What will your reception in Heaven Look Like?

Have you every thought about what your entrance into heaven will look like? I’m not talking about the kind of death you are going to experience. No. I’m talking about the kind of reception you will receive. I have you ever thought about that, really? Will the lights suddenly come on and Jesus the prophets and all the angels are standing there screaming in excitement? Or will the lights come on and you’ll be face to face with the devil and his demons yelling ‘Surprise!’ You’re in hell! Look, hell is a real place but for the moment I want to talk to those who have the assurance of their place in heaven. Unfortunately, that is not going to be everyone not even all “Christians.” Now don’t get me wrong the security of salvation is objective or rather a fact. If you have truly given your life to following Jesus and his commands then your salvation is secure. However, your assurance of your place in heaven is subjective. I am not here to assure you of your place in heaven. That’s not my job. I am here to simply ask those of you who are sure you are going to heaven to wonder what sort of reception you life will deserve when you arrive in heaven.

Unfortunately, I think that most of us have not thought too much about that. In fact, I think that many of us will just be happy to get in. That seems sad to me because I don’t think God wanted us to follow him just so that we could make it into heaven, but rather he wanted us to live a life on this planet that would inspire others to follow in our footsteps. Isn’t that what the great commission is all about? When Jesus tells the disciples in Matthew 28 to “go and make disciples of all nations” it is clear that he is leaving them a job to do. Jesus himself was about to ascend into heaven. If the whole purpose of life was just to know how Jesus was and decide to follow Him then Jesus would have taken all the disciples straight to heaven with him right then, but he doesn’t. He leaves them. Why is that? Jesus wanted to give them a chance to live out what they had decided to do. They decided to follow him and now he wanted them to act on that following in such a way that others will also decide and follow.

I think that many of us stop at the decide and don’t really try to follow and truthfully many of us are satisfied with that. The problem I see is that I don’t think those two ideas, decide and follow, are mutually exclusive. I think that if you have truly decided then you are compelled to follow and if you find yourself not compelled to follow then I would contend that you didn’t truly decide. I can hear people saying, “But Markus, once saved always saved.” I am not disagreeing with that. As I wrote earlier the security of salvation is a fact. What I am wondering is if a person who says they are a Christian but then continues to live in there sin, was ever truly saved to begin with.

Look at this in 2 Peter 1:5-10
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The passage is telling us to “make every effort” to add these mentioned qualities to our lives. It is not telling us to accept Jesus and then sit on our butt enjoying the fire insurance we just bought, but rather it is reminding us of who bought us and how we are to model His example. Furthermore verse 9 tells us that those who sit on their butt and don’t seek to increase in these things are nearsighted and blind. Have you ever seen anywhere in the Bible a true follower of Christ being called blind? No. In fact, one of the most famous clichés of salvation comes from the famous song “Amazing Grace” “I once was blind but now I see.” This idea is taken directly from John chapter 9 when Jesus proclaims to have come to the world so that the blind will see (verse 39). Salvation, true salvation is not about faith or actions. It is about faith and actions, they work together and if my faith doesn’t move me to act I would wonder about my faith. But don’t take my word for it examine the scriptures. Look again at the passage above. The writer backs this up in verse 8. “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive…”Did you catch that? As followers of Christ, God has an expectation of productivity and effectiveness in our lives. But what are we supposed to produce and effect? Look at the last thing Jesus says before he ascends into heaven in Matthew 28. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” God wants you to introduce Him to your friends and the world around you. You can’t heal a person’s disease but you can introduce them to the doctor. If you had been dying of cancer and someone healed you, what would you do if a loved one contracted cancer? You would take them immediately to the doctor that healed you. Salvation in Christ is no different.
But what does this have to do with my reception into heaven? I think many of us believe that all entrances into heaven are the same, but in the passage above verse 11 implies that you can receive a special reception and I believe it will be based on how you lived as a follower of Christ and how you inspired others in that life. So I asked you, what do you want your reception into heaven to look like?