Monday's Bible Question

“Am I Going To Heaven?” 

I was asked about this question 3 times last week ~ so I believe it is a topic that people are thinking about.  What was interesting is that all 3  questions were asked in different settings.  One was at a funeral, one was over coffee, and one was at church. 

Confusion comes when people seek answers to life’s questions outside of God’s Eternal Word.  If you want answers on how to work on your computer, you don’t grab a BBQ cookbook.  If you want answers on how to repair a Dodge, you don’t read a TV Guide.  If you want answers on life after death ~ where do you go???? 

So in an effort to be clear and create less confusion than there already is, I am simply going to refer you to a short, simple Bible Story that sheds a great deal of light on our question. 

 

The setting is Jesus hanging on a cross.  On either side of Him was a cross with a criminal nailed to it.  You can read this story in your Bible in

Luke 23:39-43. 

 

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed,

“So you’re the Messiah, are you?

Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too,

while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested,

“Don’t you fear God

even when you have been sentenced to die?

We deserve to die for our crimes,

but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Then he said,

“Jesus, remember me

when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied,

“I assure you,

today you will be with me

in paradise.”  Luke 23:39-43 NLT

What happened?

I’ll tell you what has happened,

God performed miracle in the thief's heart.
There is no other explanation.

So what can we learn from this interesting story?

#1.  The thief became very aware of God 

·        (verse 40) “Don’t you fear God?” 

#2.  The thief became very aware of his own sin

·        (verse 41) “We deserve to die for our crimes”

#3.  The thief confesses that Jesus was without sin

·        (verse 41b) “…but this man hasn’t done anything wrong”

#4.  The thief confessed that Jesus was Savior 

·        (verse 42) “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom”

Each of these 4 things is a result of God’s Spirit illuminating a lost dark heart with the Truth about Jesus. 

The other crucified criminal had no fear of God, no fear of judgment, no sense of sinfulness, no sense of justice, no sense of guilt, no desire for forgiveness, and no desire for reconciliation with God. 

Definition: “reconciliation” means to make a friend out of an enemy

 

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ

has become a new person. 

The old life is gone;

a new life has begun.” 

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

The first evidence you see in a genuine salvation experience is a heightened awareness that God is a threat ~ literally, to fear God.

WHY?  Because God is perfect and cannot tolerate sin. 

So people that sin are God’s ENEMY.

People that sin are not welcome in Heaven. 
People that sin are without excuse. 

BUT (stay with me for 1 more minute ~ this is cool)

 “For God loved the world so much

That He gave His one and only Son,
So that everyone who believes in Him
Will not perish
(eternally be separated from God)
But will have eternal life
(in Heaven with God). 
John 3:16

God ~ the greatest lover

so loved ~ the greatest degree of love

the world ~ the greatest audience

that He gave ~ the greatest act of love

His only Son ~ the greatest sacrifice of love

that anyone ~ the greatest opportunity

who believes ~ the greatest simple act

 

in Him ~ the greatest free gift

should not perish ~ the greatest promise

but ~ the greatest difference

have ~ the greatest certainty

eternal life ~ the greatest possession