Sermon Snippet – Simply Heaven – Part IV
INTRODUCTION – In Matthew 3:16-17, we read that “the heavens were opened.” There is no doubt that, if God employs His energies to open heaven to us, it is wise for us to consider carefully the revelation. Remember, heaven is God’s home. Thus, He is opening up His home to us.
- GOD SPEAKS FROM HEAVEN
Verse 17 makes it clear that we are considering more than the skies being opened, for God the Father spoke “from heaven.” The ministry of God the Son, Jesus Christ, was just beginning. For more than 400 years, from the time of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, the voice of God had been silent. He had spoken through angelic messengers at the birth of John the Baptist and especially of Jesus Christ. Here, though, is the direct voice of God speaking from His heaven home. He spoke to Jesus, but others heard. Let us not undervalue the Word of God. Here, it is the audible voice of the Father, inaugurating and authenticating the ministry of Jesus as the promised Messiah. In our hands, from beginning to end, is the Word of God, telling anyone who will open its pages all that a person needs to know about the Savior and about heaven. As we open the Bible, God is speaking to us, just as He spoke to His son.
- GOD SHOWS US THE WAY TO HEAVEN
Heaven is a real place, for God spoke “from heaven.” God opens His heaven to us as genuine destination. As we studied last week from John 14:1-6, Jesus makes the absolute claim that He is “the Way” to heaven; the statement of the Father here in verse 17 directs us to Jesus as the One, the only One Who can save. Note the overt Trinitarian teaching. There is absolute agreement within the Trinity: Jesus is the Savior.
- GOD SANCTIFIES US FOR HEAVEN
The word “beloved” in verse 17 is an adjective that refers to a love that seeks the best and brightest for someone else. A noun form of the same Greek word is used in Ephesians 1:6b: “He [the Father] hath made us accepted in the Beloved [Jesus].” Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are “accepted” in the One Who is loved by God the Father. We will thus be accepted in heaven – just as accepted as Jesus Himself.
CONCLUSION – Is God’s home your home? He has opened His eternal home to us, speaking from it, showing it to us, and promising to sanctify us for it. He is speaking to tell us that the way is clear; it is through faith in “the Way,” Jesus, Who died on the Cross for our sins, rose in victory over death, and ascended to heaven to prepare a place for us. The home of God can be your home forever; all you have to do is ask Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.