Poster Archive : SEPTEMBER 2008
Message: Heaven
Bible verse: John 14:2 In my Father's house are many rooms ... I am going there to prepare a place for you.
The real estate ad reads: 'Renovator's delight', 'Water views', 'Rustic charm' and 'Close to transport'. So you take a chance and check the place out. Being a natural cynic you suspect you're on a hiding to nothing. Yet those real estate cliches do sound good. Surely they couldn't lie about a water view?
Unfortunately they did. Not surprisingly you find the place is anything but delightful or charming. Now those suggestive phrases that lured and tempted you into looking just make you angry as you explore a decrepit old building that's poky and damp. A place you'd never choose to live in.
So, should a natural cynic trust Jesus when he makes a promise about the place that matters most: Heaven? This is what Jesus promises:
"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3)
You can trust Jesus because Jesus doesn't over-promise and under-deliver. When people came to him for healing, they were healed completely. And it wasn't just sore backs, headaches and gammy legs; Jesus caused blind people to see, withered hands to work again, lame people to walk, even dead people to come to life. Stunning events by any measure.
When 5,000 people needed feeding, Jesus turned five loaves of bread into food for all of them. No one went hungry. This is why the whole world continues to be transfixed by Jesus. His word is his bond. He comes good on what he promises. And what he promises is what we need.
The most important promises Jesus made were that he would die for the sins of the world and then rise again. He did both these things. So, when Jesus promises a place prepared for those who trust in him, you can believe him. You can know that there's a special, stunning place, carefully prepared just for you.
Prayer: God, I've longed for love that no human or thing could ever meet. Thank you that in Jesus, I can have the relationship I was made for. AMEN