And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:4-6

Thomas is often called “Doubting Thomas” because he doubted that the Lord had been resurrected, but in this case I think I can cut him a little slack. 

Here on earth we have an idea of heaven, but where it is and what it is like is completely hidden from us without God’s revelationin the Bible. Even with that information, we do not have a clear picture of where heaven is! We cannot simply board a rocket ship and fly there because heaven exists in a dimension beyond our reach. Thus, Thomas’ question makes sense to me. If I don’t know where heaven is, how do I know how to get there?  

What is happening here is Jesus showing the amazing nature of grace. He is telling us that He really has done all that is necessary to get us to our eternal home. Jesus is not the “plan of salvation.” He is salvation itself. He doesn’t give us a map of the way to heaven for us to accept and follow. He is the way itself!

Even if we know what is required to get to heaven, we lack the ability to get there. The law revealed that perfection was necessary, a standard we cannot attain. The truth is that the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is how all of God’s children are brought to their heavenly home. It is not a cooperative work between Jesus and our faith or decision. However, if we want to understand how it works, we must believe in Jesus because He is eternal life itself. To have confident assurance of our salvation, we must understand that Jesus truly did it all for us!