The Premier Performance
Can I know for sure that I'll go to heaven?
“Past performance does not guarantee future gain.” That holds true for our financial future, but is it the same for our spiritual future? What should I expect on Judgment Day? Can I be certain God will allow me into his eternal heaven? Will I be forgiven again tomorrow? How long will my Savior Jesus bear with me? Is my spiritual future as uncertain as the percentage rate on my investments and the entire stock market and economy itself?
We wonder why the circumstances of our lives are so complex. We worry that we're not able to stand firm in our faith in this corrupt world. But God's Word says that past performance is a guarantee of future gain. Jesus Christ's sacrifice did something. It spilled holy blood, the Redeemer's blood, of which one drop was enough to pay the price for every sinner's salvation. "He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).
Take a blank check sometime, and after emptying all the funds from your checking account, write it out to a friend for a hundred dollars. Though your friend doesn't realize it's worthless, you know it is. All your efforts at guaranteeing spiritual security by your performance are checks written from an empty account and given to God, but when Jesus came he provided the ransom price for all our sins and put it into the account guarantee the purchase of our redemption.
What will happen between God and me? Can I really know for sure I'll be saved? Will God turn around and condemn me the first time I sin after reading this message? My right standing with God will be preserved, not by my performance but by the performance of Jesus.
If your spiritual relationship with God depended on your own efforts in living right, making right decisions, praying as much as you should, reading your Bible more often, being a picture perfect friend ... if your spiritual relationship with God is based on your present performance, then why did Jesus come to save us? The old evil foe will do anything to distract our attention from the cross of Christ and focus our eyes on ourselves.
That's why Christ shows up for us still today. He shows up in heaven right now, each day, every time we sin, every time we feel miserable, on our behalf to present us to God Almighty as holy and precious through his pure sacrifice for our sins. "He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence” (Hebrews 9:24). Christ showed up for us on this earth to make the proper payment for our sins, and now Christ has risen to heaven and he shows up in God's presence for us each day to put that payment into effect. It's called "interceding for us." He did it yesterday, and he'll do it the rest of today, and he'll be doing it the moment we die.
Christ’s past performance and daily interceding do guarantee our future gain. Beginning right now.
PRAYER: Your hands hold my future, Lord Jesus. Scarred hands. Praying hands. Directing hands. Holy hands. Interceding hands. Almighty hands. Beckoning hands. Let me trust and not be afraid. Let my hands work for you and others, and not expect reward. Amen.