Making Earth Like Heaven > Waiting to Die To Get to Heaven

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, the first request was, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  

Waiting until you die to experience heaven is not what Jesus intended. 

If Jesus' first request in the Lord's Prayer was for earth to look a lot more like heaven, then partnering with Jesus to make that happen should be our highest priority.

When Jesus came to earth He brought the kingdom of heaven with Him. His initial proclamation was...

The Kingdom of Heaven is near."   Matthew 3:2 

Jesus' parables, which describe the kingdom of heaven, make up a significant portion of His teaching. Jesus called us citizens of heaven and commanded us to live accordingly. Do you think He would focus so much on the kingdom of heaven if He didn't want us to experience the fullness of it right away?

Jesus came to help us live like we will live in heaven right now.  

Jesus also came to enlist us in joining Him to bring the beauty and peace of heaven to earth in the process.

Why is this so important?

Because Heaven isn't something to sit back and wait for. 

Any version of Christianity that makes heaven mostly an "after you die" experience is causing you to miss out on living Fully Alive right now.  Some of Jesus' teaching, like the parable of the minas in Luke 19:11-27, even indicates that how we live our lives on earth will directly impact how we experience heaven. 

Jesus didn't avoid the brokenness of the world. He entered the brokenness so far that He bore our brokenness on the cross. In doing so He modeled a life for us to follow... a life of sacrifice, committed to joining Jesus in the restoration of all things. 

Jesus didn't come simply for you to get to heaven. Jesus came for heaven to get to you, then get to the ends of the earth through you.