1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-4
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
After 25 years as a missionary in Africa, Samuel Morrison was coming home on the same ocean liner that brought Teddy Roosevelt back from an African hunting expedition. The dock where the great ship pulled into New York Harbor was jammed with what looked like the entire population of New York City. Bands were playing, banners were waving, choirs of children were singing, multicolored balloons were floating, and newsreel cameras were poised to record the return of the President.
Mr. Roosevelt stepped down the gangplank to thunderous cheers, applause, and a shower of confetti and ticker tape. If ropes and police had not restrained the crowd, he would have been mobbed!
At the same time, Samuel Morrison quietly walked off the boat. No one was there to greet him; he slipped through the crowd alone. Because of the crush of people there to welcome the President, Morrison couldn’t even find a cab. He began to complain in his heart:
Lord, the President has been in Africa killing animals for three weeks and the whole world turns out to welcome him home. I’ve given 25 years of my life in Africa, serving You, and no one has greeted me or even knows that I’m here.
In the quietness of missionary Samuel Morrison’s heart, a gentle, loving voice whispered, “But my dear child, you’re not home yet!”1
God has blessed His people. Most live comfortably and have all their needs met. Apart from God’s plan for trials and tribulations, many live the life that Christ came to offer in John 10:10: “I have come to give you life and to give it to you more abundantly.” One day our earthly dwelling will pass away and we will go to the eternal home God has prepared for us. He is preparing a new home for the redeemed of all ages. With confidence, Jesus tells His disciples the building project is under way. These verses from John’s gospel give us a glimpse of the place called the Father’s House!
The Father’s House
1. The Father’s House is built to last.
“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” John 14:2
10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:10-14)
Few wars in history have offered as many illustrations for life and the Bible as the American Civil War. Let’s say you were alive during the end of the Civil War. You are living in the South but your home is in the North. While in the South, you have accumulated a considerable amount of Confederate currency. Suppose you also know, for a fact, that the North is going to win the war and that the end could come at any time. What would you do with all your Confederate money?
If you were smart, there is only one answer to that question. You would cash in your Confederate currency for U.S. currency - the only money that would have any value once the war was over. You would keep only enough Confederate money to meet your basic needs for the short period until the war was over and the money would be worthless.
As Christians, we have “insider-trading knowledge” that some day there is going to be a worldwide economic and social change. That change will make the currency, goods, and even fashions of this world valueless or worthless.
What event will cause such a major catastrophe in the financial market? Your death or the imminent return of Jesus Christ.
Since you have this insider-trading knowledge, it should radically affect your investment strategy. For you to accumulate and stockpile this world’s treasures in the face of an uncertain future is the equivalent of hoarding Confederate currency, despite the awareness that eventually it will be worthless.
While God builds the New Jerusalem, each believer contributes to his or her own dwelling place by sending materials ahead. We are encouraged to be careful how we build. Take into consideration Paul’s advice for building eternal homes. First, realize that how you invest in this life lays a foundation upon which eternity is built.
10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. (1 Corinthians 3:10)
God declares that the Corinthian believers, and each of us as Christians, are likened to a construction project. It is God’s desire to build a spiritual structure using quality materials and an appropriate blueprint. For those of you in the construction field, you understand the process that Paul is highlighting. It contains three stages:
Laying a foundation – “10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds”. (1 Corinthians 3:10)
The expert builder in this verse is the superintendent of the building project. He not only contributes labor but knowledge, or expertise. The Greek word is our word for “architect.”
Doing the actual construction. “But each one should be careful how he builds… 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is,” (1 Corinthians 3:10c, 12 – 13a)
As the superintendent on the job, Paul tells all his workers that because of the excellence of the foundation, they need to use only the best building materials. Use materials that have a lifetime warranty, instead of those that will go up in smoke with the first fire.
Getting final approval through inspection. “13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. … 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.” (1 Corinthians 3:13b – 14)
Paul explains why it is so important to be careful of the quality of the building materials: every believer’s work is going to be inspected.
Let’s do a materials checklist!
1. Have you paved the walkway of your life with generosity in your weekly giving?
2. Have you listened with sensitivity to those who are knocking with missions’ needs?
3. Have you built into church ministries with golden bricks that will bring honor to God in Snohomish County?
Second, remember that daily you are making investment choices for one of “Two Treasures.”
“12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is,” (1 Corinthians 3:12 - 13a)
Understanding God’s purpose for wealth teaches us to value everything based upon what it buys for eternity, not what it buys for this life. Learn to place great value only on those things that will leave a lasting impact for the Kingdom of God. The issue is not about treasuring anything; it is about treasuring the right things. Missionary martyr Jim Elliot put it so well when he wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Jesus’ position on wealth is not that it should be rejected but that we should pursue it. And when we attain it, it should not be spent on things that are temporal but on things that ensure eternal rewards.
