Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
We continue to consider our heavenly citizenship (Philippians 3:20) based on Jesus’ foundational words in Mark 12:17: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Our position as members of the family of God through faith in Jesus implies a permanent residence in heaven. Our Savior promises in John 14:2, “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.” He is preparing this destination for us even as He is preparing us to arrive there. We will be welcome there, for we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6c). Remarkably, we will be as “accepted” in heaven as Jesus Himself is. Revelation 22:14 rejoices, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” In eternity, this access is freely available to each believer; and it is, as an old Gospel song exults, “abundant access there.” We have this “right” because it is graciously granted to us by our unchanging Lord, and it will never be revoked.