Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me…In My Father's house are many dwelling places…” (John 14:1, 2a)
I think that might disappoint some people. All your life you've heard that there are going to be mansions. I want to make it clear — we don't have a mansion waiting on the hilltop. I'm afraid if we did, our desire for heaven would be very, very materialistic.
We're not looking forward to some palatial palace somewhere hidden away in some lovely verdant valley, awaiting our quiet residence. That's not heaven. If I could translate this literally, “In My Father's house are many apartments.” It doesn't sound very exciting to think that we are going to be entering an apartment. But it simply means “a place of residence, a dwelling.” “In my Father's house is a place to live.”
So first of all, He says, “Heaven is a place. My Father goes to prepare a place for you.” “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself;…”(v. 3)
I think it is interesting that the Lord never does say, “I'm going to take you to heaven.” He says, “I'm going to receive you to Myself.” And in those prophetic passages dealing with our hope, or our assurance, we're never promised just heaven. We are told that we are going to a Person — not just a place, but a Person. This means that our hearts will have to be right to enjoy that place. We're not looking forward to some great big multi-roomed dwelling. We're looking forward to a place where the person of the Lord Jesus will be, where our relationship will be face-to-face. We will see Him as He is. And just think about that for a minute. I think that thought is a therapy in itself, especially if you have a burdened heart as a child of God. The future that you have is very, very bright. We're going to a place and we're going to a Person where He is going to fulfill His promise, “I will come again.”
Copyright 2010 Charles R. Swindoll Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Adapted from “The Next Event of the Future” in the Prophecy series.
