Notes of Faith November 12, 2025
Being With Jesus
Master Sgt. Daniel Redman was deployed to Korea for a solid year, and he missed his family. They missed him, too, especially his two sons — Jacob in fifth grade and Jason in seventh. “He’s been gone for a while and I’ve been missing Him,” Jacob said.
When Redman found out he was coming back home to Maine, he told his wife, but they decided to surprise the boys. Television cameras followed Master Sgt. Redman as he entered the fifth-grade classroom — where Jacob jumped out of his chair and hugged his dad.
Redman looked down at his boy and said, “Did you miss me?” Jacob, crying, nodded his head, not willing to let go of his dad. Then it was on to the seventh-grade classroom, where Jason spotted his dad, raced across the room, and grabbed his dad so hard that Redman said, “Holy smokes!” The classroom cheered — there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
“You see them on FaceTime and Facebook Messenger and you know they are growing and getting bigger,” Redman said. “But it’s a lot different when you finally get to see them in person.”1
We’ve all seen videos and television reports of these surprise reunions, and we can’t watch them without our eyes watering. Perhaps one of the reasons they touch us has to do with something deeper — our innermost longing to be reunited with our Lord Jesus Christ. Like Jacob, we can’t help saying, “He’s been gone for a while and I’ve been missing him.”
We see Jesus in the pages of the Bible. We have His Spirit in our hearts. But it will be a lot different when we finally get to see Him in person. As we used to sing, “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!”
I want to explore why that is true, and why being with Jesus will be such a foundational part of our experiences in Heaven.
Christ’s Longing to Be with Us
As I immersed myself in all the biblical passages I could find about our eternal home, one truth jumped off the pages of Scripture and into my heart. The main thing about Heaven is not the streets of gold, the gates of pearl, or even our reunion with our loved ones. As wonderful as those things are, the main thing is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Heaven is Heaven because that’s where Jesus is.
The Bible says, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). In a similar way, we can say, “We want to be with Him because He first wants to be with us.” I do not have the eloquence or vocabulary — nor the depth of understanding — to explain how and why Jesus so longs to be with us. With you. But Scripture tells me it’s true.
We see this most vividly in the sacred prayer Jesus offered to His Father in John 17, just before He entered the garden of Gethsemane on His way to die for us. He prayed,
Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved me before the foundation of the world. — verse 24
“I want My followers to be with Me and see My glory!”
The apostle Paul reflected on this when he prayed that we may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.
— Ephesians 3:18–19
Paul was teaching us to ask God for a greater ability to know something that transcends knowledge — how much Christ truly loves us. How much He really loves you! This is the entire gospel in its most personal form. Jesus so wanted you to be with Him in Heaven that He paid the greatest imaginable price to make it happen. He became human, endured the brutality of crucifixion, and shed His blood so that you may have a life that’s forgiven and a life that’s forever.
What makes you most excited about seeing Jesus?
Our Longing to Be with Him
Jesus wants to be with us so much that it causes us to want to be with Him. As I said, we love Him because He first loved us. In John 14:3 He said,
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
He told the dying thief on the cross,
Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. — Luke 23:43
Can you imagine hearing those words directly from the Savior’s lips? “You will be with Me.”
Paul explained death in similar terms, saying,
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. — 2 Corinthians 5:8
When Paul was writing to the Philippians about his own death, he declared,
For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. — Philippians 1:23
In his most definitive explanation of the rapture of the church, the apostle said,
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
— 1 Thessalonians 4:17
After all is said and done and all the explanations are made, there is only one thing that really matters when it comes to Heaven: Jesus is there, and we will be with Him. He longs to be with us, and He plants in our hearts the eternal desire to be with Him.
Often when we talk about a believing loved one who passed away, we say, “He is in Heaven.” Perhaps we should say, “He’s with Jesus.” Or, “She’s with the Lord.” There’s a hunger in every heart for the kind of love and permanence that only Christ can give. Whitney Houston, the American singer and actress, lived a troubled life and died at the age of forty-eight. She accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. She was one of the best-selling artists in history.
On the night before her death, she performed a heartfelt rendition of “Jesus Loves Me.” She told the crowd she had given her heart to Jesus. She told friends she thought the end was near, and in the days leading up to her death, she began quoting the Bible, singing hymns, and talking about Christ and heaven and the afterlife. On the morning of her death, she read about the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, and she told a friend, “I’m gonna go see Jesus. I want to see Jesus.”2
Deep within us, we all have that same desire — though we don’t always realize it.
Dr. R. T. Kendall was thinking about Heaven one day, and he pondered all the people he wanted to meet. “I want to meet Paul the apostle. I will ask him, ‘Did I faithfully interpret what you said about the faith of Christ?’ I want to ask James, ‘Did I really get it right on your epistle in James 2:14?’ I want to meet Martin Luther — my hero. John Calvin — my favorite theologian. Charles Wesley and John Newton — my favorite hymn writers. Martyn Lloyd-Jones — my chief mentor.”
Kendall continued:
One of the things I expect to be true is the reunion with my loved ones. My mother has been there since 1953, my father since 2002. I have friends I want to see there. All my mentors who have shaped my mind and my preaching style.
But first and foremost — words fail me to put this as I would wish... I only know... I want to see Jesus! The wonderful thing is that we will get to see Him before we see anyone else. I want to worship Him. To thank Him for leaving Heaven, to become nothing, to make Himself of no reputation, to become an embryo in the virgin Mary’s womb. I want to thank Him for fulfilling the law. For never sinning. For dying on the cross. For saving me. I will thank Him for His infinite patience with me.3
What is it that makes you most excited about seeing Jesus? What do you want to tell Him? What do you want to hear from Him? What emotions do you expect to flood your mind and heart when you finally stand before Him face-to-face?
Such questions are worth thinking about. Heaven and Jesus are worth thinking about. Because as we will see in page after page throughout this book, the more we set our minds on the wonders of tomorrow, the more we are encouraged and inspired today.
1. “Video: Soldier Comes Home and Surprises His Kids in Maine,” 6 KWQC, September 6, 2018, https://www.kwqc.com/content/news/Video-Soldier-comes-home-and-surprises-his-kids-in-Maine-492580161.html.
2. “Whitney Houston Had Premonition About Death,” TMZ, updated May 12, 2019, https://www.tmz.com/2012/02/15/whitney-houston-premonition-death-jesus-bible/#.TzvnCXJkHEU.
3. R. T. Kendall, Whatever Happened to the Gospel (Charisma House, 2018), 176.
Excerpted from The Promise of Heaven by Dr. David Jeremiah, copyright David P. Jeremiah.
My thoughts about the future and my experience of life here and now have matured over the years. I definitely miss family and friends who have left this life and have crossed over to eternal life or eternal judgment. I desire not only to speak again with those God gave me interaction in this life but also those who will come after I am gone. Eternity is a long time to be able to enjoy all of these opportunities. But there is within my heart a great longing to be in the presence of Jesus! I want to see Him, to touch Him, to give thanks and worship Him, to dwell in His glory! That day is coming and it could be soon. I pray that the return of Jesus for His bride is today…and if not, I will pray that He comes tomorrow. Until then, we are given the joy of serving our Lord and Savior by proclaiming the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
John 14:1-3
14 "Do not let your heart be troubled; (you) believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Let us wait with fervent expectation the return of Jesus…
Pastor Dale