For those who have faith in Jesus our ultimate destination is the new heavens and new earth the Bible speaks of. Revelations 21 describes what the new Jerusalem with be like…
Revelation 21:10-27 NLT [10] So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. [11] It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone-like jasper as clear as crystal. [12] The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. [13] There were three gates on each side-east, north, south, and west. [14] The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. [15] The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. [16] When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. [17] Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel). [18] The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. [19] The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, [20] the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. [21] The twelve gates were made of pearls-each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. [22] I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. [23] And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. [24] The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. [25] Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. [26] And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. [27] Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty-but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
This description sounds amazing, too glorious to fully comprehend! My finite mind cannot fully grasp it. I can only live in the joyous hope knowing that I will see it because what Jesus has done.
My heart is that everyone who reads this blog will trust Jesus for their salvation and have their name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Am I saved and going to heaven? This is a very important question and probably one that most people ask at some time in their life. Christmas and Easter are one of those times of the year that this question is probably reflected on a little bit more than usual.
To be saved means to be rescued from the penalty of sin – which is eternal separation from God in hell – and to be assured that you are going to heaven when you die. In the present tense it also means that you are in relationship with God, He is with you wherever you go and He is able to guide you and help you in all situations.
Essentially God’s plan of salvation can be explained in four simple points. At PASSION Australia we pray you will take a few minutes to read the following information and God will reveal His personal plan for salvation today.
1. God loves you and He wants to be a part of your life.
We get a glimpse of God’s love for mankind and His desire to be a part of our lives by looking at the Garden of Eden. When God created the heavens and the earth (see Genesis 1:1), He created mankind (Adam and Eve) and placed them in a garden. He provided for all their needs and walked and talked with them daily.
We see in God’s original plan, His heartbeat is to be in relationship with each of us and walk and talk with us daily. His greatest desire way back then was, and still is, to get to know each of us personally.
Question – If God loves us all so much and wants to be a part of our lives, why do many people not have God in their life?
2. Man sinned and was separated from God
God gave mankind rule over all creation, but because God is a holy God He gave them some rules to follow. One of them was not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (see Genesis 2:15-17).
Unfortunately, Adam and Eve chose not to obey this command and because of this sin entered the world. Because of their disobedience they were caste out of the garden paradise God had created for them. Since this time all mankind has been separated from God (see Isaiah 59:2). The Bible tells us that not only did Adam and Eve sin, but all mankind have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards (see Romans 3:23).
We may feel that we live a good life and mostly we do. However, if we take a moment to look at God’s Ten Commandments (see below), we soon realise that at some time we have broken at least one of them. God says in James 2:10 that if we break one we are guilty of breaking them all.
Question – If all mankind have sinned and are separated from God, is there anything that can be done to remedy this?
3. Jesus Christ died on the cross
Many people know the Easter story – that Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday and He rose to life on Easter Sunday. This is celebrated every year in most parts of the world. But why did Jesus have to die? Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sin that separates us from God (see Romans 5:8).
Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, the reason for our separation (see Hebrews 10:10) has now been removed and we can now approach God and be in relationship with Him.
Question – If Jesus has died to remove our sin, is there anything we have to do?
4. Faith in Jesus Christ restores the relationship between God and man
Each of us must respond personally to God’s plan for our salvation. God played His part by giving His Son to pay the price for our sin. Our part to receive what Jesus has done for us (see Revelations 3:20). God requires us to do three things to find salvation. They can be described as the A, B, C of salvation –
A – Admit. We need to admit to God that we have sinned and fallen short of His standards and to ask for His forgiveness.
B – Believe. We need to believe in Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sin.
C – Commit. We need to commit our lives to Jesus Christ and ask Him to come into our lives and guide and lead us in all we do.
How can I do this?
Responding to God is as simple as praying a short prayer that expresses our thanks for what He has done, confessing your sin and asking Jesus into your life. You can pray this prayer right now.
Dear God, I thank You that Jesus came and died on the cross for my sin. Right now I ask for Your forgiveness. Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God and I ask You to be a part of my life. Please come and be my Lord and Saviour. Please guide me and lead me in all I do and help me to live for You. Amen.
If you just prayed this prayer, please visit our Discipleship page to find some helpful tips on starting your new life with Christ.
Footnotes
Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,…” Genesis 2:15-17 – The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Isaiah 59:2 – “Rather, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear”. Romans 3:23 – “since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Romans 5:8 – “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us”. Hebrews 10:10 – “And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”. Revelations 3:20 – “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me”. 1 John 5:13 – “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
The Ten Commandments (extracted from Exodus 20:1-17 – New Living Translation)
Do not worship any other gods besides me.
Do not make idols of any kind.
Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
The Resurrection of Jesus is the event that most fascinates me. It fascinated me so much that it changed my life back in 1989.
Up until that point I had a basic understanding that Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday and then He rose to life on Easter Sunday.
But in all honesty I did not know why He died? When a friend gave me a tract that explained Jesus died on the cross for my sin, it started to make sense.
I realised I was a sinner and I needed God’s forgiveness and Jesus’ death on the cross made that possible. I could be forgiven because He paid the price for my sin.
The resurrection showed that Jesus had the power over death and that God was satisfied with His sacrifice for us. It also showed that we will be resurrected one day too.
This truth changed my life and gave me a new purpose – to live for Him. In a sense I was dead in my sins and then I was raised to a new life with Jesus.
I believe the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus are the most significant events in human history. I believe that if you want true life now it all begins with Jesus.
Today I would encourage you to visit my peace with God page so you can begin afresh with Jesus. You can find it here.
“Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35 NLT
For many years of my life I wondered if there was more to this life. In my quiet moments I felt like something was missing and I had a hole inside me. In time I worked out this spiritual emptiness that was me searching for more.
In the verse above Jesus describes Himself as the bread of life and talks about not being hungry or thirsty if we come to Him. Our spiritual hunger and thirst is satisfied when we come to Jesus.
Jesus is the author of life and when we come to know Him and trust Him as our Lord and Saviour, it fills a hole inside us like food fills an empty stomach and water quenches thirst. I no longer walk around with a spiritual vacuum inside me.
I know Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). I know I am His child (John 1:12) and He has a place prepared for me in heaven (John 14:2).
If you would like to end your spiritual hunger and thirst, I would encourage you to visit my “peace with God” page today.
In the Bible we see that Jesus had the power over death. He raised at least three people from the dead and He Himself was raised to life.
Lazarus – in John 11:38-44 we see Jesus raised Lazarus to life. He had been dead and buried for four days, but Jesus brought him back.
Jairus’ daughter – in Matthew 9:18-26 Jesus raised the officials daughter after she died. The man came and asked Jesus to heal her, but she died while he was away. Jesus raised her to life.
Widows only son – in Luke 7:11-15 Jesus came across a funeral procession. He told the young man to get up and he was raised to life. Jesus then gave him back to his mother.
As I read these three stories afresh they gave me a great hope. Hope that nothing is impossible to Jesus in this life. He even has the power over death!
As Christian we know that when we die we will be raised to life to be with Jesus. We will meet Him in heaven first and we will come back with Him when He calls time on this world.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 NLT [15] We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. [16] For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. [17] Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. [18] So encourage each other with these words.
Knowing that Jesus has the power over death means that nothing is impossible for Him in this life. Knowing that when this life is over we will spend eternity with Him gives me hope.
Today I want to encourage you with this great hope – nothing is impossible for Jesus. He can raise the dead and He can give us eternal life as we put our hope and trust in Him.
If you have not trusted Jesus for your salvation, I would encourage you to visit my finding salvation page.
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