Psalm 15

Is it an easy thing to be admitted to heaven, where God dwells? Is death the only requirement?

God dwells among men in His worshiping people. In the days of the inception of the Old Covenant, the Lord instructed Moses to build a special tent, the tabernacle. Within that tent, the place where God dwelt was called the Holy of Holies. Only one man, the High Priest was allowed there, only once a year, and only with the blood of the sacrifice.

This was a model of God's temple in another realm, in heaven where God lives. If it was dangerous for man to come into the picture of Holy of Holies in the Jewish Tabernacle, it was far more dangerous for someone to come before God in the real heaven. When a prophet, such as Isaiah, was miraculously brought into the presence of God above, he was overwhelmed by God's holiness and his own sinfulness. See Isaiah 6. Only God can say how people can come before Him, and He has determined that this will only be accomplished through an acceptable Mediator.

How did it become so difficult for people to dwell with God? Didn't God walk and talk with Adam in the Garden of Eden without any Mediator? Yes, but then sin came into the world, and now there is a separation between heaven and earth. Only God can heal that breach, and only through a Mediator who can dwell in the presence of the Almighty.

This Mediator must walk blamelessly. God has spoken to us regarding His Law, and revealed to us the perfection of the divine character. In the Law we see the greatness of the Lawgiver. The one who desires to dwell on high with God must have the righteousness that God demands.

Back to our sin problem... Who can tame even his own tongue? Since sin entered the world, the tongue has been a restless evil, full of deadly poison. But even if a man could be found who could speak only when he should, would he always say what is right? Even if he always found the right words, would he always say them in the right way? And even if he had had perfect discipline over his speech, what about the secret thoughts of his heart? It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Who has perfect thoughts and desires?

This is the unfeigned goodness that is required if we are to dwell with the Lord in heaven. A worshiper there must not only love God and neighbor perfectly, he must also be sinless in his words and even in his thoughts.

Before we could ever imagine that there might be some way for a man to come into the full presence of God in heaven, we would have to find at least one righteous man. Rather than assuming that everyone goes to heaven just because, we ought to be amazed to find that even one man was allowed into the Lord's holy place. If there were one man who did what was required, one man without sin, then we could begin to consider how that man might be our Mediator with God, and how there might be a way for us to come to God in that one man. But where would we find even one man who possessed the perfect love for God and man in all his thoughts, words, and actions?

When God searched for such a one, He saw that all men in this world of sin were very far from perfect. Therefore He Himself became Man for us in the person of His eternal Son. He obeyed the Law that man did not keep. There were many men who made a claim of outward ceremonial righteousness in the system of symbols that God established in order to teach us of a company kingdom, but only Jesus, the Son of God, had the unblemished moral righteousness that was required in order to ascend the true holy hill of God.

Love came in person from heaven, and He loved without the slightest inconsistency. He spoke the truth in love. He did not ever have so much as a slanderous thought, let alone a defiling word. He gave Himself fully for His neighbor on the cross, and certainly did nothing wrong that deserved the punishment of men or the censure of God. He saw His enemies in need, and because of His perfect impulse of love in accord with the divine decree, He called us His friends, and laid down His life for us.

He had a perfect hatred, also in accord with the plan of the Almighty, for those men and angels who would remain forever vile, who would reject the ambassadors of peace who preach the good news of Christ. But those who, in the mystery of the Lord's sovereign will, would fear God and call upon His Name, He would love. Not only would He honor them; He would die the death that they deserved.

Through Him a way has been provided for sinners to dwell on God's heavenly hill. Now we do what Jesus told people to do when He came preaching to Israel: “Repent and believe in the gospel.” See Mark 1:14. This gospel is proclaimed through the ambassadors that the exalted Christ sends forth from the church. We tell all men everywhere to repent of sin and to trust in Christ. All over the world people are being brought into the New Testament temple, the worshiping body of Christ.

But how will we, who still fall into all kinds of sin on earth, every dwell in the presence of the Almighty above? It is God's pleasure that those who are in Christ will not only believe in Him, but will be fully sanctified through Him. They are not only declared holy in Him, they are becoming holy by His grace. As they are taken to the hill of God above through their Mediator Jesus, they will be perfected in holiness. They will never lie again. They will never be greedy. They will never take advantage of the weak and the poor. They will live in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ in a world of holy love. Having found the glories of heaven through one righteous Man, they will never be moved away from all that is good.