HEAVEN
THE FINAL HOME OF THE REDEEMED

         Can a man see God?  The Jews of Jesus’ day would have said “No!”  The difference and the distance between God and man was thought to be so great that no man had ever seen God.  Jesus changed this concept by saying, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father” (Jh. 14:9).  Jesus had already declared that He is the only way to know God because He is “the way, the truth, and the life”, and says emphatically that there is no other way by which man can approach God except through Him (Jh. 14:6).  This was a bombshell! What did He mean? Jesus was clearly saying, “To see Me is to see what God is like.” “To see Me is to see God loving and yearning over mankind.” “This love which God has will be seen by My bearing the wounds of His heart upon a Cross.”

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         Jesus stated that His words, deeds, and knowledge came from God.  It was God’s power flowing through Him to men.  His words were God’s words.  He was transmitting the glory and the love of the Father to men.  He was God’s voice, God’s message, God’s mind, and God’s heart to men.  For Him to speak was for men to hear God’s voice.  For Him to work miracles was to see God in action.  For Him to teach was to hear God’s own truth (Jh. 14:7-11).

 

         Jesus was sent by the Father to save us from our sins and after our death to take us to Heaven to live in God’s House.  Jesus came not because God hated the world, but because God “so loved” the world. Man’s sin debt had to be paid for.  In complete obedience to the Father, Jesus went to the Cross to bring to men God’s love. On the Cross, Jesus looked into the face of death and saw the Cross as His glory, the gateway to Heaven, and the door opening to be back with His Father.  His perfect obedience to the will of God was also His glory.  He wanted His followers to see His glory in Heaven.  His promise to us is that if we share His glory and His sufferings on earth, we shall share His glory and His victory over death, Hell, and the grave. Because He lives, we shall live with Him for all eternity.  What a Promise!  What a thought!  Jesus wants to be with us forever!  Therefore, we must not look upon our Cross as a penalty.  It is our glory!  Our glory is when men see the image of Christ in us through our obedience to God (Jh. 17:1-26).