There is a tension Christians experience—belonging to another world, yet still being in this one. What do you think of when someone mentions heaven? The usual pictures involve clouds, perhaps some gates, old men with beards, etc. While not containing exact descriptions, the Bible does give us some clear points on what the next world will be like. Most importantly, it is a real, physical place, where God’s people will be in the very presence of God. It is hard to imagine, very hard, but the Bible assures us it will be an amazing place, perfect in fact. This is the end of the process of restoration, seeing God himself face-to-face.

In this series, we've mentioned the massive implications of forgiveness that we did not deserve. Those who believe in God’s power to forgive them because of Jesus’ death and resurrection; in other words, salvation comes from faith. For those who accept this message, what now? What does it mean to be a Christian?

In the gospels, four authors tell of Jesus’ life on earth. We have already seen the great good news that came with Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles tell of the spread of that good news throughout the surrounding regions. This was how the early church was established, spread by the disciples. The letters in the New Testament were written to the various churches established by the disciples, and to some individuals (like Timothy). Some address issues of theology, like Romans; particularly issues with which those churches were particularly struggling. Others, like Thessalonians, tackle the practicalities of being Christian—advice and pastoral care for Christians in the early churches, encouraging them to “keep running the race” (Hebrews).

God is the creator, who created a perfect and beautiful world and humans, designed for a perfect and unique relationship with God. Yet we wanted to the right to rule ourselves, and this means we are God’s enemy. The extent of our sinfulness—our rejection of God—is such that we deserve God’s judgement, and death. And the reality is, as Paul explains in Romans, that none of us are able to earn our way back to God.

However, in the Old Testament God promised that some one would defeat the serpent. Abram was promised that all nations would be blessed through him. Other passages have made it clear that God’s judgement on those who rebel against him is death, but yesterday in the Exodus passage there was another way. A lamb was killed in the place of the Israelites’ sons—a substitution was provided. This substitution was itself without sin—it was unblemished.

There are a lot of words in English now which have dramatically changed their meaning. Take ‘awesome’ for example, which in a literal sense, means ‘inspiring or displaying awe’. Now it means ‘excellent or outstanding’. Of course words shift their meaning, but often the force of a word is diluted. Not so with ‘grace’. It's a positive word in English that has retained its strength of meaning. ‘Grace’ means something pleasing or charming; it means mercy. At its heart it means ‘rejoicing’. And there's plenty of grace in the Bible.