Heaven.

It’s great! It’s, in fact, heavenly!

Everyone loves heaven. And the way most people speak about loved ones who die, everyone goes to heaven. Going to heaven has nothing to do with God, with Jesus, with the cross. As long as we deem a person to be a good person, they’re going to heaven from which they smile down upon us.

Christian! You know this is not how it works.

Right?

Jesus made it crystal clear, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The scriptures are crystal clear, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The reason Jesus came to take on human form was to die for our sins that those who believe in him will not perish in hell but be transferred into the kingdom of heaven.

Here’s news…People are going to hell.

That’s the Biblical truth.

Even the church is afraid to claim this. Perhaps this is why our passion for preaching and proclaiming Jesus is so weak and pathetic.

How can we not take the words of Jesus and the words of God seriously? Jesus is the only pathway to salvation and life. Without Jesus, people go to hell. There is no other explanation for the cross. If we take hell out of the equation, then there is no need for the church, the gospel, a Savior.

People are going to hell without Jesus. But this is not the end of the story!!!

The church gets to share in the incredible ministry of proclaiming and telling the world about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ! No one need to go to hell. Jesus has paved the way for every person to receive eternal life.

That is incredible news! That is good news! That is gospel.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

 

The task of the disciple is to follow Christ, seek Christ, obey Christ, and draw close to Christ.

• This, we can do.
• This, we must do if we are disciples of Jesus.
• This is, in its very essence what it means to be a disciple.

The task of the disciple is not to change ourselves or transform the world.

• This we cannot do.
• This, only God can do.
• This is, in its very essence what God is all about.

But these are not disconnected. In fact, they are very much a tandem. A changed person and a transformed world is the fruit of disciples following Christ, seeking Christ, obeying Christ, drawing near Christ.

The reason why Jesus invites disciples to “Follow him,” is because when we follow him, seek him, obey him, and draw near to him, he changes us. And it’s when we follow Christ, seek Christ, obey Christ, and draw near Christ that God uses Christ-followers to change the world. When we try to change ourselves, we will only be frustrated because will power cannot change us. Because, ultimately, it is our wills that need transformation and change.

God’s job – to change and transform people and the world.

Our job – follow Christ, seek Christ, obey Christ, and draw near to Christ.

When disciples follow, seek, obey Christ, and draw near to Christ, God changes the disciple and the world is transformed.