David ends Psalm 23 by saying, “We’re going to heaven!” With God, things keep getting better and better. The best is yet to come.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1, the Apostle Paul says, “We know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”
Your body won’t last forever, but you will. And you and I will live forever in one of two places — heaven or hell. They’re both real places, according to the Bible. It would be difficult to believe in one without the other.
Paul continues, “So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8)
Christians should be the most confident people on Earth. Death, for Christians, is a transfer. It is like a promotion. We are moving on to better things. We are headed to a place where there are no more problems, no more heartache and no more pain.
Wouldn’t it be foolish to go through life totally unprepared for something that everybody knows is inevitable? We’re all going to die someday. If you have accepted Christ, then you can have confidence that you’re going to go to heaven.
First John 5:13 says, “I have written this to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.”
There are some things in life I would say, “I hope so” about. Other things I might say, “I think so” or even “maybe so” to. But when it comes to where I will spend eternity, I want to be able to say, “I know so.” I know I’m going to heaven. I hope you do, too.
You can have that confidence when you are finally willing to admit that you have sinned. You believe Jesus died for your sins and you are ready to confess your sins to him. That’s when a person is ready to receive the gift of eternal life. And if you have done these things, then you can say with absolute confidence, “I know I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Steve Greene is the lead pastor of The Point in Seymour. Read his blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or email him at [email protected]. Send comments to [email protected].