"For
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." —Hebrews
11:10
Faith
lives in expectation of eternity, looking for that which God has promised. The life of faith is a life of hope, the hope
of glory. Abraham sojourned here; but he lived for eternity. "For
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
That keeps things in perspective!
“Heaven hath foundations,” wrote John
Trapp, “earth hath none, but is hanged upon nothing, as Job speaketh. Hence
things are said to be on earth, but in heaven.”
The spies who went in to spy out the
land with Joshua and Caleb saw nothing but giants in the land. They were
terrified by what they saw. Abraham looked not at the giants but at the promise
of God and fully expected God to fulfill his promise in spite of the giants. He
believed God. He saw the same thing John saw, The New Jerusalem. He walked with
it ever before him, seeing it as a City that hath foundations, whose Builder
and Maker is God!
When God
the Holy Spirit tells us that Abraham “looked for a city’, he does not
mean for us to understand that Abraham was searching for that city, but that he
expected it. He fully expected to enter into and take possession of the
heavenly Jerusalem as a rightful heir to it. This was not a matter of
presumption, but of faith. You see Abraham really did believe God. Do we?
Has not God promised eternal life and
heavenly glory to every sinner who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ? Indeed, he has
(John 3:14-16). Does the Lord God not declare that every sinner washed in
Christ’s blood and robed in his righteousness is worthy to enter into and take
possession of the inheritance of the saints in heaven? He clearly does (Col.
1:12). It is, therefore, most reasonable that we should expect all the fullness
of heavenly glory if we trust the Son of God, just as Abraham did.
What are the foundations of that City? We are told that the foundations
of the city have inscribed upon them the names of “the twelve apostles of
the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14). That is to say, the City of God, the Heavenly
Jerusalem, is a city built upon that which the twelve apostles of Christ
taught, the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in him.
Heaven is a city built upon
the foundation of God’s everlasting purpose of grace in Christ (Rom. 8:28-31;
Eph. 1:3-14; 2 Tim. 1:9). The foundation of the City is God’s everlasting love
for his elect, his eternal covenant of grace, his sovereign election, his
absolute predestination, his unalterable Word, the precious blood of Christ,
and his almighty, free grace. In a word, the foundations of the City are those
foundations of grace and truth in Jesus Christ crucified (Eph. 2:20). Let us ever
keep the City in sight! Don’t look at the
giants in this dark land, but set your heart on things above (Col. 3:1-5,
15-17).