A HEAVENLY PLACE PREPARED

Jno. 14:3 ... "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

      One of the basic tenets of the Christian faith is that there is an afterlife. The New Testament teaches that a human being is not totally physical in nature, but is constituted of both a physical part and a spirit made "in the image of God," (Gen. 1:27), or "in the likeness of God, (Jas. 3:9). At death these two parts separate, as Eccl. 12:7 states: "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it." The spirit, or soul, of a person is therefore eternal. Beyond the gate of death there stretches out an endless road of which we now know nothing, other than what God in Sacred Scripture has revealed. Being a spiritual entity in a spiritual context is a condition quite beyond the perception and investigation of human science.

      Because the spiritual state is outside of science and cannot be empirically examined, there are people who either outright deny its reality or, somewhat more conservatively express agnosticism toward it. For them, life is a self-contained package of existential experience. In this view man is supreme and human wisdom the measure of all things. Ethics and morality are based on what appears to maximize good for the greater part of humanity. The physical, intellectual, aesthetic, social, and psychological pleasure that a person derives from interacting with life is considered to be the only reward he will receive from it. Man's only immortality is the legacy, or heritage, he leaves behind to others. For example, George Washington still lives only in the lingering consequences of his deeds and in the records thereof that survive.

      The person who subscribes to this secular, materialistic view of human nature is investing in very risky philosophical capital. Since the empiricist is not able to detect or investigate the spiritual state, he cannot really know if it exists or not. If it does not really exist, then he is none the worse when his life terminates in the material world, which alone he affirmed. But if the spiritual world does exist, as the Bible asserts, then the materialist with great surprise enters into a new domain for which he has made no preparation. If a Christian dies in the faith, and there is no spiritual world beyond the grave to receive his soul, in the annihilation of his consciousness he will never know the difference and will be none the worse for it. But if his faith in the Bible is confirmed in death, and his soul enters a new realm of existence, he will be eligible for divine grace and mercy to participate in its eternal joys. To this writer it is wise to live steadfastly in Christian faith without reservation until the separation of the soul and body in death.

      The New Testament also asserts that in the spiritual world there are separate areas of existence for the faithful Christian and the agnostic or atheist. The text above quotes Jesus revealing the eternal abode of the faithful. In v.2 He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions ... I go to prepare a place for you." The spiritual home of the faithful is a place "prepared" for them. Hence, those who would live in them must make the proper preparation by devoting themselves to Christ with a lifetime of faith, loyalty, and active service. The gospel is our guide for this period of preparation. At the time set by God alone, He will send Christ back to earth to gather from it those who believed and prepared for that unique hour. This faith, moreover, is not blind faith without a substantial foundation. Jesus gave evidence to the truth of His assertions in the miraculous deeds He performed, (Jno. 10:38), which were recorded by reliable witnesses in documents that are at least no less historically reliable than other documents rarely questioned by the world of critical scholarship. Victory at death lies only in faith, (I Jno. 5:4).

The Mark of a True Disciple

Jno. 13:35 ... "By this all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

      One may ask, "What is the most evident characteristic of a Christian?" As you survey a group of people in a community, what feature of their lives identifies them most readily as followers of Jesus? There will, in fact, be many things about their conduct, speech, and attitudes that will reveal their discipleship. Qualities such as courtesy, kindness, charity, gentleness, benevolence, optimism, and moral uprightness will stand out as distinctive. And yet, in Jesus' statement quoted above, there is another distinguishing mark that must precede all the rest. It is the pure, sincere love that Christians are to have without fail for other Christians. The genuine love that bonds one Christian to any other anywhere else in the world is to be the most apparent single characteristic of disciples of Christ.

      This is not to say that Christians love only fellow Christians and that this exclusive intra-faith love is what the Lord values. Our love is comprehensive in the fellowship of saints, but it is not exclusive. Christ teaches us to love all men, for they, too, are made in the similitude of God and are potential disciples of Christ if they can be reached with the gospel. In fact, it is love for those who are spiritually lost in sin that couples with response to the Great Commission to motivate Christians to take the gospel to them to realize that wonderful potential. In an address to some men about to go into the mission field, Henry Drummond brought out this point when he said, "And I beg the little band of would-be missionaries to remember that, though you give your bodies to be burned, and have not love, it profits nothing -- nothing! You can take nothing greater to the heathen world than the impress and reflection of the love of God upon your own character. That is the universal language."

      Nevertheless, it is the unfeigned love that one Christian has for the other that singles him out to be a Christian. But what are the features of this kind of love that differentiates it from the other shades of meaning of this much abused word in contemporary speech? The answer is best given by considering the inspired analysis of it in I Cor. 13:4-8. First, it is patient. Christians are able to wait on each other so that together they can move successfully along the road of life. Second, it is kind. Christians do nice things willingly for each other to help them along. Third, it is generous, which is the basic idea in "love is not jealous." Christians rejoice in the achievements of their brethren. Fourth, it is humble. "Love does not brag and is not arrogant." Christians think of themselves as servants to one another, not as lords to be served by other brethren. Fifth, it is courteous. "Love does not act unbecomingly." Christians practice good manners toward one another ... and toward everyone else as well! Sixth, it is unselfish. "Love does not seek its own." Christians consider themselves stewards of God with respect to material things and are readily willing to share with brethren who are in need. Seventh, it is self-controlled. "Love is not provoked." Christians have ways, revealed in Holy Scripture, of resolving differences, other than through anger and violence. Eighth, it is guileless. "Love does not take into account a wrong suffered." Christians do not judge another's motives and then color their intentions evil. Even when a disciple commits an "iniquity," the rest do not rejoice; but in a grave "spirit of meekness" work to restore that individual, (Gal. 6:1)). Space fails to exhaust this analysis of love. To be sure, Jesus' disciples fall far short of its standard. But to the extent we build this love into our fellowship, to the same extent we identify ourselves as true disciples.