My
entire life, I have pretty much grown up in the Church. I have heard many
messages, techniques, programs and ways to grow in my faith, to serve in the
Church, and to find my calling in life and in ministry. Usually, it wouldnāt be
uncommon that the information I received along the way about these things have varied
or differed according to what Church I was attending at the time.
However,
there is one thing that hasnāt changedā¦or hasnāt seemed to have been offered in
a different context or become varied throughout the years. That āone thingā was
about āgoing to Heaven.ā
Now,
donāt get me wrong, I DO āwant to go to Heavenā upon my death. However, my
reasoning for āgoing thereā and sharing about salvation and eternity has had to
change in the recent years.
For
years, I have heard it said (evangelically) time and time again, āaccept Jesus
Christ as your Lord and personal Savior, so that you can go to Heaven.ā Alright.
Thatās a positive question and something good to askā¦.however, I have found
that it is not FULLY the āright wayā to pose the question.
I am more convinced than ever before, that I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Personal Savior NOT ājustā so I can go to Heaven. I accept Jesus because I want a personal relationship with Jesusā¦I want Jesus to change my life by forgiving my sins and filling me with the Holy Spiritā¦.I want be like Jesusā¦live and walk like Jesus. I want everything I do to be centered around Jesus. I want to have a personal, intimate, loving relationship with Jesus. And, yesā¦just ONE of the ābenefitsā of all these things I establish with Jesus is being with him, forever, in eternityā¦.which, of course, is āin Heaven.ā
I
am not trying to make light of the issue, be nit-picky, upset anyone
intentionally or to drag things ādown in the weedsā over this subject. But,
accepting Jesus for nothing more
than to āpunch our ticketā so we can āgo to Heavenā (and stay out of Hell) and for
no other reason, is missing the point entirely. We accept Jesus for just thatā¦.Jesus,
Himself.
Yes,
Jesus said in John 14, that he was
preparing a āplaceā for usā¦.but that was still secondary. The āreasonā for
preparing this place was so that we would be with him! John 14:3,
āā¦I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.ā
It
isnāt ājustā about going to Heaven. It is about making a commitment to be in a life-changing
relationship with the Living Savior, Jesus Christ to experience an eternal,
never-ending loving relationship that is spiritually real ānowā here on Earth,
but one day, physically real and face-to-face in the presence of God the Father
and Jesus Christ the Messiah for all eternity in Heaven.
Heaven,
by no means, should be peddled as if it is an āafter-life time-shareā destiny.
Nor, should āgoing to Heavenā be the sole purpose and message of the Gospel.
What I am saying is that we need to revisit how we choose our words to explain
the Gospel and to be sure our witness is carefully studied and cultivated so that
we are very intentional towards our approach in telling others about the Good
News.
When
we tell the āGood Newsā we need to tell them ALL of the Good Newsā¦.not
just select pieces and parts of it. If we donāt tell them ALL the Good News,
then we end up cheating them out of knowing the real reason why God the Father
sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins and how He went to great lengths to redeem and restore our relationship with
Him as our Heavenly Father.
Yes,
Heaven is one of many parts of all thatā¦.but, it shouldnāt be our āone and only
selling pointā for why people should accept Jesus as their Savior. We accept
Jesus, because that is who we want to have a relationship withā¦.Jesus. It is
all about Jesus.
So,
live your faithā¦.speak openly of your faithā¦.prove the Gospel is true by how
you live and what you say (in love, gentleness and respect)! We have a lot to
say and live for because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is more powerful and life-changing
than ājust to get into Heaven when we die.ā
Go
forth and love in the name of Jesus. Go and be the hands, feet and voice of
Jesus to love, serve and pray for the people and world around you. By your
lifestyle, actions (and reactions) you can spread Godās love and message of
salvation found in Jesus Christ. Help others āwant Jesusā even more than they
want Heaven itself.