“No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”
John 3:13-15 NLT
Jesus made a statement that people who have gone to Heaven have never returned. But why would they want to? To the thief on the adjacent cross, Jesus called it paradise, inferring that Heaven is a wonderful place. There are those who claim that they died and went into Heaven but returned to their bodies when resuscitated, though Jesus’ statement to Nicodemus puts doubts on their conclusion, albeit briefly, of a visit to Heaven. Of course there are those who are convinced that they have seen ghosts. But we should remember that after death our spirits end up in one of two places – Heaven for the believers and Hades for the non-believers. If they exist at all, ghosts are the product of Hades. Jesus gave us an illustration about the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) that sets out the difference between the two places. From this story, it is not surprising that the spirits incarcerated in Hades would want to escape.
But there was one exception – Jesus is the only Person who has lived in Heaven and who came to earth. He came down to this world, implying that Heaven is a place that is above, higher, than where we are. But that introduces even more wonder into His incarnation – Jesus left a place of comfort, He called it paradise, to join mankind to live as one of God’s created beings. And Jesus came to Planet Earth for one reason – to provide eternal life to all those who believe in Him.
We can read about the episode with the bronze snake in Numbers 21. The impatient and ungrateful Israelite slaves were speaking out, grumbling, against God and Moses, because of the long journey and the sameness of the food, manna. “So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died” (Numbers 21:6). This act brought them to their senses, and we read in the next verse, “Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people“. And God gave Moses a remedy, “Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!”” (Numbers 21:8). What a great picture of Jesus being lifted up on the Cross at Calvary. Just as the Israelites believed that by looking at the bronze snake on a pole they would be healed, Jesus said that all those who believed in Him, dying on that Cross at Calvary for their sins, would live for ever. The bronze snake prolonged the Israelites’ natural lives, but the Calvary Cross enabled people to live forever.
The Cross is central to our Christian faith. Without it there is no redemption from sin. No salvation and no eternal life. In John 14:6 we read, “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. There is no short cut into Heaven. The squeamish won’t find a sanitised route to eternal life. It is only through the blood of Jesus that we are saved. If anyone tries to tell us anything different, don’t believe them.
Father God. Once again, we thank You for Jesus and His willingness to come to this world to save mankind. I pray today for all those I know who have failed to embrace God’s Son and who are heading for a lost eternity. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 