Heaven

If you have your Bible, you can open it up to John chapter 14, John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention John 14 · chapter mention

Last Sunday, we were thinking about Jesus' words to his disciples on the evening of his

betrayal.

And I'm just going to read the first six verses of this chapter again to remind us of what's

going on in the story this morning.

So John chapter 14, verse 1 to 6.

John 14:1–6

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Believe in God.

Believe also in me.

In my Father's house are many rooms.

If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for

you?

And 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.

You know the way to the place where I am going.

Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?

Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

We considered these words last Sunday from the perspective of the disciples and their

troubled hearts.

And we focused on Jesus' main thrust here, which is that they ought not to worry, but

instead to trust God, to trust Jesus.

Even though he's leaving them, he will be coming back again and they will be together

again.

If you missed last week, you can listen to that audio on the church website.

We have it posted there.

And we started there because it's so important that we hear these words of Jesus in their

context.

The way that the disciples would have heard them as best as we can.

What did it mean to those seated around the table that night?

Well, this morning, we want to consider these words from a different angle.

Some of you may have been wondering last week, Josh, how did you manage to preach a sermon

on John chapter 14, verses 2 and 3, and not even mention heaven once?

John 14:2

Well, that was deliberate because heaven is a big topic in the New Testament.

And I wanted to save that discussion for this morning so that we can talk about it more fully

rather than preaching two sermons last Sunday.

So here we go.

Verses 2 and 3, Jesus says,

These words of Jesus are some of the first that come to mind for many when they think about

the promise of heaven.

But many of our Christian brothers and sisters have understood these words of Jesus in different

ways to mean different things.

Why is that?

Well, one reason people have come to different ideas about heaven from this passage is because

of the differences in Bible translation.

Some of you are probably familiar with the old King James version of the Bible, which

says,

In my Father's house are many mansions.

The word mansions made it into many Christian hymns of the past several hundred years.

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus.

Sing his mercy and his grace.

In the mansions, bright and blessed, he'll prepare for us a place.

Or,

My Jesus, I love thee.

I know thou art mine.

It has a verse in that song that says,

In mansions of glory and endless delight,

I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright.

Now it sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

The idea that we get from this is that each one of us will have our own mansion.

A large, spacious, beautiful house that puts the million dollar mansions of this earth to shame.

So how is it then that every other Bible translation in English simply says,

Many rooms or many dwelling places?

I mean, come on now.

Well, if we dig into this a little deeper,

we find out that back in the days when they spoke Middle English

and William Tyndale was first translating the first English translation of the Bible,

the word mansion simply meant dwelling place.

It had no implications of being a rather large or lavish or luxurious house.

The word was derived from the Latin word mansions,

which also simply meant dwelling place.

And then, when we finally got around to collecting up all the manuscripts of ancient Greek writing,

we came to see that there too, the Greek word beneath all of this,

simply meant dwelling place or room or abode.

It doesn't mean there's a problem with the King James translation.

It was a good translation for its day.

Mansion meant dwelling place.

The problem is that since then, the English language has changed so much.

So much so that today, when somebody says mansion,

our minds immediately go to large house, luxurious house, spacious, extravagant home.

And so translation differences have affected our ideas of heaven.

I hate to break it to you, but Jesus is not promising the disciples

that they will each get their own large, spacious, beautiful house

that puts the million-dollar mansions of this earth to shame.

Let's look a little closer at the text and what he is saying to them.

He says,

My Father's house has many rooms, dwelling places, living spaces.

If we read carefully, we see that Jesus is not talking about many houses,

one for each of us.

He's talking about one house, the Father's house,

God's house, which has many rooms, many places within it to live.

This should change our idea of heaven completely, shouldn't it?

The point is not that we will all someday get to go live near God,

like just in the house down the road from where he lives.

No.

The point is that we who belong to Jesus will all someday get to live with God,

in his house, in the Father's house.

This speaks of the closeness of relationship that God desires with us.

He doesn't want us just nearby.

He wants us right there with him, in his presence,

in his own place.

And so that's the first reason we get some different ideas from this passage about heaven,

translation differences.

But there's another reason.

It kind of brings us to our next reason for our different ideas of heaven.

Some brothers and sisters in Christ will take these words of Jesus

in a little more of a material sense,

while others, myself included, will take these words of Jesus a little more metaphorically.

To illustrate the difference, let me ask you,

is Jesus saying that his Father lives in a massive house

that has separate individual rooms within it,

one for each of his people?

Is he talking about an out-of-this-world,

lavish, apartment-style building somewhere in heaven

where we will all have our own room in God's house someday?

Or was Jesus speaking figuratively, as he often did,

to convey in terms that we would understand

that we are someday to live with God in his place,

and that there'll be no shortage of space for all of his people?

Perhaps the disciples were thinking in a little bit more material

and earthly kinds of ways.

Perhaps they heard Jesus say earlier

that he's going away to prepare a place for them,

and the thing that came to their minds was simply,

well, I guess Jesus would take us now,

but there must not be room for us wherever he's going.

So maybe he's going there to prepare a place

and make sure that there's room enough for us to stay,

beds to sleep on, whatever,

and then he's going to come back to get us

and we'll leave Jerusalem

and we'll stay there with him for the next phase of this plan of God

while things maybe cool down a little bit here in Jerusalem.

I don't know.

Jesus seems to be answering this worry

or this concern of the disciples

and to be assuring them,

it's not for lack of room that I'm going to prepare.

It's not because my father's house needs some renovation work done

so that there's space for you to stay there with me.

My father's house has many rooms.

The problem, as we'll see later on in the story,

seems to me that the disciples still don't fully grasp

where Jesus is going.

That he's leaving this earth,

that he's going to his father,

that he's going out of this world

and not just to some distant or remote place here on earth.

And this kind of explains why Jesus would use metaphor here

because the things of heaven,

where Jesus is going,

are not the same as the things of earth.

The disciples are used to the things of earth.

They're used to things like houses with rooms in them

and so these are terms that they understand.

Jesus uses those terms,

just as he often does in other places.

Fig trees and vines and all kinds of other parables.

So whether we take these words in a material sense

or in a more metaphorical sense,

we'll really change our idea of what heaven is like.

And this matters too as we think about what it means for Jesus

to prepare a place for us there.

What does Jesus mean by that?

I'm going to prepare a place for you in my father's house.

If we think of Jesus' words in the material sense,

we might imagine that Jesus is up there,

as I often used to as a child,

in a celestial city somewhere with God the Father,

and that right now he's undertaking

a massive construction project,

building the new Jerusalem with his own two hands

or perhaps renovating or adding rooms

onto the Father's house

and ensuring that each room is furnished

and ready to receive us for when he comes back for us.

Is that the picture that Jesus has in mind?

Or if we take these words a little more metaphorically,

is it that the Father's house already has room enough for all of us?

That there are already many seats around the Father's table,

enough for all of us?

But is it that those seats, those rooms,

cannot belong to us

until Jesus does some very important preparatory work

on our behalf?

I would suggest to you that without Jesus going to the cross

and dying for us

and then ascending into heaven

and doing the work of a high priest for us,

there can be no place for us

at the Father's table.

There can be no place for us in the Father's house.

Is that what Jesus means when he says,

I'm going to prepare a place for you

in my Father's house?

So that's the second reason

why people come to different ideas about heaven

based on this passage.

Some take a more material view,

a more tangible view of what Jesus is talking about

and others a more metaphorical view.

A third reason

that we often come to differing ideas of heaven

from passages like these

has to do with

what we've come to understand about heaven

from all the other passages in the Bible

that speak of it.

And there are a good number of passages in the Bible

that speak of heaven.

And we really, in one sense,

need to, as best we can,

try to consider all of them at the same time

and see how they fit together.

It's kind of like building a puzzle.

And if you've ever worked on a puzzle

with somebody else,

you soon find out that some people

build puzzles differently than you do.

Some of us like to start with the corner pieces

and then the edge pieces.

And then we work our way from the edge

along the discernible features,

the things that really stand out towards the middle.

And we kind of leave those fuzzy looking things

like the grass and the sky for last.

Other people are wired totally different.

They like to look at the shape of the pieces

and just find any random piece

and just start putting them together

and get these little islands of pieces

and start moving them around

and fitting them together

and working their way towards the edge.

It's kind of the same thing

when it comes to the passages

that speak of heaven

and last things in the Bible.

Which passages that you've heard first

or which passages that you have thought about

more deeply

kind of affect how you fit the rest of them together.

And this too accounts for differences

among us

in our ideas of heaven.

An example of this

is the very meaning of the word heaven.

If we go back to the very beginning of the Bibles

that we have

it says that God created the heavens

and the earth.

Does that mean that there are multiple heavens?

Heavens plural?

Most of us will quickly acknowledge

that the word heavens

can refer to the sky.

