"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT HEAVEN BEING A REAL PLACE"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT HEAVEN BEING A REAL PLACE"

John 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Some explanatory thoughts, application, and a prayer:

1. Jesus was speaking to His disciples, and telling them the truth about heaven. What He had to say here about heaven, was not just a pleasant idea, or a idea He had cooked up, nor was it a figment of His imagination, nor is it the invention of man. But, rather it's a literal place.

2. Jesus called it "My Father's house" and the main thing that Jesus was saying here, is that He was going there to this real, literal place, to prepare a place for His followers. 

3. It's comforting, and helpful, and instructive for us to note, that the word "place" in the greek language refers to an actual physical location. So, as one man said, "From this promise we can have full confidence that heaven is a real, physical place-a place where believers will one day reside with their Savior" Dr David Jeremiah. 

4. Now, let's notice just a few more things Jesus says about heaven being a real place, and what He intends for His followers in the future. 

(1) Jesus was going to go there. And, He is there right now, sitting at the right hand of God. See Heb 1.

(2) There are many mansions in heaven. Or rooms in heaven. Perhaps a reference to our new bodies. The word rooms, means, dwelling, an inhabited edifice. It may mean building or home in the sense we think of one today, or as mentioned, it may mean the heavenly body that we will dwell in, and live in forever. Interesting to note what Paul said in 2nd Cor 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

(3) Jesus is actively preparing a place for you as a believer. That word place, means, quarter, or space marked off, as it were from surrounding space. An inhabited place. So, again, it's up for grabs, might be a physical location, or it could be our new bodies, but it's something real, and Jesus is preparing it at this very moment for You. By the way, the people You know who have gone there know the answers to the things we don't. But, we ourselves will one day know. 

(4) Lastly, Jesus promised to return to get us, and take us there, so that where He is, we could be also. John 14:3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. NLT. So, He is working, preparing a place for you, and when the time is right, according to God's perfect timing, Jesus is personally going to come and get You, so that You will always be with Him. And, if it was not going to happen, Jesus would not have told us so plainly. Jesus is God, and God cannot lie, and His promises come to pass. 

A prayer:

Father, we are so grateful for the hope You have given us through Jesus Christ. Not only have we been saved by Your death, burial, and being raised from the dead, and our coming to You in faith, and receiving You, but we have such a glorious place we are going to. And, thank You that You Lord Jesus are actually preparing what's there in heaven for us right now. And, when it's the perfect time for each of us, You will come and get us. And, then we will be with You, where You are right now, forever and ever. Thank You for making it so plain and easy to understand. 

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.