Heaven not only has an atmosphere, it also has a culture. The culture is a product of the atmosphere; for example, the atmosphere (climate) created by a massive forest tree governs the ecosystem around it – what flourishes there. Likewise, there’s a culture that’s ordained to flourish where the presence of God is welcomed and enjoyed.


Culture (definition) = the shared beliefs, values, attitudes and practices of a group. In our case we pray, ‘Let your kingdom come – your will on earth as it is in heaven'


What is the culture of heaven like?


It’s like God – no God, no culture (just like ‘no God, no atmosphere’)


Colossians 3:12 – 17 describe a culture: Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.


Central to the culture Paul describes is the attribute of forgiveness. Imagine what society, church or family would be like if we got this attribute “nailed” - Heaven on earth?


The parable of the unforgiving servant is recorded in Matthew 18:21 - 35


Often the first thing that strikes us in this parable is the destructive consequences of unforgiveness. Jesus likens the state of a person who carries unforgiveness in their heart to one of torture – by refusing to forgive, the torment of our own shame, of the debt we never had to pay, returns and a door is opened to affliction and pain in our life.


There are often times when ministering deliverance or inner healing, that if a person can’t progress through

proper forgiveness of others who have brought pain and loss to their lives, the deliverance or healing process

can’t proceed – it’s like refusal to forgive is taken by the enemy as permission to hold the person in bondage and

inner torment. However, when forgiveness is enacted tremendous freedom and healing can be ministered and

freely received, and the enemy is completely undermined, he has no place to stand in our lives.


I want you to notice verse 23  Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like


  1. 1.  The kingdom of heaven is like … (describing a culture) a culture in which a constant awareness of the great debt we owed and yet in compassion Christ forgave:

  2. •this produces humility

  3. •it declares our equality – no one was above the desperate need to be forgiven by the Master – we are all the same in the grace of God

  4. •it produces true thankfulness and worship

  5. •it’s not just that he forgave us, but it’s how he forgave us . . . forgiveness would be a complete pardon

  6.    for every sin, but it wasn’t just a merciful “wave of the hand” for that would deny the justice of God. And if

  7.    God displayed justice only, then none of us would be saved.


God is perfect mercy, but he is also perfect justice … and our sin needed to be dealt with legally and justly. My sin broke a binding ‘life and death’ covenant, and because of the nature of the covenant, a death sentence had to be carried out for justice to be done. This is where the love of God speaks … not only is God perfect mercy and perfect justice, he is also perfect love … out of his perfect love for me he said “I will take your place in death”.


The cross was God’s perfect love for me … that also satisfied completely  the justice of God (justified) … which meant that the mercy of God could be extended and my every sin forgiven – removed, cleansed, washed away, forgotten, taken away.


It’s because of this total forgiveness that the culture of heaven, that can be our experience in the church, is marked by humility, equality, thankfulness and worship.


  1. 2.  The Kingdom of heaven is like . . . a culture in which the same compassion, mercy and forgiveness flows from our lives to those who have sinned against us (this is the lesson of second part of the parable)

This is a huge issue because we’re not God! And here we are being called to the highest God-like qualities.

Families and churches and business partnerships and governments get torn apart day after day because

we’re not God and simply don’t possess these highest God-like qualities. Just look how high Jesus moves

the bar . . . Matthew 5:43-48


  2. At first glance it looks like the standard Jesus is raising is even more stringent than the original Law! How on earth can we fulfil this?  Realise that Jesus never said anything to frustrate, confuse or deflate us … he speaks to awaken us to divine possibilities and to show the wonder of his grace.


  4. Sandwiched between love your enemies and you are to be perfect is a mighty key ... so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. Now loving unconditionally is not a new law for us to strive to keep, but it’s the consequence of being like our Father – the nature-characteristic of the Father, now in his children, his offspring. If this was about a natural family we would call it DNA or genes … physical characteristics of the parents now embedded in their children’s make up however, our new birth is a spiritual birth  - spiritually, the characteristics of our heavenly Father are embedded in his children. Therefore to forgive as the Father forgives, to love like the Father loves, is a complete impossibility out of our old nature, but is completely natural for our new nature


Recently, I heard Bill Johnson speaking from Romans 6  Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be dome away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who had died has been freed from sin.


“This is how changed we are – we are so completely new that it is absolutely reasonable for us to consider ourselves dead to sin – sin is the third shoe, what am I going to do with it? I have no place for it, I have no more feet to put it on – that’s what sin is to me, I have no place to put it!


“Think of yourself this way – I am dead to sin! The enemy comes along to remind us of something from our past, some accusation. We look at him and say, “that wasn’t me! That person’s dead, he was killed” – biblically that is the absolute truth. “I heard that had happened, the person who did that has been dead now for quite a while”.


“In order to sin, I would have to believe a lie that introduces me to another nature, one that no longer exists in the post-Calvary reality of my life.



Forgiveness is an act of grace: to show grace is to extend favour and kindness to one who doesn’t deserve it and can never earn it. It easy to baulk at forgiving because we think we are somehow exonerating wicked or hurtful behaviour and saying it doesn’t matter – it does matter! It was devastatingly hurtful, and sometimes negatively life-altering. We have in us a God-given sense of justice that needs to be satisfied. Here it’s vital to understand that we can’t justify another person any more than they can justify themselves . . . that’s business between them and God that our forgiveness does not circumvent. My forgiveness doesn’t justify them before God.


However, our act of forgiveness does two powerful things: firstly, it points the offender to the God of justice before whom they are guilty. Forgiveness says “It’s no longer about you and me, it’s about you and God”.

And secondly, it releases us from the terrible burden of carrying judgement against a person (a burden that easily becomes a focus that then can become an obsession that activates the principle of “beholding” – Jesus said If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." John 20:23 – sin can be retained from generation to generation because the cycle of bitterness is never broken by the grace of forgiveness). Why Jesus likens it to a tormentor’s prison.



An old Hebrew term has grace meaning “to bend, to stoop”.  That God himself would die a substitutionary death for us, so that the legal requirements for his mercy to be extended toward us would be satisfied, is the most extraordinary – indeed the supreme – stoop of grace that history will ever record. The late pastor and Bible scholar, Donald Barnhouse said, “Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace.”


In John 8 the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. They challenged Jesus to act according to the judgement of the law; but Jesus’ response was amazing, John records . . . But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. Jesus’ response to sin is to STOOP!


Now into the culture that is already marked by humility, equality, thankfulness and worship, because of the Master’s stoop of grace and forgiveness toward us; we can add wonderful grace-filled behaviour toward one another, because of the new nature that is our life-reality made possible because of the Master’s stoop


Let’s go back to the exercise of forgiveness. Here’s how to make something that is  normally difficult and painful to do, genuinely flow from our lives:


  1. 1.Know we are standing now in a new nature – the old one is dead! In order to hold unforgiveness in my heart I would have to believe a lie that introduces me to another nature, one that no longer exists in the post-Calvary reality of my life.



  4. 2.Know we begin from a highly favoured and exalted place – we over not under, we are raised not cast-down, we are above not below. Believing this spiritual reality gives us proper perspective and enables a stoop of grace.



  7. 3.Know that by forgiving, we are not condoning wicked and hurtful behaviour – but are freeing ourselves from the potential of a bitter root that could bind the pain to future generations.



  10. 4.Come before Jesus and sincerely speak specifically forgiveness and release of personal judgement. In some cases, a supportive friend can aid us because sometimes our emotions battle against our willing heart.



  13. 5.In a few situations it is appropriate to communicate your forgiveness to a person, especially if they are aware of the judgement you have been holding against them.



  16. 6.Know that a powerful spiritual transaction takes place – it is to be believed knowing that feelings follow faith (not the other way ‘round)





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The

Culture

of Heaven