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newton3003
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Is there any place to be that is better than Heaven? Psalm 23:6 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” John 3:16, which sums up the whole purpose of Jesus, says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Who would not want eternal life?
Heaven is described in various parts of the Bible. For instance, Revelation 22:1-4 says “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
Who would not want to live in a place like that, and forever as well in a place with streams and trees bearing fruit, where there are no hurricanes or floods or forest fires or snow, where the sun always shines and all live in harmony? A place that is reserved for those who believe?
And did Jesus not promote Heaven? He does so in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. He says in John 14:2-3 2 “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
And yet when his friend Lazarus dies, Jesus brings him back to life on earth. If I were Lazarus, and I died, expecting to go to Heaven, but I am awakened to Jesus calling out, in John 11:43, “Lazarus, come out,” I would come out alright and I would ask Jesus, ‘Why did you keep me from going to Heaven when you said it is a great place to be?’
But we know the answer to that, as Jesus said it himself. In John 11:14-15 he says to his disciples, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” We know from the passages that follow, that Jesus brought Lazarus back to life so that his disciples and others would see for sure that he was empowered and commissioned by God to spread the Word of Him throughout all peoples. And those who witnessed Lazarus coming out from the cave where he was laid to rest, were convinced, for who but someone with an otherworldly connection could bring the dead back to life like Jesus brought back Lazarus? Not even a sorcerer or a magician could do something like that, so by the process of elimination it was from a source not of this earth.
So those who witnessed the event believed Jesus when he implied he was on a mission of someone named God, and he said that nobody goes to that wonderous being who promises a heavenly place for those who believe in Him, except through he himself.
Lazarus may well have wondered, “What am I doing here?” when Jesus brought him back to life. We don’t know what he actually thought about the matter, as the Bible doesn’t say. The Bible does say, ironically, in John 12:10 that “the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death…,” since they saw the following that Jesus amassed when word spread of his bringing Lazarus back to life, and Jesus was cutting into their congregation, and ruining their fun from gambling in God’s House of Worship on the Sabbath, things like that.
But it should be said though, as an aside, that people to this day may hold it against the Jews for wanting to kill Jesus, and that would imply all of the Jews. But the Jews were also among Jesus’ first disciples and followers, so all the Jews cannot rightfully be held accountable. As God said in Genesis 8:21 that “the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth,” so Satan must have had a good laugh over every innocent Jew that was persecuted throughout the centuries. For that matter, Satan must have also had a good laugh over every Christian that was persecuted as well, anything to thwart God’s Plans for us.
And perhaps when Lazarus was brought back to life on earth, Satan must have thought he had another shot at tempting Lazarus to evil, as Satan would tempt anyone on earth to evil. But the presumption is that Satan lost with Lazarus, and that Lazarus would be judged worthy of being in Heaven.
Heaven is described in various parts of the Bible. For instance, Revelation 22:1-4 says “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
Who would not want to live in a place like that, and forever as well in a place with streams and trees bearing fruit, where there are no hurricanes or floods or forest fires or snow, where the sun always shines and all live in harmony? A place that is reserved for those who believe?
And did Jesus not promote Heaven? He does so in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. He says in John 14:2-3 2 “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
And yet when his friend Lazarus dies, Jesus brings him back to life on earth. If I were Lazarus, and I died, expecting to go to Heaven, but I am awakened to Jesus calling out, in John 11:43, “Lazarus, come out,” I would come out alright and I would ask Jesus, ‘Why did you keep me from going to Heaven when you said it is a great place to be?’
But we know the answer to that, as Jesus said it himself. In John 11:14-15 he says to his disciples, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” We know from the passages that follow, that Jesus brought Lazarus back to life so that his disciples and others would see for sure that he was empowered and commissioned by God to spread the Word of Him throughout all peoples. And those who witnessed Lazarus coming out from the cave where he was laid to rest, were convinced, for who but someone with an otherworldly connection could bring the dead back to life like Jesus brought back Lazarus? Not even a sorcerer or a magician could do something like that, so by the process of elimination it was from a source not of this earth.
So those who witnessed the event believed Jesus when he implied he was on a mission of someone named God, and he said that nobody goes to that wonderous being who promises a heavenly place for those who believe in Him, except through he himself.
Lazarus may well have wondered, “What am I doing here?” when Jesus brought him back to life. We don’t know what he actually thought about the matter, as the Bible doesn’t say. The Bible does say, ironically, in John 12:10 that “the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death…,” since they saw the following that Jesus amassed when word spread of his bringing Lazarus back to life, and Jesus was cutting into their congregation, and ruining their fun from gambling in God’s House of Worship on the Sabbath, things like that.
But it should be said though, as an aside, that people to this day may hold it against the Jews for wanting to kill Jesus, and that would imply all of the Jews. But the Jews were also among Jesus’ first disciples and followers, so all the Jews cannot rightfully be held accountable. As God said in Genesis 8:21 that “the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth,” so Satan must have had a good laugh over every innocent Jew that was persecuted throughout the centuries. For that matter, Satan must have also had a good laugh over every Christian that was persecuted as well, anything to thwart God’s Plans for us.
And perhaps when Lazarus was brought back to life on earth, Satan must have thought he had another shot at tempting Lazarus to evil, as Satan would tempt anyone on earth to evil. But the presumption is that Satan lost with Lazarus, and that Lazarus would be judged worthy of being in Heaven.
