Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Fourteen

                                                                                                                                               Verses 1-4

Jesus began to teach His followers what His Church really means to Him. His Church is His family. After His Church has completed its mission on the earth, Christ will come back to earth to Rapture His Church to Heaven to live with Him there forever. I Thessalonians 4:14-17.

When any of Christ's believers saved by grace dies and faces Christ in judgment, He will immediately allow their souls and spirits to go straight to Heaven. II Corinthians 5:6-8. But believers cannot possess complete joy and peace and sinless pleasures until they obtain a spiritual body like that of Christ's. Philippians 3:20-21; I John 3:2. Christ will provide a spiritual body for every believer in the Rapture of the Church. II Corinthians 5:1-5. Spiritual worship of God happens to be far deeper and more powerful than physical worship. This means that in the great worship services in heaven, believers must transform themselves into spirit and soul in order to properly worship God. John 4:23-24. But Christ desires that His believers also be able to enjoy the physical pleasures of Heaven such as a walk through the beautiful countryside or friends and family being able to hug each other. Christ will provide a great feast for His Church after the Rapture, and His believers must have physical bodies in order to be able to taste that delicious food. Matthew 26:29; Revelation 19:9.

God created earthly families to be a lot like His family, the Church. Earthly families can have wayward children who may even destroy themselves in sinful lifestyles. But good parents never stop loving their children no matter what happens. Loving parents will discipline their children in order to try to get them to choose to live safe and healthy lives. Loving parents will always forgive wayward children who return home with a humble and repentant attitude. The same happens to be true of God and His family, the Church. God will discipline His children who backslide into sin in order to correct them. Hebrews 12:5-13. Human parents may not be able to save their children living in a destructive lifestyle, but Christ knows exactly how to cause every backslider among His believers to repent and humble themselves to Him in the Rapture so that He can cleanse and forgive them of their fleshly sins. I Corinthians 1:8; I Thessalonians 3:13; I Thessalonians 5:23; Ephesians 5:25-27. Christ will present to His Father a clean and glorious Church to be His Bride. Revelation 19:6-9; Romans 7:4. Christians should never judge a backslider as being unsaved because God has every right to save by His grace whomsoever He wills. Matthew 7:1-5; Romans 9:14-16.