Holiness and Heaven

The apostle John shared his vision of heaven with us in Revelation 22:1-5, "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they shall reign for ever and ever." Heaven is God's abode. It is a place of mystery and majesty and a place of perfect, undisturbed eternal rest. Heaven is a place of full satisfaction without disappointment, a place of pleasing satisfactory company without fear. It's a place of fellowship with Christ and the people of God. It's a place of uninterrupted enjoyment - a place of reward without rebuke. In fact, it is the place everyone that believes in Jesus desires to be.

 It's the greatest hope you can have as a Christian. But no one can get there without being holy. As God is holy so also is heaven. Hence, those who will live there with him must be eternally holy. 

Holiness is the passport to heaven (Hebrews 12:14; Revelation 21:1,27). If there is any blemish, uncleanness, sin and evil in your life, you can't enter heaven. But if you're untainted by sin, evil and unrighteousness; that is, you're sinless and holy before God, then heaven will be your eternal home. The hope of many who desire to live in heaven will be dashed except they are thoroughly cleansed and made holy by the sanctifying blood of Jesus. And of course, there's no greater disappointment than missing heaven after all the profession of religion and self-righteousness.