It can refer to space.

The place where the galaxies are.

The stars.

The planets.

And so already we've got our work cut out for us

in building this puzzle

because we have to sort out

whether the word heaven

is being used to refer to

planets, galaxies, space kind of heavens

or is it being used to refer to

like the spiritual realm

or the place where God dwells

beyond all that.

And then eventually

we come to the teachings of Jesus

and he often referred to

the kingdom of heaven

and how it has come near.

Well what's the kingdom of heaven?

Is it a celestial kingdom?

Is it the kingdom of the spiritual realm?

Is it a kingdom that has borders

and boundaries somewhere up there?

Is it a destination?

Or does the kingdom of heaven

have more to do with its origin

where it comes from

than its final location?

We might come to

a familiar passage

such as

Philippians chapter 3

Philippians 3:20–21

verse 20 to 21.

Paul's writing to the church

at Philippi.

He says

but our citizenship

is in heaven

and we eagerly await a savior

from there

the Lord Jesus Christ

who by the power

that enables him

to bring everything

under his control

will transform

our lowly bodies

so that they will be like

his glorious body.

If this was the first

or the only passage

we read about heaven

we might assume

that heaven is a place

that is somewhere up there

to which we belong

if we have Jesus.

A place from which

he will come back

and then take us

to be with him

where we will live forever

with God

as citizens.

But then we also have to consider

how the Bible ends.

It ends with this

spectacular vision

given to John

about what will happen

in the distant future.

There

John describes

what he sees

in this vision

Revelation chapter 21

Revelation 21:1–3

verses 1 to 3

he says

then 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.

I saw the holy city

the new Jerusalem

coming down

out of heaven

from God

prepared as a bride

beautifully dressed

for her husband

and I heard a loud voice

from the throne

saying

look

God's dwelling place

is now

among the people

and he will dwell

with them

they will be his people

and God himself

will be with them

and be their God.

if this was the first

or the only passage

that you read

about heaven

you might conclude

that heaven

is not so much

a geospatial location

as it is the place

where God is

the place where he dwells

we might conclude

that our

final destination

will not be

in some celestial

city

way up in the galaxies

but instead

perhaps

that our final

dwelling place

will be in this

city that comes

down from heaven

to the new earth

God coming down

to live

with us

among us

on the new earth

already you can see

why Christians

have come to all kinds

of differing ideas

about heaven

perhaps in some ways

we've been a little bit

too influenced

by that sort of

Christian pop culture

that perpetuates itself

in every generation

but perhaps

in other ways

we're all just trying

to fit the pieces

of the puzzle

together

a little differently

trying to make sense

of the various things

that we read

in the Bible

about heaven

and then we come

to a passage

like this

in John 14

John 14:3

verse 3

it seems like

Jesus is basically

saying here

I'm going somewhere

to prepare a place

for you

and then I'm going

to come back

and get you

and then I'm going

to take you

to be there

with me

very naturally

very easily

we might assume

from this passage

that heaven

is a place

way up there

and that's

what Jesus

is getting ready

for us

he's going to

come and get us

he's going to

take us back there

and we'll be up there

somewhere

forever

with God

and with Jesus

after he returns

but then we probably

should consider

what will this new earth

that God's making

at the end

before

is it just something

for us to admire

from up in heaven

as we kind of

look down at it

or

will this new earth

be our final home

is that what's meant

by this new Jerusalem

the city where God dwells

coming down

from heaven

to this new earth

so that now

the dwelling of God

is with man

with his people

again we should pause

and consider

two possibilities

one is the more

tangible

that Jesus is promising

to make heaven

ready for us

and then come back

and take us to be there

in heaven

and live with him

forever there

the other

more metaphorical

that Jesus aim

and goal

is to get us

into

the father's house

the place

where he dwells

so that we are

part of the family

so that we are

close

perhaps that this is

not so much about

going to a geospatial

place

but about being

received into a

close intimate

relationship with the

father where we

live with him

and he with us

never to be

separated again

it's probably obvious

to you all

which view I take

but here are a

couple details

in Jesus'

