Friday, December 3, 2021
Far Better
“I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me” (Philippians 1:23 NLT).
I don’t know why, but I can still remember the lyrics to the theme song for The Beverly Hillbillies. In the sitcom, the main character, Jed Clampett, was a poor widower who became a millionaire and moved to Beverly Hills. Jed and his family went from a not-so-great place to a wonderful mansion.
In the same way, when believers die, we move from tents (our earthly bodies) to mansions. The apostle Paul wrote, “I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me” (Philippians 1:23 NLT). Heaven is so much better than Earth.
We’ll go from broken, aging, sinful bodies to new bodies that God ultimately will give us. And we’ll go into His presence. That means no more Devil, no more temptations, and no more sinful inclinations.
Not only that, but when we go to Heaven, it’s immediate. The moment you take your last breath on Earth, you’ll take your next breath in Heaven. Again, Paul wrote, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV).
Also, in Heaven all of our questions will be answered. We all have questions for God, don’t we? One day God will reveal it all because the Bible tells us, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity” (1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT).
But most importantly, when we go to Heaven, we’ll go to be with Christ. Only the Christian can say, like Paul, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 NKJV). We don’t have to fear death because Jesus conquered death at the cross and the empty tomb. At the cross, He defeated sin; and at the empty tomb, He defeated death.
Copyright © 2021 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
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