So far this week, we have seen the “who” and the “what” of our hope.  Tonight, let us consider the “where” of our hope.  The “where” of our hope is heaven.  This should be agreed upon by all who claim to believe in the Bible, but sadly, it is not.  Some think that our ultimate destination will be this earth.  Jehovah’s Witnesses believe this to be the case.  Aaron Erhardt, a once faithful gospel preacher, is now teaching this doctrine.  Of course, premillennialists have two hopes.  They believe we will spend a thousand years on earth in the millennial kingdom and then be transferred to heaven for the rest of eternity.  They ignore the fact that the Bible teaches that we have one hope (Ephesians 4:4).

The biblical hope that we are promised is not earthly, but heavenly.  We hope to spend all eternity in heaven, where our citizenship is.

Philippians 3:20 (ESV)
²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Why would our citizenship be in heaven if God’s plan is for us to dwell on earth?  No, Jesus, who is now in heaven, is coming back to get us and take us home.  That is our desire and confident expectation.

John 14:1–3 (ESV)
¹ “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Even Old Testament saints had a heavenly hope.  The writer of Hebrews attributed such a hope to Abraham.

Hebrews 11:8–10 (ESV)
⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.      ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Abraham was not looking for a city whose designer and builder is God in the land of promise.  He was looking for a heavenly city, and he was not alone.  Speaking of those he had just described as having great faith, the Hebrews writer had this to say about them:

Hebrews 11:14–16 (ESV)
¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

We have the same hope as the people of faith described in the book of Hebrews.  It is the hope of spending all of eternity in heaven, where we will see God face to face (Revelation 22:1-4).  What a wonderful place heaven will be.  There is no way for us to comprehend just how beautiful it will be.  It is described as a place with pearly gates and a street of gold (Revelation 21:21), not because those things will literally be in heaven, though I will not complain if they are, but because that is all our minds can comprehend.

What a wonderful hope we have.  At God’s appointed time, we will be transferred to a place whose beauty is so magnificent that it cannot be described literally because our minds would not be able to comprehend it.  A place where there will be absolutely no sin (Revelation 21:27), and where we will be in the immediate presence of God.  This is a hope worth setting before us (Hebrews 6:18).

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.