Day 2 - Week 23 - John 14:3 "If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also."

We've already established that when Jesus went to the cross for us it was the start of His preparation of our new home.   And when he ascended into heaven, we know that the process moved ahead to the next phase, for Jesus had returned to His Father's house.  So "if He went away", which we know He did, then the next promise is, "I will come back and receive you to Myself." 

Matthew Henry states, "The belief of Christ's second coming, of which He has given us the assurance, is an excellent preservative against a troubled heart."

Christ will come back for His believers...either when you depart from this life through a natural death or upon His triumphant return to the earth.  I believe that when a Christian dies, Christ comes to escort him into eternity, to show the believer the place He has prepared for them.  I like to think of the passage of the Good Shepherd in this connection.  Read these verses with that thought in mind:

John 10:2-4 "The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

Isn't it a nice picture to think that when we close our eyes in death, that Jesus is there leading the way for us, calling for us by name, leading us out, to follow Him through the gate into eternity.  The word that is used in John 14:3, "receive", carries with it the idea of joining to one's self or taking along with one's self...it implies a very intimate journey of Jesus traveling with us to our new home.  Isn't that reassuring? 

And if we are still on this earth when Jesus comes to claim His own, what a day that will be! 

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

And the very next verse says, "Therefore, encourage each other with these words." 

ASSURANCE ---Christ's return is assured and should keep us encouraged.  When this life just doesn't seem to make much sense, remember, Christ will come back and He will take us with Him to a life so wonderful we will never tire of the time (no wait, there won't be any time!)...we will never tire of our beautiful life of forever!