Why do you want to go to Heaven?

This is the question asked by John Piper: "if you could have everything about Heaven — forgiveness, fellowship, absence of sin and pain and death, etc. — but God is not there, would you still want it?"

The question is addressing the heart of the gospel. Do we want the gospel for our own self-exalting ends and purposes, or for the delight of the glory of God for which we were created?

A generation ago, Martyn Lloyd-Jones asked the same question in a different manner:

"What are you looking for and hoping for in Heaven? Let me ask you a question that perhaps should come before that. Do you ever look forward to being in Heaven?…The person who looks forward to death simply wants to get out of life because of his troubles. That is not Christian; that is pagan. The Christian has a positive desire for Heaven, and therefore I ask: Do you look forward to being in Heaven? But, more than this, what do we look forward to when we get to Heaven? What is it we are desiring? Is it the rest of Heaven? Is it to be free from troubles and tribulations? Is it the peace of Heaven? Is it the joy of Heaven? All those things are to be found there, thank God; but that is not the thing to look forward to in Heaven. It is the face of God. 'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God'…to stand in the very presence of God — 'To gaze and gaze on thee.' Do we long for that? Is that Heaven to us? Is that the thing we want above everything else?" [quoted by Donald Whitney.]