Why do Christians say they have a home in heaven? It may have been something Jesus started. Let’s talk about it, but first a quote from one very good man who regularly told others about their home in heaven.
“Heaven doesn’t make this life less important; it makes it more important.” —Billy Graham
Jesus is the most prominent individual to contribute to this idea that we have a home in heaven. He referred to heaven as His Father’s house, where there are many rooms, where He went to prepare a place for us. Though this is most likely symbolic imagery of something way too incredible for our imagination, it must be good imagery, because it was chosen by someone who’s been there for just about all of eternity (except the time when He spent 33 years here). Heaven must be more wonderful than we could ever imagine—because why else would God make it His home?
Heaven is God’s home, and it’s our home, but it’s so much more than some pearly-gated corner lot in the clouds that we get to escape to one day. C.S. Lewis was writing about the state of heaven when he wrote, “God is not in space, but space is in God.” Huh? Basically, God cannot be contained by His own creation. Heaven is more than just a place God dwells; it’s somewhere His warmth and wonder completely encompasses. Heaven is what happens when God makes Himself feel completely at home.
If you’re not tracking yet, that’s okay. Think about this. You know how it feels to get home? You can finally exhale and just be. What do we say when we have company over? “Make yourself at home.” Heaven promises to fulfill that sense of home for us once and for all.
Following Jesus on earth transforms your life into someplace God can dwell and at the same time God makes space for you to find your home in heaven.
What does all this mean for us? It means heaven is worth hoping for. It’s worth running the race and living an entire life aimed at where God has made Himself at home. It means more than we could ever ask or imagine. It means that following Jesus on earth transforms your life into someplace God can dwell and at the same time God makes space for you to find your home in heaven. Which is another way of saying you’ll find a home inside of the goodness and love of God forever.
If this all still feels a little out there, will you try something to bring it back to earth? Pray the example prayer Jesus outlined in Matthew 6:9-13. As you read and pray the words, let the vastness of God remind you of the power in this prayer. As you repeat Jesus’ words and ask for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, think about the things that are out of whack in your life, your family, your community, and the world at large. Then, remember how it is in heaven. Remember how it is encompassed by God Himself. Let your worries, pain, everything you measure, and everything that tries to measure you be consumed by your immeasurable Father who’s already made a home for you in heaven.
Jesus’ Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 HCSB
“Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.”