Do you want to go to Heaven? This seems like one of the most obvious questions you will ever answer. When considering the alternative, almost everyone would answer with an emphatic “Yes”. We know Jesus is the only way to Heaven, that we have all sinned and can only find salvation through the blood Jesus shed on our behalf (John 14:6; Romans 3:23-25).
Unless we repent of our sins and acknowledge Him as Lord, we will not see Heaven (Luke 13:3; Romans 10:9). But what about the time we live between now and when we meet our King face to face? How do we live a life that results in Him welcoming us into His rest (Matthew 25:21)?
Jesus gave us a blueprint for how to live if we want to see the Kingdom of Heaven in His “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7). He began the message with a list of nine beatitudes, a sort of roadmap to the true peace and joy that comes from knowing God. You could argue each of them serves as a guide that will lead us to Heaven. But three are explicit in saying the result of practicing them will lead to eternity with God. So, if your answer to the question, “Do you want to go to Heaven?” is yes, we need to see what kind of life Jesus says we must live.
First, we must be poor in Spirit (Matthew 5:3). Since I’ve already devoted an entire post to this beatitude (see the post, “Be Humble”), I won’t spend a lot of time here on it. But this blessing, in a nutshell, says we must live a life of humility. We must recognize how magnificent God is and how insignificant we are. We must spend our life in devotion to God and in service to Him and others (Philippians 2:3-4). The proud and boastful will not see Heaven (James 4:6).
Next, we must be pure in heart (Matthew 5:8). There is no way we can achieve this outside of the blood Jesus shed on the cross on our behalf. No one is righteous without that, and you are not the exception (Romans 3:10). To reject the cross is to reject Christ and eternity with Him. Nothing short of holiness can exist in God’s presence (Hebrews 12:14; Habakkuk 1:13). Unless you accept Jesus as the Lord He is, surrender everything to Him, and repent of all your sins, you will never see the Kingdom of Heaven.
Last, if you wish to see Heaven, prepare for persecution (Matthew 5:10). Such persecution takes many shapes. For some, it is ridicule and ostracization. For others, it will be job loss, physical torture, and even death. The only thing we know for certain is the world will hate us (John 15:18-19; John 16:33). It’s not all bad news though. The persecutions of this world are nothing compared to the great glory that is to come (Romans 8:18). And if we endure the afflictions for Christ’s sake, the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours.
Do you want to go to Heaven? Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind (Luke 10:27). Love others as you love yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). Be humble, purify your heart by acknowledging the Lordship of Christ, and accept whatever the world does to you because of Him with joy in your heart. To suffer with Christ is the greatest blessing we can experience on earth (1 Peter 4:12-13; Philippians 1:29-30). For those who believe and trust in Jesus, this world is not our home (Hebrews 13:14; Philippians 3:19-20). We will see Heaven, we will see the face of God, and we will be blessed for all eternity (Revelation 22:4).