The Great Promise
"In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go 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; that where I am, there
you may be also." - John 14:2-3
In John 14:2-3 we find Jesus making a promise to prepare a place for us and receive
us to be with Him. It’s the Bible’s greatest promise!
Let’s look at this promise from Jesus' perspective. When we do we discover two themes:
“Preparation” and “Anticipation”.
PREPARATION…
"…I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2)
My wife and I are busy preparing a nursery for the baby we're expecting this July.
It's being decorating with colorful pictures to look at and toys to play with and
we're buying him nice clothes and plenty of diapers so he'll be happy and comfortable
when he arrives. Our goal is to create a place which will be an outward example
of our inward love for him.
In the same way, Jesus is busy preparing heaven for us. His goal is for heaven to
be an outward example of His inward love for us.
ANTICIPATION…
"…I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be
also." (John 14:3)
Oh, how we long to see our baby! We long to touch his face, to hold him in our arms,
to shower him with love as we show him wonderful things.
So it is with Jesus. He longs to hold and shower us with His love. Imagine
the great smile on His face as He shows us all the glorious things He’s prepared
for those who love Him. We can’t even begin to understand how wonderful it
will be (1 Corinthians 2:9).
When we arrive Jesus will shout for joy, “"I am making everything new!" (Revelation
21:5) and we will be introduced to a place where every tear will be wiped away and
where the pain and problems of this world won't even come to mind (Revelation 21:4).
It will be a place where the blind will see his beautiful face, the deaf will hear
his gentle voice, the lame will dance for joy, and the mute will sing praises to
Him (Isaiah 35:5-6).
And we will spend all eternity in His perfect love.