FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BELONGS TO SUCH AS THESE
Author: Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans
Translator: Robin Barker
“I want to start this message with a very important statement:
The way I understand the Word, I cannot earn Heaven, or by doing good works inherit Heaven.
Jesus did everything that was needed.
On this side and the other side of the grave, everything is grace, pure grace.”
ROM 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
ROM 3:24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.When I talk about ‘steps’, then I mean it works like this:
When I offer you a present, I hold a present out towards you.
Now you need to take a step to receive the present.
You need to decide if you want the present or not.
If you decide you want the present, then you must come to me, lift your hand, stretch out and take the present from me.
Now then,
Following on from a discussion about whether animals, like people, can go to Heaven which I also took part in and where I showed that you, to put it like that, need to take certain steps to get to Heaven, which an animal cannot do, someone then wrote to me with the following question which read something like this:
The steps that you are talking about can also not be done by a baby. Do babies also not go to Heaven?
Firstly let me briefly say again, which I see as requirements, which you must do to get into Heaven, which animals cannot do. I am going to use the Word many times to reinforce (strengthen) what I am saying, will try to only use two, at most three quotes, otherwise this writing will be a little long.
Jesus Christ is the Road to the Father.
Everything begins with the understanding and acceptance of this great truth.
You then take Jesus Christ as your Redeemer and Saviour. You repent, and you become baptised for forgiveness of your sins. Then, according to my understanding, this is how you begin your spiritually fulfilled life in Heaven.
JOHN 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
ACTS 2:37-29
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
I said in that writing that animals are not able to do that. So, they cannot go to Heaven. Then the person said to me that babies can also not do that.
My answer, to begin with this statement is that all children, and I mean all children no matter what culture or religion their parents belong to, as I understand the Word, belong to our Lord and how delightfully wonderful to know this, they don’t just all belong, born or unborn, to our Lord, but they belong to Heaven:
MAT 19:14 “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Is it not wonderful to know this? If you are in the presence of a child, it does not matter which culture or religion they belong to, you can certainly know that within your immediate surroundings there is not just that child, there is also an angel from our Lord:
MAT 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”
God created man in his own image – we are part of His beauty, as we are like our Lord. With a will of our own, and somewhere in our lives between the crib and adulthood we reach the age of accountability and this is not the same age for all of us – and then you are held responsible for your choices.
You choose whether it is the road to hell or the road to Heaven and if you do not make a choice, then your choice is really the road to hell, but you cannot be neutral once you heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.
MAT 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
My understanding of the Word is – the day that you become accountable, from that day on, you are responsible for your actions which you have taken throughout your life, but until that day you are part of His Heavens possessions:
MAT 19:14 “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Someone asked: “What makes a human being more important in the creation? Why is an innocent child more pure before our Lord than a mute animal?”
You read the answer in the story of the Creation:
GEN 1:20-25
20 “And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”
21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
23 and there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.
25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Our Lord created the animals first according to their kind but our Lord created man in His image. Or, and I say this very respectfully according to His kind.
GEN 1:26-28
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Because you are made in our Lord’s image, you have the following characteristics, which an animal does not have:
You were created in our Lord’s image, and just like Him, you have a will of your own.
You were created in our Lord’s image, and just like Him, you can create.
You were created in our Lord’s image, and just like Him, never but never, you can you die.
When you leave your body, you are going to live in Heaven or hell for eternity.
At another occasion Jesus tells us the following about eternal life:
MAT 25:46 ““Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (TNIV)
For someone who is now reading this writing and who has not yet taken the next step to accept Jesus Christ as Redeemer and Saviour, in other words, if you know in your heart that you have not a loving relationship with Jesus – today you hear in your heart:
DEU 30:19 “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before your life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
Then the step is… Take the Gift which our Lord is holding out to you: Jesus Christ.
JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
JOHN 3:17 for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him
Other daily thoughts which I have written through the grace of our Lord about Heaven, which you may be interested in and what I with great love can send to you are:
• Die sigbare dinge is tydelik, maar die onsigbare ewig – What is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.
• Het diere siele en kan hulle Hemel toe gaan?
• Maak vir julle skatte bymekaar in die Hemel – But store up for yourself treasures in Heaven.
• Oor die derde Hemel en ons loon – The third Heaven and our reward.
• Sal ons in die Hemel mekaar herken?
Some of the above daily thoughts have been translated into English at this time, Should you wish to read of the others, please let me know so that I can prioritise the translation thereof. Please send me an email requesting the required daily thought.
Greetings,
Sakkie