God created people to give Himself more to love in Heaven. But the fall of man put up a roadblock to God's unlimited love.
To better understand this, we must consider two immutable things about God: His love and His holiness.
- God's love is an integral part of His very essence. He IS love. He can't turn it off. He wouldn't turn it off even if He could (1 John 4:8).
- Holiness is also a part of His very essence. He IS holiness. He IS perfect purity that cannot be compromised (1 Peter 1:16; Revelation 4:8).
I look at it like this: His holiness puts a barrier around His love. It's a fence line that can't be crossed. The barrier of holiness reinforces His love by keeping impurity out.
Here's what I mean.
God loves you and wants you in Heaven, but nothing can exist there that would contaminate Heaven. The physics of Heaven's holiness simply won't allow it.
As much as He wants us there, the fall of man created two roadblocks keeping people out if Heaven.
- The first roadblock is humanity's collective sin debt. It's a death sentence attached to each person's individual account. It must be paid.
- The second roadblock is humanity's embedded sin nature. It's in mortal conflict with the physics of Heaven's purity. Person by person, the sin nature must be removed and replaced.
In spite of these roadblocks, God wants us anyway. The story of how He deals with these issues is at the heart of the Gospel.
He makes it possible for us to be in Heaven through His Son Jesus, the second person of the Godhead (John 14:6).
Jesus' sacrifice did something for us that we couldn't do for ourselves. He paid the full price for all of humanity's sin debt. He paid it off for all time, for everyone (1 John 2:2).
But that's only half the battle to get us into Heaven.
Though our sin debt is paid, we're all still impure and unfit for the physics of Heaven. We still must choose to be cleansed from the contamination of our sin nature.
Jesus' resurrection and return to the Father's side put Him in place to finish the job of making us fit for heaven (Colossians 3:1).
Jesus didn't go to heaven after His earthly ministry and go on vacation (Hebrews 7:25, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition; Romans 5:10, Amplified Bible).
No, He is there working and pleading on our behalf before the Father.
Wow, thank You, Lord Jesus!
No matter how much His heart aches to have you in heaven, He won't override your free will. This is where you make the choice that determines your fate. It's really up to you. Making the right choice is called "repentance".
To take this step towards heaven, you must
- Choose to accept Jesus' payment for your sin debt, and
- Choose to let Him transform you as He sees fit. After all, He is the Potter, you are His clay.
This is illustrated in Isaiah 44:22, NKJV:
"I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me,
for I have redeemed you.”
I see three key phrases in that verse. Let me break it down.
The first and third phrases are parallel thoughts.
"I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins."
"for I have redeemed you."
The first and third phrases tell us that God took it upon Himself to pay off humanity's sin debt, something He did through His Son, the Lord Jesus.
The contrasting middle phrase,
"Return to Me"
is a call for repentance. It's the part we're each individually responsible for because our free will means God can't repent for us.
Let's look at that again.
Without any contribution from us, Jesus paid our sin debt in full. But as wonderful as that is, His payment by itself isn't enough to make you fit for heaven. His payment of your sin debt is only half the battle.
You must also be fully transformed from impure to pure in both your spirit and your soul.
You get that ball rolling when you first repent, confess, accept Jesus' payment and surrender your life to Him. Up to that point, your spirit has been alienated from God. Now your spirit is born again and connected to God's Spirit.
When that happens, your spirit is living in Him and He is living in you (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27). Your freshly reborn spirit is right with Him, pure and fit for heaven.
But your soul -- your mind, will and emotions -- is still grappling with old habits and wrong-headed notions. As long as you're on this earth, He will be working in your soul to remove and replace those things.
That means there will be a lot of change. Deep change. It's major surgery.
While you're still on this earth, soul-level transformation won't always be easy. Parts of your old self won't want to change, at times leaving you feeling like you have a split personality.
This work in your soul is a process that will continue for the rest of your time you're wearing your "earth suit".
- Your "earth suit" will be abandoned and die when your born-again spirit crosses into Heaven, taking your embedded soul with it. Only then will your mind, will and emotions be 100% free from the old "earth suit" bound ways of thinking, choosing, and feeling.
- Because you still have free will, you must choose to stay yielded and tender-hearted in deep, ongoing surrender. If you stay tender-hearted and don't harden your heart, things will go a lot easier.
- God will never leave you stranded. He will never say, "I got you this far; your sin debt is paid. But from here on out, you're on your own."
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
...for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
He doesn't say "Get yourself cleaned up first, then I'll accept you."
He loves you in spite of the mess in your soul -- your mind, will, and emotions -- but He loves you way too much to leave you that way. He'll continue to work in your soul, but it's much easier if you trust His process and stay yielded.
The Father especially loves it when you work with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to transform your mind, will, and emotions.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment