The enemy of our souls, Satan, the father of lies, seeks to focus our minds only on the things of this world in the hope that we live for the present moment and this world in which we live. He has used people down through the ages to construct all kinds of false religions, philosophies, and ideologies that aim to blot out any thought of eternity in the minds of humankind. Before Jesus left the world via the cross, He said to His disciples,
1Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that 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 (John 14:1-3).
There is a story about Professor T. H. Huxley, the famous agnostic (who, by the way, invented the term "agnostic" and applied it to himself). Huxley reversed his views before his death and came to believe in God and an afterlife. As he lay dying (so his nurse reported), he raised himself on his elbows and gazed into the distance as if surveying some invisible scene, then dropped back on his pillow and murmured: “So it was true! So it was true!”[1]
Yes, it is true. In the Father’s house are many rooms. Perhaps you have read the English King James Version, which translates the Greek word monai as mansions, but the original Greek term means dwelling places or rooms. We will live with God in His house, and His home has many rooms for us to abide with Him. For those of you who have lived with the insecurity of moving from place to place, and in unfortunate circumstances, take hope! We are talking about having an eternal house in the heavens where we will be at home with God forever! (2 Corinthians 5:1). When Jesus said; “I am going to prepare a place for you” (14:2), we should not think in terms of Jesus the carpenter building each of us a natural home. The Greek word translated as “prepare” is hetoimazō, the word used of an Eastern custom of sending a person before kings on their journeys to level the roads and make them passable. The word was also used to describe the disciples going to prepare the Upper Room for the Passover feast (Luke 22:9, 12). The sad departure of Christ was necessary for the way to be prepared for all God’s people to follow Him to the Father’s house. He went ahead of us to make the way to God “passable.”
The Scriptures tell us of a time when a heavenly city will come down from heaven to earth—a city prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. Notice with whom we will be living:
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 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 21:1-4).
How wonderful it will be to live with God: the pain of this world will be dried from our eyes by the gentle touch of the Lord Himself (v. 4). He has purposely not told us much about heaven because many of us would want to leave this world before our time. In another place, Paul the Apostle, tells us the following:
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).
In our wildest dreams and imaginations of heaven, we cannot imagine how good it will be for those of us who walk with Christ on this earth. If your heart is troubled by what is going on in this world, give yourself totally to Christ and have your mind fortified with the fact that you will one day be with God Himself in His holy house. Christ has fully paid your sin debt for you to be with Him. Keith Thomas
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[1] Selwyn Hughes. Every Day with Jesus. May-June 1996 edition, Crusade for World Revival.