Dwelling in God’s Heart – The Front Door

Dwelling in God’s Heart – The Front Door.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”  (James 4:8).

“I am inside My Father, and you are inside Me, and I am inside you.” (John 14:20).

Even though the phrase “accept Jesus into our heart” is not in Scripture, we get the picture. Accepting Jesus into our hearts means we receive Him into the very core of our being, into the centerpiece of who we are, affecting everything about us. When we receive Jesus into our heart-home, our identity becomes His, the essence of our personhood is intimately wrapped into the essence of Christ’s Personhood. When we make our home in His home, He miraculously become a resident inside each of us as well. And when we experience that Double Union with Jesus Christ, we discover that our spiritual location is inside of the very heart of God. In other words, if the Son is inside the Father, and we are inside the Son, then logically we are inside the Father! By dwelling in the Son’s heart, we dwell in the Father’s heart as well. By living inside the “Person after God’s own heart,” we find ourselves inside God’s heart! As Paul claims in Colossians 3:3, believers are “hidden within Christ, inside of God.”

Way back in 1954 there was a creative little evangelistic tract produced by Inter-Varsity Press, written by a pastor named Robert Boyd Munger. He entitled his brief tract, “My Heart – God’s Home.” I recommend it if you find it. Following up on Revelation 3:20, Pastor Munger imagined a believer opening his door and escorting Jesus through the home of his heart, now that Jesus has taken up residence in him. Now that Jesus dwells in him, and He has moved into his heart, what will Jesus see there? So the believer in the tract proceeds to give a tour of his heart-home with Jesus as he welcomes Christ into his heart. Together they tour the person’s study, dining room, living room, workroom, recreation room, bedroom and hall closet. I thought this was an engaging idea, but now I would like to give the other side of the story. Jesus lives within us, to be sure. But we also live within Jesus, hence inside the very heart of God. So if the Father was to give us a guided tour of His heart, what would we find? What will be waiting for us to discover in the many rooms of God’s heart? We could easily entitle this, “God’s Heart -My Home.”

Like anyone’s home, God’s heart will reflect His attitudes, motivations, personality, character traits, His heavenly “tastes” in interior décor. God’s deeply held convictions will be revealed in His heart-home, as they are in our own hearts. Using Scripture as our guide, we will explore God’s heart as we make ourselves at home and abide in Him. We will explore everything from the front porch to the front door, the living room to the dining room, from the kitchen to the study to the chapel. And many more rooms as well, like the bedroom, the bathroom, and the nursery. There may even be a sneak peek at the family room, the children’s playroom, and the school room.

THE FRONT DOOR. There is only one door to God’s heart-home, and that is the front door. This sole entrance way is not constructed of hardwood, or iron, or bronze. In fact, the door to the Father’s house is a Person, not a material object. The Door to the Father is the Son. The front door to God’s house is Jesus Christ. When Jesus talked with His listeners about being the Door, the Gate, His  analogy was the role of the Good Shepherd.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, I AM the door to the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I AM the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved.” (John 10:7-9, NASB).

There is a much-used Hebrew word in the Hebrew Bible that points to its root word “truth.” The Greek in the New Testament also picked it up and used it for “truth” as well. That common Hebrew word is “amen.”

Amen. This biblical word basically means: This is truth! I agree that this is true! Yes! We heartily accept and approve of what was said! We are assured that this is certainly true! So be it! We believe this is trustworthy and we take it to heart!

Amen! Amen! is often translated as Truly, Truly, or Verily, Verily in the New Testament. This double Amen is only recorded in the gospel of John, and is said by Jesus before He offers a statement, not after.  He is the only Person to say this, because He is the only Person who has the authority to say this before He says it. This double Amen, as opposed to a single Amen, must be an important distinction for Jesus, because He felt compelled to use this preface twenty-five times in John.  When Jesus begins a statement with that double “Truly,” He is intending to be doubly intense when He says it, and so He wants the listener to be doubly attentive. He wants to emphasize the importance of His words. He is saying, In all truth I tell you. He wants the listener to focus, and He is serious about preparing the listener to be receptive. When Jesus says Truly, Truly, He is saying: Most assuredly, what I am about to tell you is absolutely true and trustworthy. So listen up, because an eternal truth is coming to you now. In all sincerity, says Jesus, this is the solemn truth. Take these words in, says Jesus, and have them go into your mind and then straight to your heart. For these words of mine are double truth, they are doubly true. Jesus might as well have been saying… And you readers out there centuries from now, get ready to apply your hot pink highlighter, get ready to do some double underlining! Truly, Truly, what you are about to hear is the honest to goodness truth. This is True! Really True!

