What a grand word it is!
Perhaps no single word in any language can generate more emotional associations than the word “home.”
An intense desire to have a home has been hardwired into the way we have been made. Perhaps you have never thought about it, but God wants us to look forward to a home in heaven. The most loving home down here is only a faint picture of what God’s perfect home in heaven will be like. “In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,” the Lord Jesus told His disciples (John 14:22In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)). The home given to believers in heaven will be a million times better than the best homes down here. Homes down here, even the best of them, can fail and disappoint. But those who make it to the heavenly home will never be disappointed. The heavenly home will be filled with bliss and incredible joy, because souls will be in the immediate presence of God. “God is love,” the Bible says, and His love will never fail nor disappoint.
God doesn’t want any soul to miss out on sharing His love in heaven. He wants all to come to His heavenly home so much that He sent His Son to be the Savior. “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)).
The Lord Jesus left heaven to come down to earth. He made His home in a small town in the hill country of Judea. Then at the age of thirty He went about the countryside of Israel preaching the kingdom of God and performing miracles on those who were sick and diseased. The world had never seen such marvelous deeds before, nor had they ever heard such powerful words.
For the three and a half years of His public ministry He didn’t have a home of His own to sleep in at night. Once He told a young man who desired to follow Him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head” (Matthew 8:2020And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20)).
What a Savior! He was perfectly willing to endure every sort of hardship so that we might know how much God loved us.
At the end of this time He was betrayed by one of His followers, given a false trial, and condemned to death. God had come into this world in the person of Jesus Christ. He was perfect goodness moving about in the midst of evil. This world didn’t give Him a home that He might live among them.
No, just the opposite: It cast Him out and crucified Him. Out of this act of supreme evil, God brought out the greatest good the world has ever known, because it is by the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross that God has chosen to put away the sins of all those who believe.
This world gave the Lord Jesus a cross and a grave. They sought to trample His name in the dust that it might disappear forever. However, God had far different thoughts about Him. God raised Him from the dead and made His name higher than every other. Philippians 2:9-119Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9‑11) reads, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
It is through faith in this name that sinners can be forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life. Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) reads, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Only through faith in Christ can sinners be brought safe home to heaven.
Every living soul is on a journey to eternity. Those who repent and turn to Christ in faith are traveling towards heaven. What a home awaits them!
They will dwell in the light of His presence, while those who reject Him will end up spending eternity in the darkness of hell. They will be like “wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 13). They might have lived in mansions in this life with every earthly comfort, but if they die without Christ, they will be forever in the pitch darkness of hell, never knowing any of the comforts of home.
No living person has it in their power to make this earth their home for very long. One short lifetime is what God has given us. Won’t you come to the Savior of sinners and put your faith in Him that you might have a home in heaven when this short life is over?
Life is short. One More Chance shows God’s faithfulness all the way to the end — but there is an end.