In My Father's House

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:1-6).

A third encouragement Jesus gave to His disciples was the promise of a future life with Him in glory. Jesus would die, be buried, be resurrected from the dead, and ascended into heaven - but He would also come back to get them so they would be with Him in the place He was preparing for them. His prayer to the Father was for that very thing (John 17:24), Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Their separation from Him would only be temporary. What a boon to the spirit!

In My Father’s house. What is the ‘Father’s house’? It is synonymous with heaven - where God the Father lives. It is identified by many names in Scripture: a ‘country’ because it’s huge, a ‘city’ because a numberless multitude will live in it, a ‘kingdom’ because God will reign as King there, ‘paradise’ because its beauty is beyond description, a place of ‘rest’ because sin and all of its effects will not exist there, ‘Abraham’s bosom’ because all of God’s people will be near and dear to Him. 

In My Father’s house are many rooms. Most older Christians prefer ‘mansions’, but the word is monai, which means ‘abiding places’, ‘living places’. The New Testament had no concept of mansion - palace (aule) yes, but mansion, no. Not only does this rule out the concept of ‘mansion’, it rules out the idea that we will live in separate dwelling places, like a housing tract. The word picture Jesus painted is one of a father building additional rooms onto his house for his children and their families to live with him. That was a common practice in the Bible. Think of God the Father owning a humongous condominium complex with each Christian having their own condo. This gives credence to the words of the Apostle John (Revelation 21:3), Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. The emphasis is on intimacy and accessibility. Because there are ‘many’ (polus: abundant, plenteous) rooms, there will be space enough for all who enter in. Revelation 21:16 says the New Jerusalem, which is a small part of heaven, is a cube - 1,500 miles wide, 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles high. The base of the city is 2 million square miles; over half the size of the United States - and that’s just the New Jerusalem! 

The point is that in heaven we will be with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit forever - all of us, everyone who has put their faith and trust in the Lord. And we will all be in intimate contact with Them as everyone else will be. Hard to imagine, but that’s the Lord’s promise to us. Amen.

Pastor