Commentary
by Walter Albritton
Eternal Home
Called Heaven Awaiting the Faithful
Revelation 21:1 -- 22:5
Key Verse: And I
heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. -– Revelation 21:3
Eight-year-old
Emily had been listening carefully to her pastor. She understood the gospel to
mean that faithful Christians will go to heaven while unrepentant sinners will
go to hell when they die. The pastor had convinced her that she should tell
others about Jesus and invite them to trust him so they could go to heaven.
Emily decided to share the gospel with her brother Billy, age five.
Summoning all
her courage, Emily spoke earnestly to her brother, “Billy, do you want to
accept Jesus as your Savior so that you can go to heaven with Mama and Daddy
and me and the angels, or do you want to go to hell and be with the devil and
all the bank robbers?”
Billy stared
back at Emily for a few seconds, and then blurted out, “I don’t want to go to
either place; I want to stay right here!”
Most of us can
sympathize with Billy. That kind of evangelism turns most of us off. While we
appreciate Emily’s zeal, we would prefer a more subtle brand of evangelism. Yet
we would admit that Christians should be more urgent in helping nonbelievers
confront the ultimate question: Are you going to heaven or hell when you die?
The truth is, millions die without ever hearing the good news that God has
prepared an eternal home called heaven for faithful believers. They deserve to
know that heaven is an alternative to hell, the place that will be the eternal
home for all who have renounced Christ.
John sees that
in the time of judgment, the wicked will be condemned and punished, while the
righteous will be rewarded with the gift of heaven. The coming heaven will be
“new,” replacing all that is “old” and marred by sin. The new heaven will have
no sea. The sea symbolized evil in John’s day; it was a source of great fear.
This was most significant to John, for it was the sea that separated him from
his Christian friends. In heaven he would enjoy the fellowship of believers and
no longer have to endure the painful loneliness of his isolation on the Isle of
Patmos.
John wanted his
suffering Christian friends to know that God would reward their faithfulness in
heaven. In that heavenly city, the “new”
The focus there will be the glory of God and the light of the
Lamb. There will be no night for it could not exist in the presence of the Lamb
who is the light of the world. Therefore, the gates will not have to be shut as
protection against the demonic powers that work in the darkness. God’s presence
will be all the protection the Lamb’s bride will need!
Water is so
necessary for human existence and a beautiful symbol of life. John sees Jesus
offering to all who are thirsty the water of life freely. Last year Americans spent 48 billion dollars
for bottled water. In heaven, pure water will be free for all eternity. There
we will be “drinking from a fountain that never shall run dry!”
The faithful in
heaven will bring glory and honor to the Lamb upon the throne, the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book
of life will go to heaven. They will be completely separated from the wicked.
Lying is especially offensive so liars will not be welcome in the holy city.
One preacher
shouted to his congregation, “All who want to go to heaven please stand up.”
All but one man stood up. The preacher was surprised and asked the man still
sitting down, “Do you really not want to go to heaven?” Whereupon the man
replied, “Oh, yes, pastor, some day I want to go to heaven; I just thought you
were getting up a load to go today!”
Few of us want
to go today. However, we do want to go some day. There is a longing for home in
every human heart. Especially do the brokenhearted, the lonely, sick and dying,
wish for home. Someone expressed this universal cry in these heartrending
words, “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child – a long, long way from home.”
Perhaps we long for home because God himself
is Home. God is not only our Father; he is also our Home. After all, what
father would not desire for his children to be at home with him, there to enjoy
the peace of his presence? Is not the blessed contentment of family intimacy
akin to salvation? When Jesus spoke of “two or three gathered in my name,” was
he perhaps thinking of a family? When Christ says, “Come unto me,” is that not
an invitation to renounce sin and “come home” to the Father for time and eternity?
Since we cannot
know the hour when Christ shall return, or what day shall be our last upon the
earth, it behooves us to trust Christ, live faithfully as his disciples every
day, and do our best to persuade Emily’s little brother Billy and all his
friends to go home with us – to heaven. If we do not choose to use Emily’s hook, we
had best find one of our own so that we will be prepared to answer the Lord’s
question, “Did you catch any fish?” Until he calls us home, surely he desires
for us to “fish for men,” to invite others, and persuade others, to make that
final journey with us to “the land that is fairer than day.”
After all, is
there really anything more important than introducing people to Christ, so they
may choose to be at home with him for all eternity?
When we truly believe what the Bible teaches, then we realize
that we really do have Good News for lost people – there is an eternal home
called heaven awaiting the faithful. Should we be bashful in the face of so
great a need? Surely not! Let us tell it on the mountain – that Jesus Christ is
King!
+ + + + (Contact Walter at walbritton@elmore.rr.com)