Hi Friends,
The Way is to obey God. The Truth that God loves us motivates our obedience. The Life that God grants us as we obey because He loves us is the Abundant Life filled to the overflow with peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit. And this Way, Truth and Life are the only way to Heaven. Listen one more time to this amazing verse:
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” Jn 14:6 NASB
One Way. In a world that claims there are countless ways to heaven, that there is no such thing as absolute truth and that life ends when we die, this one verse blows all those lies away! Jesus Himself says He is The Way, not one of the ways. Jesus Himself says He is The Truth, not one of many individual truths. Jesus Himself says He is The Life, not YOLO, just one life here in this world, but life for all eternity. And Jesus Himself also clearly says there is only one way to that eternal life: through Him.
Perfect. If I was to draw a line showing goodness from 0% to 100%, where zero is absolute evil and 100 is purely good, where in that line must we be in order to go to Heaven? Obviously it has to be pretty high, right? As far away from evil as possible, yes? Actually it has to be higher than 100%! Here’s why: even if someone were ever to think, speak and act perfectly…which no human can…we must still deal with the sin nature we are all born with! See? Over 100% pure or we humans cannot enter Heaven.
Holy. Here’s something God taught me many years ago, “Good people don’t go to Heaven, only holy people do.” As I said above, we have to be beyond good, we have to shed our sinful nature, we have to be holy, and there is only one way to become holy, to surrender our lives to Jesus. When we do this, the Holy Spirit comes to bring Life into our once dead spirit and He makes us holy. He takes away our old, sinful identity and grants us the righteousness of God. Because of this union, now Heaven’s doors are opened to us. We get to go to Heaven, not because of anything we do or do not do, but because of what Jesus did on our behalf. He Who is Holy, took on our sin so that, we who were sinful, could become holy.
Mature. Once we become holy, we do not instantly act holy. I suppose I should define “holy” so we can understand this better. Holy does not mean we will BE Jesus, perfectly obedient, loving, patient, forgiving and so on, in everything He thought, said and did. No human being can ever be that immaculate. Holy means we are set apart for God. Holy means we no longer belong to this world, but we belong to God. Holy means we are no longer defined by our old, sinful nature. Holy means we are being transformed to be more and more like Jesus. Maturity reveals our holiness. It is as we grow in Christ, that we mature into this New Creation nature we have been given. It is as we grow in Christ, that we start thinking more and more like Him, according to the unchanging Truth of God’s Word. It is as we grow in Christ, that we can control our emotions more and more. And it is as we grow in Christ, that we will want what God wants for us more. And do you know what it is God wants for us more than anything else? God wants us to receive Salvation so we can have eternal life and be with Him forevermore.
One way to be perfect, holy and mature. No one will be in Heaven, with God the Father, unless they go through Jesus. We have to become born again. We have to shed our sinful nature. We have to become a New Creation in the Holy Spirit. And “we” cannot do any of this without Jesus. Here’s another thing this world claims: this Christian reality is closed minded. But how much more open can the Bible be when it says anyone can choose to come to Jesus, at just about any point in their lives? Lord, grant me Heaven. Choose to place our God given Faith in God’s amazing Grace, this is how we are saved, and I am eternally grateful God moved my heart to make this choice. How about you? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
There are so many “Amen” moments in this piece but I’d like to expand on the first ‘Amen’. “Because of this union, now Heaven’s doors are opened to us.”
We have been given the power to govern on earth the life that exists in heaven. Our prayer life and our life each day should reflect that. When we are humble, open and transparent, each person that abides the way Jesus himself did, can bring the way of heaven to earth. Jesus wore a ‘flesh suit’ governed by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. When you pray that the Holy Spirit convict you of what displeases God about your ‘heart lens’ consistently, you will see your family and community truly look more like a Kingdom community.
Take a look at Luke 16:19-31 that’s a picture of people who claim to be His people. Transformation begins with the organism and then it will be reflected in the organization called ‘the church’ . Deliverance is available so that we bring down heaven to earth today and every day until we’re called home.