The Heavenly Hope

The Heavenly Hope
Hebrews11:8-16
8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10. for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. 12. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the shy in multitude-innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. 13. These as died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have opportunity to return. 16. But now the desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city in Heaven.
During the gold rush in California, men left their lives and the comforts of home to seek not the promise of gold, but the hope of a better life. What if these men already had a good life at home? What if their needs were met, they had a great job, riches beyond their need, and a life that was the envy of their neighbors, and would they still go? We surround our teenagers with the many comforts of home, television, phone, computer, stereo, food and shelter, all in the comforts of their air conditioned rooms. Yet we are surprised when they are reluctant to get out on their own. What promises await them? The glamour of apartment life, launder mats, where for the first time they have to wash their own clothes, microwavable dinners, for they never came out of their rooms long enough to learn to cook, they believed the food fairy just left it on the table for them to consume and quickly go about their busy lives.
Abraham had a good life in Ur, but God had a plan for his life that Abraham could not see. God wanted to bring salvation to the world through the lineage of Abraham, but in order to do that He needed to separate Abraham from his family. So God gave him the promise, not merely the hope, of a land picked out by God where he was to dwell, as well as the promise that a great nation would be born out of this one man.
So Abraham went out from the comforts of his home to a promise. He did not know his final destination, only that he had a promise. Being a truck driver I like to have my route planned out for me in detail. I like to know the condition of the road, traffic lights, delays, and the weather before I depart. Abraham did not have any of this, so armed with faith he headed out, to a promise of a new city, whose builder was God.
What have we walked away from to serve God? As an unbeliever I had a group of friends that I partied with. After I started walking with God, the love for Him and the joy that I now had was evident in the way that I behaved and the speech that I used. It was odd to see my friends begin to apologize for the language they used around me. I began to share the gospel with them and soon found that they did not share in my joy. Since then I have gained new friends some share in the joy that I have found and others respect the faithfulness that I have to God. God has not asked me to leave my home and follow Him, but He asked us all to leave the comforts of sin and the temporary joy that it brings, to follow a promise of a city that is build by Him. In doing this we become heirs with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as the promise that God gave to them.
When Abraham and Sarah got to the land that God had promised to them they found that it was inhabited. So they did not dwell in homes but tents, as people who were passing thru. Jacob was 15 when Abraham died and they as yet had not received the fulfillment of God promise, yet they were heirs to the promise. When a will is read the heirs of the deceased expect to receive the inheritance immediately. What if the reader of the will were to say that you have inherited riches beyond your imagination, and you shall receive them, yet they walk away empty handed? The heirs go to all their friends and share the joy in the inheritance they have received but have no proof, their live style has not changed, and they have no new cars, no new houses, not even any new toys. Yet they see a joy in their faces that cannot be explained. As their lives go by and they have not yet received their inheritance, only the promise of it, their friends begin to think them nuts. Their children await the promise and when their parents pass they think finally they will receive the inheritance promised to them. Alas as the will is read they too receive the same promise, and walk in the same joy. They walk to the mail box every day, just as their parents had, and come away with only the promise. They may receive a note now and then telling about the riches they will receive, yet never see one dime. Their joy leaves them from time to time and they fall back on the stories their parents had told them as they were growing up, and they call their siblings and share with them in the joy of the promise they will receive.
This is what Isaac, Jacob, and his sons went through as they waited on the promise, strangers in a land that was their inheritance, till the families of Jacob were reduced to slaves in Egypt, still believing the promise.
Verse 13. “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob received many answers to prayers in their lives. They were witness to great things that God did for them, as He was with them all their days. Yet they considered themselves pilgrims and visitors in a land that God had given them as an inheritance. They embraced the promises of god, of a Kingdom and a city built by Him. They were ambassadors of God in a strange land that was there own. They had every opportunity to return to their country, but it was no longer their home. To go back to a life that was simpler, to homes more solid than the tents they now lived in. It was their faith that God would complete what He had begun in them that kept them walking in the will of God. They knew that the place they had come was a better place, but the promises of God far outweighed the comfort of that home far behind.
We go through this life enjoying the riches of this great country, and the many blessing of God. New homes, cars, campers, boats, and the many things that we surround ourselves with make this life desirable. Sometimes they cause us to forget that is it not our home. I can remember a time in my life when I was stripped of everything that I had come to love. All my procession could fit in one van. I was staying with friends and relying upon the grace of God to see me through. I did remember the promises of God, and longed for the promises that His word spoke to me. His word brought me comfort and assurance, as His spirit reminded me, as it still does, that this too would pass. All lives troubles will pass and all lives riches will pass. A Jehovah Witness came to my door one day and in our conversation, asked me; “Don’t you want to spend eternity on this earth?” I looked out my door at the beauty of God creation, at the blue sky, the trees, and the flowers; I heard the stream beside my home and agreed this was a wonderful place. I told the man no, I do not wish to remain on this earth for eternity. For my home is not this earth. I have a promise from God, passed down through Abraham, that I am a joint heir to a city built not by man, but by God Himself. The end of Verse 16 sums this lesson up quite well. “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
May God’s richest blessing be yours, as we sojourn together on this earth, longing for a city built by God, and given to us through the blood Of Christ. Till He comes to take us to a home prepared for us. Amen and Amen.