The present responsibility of true Christians is twofold: to expose falsehood and to reveal the Christ who promised to remain with His disciples after the resurrection. For those who belong to this world, experiencing heaven with Christ is impossible. That reality belongs exclusively to true Christians.
One of the Scriptures often considered difficult in the New Testament is Paul’s description of being caught up to the third heaven. Yet this third heaven is not some distant realm—it is no farther than the person baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4 NIV)
There is nothing mysterious in this passage—except to those who falsely claim to be Christians, perhaps out of ignorance. Christianity may be the most popular faith on earth, yet according to Jesus, it contains the fewest true believers (Matthew 7:13-14). Paul is simply describing his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19). This momentous event could not be perceived by those travelling with him, just as true Christians are often misunderstood, even by those who profess the same faith.
The Third Heaven as Transformation, Not Translocation
Paul’s experience of the third heaven should not be mistaken for a physical relocation. It is a transformative encounter that remains incomprehensible to those who belong to this world. True Christianity, therefore, means being able to share everything with those in the world, while no longer belonging to it. The most striking aspect of such an experience is that the people around you cannot understand you, even as you understand them. These are the very people who may label you an antichrist and hurl unfathomable insults against you.
The Heart of the New Testament
The entire New Testament is mystically compressed into a single chapter of John’s Gospel—John 14—whose content clarifies everything essential about Christianity. In the hands of unbelievers, Christianity becomes a religion whose adherents find more value in the death of Jesus than in His resurrection.
The only reason Christianity remains popular is that falsehoods resonate with humanity’s appetite for idolatry. Otherwise, the faith that should be considered the most dangerous to the physical person is Christianity itself. Jesus promised to prepare a place for believers. False Christians imagine this as a physical dwelling awaiting them at a future second coming. In reality, Jesus is illustrating the condition of occupying what has been prepared for you, without having earned or deserved it in this life.
There is no need to dream of any position other than the one divinely assigned. This signifies admission into a kingdom of peace and harmony. The goal of every Christian is to receive what is assigned to them in this life.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” (John 14:1-4 NIV)
Jesus spoke these words just before His departure, while promising the gift of the Holy Spirit and urging the disciples not to be anxious. This cancels any reason for anxiety in Christianity—including worrying about being assigned or not being assigned some hierarchical position by a denominational bishop. A person appointed to a heavenly position needs no human approval. There is a deep certainty that precedes and accompanies such a calling.
The Father’s House and the Inquisitive Spirit
Figuratively, Jesus speaks of the Father’s house having many rooms. He was talking to His disciples, who had renounced everything to follow Him—a group that includes, through His prayer in John 17:20-21, believers in our time as well. It is essential, then, to explore the meaning and significance of God’s house. I particularly value Thomas’s inquisitive attitude, which serves to represent all who share similar misunderstandings.
This was a confidential communication directed at the disciples before Jesus’ physical departure. Thomas’s question, rooted in the world’s common viewpoint, helps bring clarity to believers. The physical Jesus was about to shed His physical appearance so that He could dwell spiritually in the presence of His true followers. Counting the cost before following Jesus is essential; blind commitment to something not fully understood is dangerous.
The condition of life in heaven is not determined by mass, energy, space, or time. There is no disappointment, no stress. Heavenly tranquility cannot be disturbed by anything known to be disturbing in this world. For this reason, the answer to Thomas’s question should capture the interest of many.
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:5-7 NIV)
If Thomas had truly known Jesus, he would have known the Father as well. This sounds confusing unless you grasp the identity of Jesus. Peter had accurately identified Him in Matthew 16:16: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” That identity was—and remains—unknown by most people in the world. It reveals what was created in God’s image.
Beyond the Physical Universe
As long as you remain stuck in the physical universe, you cannot appreciate what was created in God’s image. Presently, humanity in general does not reflect that image. At the time of His conversation with Thomas, Jesus was the only one representing God’s image in physical nature, hence revealed as God’s Son. When He declared Himself the way, the truth, and the life—leading humanity toward the state of God’s image—He added, “From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” He was not referring to physical appearance.
This is a spiritual viewpoint, connecting directly with Peter’s confession. Jesus affirmed, “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you” (Matthew 16:17). Peter saw what the world could not see. Thomas and perhaps others were still not grasping it; they remained fixed on physical matter, though they had the privilege of walking with Christ, the only image of God the world failed to perceive.
