Jump Start # 3995
John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.”
It is a very common and comforting expression. We use it all the time. I say it all the time. But, I wonder if we miss something significant by the way we say this. What am I talking about? Going to Heaven. When I die, we say, I will go to Heaven. Used in funerals, that thought connects us to the promises of God.
Have you noticed how rare that expression ’going to Heaven’ is Biblically? Jesus talked about preparing a place in His Father’s house (Jn 14:2-3). The Corinthians were told about being absent from the body and at home with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8).
But, over and over and over, the Bible talks about going to God.
Phil 1:23 …to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better
John 7:33 Therefore Jesus said, ‘For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me.
John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father…
John 14:12 …and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father
John 14:28 You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you,’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father…
John 16:5 But now I am going to Him who sent Me…
John 16:10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me
John 16:28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.
2 Corinthians 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
In one sense, someone might say, God is in Heaven and going to Heaven means going to God. But, how easy it is to dismiss God from the thoughts of Heaven. I’m going to Heaven, may conjure ideas of peace, comfort, rest but not the presence of God. Sprinkle into this, the very worldly concept that so many have of Heaven, they envision go-carts, chocolate fountains, rainbows, kittens, playing and having fun. That’s Heaven in their minds. What is left out is God.
I am going to the Father. Being with Christ. That’s the language of the N.T. That needs to be our language. Heaven is not about all the crowns, streets of gold and joys I get to experience. It’s about being with God. As John took a peek behind the opened door in Heaven, everything surrounded the One on the throne. Central in those opening chapters of Revelation is God on the throne. The twenty-four elders cast their crowns before the One on the throne. The living creatures praise the One on the throne. Being with God is the picture of eternity.
Now some thoughts from this:
First, the center piece of our hearts, as well as the center piece of our worship, as well as the center piece of Heaven is God. Going to the Father is a natural expression because we have been with Him all along this journey of ours. He has been with us and we have been with Him. We have prayed to Him. We have read and made His word the will of our lives. We have worshipped Him. We have sung hymns to Him. We have shaped the choices of our lives based upon Him.
Don’t squeeze God out of eternity. Don’t exclude Him from Heaven. Don’t desire a Heaven without Him. Without Him, there is no Heaven.
Second, saying, “I’m going to the Father,” or, “I’m going to God,” not only is a rare statement these days, but it puts before people the value of God. It is the Lord who has blessed us. It is the Lord who has forgiven us. It is the Lord who has guided us. It is the Lord who has shaped our lives. There is no other place we’d rather be, than with the Lord.
Third, what a comforting thought to want to be with the Lord. Going to the Father. No one has loved you as much as God has. No one has been with you every step of your life like God has. No one has helped you as God has. And, to go to Him, to thank Him, to praise Him, to be with Him, what joy that ought to be for us.
We have a new kitten in our home. With the help of my granddaughters, we’ve named him Ohtani, after the great Dodger ballplayer. We call him “Tani.” He is so little and fast. Just today, I got a coat out of the closet, and I couldn’t find Tani. I opened the closet door, and there he was. He is so fast. Where I go, he wants to be. He hopes up on my desk. He wants to put his face in my drinking cup. I nearly stumble over him all the time because he is around my feet. We’ve had cats before. Most of them were old, fat and lazy. Ohtani is a new experience. We have to watch him all the time. He wants to be around us and when he is not, he has a squeaky voice that cries out.
I wonder if I want to be around my Father as much as my little kitten wants to be around me. Let’s get the selfishness out of Heaven and put God back there where He belongs. I go to be with my Father.
Where are you headed? Heaven, that’s what others say. I’m headed to be with the Father.
Roger