Heaven In A Nutshell

“He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.”
[John 3:29]

Many people – in fact most people – consider heaven to be a place, a location where everything good from their perspective can be found and enjoyed forever.  But the Bible teaches us that heaven is first and foremost a relationship, an intimate relationship between God and man.  As we read in the John 3:29 quoted above, the Bible describes that relationship with an analogy of a marriage between a man and a woman, between the Bridegroom Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church. And that marriage is a perfect marriage, a marriage free from sin, a fulfilled marriage, a completely satisfying marriage that lacks nothing and possesses everything – of value – from God’s eternal perspective.

So just as in a healthy marriage here on earth, the marriage partners won’t care so much about “where” they are, just as long as they are together, with each other, near each other, and able to share affection with one another.  As in an ideal earthly marriage, the spouses could be in a king’s palace or in a ghetto… in Siberia or in the Sahara Desert… it makes no difference, as long as they are together, in the presence of one another, enjoying each other’s companionship and comfort and love and trust and commitment and hopes and dreams.  The one significant difference between the earthly and the heavenly marriage relationship will be that in the heavenly marriage Christ, the Bridegroom will not only be the object of the Bride’s affection but also the object of Her worship – for all eternity.

Do you long to be with the Savior – the Lord Jesus Christ?  Do you desire to see Him face to face, to be free from the influences of sin in you and around you and to be in the presence of the holiest being in all the universe?  Are you grieved in your heart when people around you mock this Savior and when they use His name as a curse word and as an expression of disgust and hatred?  Do you stick up for Him like you would stick up for a faithful loving spouse who was being spoken of in a derogatory manner?  Do you talk to people about this wonderful Savior who suffered, bled and died for sinners like you?  Are you living a life of heartfelt thankfulness for the sacrifice this Savior made to set sinners free from an eternity in Hell?  If you do not have these kinds of feelings for the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are surely not fit to spend eternity with Him in the heaven that He rules and reigns over.

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”
[Hebrews 2:3]

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