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Christian, what if I told you that you are already in Heaven—that you don’t have to wait until you pass from this life to go there?
I understand if your brain is going tilt-tilt right now.
Mine did too when I first heard this sounds-too-good-to-be-true news.
But then again, the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ is hands down the best news any of us could ever hear, acknowledge, and say yes to.
Until the early 2000s, my beyond-this-life perspective was: Heaven is a place I go to when I pass from this life through physical death or when Jesus meets me in air (at the rapture) and takes me there.
What changed my mind?
God’s Word.
In his letter to the church (the saints) at Ephesus, the apostle Paul wrote:
It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live.
You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience.
We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat.
It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.
Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us.
He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.
He did all this on his own, with no help from us!
Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah (Eph. 2:1-6 MSG).
When we believed in (into) Jesus, Father God took us (our spirit) out of the realm of darkness and placed us into the eternal life of His Son (John 3:16; Col. 1:13).
And once we’re in Christ, we are in Him forever (John 10:28; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 13:5).
Bart Millard, the lead singer of the contemporary Christian band MercyMe, has written a celebratory, hope-exuding song that speaks of the believer in Christ’s permanent change in spiritual location.
Let’s listen to him tell the story behind “Heaven’s Here,” the ninth track on MercyMe’s grace-saturated Lifer album.
I love Millard’s transparency and excitement about the gospel of grace!
The idea behind the song was, ‘If our promise of Heaven is no more separation from Christ, if Christ is in us, then, in a way, Heaven has already begun for us as believers … We don’t have to wait till this life is through … No separation, He has raised us up … We don’t have to wait, Heaven’s here with us … So, in some weird, stranger-things-kind-of-way, we’re already there, yet still on our way … Eternity’s begun for us … There’s no more separation in Christ.’
Now let’s enjoy the full track of “Heaven’s Here.”
I’ve said it before in this series and I’ll say it again:
I don’t believe there is any other Christian band out there that is unashamedly declaring the truth about who we are in Christ and who He is in us like MercyMe!
Let’s look at more Scriptures that amplify the truth that—in a way—Heaven’s already here for the believer in Christ:
“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4 NASB).
“Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20 NASB).
We are “aliens and strangers” in this world (1 Pet. 2:11 NASB).
“The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 NKJV).
“God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his Son, whom he loves” (Col. 1:13 GW).
If you love the song “Heaven’s Here” and want the truth of your forever fusion with Christ to go deeper, I would like to recommend Heaven Is Now, a wonderful devotional written by best-selling author Andrew Farley.
Millard and Farley connected through social media while Millard was reading Farley’s debut best-seller, The Naked Gospel: The Truth You May Never Hear in Church.
(I wrote about their connection in the first post in this series.)
The two ended up writing a grace-filled book together by the same name as the MercyMe album The Hurt and the Healer.
(You can read the brief interview here to learn more about Millard’s grace-awakening.)
I will never forget the day I first heard about Farley and Millard’s connection.
I had been reading Farley’s books and knew that he was passionate about sharing the Jesus-plus-nothing gospel.
Just thinking about how their connection might impact Christendom made my heart leap for joy!
And now I’m looking forward to seeing more fruit from this divine connection in the future. (Smile.)
I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing the messages in the songs on this feel-good-because-God-has-already-been-so-good-to-us compilation:
My next post on the message in “Ghost,” the tenth track on Lifer, will close out this series.
I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing the messages in the songs on MercyMe’s feel-good-because-God-has-already-been-so-good-to-us compilation.
(Here is a table of contents for every post in this series.)
“Are You a Lifer in Christ?” – a review of track 1, "Lifer"
“Come out, Come out, Wherever You Are!” – a review of track 2, "You Found Me"
“Has Grace Got You?” – a review of track 3, "Grace Got You"
“Have You Heard the Best News Ever?” – a review of track 4, "Best News Ever"
“Because Life Ain’t Always Pretty” – a review of track 5, "Even If"
“Bye-Bye Lies!” – a review of track 6, "Hello Beautiful"
“Don’t Throw in the Towel” – a review of track 7, "We Win"
“Why Every Christian Should Be Doing the Happy Dance” – a review of track 8, "Happy Dance"
“Christian, Heaven Is Here & Now!” – a review of track 9, "Heaven’s Here"
“This Ghost Is Way Friendlier Than Casper!” – a review of track 10, "Ghost"
Every one of Lifer‘s songs exude the best news ever—the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ!
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If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to check out all of my books and my video series based on my first devotional.
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