Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us so we can be with him. I think it’s safe to call that place Heaven, would you agree? What is that place like? What is Heaven like? Take a minute and think about that for a minute before you finish reading this article.

For real, think about Heaven, where Jesus is walking around right now…

I’m a pastor, so teaching doctrine properly is important, but I want to suspend doctrine for a minute and just think about some things.

When I think about Jesus preparing a place for us, it makes me think of his prayer “your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” It’s something he wants for us. I think about what the garden of Eden must have been like, in all its perfection. I think of what it would have been like to see Jesus transform and openly talk with Moses and Elijah. It makes me think of all the times supernatural encounters with angels and the presence of God happened to ordinary men and women in the Bible.

The Gospel is Powerful in 2 Ways

THE INFORMATION OF THE GOSPEL: It’s incredibly wonderful information to know that God is no longer holding your sins against you and offers the free gift of righteousness and eternal life by grace through faith in Christ. But it doesn’t stop there, there are results of believing this truth.

THE RESULTS OF BELIEVING THE GOSPEL: The results of believing the Gospel are even better. He removes your old heart and gives you a new one that knows how to hear and follow him. God places his spirit in you. You become a new creature in Christ. After those things, you are actually righteous and holy because of the work of the spirit in you. You are empowered with graces to bless others. You are qualified for all the blessings of Abraham. God will never leave you or forsake you. He’ll lead and guide you into truth and blessing. The list just goes on and on.

God has always wanted you to obey him. His 613 Laws demand it but only FAITH can produce the kind of obedience that God really wants.

Obedience from the heart pleases God. Obedience that is the fruit of a responsive heart to his love is what God wants. God is pleased with the kind of obedience that seeks to preserve the freedom he offers in Christ. God is n0t impressed with obedience that is rooted in rule-keeping, his heart is after those who have been transformed by his love and now only desire to bring glory to his name.

The good news is, God gave you a new heart that has the capacity to actually obey him in this way, by faith.

Faith is this - God said it, I believe it, now I’ll make decisions in agreement with it.

Faith says…
”God said sin produces death, God said I’m dead to sin in Christ, God says there is more grace available than opportunities for sin, so I believe it. Now I yield myself to his inner strength, as an instrument in his hands. I receive his life-giving love in my heart and rise above the lure of sin.”

That pleases God much more than the kind of obedience that says, “God said I must obey, if I don’t he will punish me, therefore I must obey.”

Did Jesus go to hell after he died on the cross?

King David, Peter and the Apostle Paul confirm he did. King David prophesied about it, Peter clarified those prophecies and Paul addressed it in his teachings.

Let me clarify what I mean by “hell.”

Jesus did not go into the Lake of Fire, he went into a place called Hades, which is typically translated as “hell.” The place or realm these three men referred to is called several things in scripture.

How does righteousness satisfy your soul?

Your soul craves emotional and spiritual drink. The body craves physical drink. When your soul is thirsty and you try to quench it with physical or emotional drink from the world, you’ll always be unsatisfied. But if you drink of spiritual drink when your soul is thirsty, you will always be satisfied.

The world has plenty of physical and emotional stuff to drink, water, wine, juice, whiskey, as well as fear, worry, temporary relief, and possibly even temporary happiness. But the thirst always comes back. Righteousness is the only thing that can satisfy a soul.