide in the righteous ways of the Lord.

I really look forward to a thousand years of taking care of the people assigned to me, for they are the Lord's inheritance, and also mine because I along with you am a coheir of the nations and the farthest reaches of the earth.

I am anticipating a full life of ministering to people. There will be no cross to carry and no dread of financial loss or sickness. But I look for increasing responsibility and pressure that will move me to new levels of the image of Christ and a deeper rest in God's perfect will. I hope I will pass through many more stages of life until I am truly in the image of our Father. How about you?

I know the Lord Jesus is coming to take control of our earth. This is what I want—to be with Him ministering to the needs of the peoples of the earth, and also to the needs of my fellow Christians as I am doing today.

I am old and tired, but not so old and tired as to want to have Jesus come and then return to Heaven with me so I can rest!

Think of it! Before we ascend to meet the Lord in the air we shall have been raised from the dead and clothed with immortality. There will be no need to flee to the spirit realm in order to rest or to be protected from Antichrist or the Great Tribulation or our bills or whatever else is of concern to us. The idea is to descend with Christ to the earth. This is where the excitement, the adventure, the wonder will be.

Then too, think of those who have been with the Lord for hundreds or thousands of years. They are waiting for their opportunity to govern the nations of the earth.

And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9,10—NIV)

Do you think these saints who have been waiting so long to return to the earth are going to want to be resurrected and then turn around and go back to Heaven so the living saints can get rested up? I don't think so No, they won't want to and neither will you.

Search your heart. It is very important what you desire for God's Word has promised you the desires of your heart and the Scriptures cannot be changed in any manner. They are eternal. So if what you really want is to remain in Heaven with the angels, resting on a golden couch in your mansion, then perhaps that is what you will receive. But as for me, I want to be with the Lord and the people God has given me for my inheritance.