April 15, 2006
Newsletter Archives

For most of us, life is often complex. It has its heartaches and problems. More often then not, when we think we have “got it all together,” it falls apart in a new and unexpected way. Perhaps that is why heaven seems so appealing. It seems to be a happy and un- complicated place.
Having had a preview of heaven, the apostle John records, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4. How our hearts long for such a place! Life is so complex that it is a great relief to know that getting to heaven is not a great mystery.
On the first Easter, before the Lord Jesus left His disciples, He told them, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 2,3.
These words, spoken at almost every funeral, are the key. The point is that the Lord Jesus did not ask the disciples to share in the preparation for heaven. He told them that He would make all the arrangements and would come back some time later to get them.
If we take the words at face value, we would understand that getting to heaven is a gift from God. It is not some difficult goal for us to try to reach. Our sin is the barrier to heaven, but the Lord Jesus has dealt with that issue. That is why Peter wrote, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just One for the unjust ones, that He might bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:18. The Lord Jesus brings us to God.
If we acknowledge that we are helpless to prepare ourselves for heaven and trust the Lord Jesus to take us there, everything is settled and we can eagerly anticipate the time when we will share in the joys of heaven.

Jim Beattie,

submitted by Russ Nesbit