Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek
12 December 2026
Reading From Revelation 3
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
—Revelation 3:19-22
Jesus loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us in our mess. He knocks upon the door of our hearts, but He will not force His way in. He waits for us to make the decision to turn away from our sin and turn to Him for love, acceptance and forgiveness. Acts 2 reveals that the Spirit is being poured out on everyone yet it isn’t enough to hear His voice. We must open the door. A healthy, balanced, life-giving relationship with the Father through the Son by the power of the Spirit is what brings salvation, sanctification, and restoration to the New Eden. We will dine with Jesus at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, enjoying sweet communion with Him and with one another.
Salvation has three components: the new birth experience, the gradual process of sanctification, and our full restoration to perfect relationship and glory at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. This last phase includes the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, the final judgment, and the wedding feast. Because Jesus conquered death in the empty tomb, all human beings will rise from the dead on the last day. All will exist eternally, but our acceptance or rejection of new life in Christ will determine where our address will be in the hereafter.
At the judgment, books will be opened. “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”[1] The Lamb’s Book of Life records the names of all those who have been born again and endured to the end.[2] Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will enter the Presence of God, the celestial kingdom.[3] The other books record our deeds. We will be rewarded according to them. Our deeds cannot earn us entrance into His Presence, only faith, repentance, confession and reception of Jesus as Savior and Lord can do that. Our deeds are produced by His grace in us and through us according to our degree of surrender. Hell was not made for humanity. It was created for Satan and his demons. If any human being goes to Hell, they go of their own accord because they have heard and rejected the Good News of Jesus.[4]
Every blood-washed, Spirit-filled follower of Jesus is called to function in His power and authority. We have new life in Christ by the power of His Spirit. We resist temptation by the power of His Spirit. We do good unto others by the power of His Spirit. We become more like Jesus by the power of His Spirit. Apart from Him we can do nothing. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”[5] As I surrender my will to Him and yield to His control, the Spirit works in me and through me to accomplish His will in my life and the world around me.
He has given us the Great Commandment and the Great Commission and the power and authority to live them out. Victorious life can be had for all those who trust Jesus and allow the Spirit to have His perfect way. In the New Heaven and the New Earth, the limiting effects of sin will be gone and we will function in His power and authority to our greatest potential. We will not be gods and goddesses in our own right. We will reign with Christ. All worship belongs to God. As sons and daughters of the Most High, we will live and move and have our being at the direction of the Son.
“O Lord Jesus, what a thrilling and wonderful destiny You are preparing for those who love You and are called by Your Name! We give You all the praise and honor and glory for You alone are worthy of our worship and undivided affection. Be exalted in us and through us as we grow in our knowledge of You. In the faithful and mighty Name of Jesus Christ I pray these things. Amen.”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
—Mark 12:29-31
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:16-20
[1] Revelation 20:12
[2] Revelation 3:5
[3] Revelation 21:27
[4] Revelation 20:15
[5] Zechariah 4:6
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
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