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on a high dune, is the first sight on approaching<br />
the island by water. Besides the five-star hotel<br />
complete with ballroom, restaurant, children’s<br />
play area and exclusive bar, private apartments<br />
are also available in the hotel at the astronomical<br />
price of approximately $US 850,000 for 80 m 2<br />
(= 264 square feet). However, even the most luxurious<br />
apartments cannot offer both a sea view<br />
and bright sunlight. The apartments facing north<br />
have the sea view, but have no direct sunlight.<br />
If you want a sunny apartment you have to do<br />
without the sea view. Even in this amazingly<br />
beautiful, and expensive place you can’t have<br />
everything.<br />
After we die we will live in a home that was<br />
designed by Jesus. What the Creator of the world<br />
can build is something that no earthly architect<br />
could even dream of. Jesus says, in John 14:2-3,<br />
“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were<br />
not so, I would have told you. And if I go and prepare<br />
a place for you, I will come back and take you<br />
to be with me that you also may be where I am.”<br />
Jesus has been building our home for over two<br />
thousand years. How beautiful it must be! Any<br />
earthly comforts provided in the spa resort of<br />
Juist will be superseded by our home in heaven.<br />
If, in this Creation, even every snowflake and<br />
each acorn leaf is unique, then how much more<br />
will this be true of homes built by Jesus! There is<br />
no repetition; everything is especially tailored for<br />
the person who will reside there. We have a place<br />
in heaven for ever, under a sun that never sets.<br />
7 Heaven is a place where we shall reign<br />
Heaven will be a place of singing and rejoicing<br />
for us, but we will also have duties: “And they<br />
will reign for ever and ever” (Rev 22:5).<br />
In the Parable of the Ten Minas, described in Luke<br />
19:11-27, each servant receives ten minas and is<br />
told to put this money to work. One servant<br />
increases the amount by ten, another by five.<br />
When Jesus judges, the first servant is told, “Well<br />
done, my good servant! ... Because you have been<br />
trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of<br />
ten cities” (Luke 19:17). The second servant<br />
150<br />
receives, in turn, what he deserves, “You take<br />
charge of five cities” (Luke 19:19).<br />
We may conclude that, after we die, the responsibility<br />
of reigning will be handed over to us. The<br />
assigned areas will not be equal in size, but will<br />
depend on how hard we have worked for God’s<br />
Kingdom here on earth. In heaven, we will reign<br />
together with Jesus. We have a part in the ruling<br />
in eternity.<br />
Here, politicians do everything and anything to get<br />
elected. The position of governing will be handed<br />
to us in heaven. This task will involve many creative<br />
and changing duties. Completing our duties<br />
will be easy, for there will be no job stress, no ladder<br />
to climb, and no politics in heaven.<br />
8 Heaven is the place where Jesus is<br />
Sometimes, historical meetings have wide-reaching<br />
consequences. For example, we owe the<br />
knowledge of how to make porcelain to the<br />
meeting of the physicist Tschirnhaus and the<br />
alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger. Even today,<br />
something special can grow out of a surprise<br />
meeting, especially if God’s hand is behind it. Two<br />
people who have never before met are brought<br />
together. They develop a common understanding<br />
about something and act accordingly, with significant<br />
consequences.<br />
The one single meeting that has the most significant<br />
and wide-reaching consequences is when<br />
a person meets with God. That person then finds<br />
everlasting life in Jesus. The Bible mentions many<br />
such meetings. Zacchaeus, the corrupt chief tax<br />
collector of Jericho, changed his way of life and<br />
became a believer (Luke 19:1-10). The finance officer<br />
of Ethiopia was looking for God in Jerusalem<br />
and found Him in the desert. Only after becoming<br />
secure in the knowledge of his salvation, does he<br />
go on his way, rejoicing (Acts 8:26-39). Saul<br />
became Paul through Jesus. Once a persecutor of<br />
Christians, Paul became the most important missionary<br />
of all time (Acts 26:12-18). In the same<br />
way, everyone can meet Jesus uniquely, if we<br />
approach Him with openness. Those who dare to<br />
meet Him are rewarded with entry into heaven.
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