THE FOYER
“I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God.” –Psalm 84:10b
Who doesn’t love a surprise party? Imagine your friends hiding behind the door, tingling with excitement. “Shh!” they remind each other as you come near. You open the door and hear, “Surprise!” The fun begins—all because of you.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a party’s waiting on the other side of death’s door, too. If Heaven has an entrance hall, your welcome party will begin there. In English, it’s often called the “foyer,” a word derived from Latin for “hearth” or “fireplace.” Long ago, if it was stormy outside, people looked forward to stepping inside the door and getting near the fire.
So, envision leaving earth’s physical and emotional storms behind. Your Heaven-homecoming party’s starting, and you’re giddy with anticipation. Perhaps this verse will describe your mood: “Then you will look and be radiant, you heart will throb and swell with joy” (Isaiah 60:5). You won’t have to worry about the excitement sending your blood pressure too high or feeling pain in your heart’s clogged arteries. You left that sick earthly body behind. This is Heaven, the home you’ve longed for. Maybe your reaction will be like that of the talking unicorn in C.S. Lewis’s story, The Last Battle: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now” (Collier Books, 1956, p. 171).
“I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God.” –Psalm 84:10b
Who doesn’t love a surprise party? Imagine your friends hiding behind the door, tingling with excitement. “Shh!” they remind each other as you come near. You open the door and hear, “Surprise!” The fun begins—all because of you.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a party’s waiting on the other side of death’s door, too. If Heaven has an entrance hall, your welcome party will begin there. In English, it’s often called the “foyer,” a word derived from Latin for “hearth” or “fireplace.” Long ago, if it was stormy outside, people looked forward to stepping inside the door and getting near the fire.
So, envision leaving earth’s physical and emotional storms behind. Your Heaven-homecoming party’s starting, and you’re giddy with anticipation. Perhaps this verse will describe your mood: “Then you will look and be radiant, you heart will throb and swell with joy” (Isaiah 60:5). You won’t have to worry about the excitement sending your blood pressure too high or feeling pain in your heart’s clogged arteries. You left that sick earthly body behind. This is Heaven, the home you’ve longed for. Maybe your reaction will be like that of the talking unicorn in C.S. Lewis’s story, The Last Battle: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now” (Collier Books, 1956, p. 171).
Yes, you’re finally, truly home.
Sadly, some religious traditions stall your progress into Heaven’s grand entryway. They say you must go into a holding room of sorts to be “purged” of past sins until you’re “good enough” for Heaven. The Bible says nothing of the sort. You can forget, too, the cartoons of St. Peter standing behind a podium with a big list, checking if you “measured up” to Heaven’s standards before you are let in. There’s not a shred of Biblical evidence for that. You make your reservations for Heaven the moment you believed that Christ died for your sins.
Who will greet you at Heaven’s door? The Bible is silent on this, but why not people you expected to see, and some you didn’t? Loved ones who shared a faith in Christ. People whose lives you impacted for Christ, whether or not you realized it. Maybe dozens of them, perhaps hundreds. Ancestors you knew only from names in the family history book may welcome you as a fellow citizen of Heaven.
Are you wondering how all these people will know you since you came as a “spirit,” not with your old, sick, or mortally wounded body? God’s big enough to have that one figured out. Somehow, the essence of you will be there. People will just know. For a glimpse of how that’s possible, remember the time Jesus took His closest disciples to a high mountain. There, His body underwent a special change. His body shone like the sun and His clothing like blazing light. Suddenly, two figures of ancient Jewish history, long dead, stood with him. Jesus’ disciples could not have known the identity of these people. Back then, no film or artists recorded history. But Peter knew—just knew—the figures were Moses and Elijah. Typical for his impulsive personality, he was so excited he suggested putting up a museum to that moment. Then a cloud obscured the setting and it was over (Matt. 17:1-8). Like Peter just knew these men, it’s probable that we’ll just know people when we get to Heaven.
Back to that party: don’t worry about forgetting peoples’ names. Because memory loss belongs to the fallen condition of our earth-lives, there shouldn’t be “senior moments.” Perhaps we’ll have the reunion to end all reunions. We won’t struggle to keep the conversations going. The main topic of conversation will be Jesus and the joy of being in Heaven. I’m guessing we’ll finally understand why King David sang out, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere” (Psalm 84:10). Despite all the lavish privileges he enjoyed as king of Israel, nothing compared to the presence of God. He declared he’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God. That’s where the action was!
To carry on the comparison, who else might be in the foyer greeting you? God’s angelic messengers, perhaps ones dispatched to help and protect you on earth? And why not the Lord Jesus Himself, welcoming His loved one Home? Remember, He loved parties on earth. He even made a stature-challenged tax collector named Zaccheus climb down out of a tree and put one on for Him (Luke 19:1-10)!
Close the door. Let the party begin. The honored guest is here.
Prayer: Lord, I love the thought of a welcome party when I arrive in Heaven. Thank you for loving me so much! Amen.
Sadly, some religious traditions stall your progress into Heaven’s grand entryway. They say you must go into a holding room of sorts to be “purged” of past sins until you’re “good enough” for Heaven. The Bible says nothing of the sort. You can forget, too, the cartoons of St. Peter standing behind a podium with a big list, checking if you “measured up” to Heaven’s standards before you are let in. There’s not a shred of Biblical evidence for that. You make your reservations for Heaven the moment you believed that Christ died for your sins.
Who will greet you at Heaven’s door? The Bible is silent on this, but why not people you expected to see, and some you didn’t? Loved ones who shared a faith in Christ. People whose lives you impacted for Christ, whether or not you realized it. Maybe dozens of them, perhaps hundreds. Ancestors you knew only from names in the family history book may welcome you as a fellow citizen of Heaven.
Are you wondering how all these people will know you since you came as a “spirit,” not with your old, sick, or mortally wounded body? God’s big enough to have that one figured out. Somehow, the essence of you will be there. People will just know. For a glimpse of how that’s possible, remember the time Jesus took His closest disciples to a high mountain. There, His body underwent a special change. His body shone like the sun and His clothing like blazing light. Suddenly, two figures of ancient Jewish history, long dead, stood with him. Jesus’ disciples could not have known the identity of these people. Back then, no film or artists recorded history. But Peter knew—just knew—the figures were Moses and Elijah. Typical for his impulsive personality, he was so excited he suggested putting up a museum to that moment. Then a cloud obscured the setting and it was over (Matt. 17:1-8). Like Peter just knew these men, it’s probable that we’ll just know people when we get to Heaven.
Back to that party: don’t worry about forgetting peoples’ names. Because memory loss belongs to the fallen condition of our earth-lives, there shouldn’t be “senior moments.” Perhaps we’ll have the reunion to end all reunions. We won’t struggle to keep the conversations going. The main topic of conversation will be Jesus and the joy of being in Heaven. I’m guessing we’ll finally understand why King David sang out, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere” (Psalm 84:10). Despite all the lavish privileges he enjoyed as king of Israel, nothing compared to the presence of God. He declared he’d rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God. That’s where the action was!
To carry on the comparison, who else might be in the foyer greeting you? God’s angelic messengers, perhaps ones dispatched to help and protect you on earth? And why not the Lord Jesus Himself, welcoming His loved one Home? Remember, He loved parties on earth. He even made a stature-challenged tax collector named Zaccheus climb down out of a tree and put one on for Him (Luke 19:1-10)!
Close the door. Let the party begin. The honored guest is here.
Prayer: Lord, I love the thought of a welcome party when I arrive in Heaven. Thank you for loving me so much! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment