Heaven on Earth

Last week we looked at John 14:15 and 16, and we saw Jesus giving a conditional promise that if we loved Him we would keep His commandments and He would send another Helper to us, One that would be with us forever. We saw that these are not big theological words to understand but we are dealing with the Trinity here and though this was quite new to the disciples, this is quite deep for us to grasp as well. But we do have this Helper as we are believers, and we can have some success in understanding these words which the world can not receive because it does not see Him or know Him.

We saw what loving Jesus consisted of, what commandments He was looking to have us obey, Who this Helper would be, what His help would look like and how the Helper would come to us. As Jesus is going to leave them, He will not leave them, or us, as orphans. In the words of Jesus in verse 23 which we have heard before, He adds a couple of other benefits. Verse 23 begins, "If anyone loves Me, He will keep my word, and My Father will love Him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

The word translated abode is found only one other place in scripture, John uses it in 14:2, just a few verses prior to here with the translation being dwelling places. Jesus is going to prepare a place for us in His Father's house, so Jesus is bringing His Father to dwell in us, and both will bring the Spirit to dwell within us too. This is simply extraordinary! Ephesians 2:22 states, "in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." John Piper says, "If you love Me and keep my word, My Father and I will come to you and --- in all your suffering and trials --- give you heaven on earth. We have prepared a dwelling for you in heaven. We are that dwelling. And if you have Me and keep My word, We will come and be that dwelling for you now."

That is hope, is it not? The God of all hope (Rom.15:13) has come to dwell in us, hope, a full assurance and confident expectation that good things will happen. And in John 14:27, Jesus reminds them and us one more time that we should not let our hearts be troubled nor to let them be fearful. His peace He will leave with them, not any kind of peace the world might call peace, but His peace. For He will satisfy His justice, He will purchase their forgiveness, and He will provide their righteousness. They, we, will enjoy the same peace that He will have with His Father. The English Puritan Matthew Henry says, "When Christ was about to leave the world, He made His will. His soul He committed to the Father, His body He bequeathed to Joseph, His cloths fell to the soldiers, His mother He left to the care of John. But what should He leave to His poor disciples who had left all for Him? Silver and gold --- He had none. But He left them that which was infinitely better --- His peace." May you always be at peace knowing the Triune God is with you and in you!

Elder Randy Slak