Good News about Heaven! John 14.1-3

Good News about Heaven!  “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

Hello from the Upper Room in Jerusalem ... 

Jesus has just told the disciples he was going away, and they could not go with him … wait, what?  After all the time they had spent together—virtually inseparable for more than three years—and now that the people are starting to get it (hadn’t they just hailed him ‘king’, and waved palm branches at his arrival in town?)…Jesus was going away!  Why, it couldn’t be; it made no sense at all!  He had not yet ousted the corrupt Romans who ruled them with an iron fist … was he or wasn’t he the Messiah?  All of these things raged through the minds of the eleven disciples left in that Upper Room that night.

But then … doesn’t it seem like there is always a ‘but then’ with Jesus?  Grace is all about the ‘but then’, isn’t it?  Jesus tells them he is going ahead of them to prepare a place for them—Jesus is talking about his Father’s house … a big, big house, with lots and lots of rooms.  He tells them about Heaven. [Look! Audio Adrenalinehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU0dPB6kqus&feature=related]

Most people, religious or not, believe in the existence of Heaven.  We question, ‘What will it be like?’  Revelation chapter 21 gives us some great information, with some interesting specific details—there are 12 gates—each one, an individual pearl.  Heaven is laid out as a square – 12,000 furlongs is what the Bible says, which in today’s language means it is a cube 1500 miles square.  This is as large as the area from Canada to Mexico and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rockies.  It can easily accommodate 20 billion residents, each having his or her 75-acre plot.  Heaven is a great big place, and it is real.

The walls of Heaven have 12 foundations, which are adorned with precious stones, including sapphires, onyx, emeralds, amethysts, and more!  Okay, so marry the opulent color with the glorious light—because there is no night in Heaven—indeed, it is always light, and you can see that it is a beautiful, magnificent place.  In my Father's house are many rooms.

Christine

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