A Heaven Without Christ?

God once told Moses that the Israelites could go into the promised land, with an angel accompanying them, but with one qualification––God Himself wasn’t coming along. Moses responded, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence (Ex. 33:15).”

When Jesus taught that anyone who eats his flesh, and drinks his blood, has eternal life (Jn. 6:54), and many disciples left because of this teaching. When Jesus asked the twelve if they would leave also, Peter the spokesman declared: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life (Jn. 6:68).”

A Puritan writer once posed this question to his readers: “If Christ should say to [you], ‘Take thy fill sinful delights; eat, drink, and be merry; solace thyself in the midst of all thy abundance; thou shalt not perish, only thou shalt not be with Me!’ ‘Not with Thee, Lord Jesus? Where then? Then farewell, delights; farewell, pomp and plenty; farewell, all! I follow Thee withersoever Thou goest, for it will certainly be hell where Thou art not.’”

What about you? If you can imagine a heaven without Christ, and find yourself happy and contented with the thought, you have missed the very pith of the the Gospel. The Gospel teaches us that Christ is precious to those He has redeemed. All other saviors are powerless to save, all other joys are empty of true & lasting enjoyment, all other ways which claim to bring us to God are crooked paths leading to our eternal damnation.

Here before us is a feast that reminds us that Christ came in the flesh, in order to unite us in fellowship with joy Himself, love Himself, glory Himself. Forsake the empty tables of sin, and come and welcome to Jesus Christ.