Written mainly on Sunday morning at 3 AM when I woke with the ideas. 12 June 2022
What will be the first realization in heaven when we transit from this earth? One precious verse says (2Corinthians 5:8), “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” I see there, no time gap, no waiting period in some sort of limbo; no vacant state between death and heaven’s glory. There are some Christians who think death means a waiting time until the Lord appears to judge the living and the dead. That is not correct and is somewhat depressing. I ask again, what will be the first realization when we depart this world?
Sadly, this ignorance of uncertainty comes from the mixture of Catholicism and the ignorance of pastors and teachers present in churches who have not bothered to examine the scriptures carefully. There is no waiting time; the change is instant. I am sure the Lord would have it no other way.
Remember Stephen here, when facing an imminent death, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). This is a most interesting expression because another verse clearly says, “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). After obtaining our salvation, Jesus sat down, an act indicating His work for salvation was complete.
Elsewhere in Hebrews, the same thought is expressed: “But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet” (Hebrews 10:12-13). And again: “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Mark puts the fact most clearly: “So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19).
However, Stephen saw Him standing. Why is that? Jesus was standing to receive His faithful saint when the stoning did its sinister work. Standing to greet Him. I don’t think this was an exception; I think it will be normal.
Jesus is ready to greet each saint individually, to welcome each one home. In the parable of the prodigal son, when he was coming home, the father saw him a great way off and went to greet him. I think that greeting will be the most blessed that will ever happen for each one of us.
The Lord is waiting for me. He stands to greet me. He welcomes me to His home. Talking about home… We all use the expression, “We are going home one day,” meaning we will be going to heaven. Heaven is our home, but in one sense, it is not OUR home. It is the Lord’s home, and He is the glorious One who will welcome us to His home. I remember a song we used to sing so many years ago when I was a youth:
“This World Is Not My Home” by Jim Reeves
- This world is not my home; I’m just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
CHORUS/REFRAIN
O Lord, you know I have no friend like you.
If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord, what will I do?
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore
- They’re all expecting me, and that’s one thing I know.
My Saviour pardoned me, and now I onward go.
I know He’ll take me through, though I am weak and poor,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
CHORUS/REFRAIN
- Just up in Glory Land, we’ll live eternally.
The Saints on every hand are shouting victory.
Their song of sweetest praise drifts back from Heaven’s shore,
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
CHORUS/REFRAIN
Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ will welcome us to His home the instant we depart this world. In the Old Testament, we learn of the importance of hospitality and the greeting of strangers and relations to a home. It meant care and fellowship and welcome and greeting and trust. All of those things the Lord will demonstrate to us when we suddenly appear in His presence. It is beyond our reasonable expectation to speculate into it all. I know my Lord will be there.
I think sometimes there is too much emphasis on the material when people write about heaven as if heaven is some sort of materialistic splurge.
I absolutely love the old Gospel quartet singing, such as The Cathedrals, a genre that is losing favor these days. I love the songs, but one of them I find a little off in emphasis. For me, that song is translating the earth’s behavior into heaven. That song is called “Moving up to Gloryland,” though it has a most fantastic tune and rendition. The emphasis of heaven is the Lord Jesus, not what we are getting, or riches or any personal gain.
What do you want to go to heaven for? Is it to see the splendor of the place, and the millions of angels, and gold, and the relatives of yours that have passed on before, and your spouse you lost some time back? Do you want to find your room that has been prepared through the cross (John 14:1)?
Are you thinking here and now in a materialistic frame of mind? Think for a moment when the Apostles Peter and John took their last breath on earth.
What was the ONLY thought in their minds as they were departing? Surely, they had only one – it was going to be with Jesus, their blessed Lord they knew through the earthly days here. There was no other thought.
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). Stephen knew the secret. The whole key, and uniquely so, is going to meet the Lord, our Saviour, Redeemer and Friend. Jesus is waiting to meet you, dear Christian, and you should be waiting to meet Him too.
I know for those who are working and raising families that they/we have split devotion. In all our earthly busyness, the Lord gets a place along with so many other things. In the luxury of retirement, we have a lot more time to contemplate the Lord and fix our attention on Him. I suppose, in a way, we could say we are preparing ourselves.
So do you want to go home or to remain here with friends, family and pursuits? That is not as simple as it seems. I want to do both. Paul struggled with that when he said, “I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better, yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake” (Philippians 1:23-24). How many of us have those thoughts at times?
There is a most interesting verse in Revelation, one of the nicest revelations in the whole Bible. Let us look at that.
Revelation 1:18, “…and the living One, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” The Lord declares He has the keys of death and hell (death and Hades). This statement of the Lord who holds the keys follows right on from the great victorious fact that He is alive evermore, so He then has the authority over death. Death is conquered. O, death, where is your sting? There is none! The picture in verse 18 is that of the old gatekeeper who had the keys of entry and closure hanging at his side on a great ring and sometimes a chain. When one wanted the city gates open or even the rooms within a castle opened or closed, the gatekeeper or doorkeeper would do that.
That person had great power because he could refuse entry.
Again, by having the keys, he keeps the door and lets in and shuts out. In fact, Jesus is the Door, as we read in John 10:9: “I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.”
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Door to my salvation and the Door to my departure. He is the Door to my fellowship, and He is the Door to my feeding.
The blessed Lord is My Doorkeeper, The Keeper of my Life, and He is the Door of Entry and Exit. He has the keys of death and hades. What can we take heart in from all this? Well, the great news is that Jesus has your key and my key hanging at His side, and until He fits your key and my key into the lock and opens the door of departure, we are meant to be on this earth. But the moment He turns the key, He then calls us to His very presence. Death is never an accident for a Christian, and this next verse just confirms that truth. “My times are in Your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me” (Psalm 31:15).
There are many paths that lead to death’s door, and I don’t need to spell them out; we are well acquainted with them. However, no matter how close you might be to that door, be absolutely assured that you will not enter in until the Doorkeeper takes your key hanging by His side and turns your key in the lock. Then he escorts you into His presence. For a Christian, death is no accident; it is known to and permitted by the Lord. Our times are in His hands.
Yes, I am going home someday, and for some of us, that may be quite close. If the Lord tarries, how many years might He give us? So many of us think the Rapture is close, but if it is a little way off, then some of us will pass through the door He will open, and we will be with Him in His personal presence.
REFLECTIONS IN OLDER LIFE
Whatever you’ve allotted me in days or months or years;
Whatever life will weigh for me through many joys and fears,
I know my Lord has planned my way and through the darkness steers.
In God’s good time, He’ll sit me where there are no bitter tears.
The Lord is my Provider here, each step along the way.
He’ll walk with me and be my Guide through darkest night and day.
What then can man do unto me for I am in His hands;
My Saviour as my Great High Priest beside me always stands.
Lord Jesus Christ, we worship You; You are the mighty King.
At Calvary You bought for me the victory I sing.
Now in the time apportioned still, I walk the pilgrim road,
Until that day I shout Your praise in gloryland’s abode.
(Ron Ferguson August 2020) Metre – 14 throughout.