But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Revelation 21:27)

Why Heaven Is So Wonderful

There has to be a reason someone would want to be in Heaven. The desire for eternal life is the strongest emotion in the heart, which is motivated by a deep desire to be in a better place than where a person is. What advantage will there be in Heaven? Why would the thought of Heaven be something to spend a lifetime seeking? What is the appeal? The Holy Spirit gives a hint to the wonderful place called Heaven when He reminds the Christian what will be lost in gaining eternal life. God promises to wipe away the tears from His children’s eyes. He will take away all sorrow and pain, and death will be no more. The reason this appeals to the Christian is the realization of what is given up in this world.

The glory of the heavenly abode is that three things will no longer be a factor in the hearts and minds of God’s children. Heaven is a place where there is nothing that defiles or that is unclean. The world is filled with defilement and unclean things. After creation and the generations of men spread across the globe, the natural desires of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life filled the hearts of men to follow after unclean and unholy things. Ungodliness and unrighteousness filled the earth as the hearts of men denied the existence of God. They knew God but refused to give Him the honor and glory due His name. The wisdom of man created idols to be worshipped. Lust filled the hearts to live under the vile passions of the flesh, where women exchanged the natural use of what is against nature to dishonor their bodies among themselves. Men left the natural use of the woman and burned in their lust for one another—fornication, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, and every sexual perversion the flesh could create flourished.

The carnal nature of man lived for his own pleasure, denying the God that made him. Every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. The world is filled with the detestable and abominable acts of rebellion against everything holy, righteous, and pure. Men sought to worship themselves as gods, believing they were their own masters. The world became the abiding place of everything abominable or vile. As a result, men found lying more powerful than the truth. Business was run based on lies. Politics measured success through lies. Lies destroyed marriages. The common language of all men was to tell a lie. It was easier to tell a lie than tell the truth.

The world was complete. It was filled with everything unclean, detestable, false, and dishonest. The world remains in the broken condition of the human equation. Everything that defiles the nature of righteousness is accepted and propagated. The world is filled with abominations of unrighteousness. There is little truth on the lips of men. But God says there is a day coming when all the defilements will be taken away. There will be no more abominations. All liars will face the wrath of God. Among the many reasons to desire to go to Heaven, knowing the character of the world will be taken away is one of the greatest blessings of eternity.

When eternal life is given to the faithful of the Lord, there will by no means enter anything that defiles. Everything that caused an abomination will be taken away. The lips will praise the Lord God Almighty instead of telling lies. Why go to Heaven? What a joy to be in a place where the putridity of the world will be taken away. God makes it very clear that every man and woman who lives defiled by the flesh will not inherit the kingdom. He makes it very clear that every man and woman who lives the abominable lives of sexual perversion and the like will not be saved. And all liars – repeated often in scripture – will not receive eternal life. What a glory it will be to be in a place like Heaven. All the troubles of this life are gone. No tears. Sorrow is taken away. Death is destroyed. God reigns. Praise God.