Finally, financial planners have a hard time getting people to think “30 years down the road” instead of just focusing on today.
13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. (1 Corinthians 3:13a)
One of the most difficult things for Western Christians is to think about eternity. Many live as if what they do has no bearing on eternity. Our devotion to the newspaper over God’s Word is an example of how our perspective is skewed. Our testimony is that we are all so near-sighted that we can’t see beyond the immediate.
We fail to ask how expensive clothes, cosmetic surgery, and fancy toys will serve eternal purposes. Most see these questions fit only for boring theologians and widows folding bulletins in the local church.
Being oblivious to eternity makes us experts in the trivial and novices in the significant.
We can name that tune,
name that starting line-up,
name our favorite actor’s movie debut,
and name the difference between computer models or four-wheel drives.
None of this wrong, but it is revealing about what is important to us. We major in the momentary, and minor in the momentous. The Bible tells us that this life lays a foundation for the life to come. Eternity will hold for us what this life has been invested in.
William Wilberforce, through his tireless efforts in the English Parliament in the early 19th century, finally succeeded in getting England’s salve trade abolished. He devoted most of his life’s fortune to the cause of Christ. This was his perspective on our God-given desires:
“Christianity proposes not to extinguish our natural desires. It promises to bring the desires under just control and direct them to their true object.”
C. S Lewis, Oxford and Cambridge professor in the mid - 20th century, wrote prolifically on the Christian faith on two continents and built and incredible following and hearing on each. He directed most of his royalties to charitable causes and individual needs, living simply and thinking often of that world beyond.
2. The Father’s House is the home of your dreams.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
At best, all of us have grown up in flawed homes. Most of us have experienced some type of pain at home. You don’t have to travel far down the road in the biblical text to see many messed up families: Joseph, Jacob and Esau, David…
When you talk about Heaven as your home, the perception is distorted for many. Parental hangover has damaged their idea of what a home should be. The result - they have little or no interest in a place called Heaven.
How did your home unravel? Was it divorce that crippled your view of relationships? Did anger in the home turn you into a hothead, robbing you of meaningful relationships? Was it lack of resources that caused an unhealthy sense of self-worth? Friend, there is a home waiting for you that is free of distorted, painful relationships and patterns. It is a place you have longed for since the days of your childhood; a place you have imagined in a world of make believe. It is a home that God is preparing for you.
It is a place much grander than Dorothy’s, “There’s no place like home.”
It is a place where “Everyone Lives Happily Ever After.”
It is grander than Disneyland’s “Happiest Place on the Earth.”
Come with me to the Father’s House. Take a peek inside. What do you see? An expression of the Father’s love so marvelous that it seems too good to be true. Unlimited love from God shapes and orders a new reality.
I see two grace-filled experiences that interpret and set the agenda for all activities in Heaven. Write these down. Memorize them. They will change the way you look at your future: Heaven has removed all barriers, and Heaven has removed all pain.
Heaven has removed all barriers.
Life is filled with barriers: Do not enter. No vacancy. Private property. Class is full. HOV lanes only. Reservations required. Club members only on this course. Only family members can enter ICU.
Heaven will be a place where nothing separates us from each other or from God. There will not even be the natural separation of day and night that God initiated in Genesis.
“23The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” (Revelation 21:23)
No separation because of jail bars. No separation because of frozen feelings. No separation because of misunderstandings. No separation because of delayed flights. No separation because of mental illness. No separation because of a long line of cars. No children in CPS hoping to be reunited with parents. God’s new order of Heaven includes a world free of barriers.
Listen as Paul describes the greatest barrier bridged:
“4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4-6)
Heaven has removed all the pain
“4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)
The first thing to be banished from Heaven is sin. With sin’s departure go all the effects of pain. As Paul says, “death is swallowed up in victory.” The king of all fears is barred from Heaven’s doors. No family wrangling over life-support. No medical debates as to quality of life issues. No need to sing, “It is well with my soul” or “Amazing Grace.” No rides in the hearse. No tearful good-byes at the graveside. No dark sunglasses.
Heaven is a place where mankind is no longer propped up by painkillers. Check your Ibuprofen at Heaven’s gate. Bend those diabetic needles; you won’t need them where you’re going. Rise out of that wheelchair and walk. The new body that God is fashioning for us will be free from pain. No migraines. No ruptured disks. No fibromyalgia. No back pain.
Our future body will be like Christ’s resurrected body.
“But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)
No More Painkillers and No More Tears
How many tears fall from the face of a fallen world? Where do those tears fall? Does an experience of crying ever go unnoticed by the Father? The child crying because of the death of parent or puppy, the women weeping because of a failed marriage - multiply these by billions and you will realize that we live in a fallen and crying world. In Heaven, we will live with Jesus Christ who wiped away our sins on the cross and now wipes away our tears in Heaven.
What will dry our tears in Heaven? No handkerchief will do. Heaven will offer the ultimate explanation for each tearful experience in this life so that we will never cry again. You will view your sorrowful experiences on earth from the perspective of Heaven. This will dry your tears forever. God will wipe away all tears by explaining his ultimate purposes. All who live in Heaven will live with the final acceptance that God’s justice was fully served according to an eternal plan. One day God will walk with you into the sunset of His marvelous love and just his presence will solve all the dilemmas. One day God will take your face and cradle it in his love and you will be free forever.
No more pain, waiting in doctor’s offices, or pulling over for ambulances. No late night calls to the pastor or middle-of-the night trips to the emergency room. Parkinson’s Disease will not silence loved ones, and cataracts will not steal the beauty of marriage partner’s aging face. Chemotherapy will not steal hair. Suicide bombers will not steal children. No more walks for cancer, CF, or AIDS. No need for insurance; no Aflac or State Farm, even if you are in “good hands.” One day the nail-scarred hands of Jesus will hold you. It’s the Fathers House. He’s preparing it for you, and it will be the home of your dreams.
3. In the Father’s House, you will live with Him forever.
“3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:3
An Ordinary Day
April 22, 2005 was an ordinary day. I awoke early to do some chores and said good-bye to kids as they headed for school at 6:40 AM. I spent time in prayer and Bible study. I prayed for my wife, Danice, and gave her a kiss as she went to do some cleaning for a lady in the church who was ill. (Way to go sweetie! You truly have a servant’s heart.) Then I headed off for a day of hauling dirt in a dump truck. I love to landscape. How therapeutic. It was a perfect Northwest day. Drive weather. No interruptions. Starbucks. Driving a dump truck. Landscaping success. So I thought.
It happened so fast. I was just a few miles from home with a full load of dirt. The steering seemed a little difficult to hold. Suddenly, I locked the breaks. Panic perhaps. Driver error. Before I realized what was happening, I was flipping inside the cab of a fully loaded dump truck. I was bouncing around like clothes in a dryer. Now I know what a bingo ball feels like waiting for a hand to retrieve it. It happened in slow motion. I don’t know if I blacked out. As I was flipping I was thinking, “I wonder if I will end up in Heaven or an emergency room?”
Miraculously, I walked away. Apart from the bruises and some wounded pride, I will live to play catch with my kids and white water raft with our youth group. Thank you God for your protection. Like Hezekiah, I feel like I have a new lease on life.
As I was standing on the highway with the backed up traffic I thought, “It was ordinary day when I could have gone to Heaven.” If the end had come and eternity’s shores had beckoned me home, it would have been an ordinary day. Nothing special. Even though it was an ordinary day, I took comfort in the fact that I had not lived an ordinary life and I was not going to an ordinary place.
My friend, Heaven will call you home one day. It will be an ordinary day. Live your life for Christ. Remember, Heaven is no ordinary place. I call the dump truck accident a near death experience. Only Heaven will truly reveal how near I was. But it has left me changed in two ways: I have a new set of priorities, and I’ve come out of the past and ceased to live in the future; for me it’s all about the present.
You don’t have to have lived an ordinary life. You are not going to an ordinary place. Christ possessed a supernatural life. He died a supernatural death. He is coming to elevate your ordinary human existence to an equally supernatural transformation at your home going. Death is not really saying good-bye. It is saying, “I will see you tomorrow,” as Max Lucado says.
End Notes
(1) Anne Graham Lotz. Heaven My Father’s House. W Publishing Group (Division of Thomas Nelson), Nashville, Tenn. 2001, pg. 14-15.
Summary Comments
1. Understanding God’s purpose for wealth teaches us to value everything based upon what it buys for eternity, not what it buys for this life. Learn to place great value only on those things that will leave a lasting impact for the Kingdom of God. The issue is not about treasuring anything; it is about treasuring the right things. Missionary martyr Jim Elliot put it so well when he wrote, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
2. Come with me to the Father’s House. Take a peek inside. What do you see? An expression of the Father’s love so marvelous that it seems too good to be true. Unlimited love from God shapes and orders a new reality. I see two grace-filled experiences that interpret and set the agenda for all activities in Heaven. Write these down. Memorize them. They will change the way you look at your future: Heaven has removed all barriers, and Heaven has removed all pain.
3. The first thing to be banished from Heaven is sin. With sin’s departure go all effects of pain. As Paul says, “death is swallowed up in victory.” The king of all fears is barred from Heaven’s doors.
Surprising Comments
1. Being oblivious to eternity makes us experts in the trivial and novices in the significant.
2. In Heaven, we will live with Jesus Christ who wiped away our sins on the cross and now wipes away our tears in Heaven.
3. I call the dump truck accident a near death experience. Only Heaven will truly reveal how near I was. But it has left me changed in two ways: I have a new set of priorities, and I’ve come out of the past and ceased to live in the future; for me it’s all about the present.