In the beginning of chapter 10, Jesus continues his confrontation with the Pharisees, teaching them about the thieves, robbers, and strangers. He talks a little bit about what a flourishing flock of sheep looks like… Sheep that are well cared for and can safely go in and out to pasture, are familiar with their shepherd’s voice, and how a relationship of trust develops between the shepherd and his sheep. Jesus is implying that the Pharisees, in their spiritual blindness, are not trustworthy, are in reality strangers to the sheep of God’s flock, and are not effective shepherds as a result. Jesus said more than once earlier (eg, Matt. 9:36), that the people were wandering spiritually, confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus is scorning the spiritual leadership of the religious authorities, laying the blame on them for the sorry state of spiritual affairs in His land.

The Door. Jesus was attempting to reach them with an appeal to the truth. Truly, truly! This is God’s truth everyone! Please believe this! This is the utmost truth from heaven! Jesus also boldly claims once again his divinity with another reference to Yahweh… “I AM the door to the sheep.” He uses this I AM formula seven times in the Gospel of John: I AM the Bread of Life (6:35); the Light of the World (8:12); the Door (10:7,9); the Good Shepherd (10:14); the Resurrection and the Life (11:25); the Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6); and the True Vine (15:1). In these statements, every time Jesus says “I AM” to the people, He is referring to His equality to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, of Moses, of Creation. It’s fascinating that Jesus loved using these simple, commonplace metaphors to unpack who He is and what He is here to do. Nothing fancy, abstract, erudite. It’s almost as if He is saying to the people, “Okay, okay, I know the I AM Name is a bit obscure and mysterious. You could be forgiven for wondering… I AM what? God, fill in the blanks, please. You are what, exactly?” Jesus is continuing the revelation of God by filling in the blanks a bit more, so God’s Name is not quite so elusive or open-ended. The simple I AM metaphors are helpful in that way, and the humility of Jesus in using these simple ideas did much to continue the conversation between the Son of God and the people, and to inspire many helpful a-ha moments with His followers.

In that day, dedicated and effective shepherds would stretch themselves across the entranceway to the sheep pen at night. Pens were usually enclosures out in the open, with no roof, and with walls constructed of stones and branches. The shepherds would place briars, thorns, and thistles along the top of the walls to keep the sheep from climbing out and predators from climbing in. The shepherds would provide only one entrance to the sheep pen, and that’s where the shepherd would lie down to control access. There would be no sheep rustlers or predators on his watch, and from that spot he could also keep his eye open for lost, wandering sheep outside the pen. Shepherds were human doors, laying down their lives for the sheep. The self-sacrificing shepherd was the best possible entryway for the sheep, who knew that they were safe and secure and freed to flourish in the flock.

I AM the door. Jesus seems to be saying here… I am the gateway to God’s kingdom, to God’s flock. I will open the door to the wandering sheep, the lost, the injured, the helpless, the confused. I will close the door when the sheep need protection and peaceful rest. I will open the gate to God’s love… not like those false shepherds who closed the door to this healed man. They didn’t think he deserved God’s love, so they excluded him. He is just the type of person to whom I open the door, those in need of inclusion in my flock. I am the door to the sheep, I will open up the entrance and exit so my sheep may freely follow me to pasture. And I will close this gate to thieves, predators and strangers, anyone who will not allow the sheep to flourish in God’s kingdom. I am the front door, and there is no back door. I am a big welcome mat to those who have been rejected. You may enter through me and live life to the fullest, an abundant life in God’s flock. With me at the entrance, I create a refuge where there once was a wall of judgment. The sheep in the flock will find me a strong door, a faithful door, for I AM one with Yahweh, and “what He opens no one can close; and what He closes no one can open.” (Rev. 3:7). I AM the Door that opens the way to salvation for all sheep. Yes, Jesus is claiming that He is the Front Door to God’s house. The only way to the Father is through Him.