own words

in this passage

that lead me

that way

notice

the language

of Jesus

we're going to do

a little fill in

the blank here

and if I go

and prepare a place

for you

I will come back

and take you

to

what do we want

to put in that

blank

heaven

that place

what does

Jesus say

to be

with me

to be

with me

he finishes

the sentence

in terms of

relationship

more important

than the location

is the relationship

that Jesus

is coming back

to have with

them

that's the big

goal here

for Jesus

it's not just

to get you

to a place

it's to get you

to be with

him

I'm going to

take you

to be

with me

and what

surprises me

every time

I read this

is that

Jesus

doesn't stop

there

he goes on

to say

essentially

the same

thing again

let's read

the rest

of the verse

he says

I will come

back

and take

you

to be

with me

that you

also

may be

what goes

in the

blank

heaven

in heaven

in that

place

no

that you

also

may be

where

I

am

it's

not

about

location

location

location

it's

about

whose

presence

we're

in

it's

about

relationship

with

Jesus

relationship

with

the

father

that's

what

makes

wherever

he's

going to

take

us

worth

being

there

it's

that

he's

there

not

that

we'll

all

have

mansions

or

all

the

stuff

of

earth

that

we

could

never

attain

here

I

mean

if

that's

really

what

we're

in

for

I

mean

that's

idolatry

that's

greed

the

treasure

of

heaven

is

not

having

all

kinds

of

created

things

to

worship

and

love

more

than

God

when

we

get

there

the

treasure

of

heaven

is

having

the

creator

himself

it's

being

with

him

it's

being

in

that

place

where

he

is

nothing

to

separate

us

from

him

think

about

this

the way

the

disciples

are

probably

thinking

about

this

they

hear

Jesus

say

the

house

of

my

father

where

is

the

house

of

God

well

back

in

those

days

it

was

the

temple

that

was

the

place

where

God

lived

among

his

people

in

earlier

times

it

was

the

tabernacle

God

would

cause

his

own

presence

to

appear

right

there

in

the

most

holy

place

of

the

temple

and

everything

about

the

temple

and

the

tabernacle

was

a

reminder

that

we

cannot

come

close

to

God

as

sinful

human

beings

but

now

Jesus

is

saying

I'm

going

to

go

away

and

make

preparations

so that

you can

live

in the

house

of

God

my

father

not

just

come

occasionally

with a

sacrifice

making

sure to

keep

your

distance

and do

all

the

stuff

right

no

I'm

going

to

make

preparations

so that

you can

take up

residence

in the

very

dwelling

place

of

my

father

permanently

like a

member

of

the

family

living

in

the

same

house

so that

you

can

be

with

me

and

with

the

father

where

I

am

that's

what

heaven

is

all

about

and

so

when

I

read

these

words

I

may

be

a

little

weird

bird

but

I

don't

hear

Jesus

telling

them

about

a

place

way

up

there

in

the

galaxies

that

he's

coming

back

to

take

us

to

not

a

destination

but

a

relationship

a

change

of

household

a

family

something

Jesus

will

do

that

will

see

us

welcomed

into

the

very

dwelling

place

of

God

forever

to

be

with

him

and

to

be

with

the

father

one

more

detail

that

leads

me

this

way

comes

in

verse

four

Jesus

probably

with a

twinkle

in his

eye

says

you

know

the

way

to

the

place

where

I'm

going

Thomas

said

to

him

Lord

we

don't

know

where

you

are

going

so

how

can

we

know

the

way

Jesus

answered

I

am

the

way

no

one

comes

to

the

father

except

through

me

these

words

probably

deserve

a whole

sermon

but let's

stay on

target

for this

morning

the

way

to the

place

where

Jesus

is

going

it's

not

a set

of

travel

directions

it's

not

a set

of

coordinates

in

relation

to

this

universe

it's

not

about

travel

or

dimension

it's

here

that

Jesus

seems

most

obviously

to be

speaking

in

metaphor

he

says

the

way

to

the

place

that

I

am

going

is

a

person

I'm

standing

right

in

front

of

you

I

am

the

way

again

it's

all

about

relationship

and

to

drive

this

whole

emphasis

on

relationship

home

he

states

it

yet

another

way

in

terms

of

relationship

he

says

no

one

comes

to

the

father

except

through

me

so

where

is

Jesus

going

the

location

is

kind

of

besides

the

point

it's

the

person

he's

going

to

the

father

yes

he

is

going

to

heaven

I'll

acknowledge

it

says

that

in

other

passages

but

what's

the

beauty

of

it

what's

the

point

of

it

that's

