In this video, Grace@Work leader Cortney Alexander answers the question, “Why do people have to accept Jesus to go to heaven?”
Why do people have to accept Jesus to go to heaven? Let’s start with what it means to “go to heaven.” While many of us probably think of pictures of winged babies playing harps on clouds, that’s not the eternal life Christians hope for. We believe Jesus is coming back for those who accept him. And by “accept Jesus,” we mean confessing Jesus as the Lord of their lives.
We look forward to the return of Jesus, when those who put their faith in him will be raised from the dead, receiving a glorious new body that will never die. The same is true for believes living at the time of his return. They will likewise receive that new, glorious body. So what will we do with those immortal bodies?
To answer that question, let’s talk about who Jesus is. Jesus is the uncreated Son of God. The universe was created through him and for him. Even before the world existed, God the Father promised Jesus, God the Son, a kingdom that will be filled with a multitude that no one could number. And this kingdom will last forever. So while Christians often talk about going to heaven when they die, it might be better to say that we’re looking forward to the day when we are raised from the dead to join Christ in his eternal kingdom (see Rev. 7:9-17; 21-22).
Now that we’ve clarified what Christians mean when they talk about going to heaven, we see that our question about why people have to believe in Jesus to go to heaven might better be phrased, “Why do people have to believe in Jesus to enter his kingdom?”
In answering that question, the first thing we need to understand is that no one is born a citizen of Jesus’ kingdom. Each one of us has to be personally conveyed into Jesus’ kingdom (Col. 1:13-14). But there is a problem. Since Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in the garden of Eden, every person who has walked the earth has joined them in rebellion against God (Rom. 3:23). That is our nature (Eph. 2:3).
If God were an earthly king, we would have no hope of entering his kingdom. What earthly king would grant citizenship to people who reject his kingship and continue to commit many crimes against him? What king loves people who reject his reign so much that he would give his only son to redeem such people from their crimes against him? But that’s exactly what God did. He loved this world of rebellious people so much that gave his only Son that whoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life (Jn. 3:16).
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29). All who accepts him are redeemed from sin. Their debt has been paid. It is finished (Col. 2:13-14). But it’s more than that. They become citizens of Jesus’ eternal kingdom (Col. 1:13-14; Phil. 3:20-21).
That’s why someone has to accept Jesus—to confess him as Lord—to be saved from sin (Rom. 10:9). Because being saved means entering Jesus’ kingdom. And it probably won’t surprise you that no one enters Jesus’ kingdom while still rejecting him as King.
Accepting Jesus as our King requires us to step off the throne of our hearts. That’s a big step. But it’s the best step you’ll ever take.
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