Heaven
A Road Guide to Heaven
By Randy Alcorn
When you want to go to a place you’ve never
been before, what do you do?
You ask for directions from someone who knows
where the place is, check a map, or use your smartphone.
You don’t just make a guess!
People who want to get to Florida don’t
simply get in the car and start driving, hoping the road will somehow get them
there.
They chart their course in advance, rather
than waiting until they arrive at the wrong destination or discover they’ve spent
three days driving the wrong direction.
If you want to get somewhere, guesswork is a
poor strategy.
The goal of getting to Heaven is worthy of
greater advanced planning than we’d give to any other journey.
Want to be sure you’re going to Heaven?
Let these verses from the Bible’s book of
Romans be your guide:
1. “For everyone has sinned; we all
fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23)
All of us have messed up or done wrong things.
We may say, “But I didn’t mean to!”
or just call them failures or mistakes or “my
bads.”
But the Bible calls them by a three-letter
word: sin.
To sin means to break any of
God’s rules against lying, cheating, stealing, or anything else.
God is the only perfect model for us to
follow, and He never sins. That means we can never come near His wonderful,
glorious standard—not on our own, that is.
However, God not only sets the standard but
also provides a way for us to meet His standard.
(Warning: The
news gets worse before it gets better. But if you read it all, it’ll make
sense, and should make you happy.)
2. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal
life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Everyone receives a payment for sin. It is a
salary that we earn, but it is not something we might look forward
to, like cash or a check.
Because Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan’s
advice in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), all people are born with the desire to go
their own way instead of God’s.
This means we are sinners, and the result of
our sin is death.
Spiritual death is separation from God in a
very real place called Hell.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that God has a free gift
waiting for us. That free gift is just the opposite of the wages that our sins
have earned.
It is a gift that will last forever: eternal life.
Right after death, God’s people will enjoy
life in the present Heaven.
That will be followed by Christ’s return and
eventually life on the New Earth, where God will dwell with us forever.
New Earth will be at the center of the
eternal Heaven.
This never-ending life will be fun, exciting,
thrilling, and more amazing than anything you’ve ever experienced.
To see God and worship Him and walk the New
Earth with Jesus and the people we love . . . wow!
Why does God offer such an unbelievable gift?
Keep on reading. (From now on, the news
just gets better and better.)
3. “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while
we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8)
God created people because He is a God of
love, and He wanted us to love Him back.
But the bad things we think and do separate
us from God.
Because we have all blown it, we cannot get
into Heaven as we are.
All along, though, God had a plan to help us.
He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us.
Jesus, who never did anything wrong, was the
perfect choice.
When He was crucified, Jesus took upon
Himself a punishment He did not deserve so we could live
forever in the Heaven we do not deserve.
God makes it possible for all people - all
who have sinned - to live with Him.
It is a great gift; but to have any benefit
from it, you have to open it - just like if a UPS package arrives at your front
door but you do not open it, you’ll never experience the pleasure the gift
inside might have given you.
So what is your part in all of this? How do
you receive God’s gift to you?
4. “If you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right
with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)
Confess with your mouth. Confess is a little word that leads to big results.
To confess something means to admit it.
To confess that Jesus is Lord is to admit
that He is God and that you want Him (not your sins) to be the Lord - the Ruler
- of your life, now and forever.
What do you need to believe? That Jesus, the Son of God, died and came
back to life.
But believing is not just agreeing that
something is true. After all, even Satan and the demons know that Jesus died
and came back to life.
In the Bible, the word belief involves trust. It is a
belief that leads to a choice.
We choose to depend on Jesus and follow Him,
seeking to do what He tells us to do.
Believe in your heart. If you believe with all your heart that Jesus
really died for you and rose again, you will be “made right with God.”
When you trust in Jesus, you no longer fall
short of the standard God expects. God does not see your sins anymore.
He just sees His perfect Son, Jesus, in front
of you. God knows you are following Jesus, and someday He will have a home
ready for you in Heaven.
Jesus said to His disciples, “Rejoice
that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20, NIV)
That is a reference to being in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Can you think of
anything that could give us greater joy than that?
Jesus also said, “There
will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke
15:7, NIV).
Repenting involves saying we were wrong and
that we are sorry, and asking God’s forgiveness.
Jesus is saying that whenever someone repents
and turns to God, there is a party in Heaven with a lot of celebrating!
Have those in Heaven been able to celebrate
yet because you have repented of your sin and trusted Christ to save you?
Or are they still waiting for you to do that?
You can admit right now that you’ve done wrong things and ask God to forgive
you.
Remember, we were all made for a person and a
place. Jesus is the person.
Heaven is the place. You do not have to
wonder whether you are going to Heaven.
You can know that today.
Why not talk to the
God of the universe and let Him work in your behalf?
He
says, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will
counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).
Ask God to show you
what to do. Pray the following prayer:
“Heavenly
Father,
I admit
that I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You. I now want to turn
away from my past sinful life and begin a new life with You. I receive Your
free gift of salvation.
Please
forgive me. I now receive your Son, Jesus Christ as my Savior, my Master and my
Lord. I believe and confess that Jesus Christ died for my sins, was buried, and
rose from the dead.
I want to
receive all that Jesus Christ has provided for me as my Savior. Your Word says,
‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10:13).
I believe
and confess that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes
unto the Father, but by Him.
Lord
Jesus, I pray and ask You, to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. I
thank You that you have given me eternal life, and according to Your Word, I am
born again and I am now a child of God.
Heavenly
Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit Who is in me now to help me
do Your will for the rest of my life. I surrender my life to You. I promise to
study Your Word – the Bible.
Use me for
Your glory.
In Jesus’
Name. Amen.”
If you have just put your trust in Jesus Christ, you have
been born into God’s family.
As a spiritual baby, you need to grow by feeding on God’s
Word – the Bible (1 Peter 2:2).
You must have a good modern translation Bible and begin
prayerfully reading it. Start in the New Testament, such as the Gospel of John
or Paul’s letters to the Ephesians.
As you read, ask two questions: “What are You, Lord?” “What do You want me to do?”
Also, you need to join a Christian fellowship where the
Bible is taught and where God is truly worshiped.
God bless you as you begin your new life with Him!
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