Faith Through the Journey

Recently a dear friend entered the eternal presence of Jesus. As we celebrated his life, the pastor spoke of the welcome he would receive at the gates of heaven. I thought of so many loved ones who are already on the other side, and I was somewhat envious, wanting to see them again myself! 

I thought then of so many of our communities today, locked in behind gates that require a certain alphabetic and numeric code in order to gain entrance. People dwell behind the gates, wanting to be certain that only people who truly belong within those gates are admitted. 

At that point, I thought of the gates of heaven. While heaven is open to ALL who desire to be there, there is one requirement. Heaven’s gate code is this, one question from God the Father: “What did you do with my Son?” Sadly, there are millions of people who think they can talk God into letting them into heaven, based upon what they have or have not done. The human mind says, “Surely if I do more good than bad, God HAS to let me into heaven!”. If that was true, the death of Jesus Christ was the biggest travesty in history. The death of the only sinless man who ever lived was an injustice in any court of law. I John 5:11, 12 says: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Jesus Himself says in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

The most important question anyone will ever answer is this: What have you done with Jesus? Have you accepted His sacrifice on the cross as the payment for your sins? He WANTS everyone to come! He opened heaven to all who would receive the gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To all who receive Him, He gives the right to become children of God. The gates of heaven will open wide to all who answer the only question that matters, asked by God Himself: “What have you done with My Son?”