Continuing on in Scot McKnight's nifty little book 'The Heaven Promise,' today's chapter (18) answers the question: "Who Will Be in Heaven? (The Most Important Question in This Book)."
Scot very aptly points out, "The question, Who will be in Heaven? necessitates a follow-up question every time: What do we have to do to get into Heaven?"
He then discusses the 'size' of Heaven. Revelation tells us the New Jerusalem is 12,000 stadia in length, width, and height. Scot says, "That's 2.25 million square miles. One person computed this to mean the New Jerusalem could house more than 100 billion people!... Surely we are not meant to spend our time computing just how many people will be in Heaven, but one thing we are to hear when we read this text is quite clear: Heaven is an expanse so high and so wide and so deep that we cannot comprehend its spaciousness."
"When I'm asked the question, Who will be in Heaven? my answer is simple: Jesus. I could stop right there because that's how the Bible answers the question. Jesus is the One who lived and died and was raised into the presence of God and who will be the center of the kingdom forever and ever..."
"...The second answer to the question, Who will be in Heaven? is those who are in Christ. I say this because, once again, it was Jesus who cracked through the doom of death and it was Jesus who was raised from the dead and clothed with a glorious body fit for Heaven. It all begins with Jesus, and Jesus promised his followers that he was going to prepare a place for them so they could dwell forever with him. Heaven is for Jesus and his people."
"The question we need to ask is, Are you in Christ? This means that the answer to the question, What do we have to do to get into Heaven? is a big loud... nothing! Nothing! Jesus has paved the way, and we simply have to look to him, turn to him, believe in him, and let his life, death, and resurrection be our life, death, and resurrection."
Sounds good to me.