Thus Jesus declared, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” The disciples had not yet received the spiritual gift necessary for full understanding. The hierarchical structures that characterize institutional Christianity do not apply to God’s children, whom Paul described as no longer identified by class or gender (Galatians 3:26-29). After receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples would become God’s children, just as Jesus was God’s Son—a truth Paul expressed powerfully to the Ephesian church.
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:19-21 NIV)
Like Jesus, true Christians have the right to declare, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” Unbelievable as this may seem to many, it is true. Humans were created in God’s image; their spiritual condition is not different from that of God. Having been with Jesus all along, the disciples should have had no trouble with this reality. Jesus expressed disappointment when Philip failed to understand, yet He went on to explain their potential to be like Him:
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:12-14 NIV)
During His earthly life, Jesus remained in unity with the Father. After the resurrection, He would set aside His physical condition, returning to His spiritual condition. The disciples would potentially receive the same gift, enabling them to be with Christ in the same unity. The Spirit, who represents the Father, is the seed of goodness manifesting God’s righteousness.
Thomas and Philip were among those struggling to understand being in heaven while still in a physical body. This required the awareness that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. Believing in Jesus begins with believing every detail of His teaching, not merely acknowledging His physical personality. The physical appearance of Jesus represented the meaning of Christianity.
As He spoke with them, Jesus pressed the matter of certainty: Did they truly love Him? Love, in this sense, is not mere words. He likened Himself to the bread of life, suggesting that the appetite for physical bread when hungry is not different from hunger for His word. It is demonstrated in applying everything He taught. Perceiving some still had not grasped it, Jesus continued:
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18 NIV)
The key line is, “I will not leave you as orphans.” This is where those awaiting a future second coming miss the point. Loving Jesus means abiding by His commandments. Everything He spoke is true, more binding than the Old Testament statutes. Anyone who doubts cannot be in harmony with His love, nor can they see what flesh and blood cannot reveal.
“Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:19-21 NIV)
The most arresting declaration—often overlooked by ordinary Christians—is: “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.” When? The Christian world largely believes Jesus cannot be seen. The majority has bought into the mirage of a postponed second coming, rooted in a misunderstanding of John 14. They remain unaware of His present existence in the lives of true Christians. The expectation of a future second coming does not apply to God’s children, who are already, right now, with Jesus and the Father in paradise, even while living in this world.
Paradise in the Present
This applies to those who rejoice when persecuted, not when adulated. Heaven is a state of being in the Spirit, not a matter of physical location. Mourning the dead belongs to the world and exposes ignorance of what Christianity truly signifies. A true Christian yearns to be separated from the body sooner rather than later. No value in physical existence remains for the true Christian, except doing God’s work.
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.” (Philippians 1:20-25 NIV)
Paul was at peace, even in prison with his life hanging in the balance for Jesus’ sake. No one in the world admired Paul’s path; his suffering mirrored what Jesus bore on the cross. Killing him would have been the easiest way to place him into paradise. True Christians are the happiest people on this planet. To them, death is simply a translocation into paradise. Yet they have already been in paradise in this life, as Paul hinted. They do not yearn to go to heaven, because they are with Christ already, though the flesh resists.
Nothing is more peaceable than being able to experience what the world considers unpleasant—with joy. The battle is won at the moment doubt is cast aside concerning every word given by Jesus Christ. Truth cannot be mixed with falsehood. Every piece of information must be verified against the words of Jesus, the stable datum. It is far better to be openly opposed to the world than to pretend to follow Jesus while conforming to everyone.
“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (Revelation 3:16-20 NIV)
The Call to Authentic Faith
The starting point is recognizing that you are God’s child, not merely a product of the physical universe. This demands a total rejection of the appetite for pleasure and doing the opposite of what brings comfort to those of this world. A clear sign of self-deception is worrying about what to eat or wear, contrary to Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:25-34. God’s child rejoices in persecution for doing right, rather than seeking comfort by avoiding what is right.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12 NIV)
Let us pose candid questions: What is so valuable that it keeps a person from wanting to part with this world, even though physical departure is unavoidable? What prevents a converted Christian from attaining paradise? Is it the value of the physical body before it goes to the grave? Is it possessions, prestige, honour, or the unexplained fear of death? Each person must answer according to their own considerations.
Everything said here invites an honest self-examination for those who do not wish to pretend to be Christian when they are far from it. There is no truth beyond knowing that nothing compares with the value of being in paradise with Christ. The key lies in appreciating that what was created in God’s image is not associated with the physical universe. Humanity is of the God-kind, possessing unmitigated power to do anything. All human failure in Christianity stems from duplicity—what Jesus consistently identified as a lack of faith.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilisation, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, relieving those who have witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions, leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book to be a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
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