where

the

father

is

that's

where

God

is

why

to

prepare

a

place

for the

people

I need

to make

preparations

so that

they can

dwell

with him

and how

do

sinners

get

to

the

father

Jesus

says

I

am

the

way

you

need

to

come

to

me

you

need

to

come

through

me

it's

only

through

relationship

with

Jesus

that

anyone

can

be

welcomed

into

the

father's

house

that

anybody

can

be

made

part

of

the

family

of

God

to

stay

to

live

with

him

there's

no

other

way

says

Jesus

doesn't

matter

what

similarities

there

are

between

other

religions

and

this

Jesus

says

unless

you

come

to

me

through

me

you

can't

get

to

the

father's

house

you

can't

take

up

residence

in

one

of

those

many

rooms

that

are

there

what

an

exclusive

claim

why

so

exclusive

I

would

suggest

it's

exclusive

because

the

preparation

that

Jesus

is

going

to

make

at

the

cross

and

before

the

throne

of

God

is

essential

it's

required

without

it

we

can't

come

anywhere

near

where

God

lives

he

must

atone

for

our

sins

first

he

must

enter

heaven

and

he

must

intercede

for

us

at

the

greater

and

more

perfect

tabernacle

first

according

to the

author

of

Hebrews

that's

why

Jesus

must

go

and

do

this

without

the

men

at

the

table

that's

why

they

can't

come

with

so

what

do

we

do

with

all

this

well

if

you're

here

this

morning

and

all

of

this

is

kind

of

new

to

you

I

hope

what

you

hear

most

from

Jesus

is

that

he

desires

to

be

with

you

he

desires

a

relationship

with

you

he

wants

you

to

be

with

him

have

that

close

intimate

forever

relationship

with

him

and

with

God

the

father

forever

and

there's

no

other

way

to

have

it

except

through

Jesus

have

you

come

to

put

your

faith

in

Jesus

your

trust

in

Jesus

have

you

repented

of

your

sins

this

promise

that

Jesus

will

come

back

for

us

and

take

us

to

heaven

it's

for

those

who

belong

to

Jesus

do

you

belong

to

him

have

you

done

this

if

you

haven't

come

talk

to

me

if

you're

looking

for

help

how

to

do

this

come

talk

to

me

talk

to

anyone

in

this

church

room

that

you

see

that

you

know

knows

Jesus

we'd

be

happy

to

talk

with

you

to

pray

with

you

help

you

figure

out

what

you

need

to

do

for

those

of

us

who

have

already

done

this

for

those

of

us

who

believe

already

with

all

of

our

hearts

Jesus

is

the

Lord

he

is

the

savior

he

is

the

way

let

me

encourage

you

sometimes

we might

get

discouraged

when we

see

other

Christians

coming

to

different

conclusions

about

heaven

about

the

end

times

about

the

rapture

about

other

controversial

matters

from

the

scriptures

but

let

me

encourage

you

God

has

made

each

one

of

us

different

he

has

led

each

one

of

us

through

a

different

life

story

up

until

this

point

in

our

lives

and

so

it's

inevitable

that

sometimes

we

will

try

to

fit

the

pieces

of

the

puzzle

together

a

little

differently

than

one

another

some

things

are

crystal

clear

in

the

Bible

the

core

doctrines

of

our

faith

the

things

that

we

require

for

membership

in

the

church

other

things

are

more

like

the

puzzle

maybe

not

so

clear

what

heaven

will

be

like

and

the

precise

order

of

all

those

events

at

the

end

so

let

me

encourage

you

to

be

humble

to

be

gracious

to

be

kind

to

your

brothers

and

sisters

who

think

differently

than

you

do

about

these

things

let

me

encourage

you

to

really

think

about

what

they

say

and

what

they

see

in

the

Bible

I

don't

know

if

you've

ever

had

that

experience

I

know

I

have

where

you're

building

a

puzzle

and

you're

sure

that

these

two

pieces

fit

together

you've

got

them

sitting

there

and

then

someone

just

walks

by

and

they

look

at

that

piece

and

they

look

at

this

one

no

that

doesn't

go

with

that

one

over

here

it

that

kind

of

thing

can

happen

in

our

midst

and

it's

good

when

it

does

if

we're

humble

if

we're

quick

to

listen

we

can

learn

from

each

other

we

can

see

wonderful

things

that

we

may

have

missed

if

we

just

tried

to

do

it

all

by

ourselves

we

can

receive

correction

and

we

can

correct

one

another

some

of

you

may

be

wondering

whether

we

should

stop

singing

some

of

those

all

these

songs

are

precious

to

us

they've

been

around

for

hundreds

of

years

I

don't

think

we

need

to

none

of

our

songs