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God's Mansion
By Evelyn Rawlinson
Have you ever wondered what God and heaven might be like? I
know
I sure have. Let's first look at what the Bible has to say
about
it.
The Bible says that God is truth (John 17:17)
God is Holy (Psalms. 99:9)
God is perfect
(2 Samuel.
22:31)
and God is light (Psalms 27:1)
I imagine heaven to be something like this:
God is like a brilliant, white, pure light dressed in flowing
white robes. Because God is perfect, His mansion
is perfect too (John
14:2).
I picture God's mansion painted a pure, shining white both inside and
out. I imagine God's mansion has perfect, clean, bright,
white
furniture, carpet, curtains, doors
and windows--everything is just shining white, clean and pure.
The courtyard outside of God's mansion has sparkling, shiny, white,
stone
walkways and is surrounded by a flawless, white picket
fence. The garden is made up of the most lush, green trees
and
vegetation you have ever seen. Everything about God's mansion
is
beautiful and perfect. Everything just absolutely
glows with
the warm, pure white light of God's love.
Inside the mansion, God has prepared an amazing feast at a beautiful
banquet table that stretches from one end of the mansion to the other.
The table is set with a pure white linen table cloth, white napkins and
glimmering fine white china (Luke 14:15).
The table is filled from one end to the other with the
finest, most delicious looking foods you could ever imagine.
Just outside the fence surrounding God's mansion are children--lots and
lots of
children. These children have ignored God's warnings and have
gone astray. They have gotten into the dirt
and mud, and made themselves absolutely filthy. They all have
the
foul stench of the dirt and grime they have managed to get all over
themselves.
They see God's perfect mansion through the gate and want to come in to
join in His
feast, but God knows that if He lets these children into His home the
way
they are, they
will get everything dirty and God's mansion will no longer be pure and
perfect. God
wants very much to be able to invite each and every child in,
so in His wisdom, God sends His only child, His pure and
perfect
Son to the gate. God tells the children that if they
allow
His Son to wash them, they will be clean and then will be allowed to
come in.
He will even dress them in new white robes. But the children
grumble, "We're not that dirty. At least not any
dirtier
than anyone else, and anyway, who wants to admit that he needs washing.
We're just fine the way the way we are!" Very few children
come
to the garden gate to be washed. But those who do are washed
completely clean; given new, perfect, white robes and receive a
warm welcome as they walk through the gate and on into God's
mansion. God now
calls them His very own sons and daughters and
invites them to join in the feast.
We are all just like those children! We are precious to God,
but
our sin has made us filthy and has separated us from Him. God
cannot possibly let us into His mansion if we are covered with a stench
of sin. Many of us want to join God in His
mansion for His feast, but are unwilling to be washed as He requires
before we can come in. Like those children, you may think
that
you really aren't that bad. You may think that you have done
enough good things in your life to make up for your sin, or even
believe you have no sin. You may
think
that you should be allowed into God's mansion because you are
a good
person? Well...
Have you ever told a lie?
Have you stolen anything?
Have you ever used the name of God or Jesus as a curse word?
If so, you have sinned by breaking God's Law and cannot get into
heaven for being a good person. Don't believe me?
Then
take the good person test to see
if you have kept God's
Laws.
If you are honest with yourself, you are probably thinking "Then no one
is
a good person! Everyone has broken God's laws!"
Well, you
are right. The Bible says "For all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23)
The Bible also says "The payment for sin is death" (Romans 6:23)
We all have to die a physical death, but what happens to our
souls
after death is what matters most. Our souls are
eternal. That is why God sent His Son Jesus to die
for
us. Jesus took our sin on himself and paid the price for it
by dying on the cross.
The Bible says "God loved the world (that's you
and me) so much, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in
Him will not die, but live forever." (John 3:16)
Jesus' death on the cross is how He washes us clean, removes
the stench of sin, and covers us in pure white robes.
Hopefully, you are now asking "How can I be washed clean for
God? How can I be
saved?" "How can I know for sure that I will be in
heaven to see
God's mansion?" First, it is important that you understand
that we
cannot be saved by any "good
works" that we do. The Bible says "and all our good works are
like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6)
In Ephesians 2:8-9 it says "It is by grace you have been
saved through faith. You are not saved by your works, so that no
one can boast" - we can't earn salvation ourselves, it is a free gift
from
God. It doesn't matter if you go to church every Sunday, or were
baptized, or even if you give money to the church or to the
poor. There is absolutely nothing you can do
to clean yourself--you
can only be washed clean by Jesus' sacrifice of his life on the
cross.
The Bible says "Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be
wiped out" (Acts
3:19) You may be wondering "What in the
world does 'repent' mean?"
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, repent means:
1) to turn from sin and resolve to change one's life.
2) to feel sorry for something; to regret.
To be acceptable to God, and to be saved, you first have to
realize that you have sinned and then feel sorry for those
sins.
You have to ask God's forgiveness with a sincere heart.
Next, the Bible says "That if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is
Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved." To "confess" just means to willingly say that
Jesus is
Lord. In Matthew 10:32 Jesus says "Whoever acknowledges me
before
men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven."
Last, but not least, you need to believe in your heart that Jesus died
on the cross to wash away your sins and that God raised Jesus
from the
dead. That is faith--believing in something you cannot
see! But just believing that God exists is not
enough--even
Satan believes that! Satan can quote the
Bible better
than
you or I. So what makes saved people different from
Satan? Saved people have put their faith and trust in
Jesus.
If you want to be saved and spend eternity in God's mansion; if you are
ready to become one of God's children, then pray this prayer:
If you do pray this prayer with a sincere heart, you are saved!
Welcome to God's family! I would love to hear from
you. Please take the time to Email me.
Our God is an
awesome God!
For a very detailed, graphic depiction of what Heaven and Hell might really be like, be sure to read the story One For Heaven, One For Hell.
This article copyright © 2007 by Evelyn Rawlinson
(Eclecticsite.com). All rights reserved.
This article may be copied for non-profit use including newsletters,
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as long as you
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