The decisions we make in this present life determines our future destination for all eternity, be it in the presence of the Lord with rewards in heaven, or banishment from His presence and eternal punishment in hell. However, we should not scare people with hell into heaven. I believe many "Christians" or church-goers received salvation merely as a ticket to heaven but have remained at that stage of infancy and have not pursued intimacy with the Lord.
Heaven is not just about the eternal future but how we relate with God and one another here on earth in the present. I would like to view this in a personal way. What matters most here on earth is man's love relationship with God, how truly we love Him, adore Him, worship Him and commune with Him. We will worship Him in eternity with all the saints and heavenly beings. It's not what we do, but who we are in Him. We need to live our lives abiding in Him as Jesus spoke in John 15, He is the Vine and we are the branches. He has called us to bear much fruit as we remain in Him and He in us. He has called us friends, no longer servants who do not know the master's business, but in friendship with Him, He makes known to us the things of God. Christ chose us that we should go and bear fruit, implies that the purpose of Christ's choosing people is not merely that their sins be forgiven and they have eternal life but also that their lives be fruitful and productive in fulfilling God's purposes.
We are God's elect. (Rom 9; Eph 1) God chose us to be His friends. And Jesus said, "This is my command: Love each other." (Jn 15:17) Jesus' Great Commission in Matt 28:19-20 is to go and make disciples of all nations, and in 2 Pet 3:9 tells us that the Lord does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Peter advised us to make every effort to add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love to be effective and productive in our knowledge of the Lord. (2 Pet 1:5-7) He said, "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet 1:10-11)
Our assurance of salvation and eternity in heaven should be lived out here in the present while we look forward in great expectation of His second coming.
Well said. How we live in the present determines where we are going to be heading for eternity. The concept of heaven is meant to be lived out in our day to day dealings with one another. As Christians do we add value to the lives of others or do we deduct value from their lives? Can the people we know of gain the firsthand experience of what heaven might be like through our Christ-like actions and decisions or will they scorn us for acting as if God is not real to us. Every day we are faced with situations which calls on us to make decisions or act in a manner as if Christ means something to us. If we truly love God, we will obey Him though it hurts. One of the repeated commands in the gospels is to love one another and by this others may know that we are His disciples. If we remain in Christ we are to bear much fruit so that others around us can taste and see that The Lord is good. This calls for us to do an introspection and reflection on how we live our lives. Is it in accordance to the process pointed out in 2 Pet.1:5-7? How well have we done to make sure of our calling and election? As God's elect, we are like the physical manifestations of God's presence here on earth. Don't we want to be welcomed to the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? It depends much on how we live according to His Word while here on earth. Accepting Christ or reciting the Sinner's Prayer is not an instant remedy for our sins or for that matter a one-way ticket to heaven. With this in mind, we are responsible for our lives knowing that earth is a temporary home before we get to heaven.
ReplyDelete