This morning I saw an interesting question posed which stated something that I think is commonly understood by believers in Christ. It was regarding John 10.9:

John 10:9  

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

The well-intended gentleman stated that he always thought this meant that Jesus is the entrance (door) to Heaven, the only way to get there.  I wanted to take this opportunity to answer this publicly, as I believe it is a fundamental oversight made by most Christians.  Let me be clear on the onset and make this statement which is fundamental to you understanding John 10.9…

Jesus did not come to be the door to Heaven… Jesus came to be the door to God.  

This may sound like the same thing to you, but it is not.  In fact, I believe it is life-changingly different.  Why?  Because Jesus did not come and die on the cross so that you and I could merely go to a nice place one day after we die.  I’ve stated in a sermon recently that: “Heaven is not a retirement home for church people”.  Heaven is the by-product destination of those who have rejected their sin and turned to love God instead.  Loving God is what we are to do now, and loving God will be what we do when we pass on into eternity.  This will occur in God’s presence, which will be in Heaven, because that is where God’s holy temple is.  Allow me to explain further:

Restoring A Broken Relationship

Our biggest problem in this life is not that we might not go to Heaven.  Our biggest problem in this life is that we have sinned against the most wonderful being in the universe and have caused a great divide between us and Him.  Our sin is so tragic that it not only causes a rejection of God’s fellowship, but it also brings a receiving of God’s wrath.  We are not “good people” trying to do our best while we wait to get into Heaven.  No, rather the Bible says we were enemies of God.  The Scriptures tell us that for those who have repented & believed in Christ, something great has occurred.  Christ didn’t just die to get us to Heaven, but to turn us from enemies of God into children of God, reconciled completely to right fellowship with the Father.  Observe:

Romans 5:10  

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

We’ve got to understand that Jesus died to bring people to God.  He came to restore a broken relationship.  Romans is known as the book declaring God’s righteousness for sinners to be saved.  One interesting thing about the book of Romans is that it never once talks about Heaven regarding our salvation.  It only refers to Heaven twice, and both times are not dealing with it as the result of salvation for believers.  Its not that Heaven isn’t the final dwelling place of saints… because it is.  Its just that Heaven is not the point of your salvation… God is!  So in his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul is proclaiming the gospel with the intended result that believers would understand the righteousness of Christ which brings them into a restored fellowship with God.  He puts it similarly to the Ephesians as he declares believer’s reconciliation to God through Christ:

Ephesians 2:13–16  

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”

So we must understand that Christ came to restore God’s people to God.  This restoration is not to take place & be enjoyed one day in eternity in the clouds… but today!  Heaven is the final result of such a wonderful restoration!  Heaven will be the full culmination of our restoration, but make no mistake about it, that restoration is the point and it is to be enjoyed today through Jesus Christ.  So in Christ, sinners may now have & enjoy reconciliation & peace with God (Romans 5.1).

Context – John 9

I would like to add further support to this idea that Jesus came to be the door to God, not just Heaven.  Take a look at the context of which provoked Jesus’ imagery to be preached.  In John 9, Jesus had just caused a man who was blind from birth to see.  Most scholars believe the man had been born without eyes at all, and Jesus literally created eyeballs for the man and caused him to see.  The Pharisees became very upset over this, as it was on the Sabbath.  But there is a bigger problem for them.  Look at how Jesus created new eyes for the man:

John 9:6–7  

“Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.”

Now there is much more to this account than we will get into in this post, but don’t miss something amazing here.  Jesus took dirt from the ground, mixed it with spit from His mouth, then after obediently washing, the man had eyes that could see!  This would make any religious leader familiar with the Old Testament think of the creation account where God took dirt and breathed from His mouth to create mankind.  Do you see it?  Jesus created eyes the same way God created eyes.  The Pharisees do not like this at all.  The man who can now miraculously see is questioned and tells them what he knows, that Jesus gave him new sight.  Then the man makes an amazing & possibly blasphemous claim:

John 9:32  

“Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.”

The formerly blind man is making a faith statement here.  ”The only person I have ever heard of that could do such a miracle was when God created everything back in Genesis.”  The man is kicked out of their presence and out of the temple because they believe him to be a great sinner.  It is then that Jesus approaches and He asks if the man believes in the Messiah, the Christ who is to come to reconcile people to God.  When the man asks who it is, Jesus has an amazing response:

John 9:37  

“Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.””

Don’t miss it… You have SEEN him.  Jesus offers the man proof of His identity as well as fellowship.  Now look at the man’s response:

John 9:38  

“He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”

The man rightly worships God, who is standing right in front of Him.  How did he come to this conclusion?  He read of the creation account in Genesis, and he witnesses the creation account personally just recently, as he received new eyes from the Lord.  When he hasn’t quite made the full connection to the object of his faith, Jesus reminds the man of his new sight and who he sees as the giver of sight.  The man responds accordingly with worship to his creator, his Lord, and his God.

Context Explained

Jesus concludes by saying basically that those who claim to see but won’t come to Him for sight are blind & judged already.  But those who will admit their blindness and come to Him for sight will see!  He says this just loud enough for the Pharisees to hear and they take exception to His words.  Jesus responds by telling them that their guilt remains.  They have not been reconciled to the God, as they suppose.  This is when John 10 begins, with Jesus giving them a solemn warning.

John 10:1  

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”

Restoration with God is necessary and needed.  We should never presume we are in right standing with God based on religious attitudes nor our family’s disposition.  There is one door to God, and Jesus declares Himself to be that door. This is what leads Him to make this statement in verse 9:

John 10:9  

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

It is not a reference to an exclusive club called Heaven.  This door is Jesus Christ, the only way for a sinner to have a relationship with God fully restored.  Those who are far off from God because of their sin must come through Jesus Christ to enjoy a right fellowship with God.  But here is the amazing thing, Jesus does not offer that fellowship reserved one day for Heaven, but offers it to us today!  Jesus died to bring wayward sinners to God in right fellowship through the sacrifice that He paid on our behalf on the cross.  He takes the wrath that we deserved and He restores us to good fellowship with God by being the door to God for us.

As you read this, I pray that God gives you eyes to see Jesus Christ as the door sent to restore your relationship with God.  I pray that this door would result in you repenting of your sins, trusting what Christ did on the cross to pay your sin debt, and you too would worship Him today.  Jesus Christ, the door to God.