The entire world has been drawn into the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine. The brutality, senseless loss of life, massive destruction, and displacement of people we are witnessing is heartbreaking.
Concerned for a good friend in the days leading up to the outbreak, I texted him regularly to ensure he was okay. The news media was now reporting that upwards of 200,000 Russian soldiers with all kinds of military hardware surrounded the nation. An invasion seemed imminent. Despite this, my friend seemed unusually unaffected.
When he received my last text, he responded immediately. He was in his car four car-lengths away from crossing the border into Hungary. He still didn’t seem overly concerned about all that was happening. When I asked why – this was his answer. “Because my home is in heaven. It’s either true or it’s not true!” Twenty minutes later the battle began!
My friend realized that in this life he was a pilgrim – just passing through. As a child of God his real home was in heaven. C. H. Spurgeon stated it this way: “What is heaven, but to be with God, to dwell with him, to realize that God is mine, and I am his.” (Rev. 21:3)
In John 14 Jesus was speaking to his frightened disciples. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (v:1-3 NLT)
In your struggles – are you able to rest in the knowledge that your real home is in heaven? That all life’s battles are transitory? Where do you fix your gaze – on the seen – or the unseen? “For what is seen in temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (II Cor. 4:18) Do you long to see Jesus?
There’s a doctrine that has almost faded in much of contemporary Protestant theology. It’s the doctrine called “the beatific vision” – the hope of seeing God face to face. Andrew Louth, professor emeritus at the University of Durham, said that “’the beatific vision,’ gazing on God in utmost joy, is the ultimate goal of Christian living, the fulfillment of our Christian discipleship.” In the Psalms David wrote, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)
Revelation 21:3-4 contain the grand culmination of John’s prophetic vision. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for old order of things has passed away.” In our heavenly home all feelings of distance will vanish. For we will see Him face to face. “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.” (Psalms 46:3-4)
“How good is God,” said Jonathan Edwards, “that he has created man for this very end, to make him happy in the enjoyment of himself, the Almighty.”
Be blessed my friend.
Glen (Pitts)
The Barnabas Group / Loads of Love
Psalm 16:1-11; Romans 8:35-39; Hebrews 11:32-40; Isaiah 43:1-3; II Timothy 4:17-18; Psalm 46
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