The Eric Metaxas Show - Heaven - How I Got Here

Episode Date: April 10, 2020

What if you woke up one morning knowing it was your last day on earth? That’s what happened to the thief on the cross, who died a few feet from Jesus. Listen to his Good Friday story, narrated by Stephen Baldwin!

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I tell all my relatives to take it. relief factor.com. Welcome to the Eric Mataxis show. Please keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times. This is your final warning. Now here's your host, Mr. Thrill Ride himself. Eric Mataxis. Hey, folks, this is a special Good Friday edition of the Eric Mataxis show.

In both hours today, we are doing something brought to us by unlocking the Bible. It is called Heaven How I Got Here by Colin Smith. We know you'll enjoy it. Stay tuned. Welcome to Heaven How I Got. here. This is a special two-hour radio broadcast. I'm Steve Hiller, along with Pastor Colin Smith, the author of a book by that same title, Heaven How I Got Here. And Colin, over the next two hours, we're going to take a look at the story of a character in the Bible that I don't think we often hear much about, and that is the thief on the cross. Yeah, and what an amazing story he has. We call it Heaven How I Got Here. This is the story as told by the thief himself, how he got into heaven. I think it's one of the most amazing stories in the Bible. Steve. And, you know, it blows away a myth that a lot of people have rooted in their minds and in their hearts. Many people have the idea. If I was to get to heaven, it would have to be by living a

good enough life. Well, this guy hadn't done that. And he wasn't in a position to do that. And yet Jesus says to him, you will be with me in paradise. Now, if he gets into heaven, then it's possible for any person to get into heaven. And in this program, we're going to find out how that happened and how it can happen for every person who's listening today. Well, we are glad that you are listening. And as we begin today's broadcast, we're going to begin with the introduction and chapter one of the book, Heaven How I Got Here, as read by actor Stephen Baldwin. Heaven How I Got Here, the Story of the Thief on the Cross by Colin S. Smith, as read by Stephen Baldwin.

Introduction. What it's like up here. I've heard it said that there's only a small distance, agony and ecstasy, but I can tell you from my experience that there's an unfathomable golf. I endured the agony of crucifixion, but the ordeal passed, and now I'm savoring the perfect joys of heaven. How I got here is still amazing to me, but I'm telling my story so that you can share the joys I have found, looking back on what happened that day. I now see so much more than I was able to grasp at the time.

The more I discover, the more staggering and wonderful, the whole story becomes. Chapter 1. Breakfast. 6 a.m. Not many men open their eyes in the morning, knowing it's their last day on earth. This is it.

This is the day I die. Looking back, the entire day and how it ended still blows my mind. They awoke in the cell where they were holding me, pending execution, or to be more accurate, torture, humiliation, and a long, slow descent into death on a cross. Only the Romans could have perpetuated such barbarity, and I hated them, with every fiber of my being. My story began in an ordinary home, and is largely without surprise. My father made a modest living as a builder, while my mother, who set the pace. for our family gave herself to setting her children on the right path.

Because we were Jewish, the synagogue was a regular part of our family life, as was the annual trip to the temple in Jerusalem. My mother, a woman of ridiculous faith, made sure that I was well-schooled in the teachings of our fathers. God is watching you, she would say. He sees everything, and he never forgets. He remembers the good and he remembers the evil. you always reap what you sow.

Her favorite book in the scriptures was the book of Proverbs. I can still hear her voice telling me that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And then she would ask me, do you fear God? It never occurred to me that there was any other option. Like most children, I pretty much just accepted what my mother taught me about God. until my early teens when I began to have questions about God and about authority in general.

Major turning point occurred for me at the age of 13 when I saw up close the injustice that was woven into the fabric of our national life. My father worked so hard to make ends meet for our family, but the intolerable taxes imposed on us by the occupying Roman army made even our modest lifestyle hard to sustain. that particular day, the tax collector knocked on the door with his latest unfounded demand.

I remember the pain to the powerless look on my father's face. It was as if they had broken his back and crushed his spirit. Everyone knew that the system was riddled with corruption, but what can you do when the power of a brutal army stands behind the slimy little taxman? You will visit to the temple in Jerusalem had always been a highlight of our family life Think of a vacation with your extended family and you'll get the idea. My first impression of the temple was of awe and wonder. The size of the building, the depth of the walls, the noise of the crowds,

and the relentless activity in the temple courts took my breath away. But as the years passed, my questions began to grow. The priests offered a relentless diet of rules and morality. Wisdom for life. they called it. But what were they doing about the glaring injustice that was plain for all to see in the ever-present oppression of Rome? Nothing as far as I could see.

Gradually I came to the conclusion that the temple, the priests, and the whole moral structure were supremely irrelevant to the real issues of life for our people. Over time, the hatred I felt toward Rome showed up in a growing resentment. toward the temple, its rules, and its God. I watched how people poured money into the temple treasury and thought about how that money could be used

to fund the small bands of freedom fighters who were ready to risk their lives in standing up to the Roman occupation. But that didn't happen. Instead, the money rolled into the temple coffers to be sunk into the endless maintenance of buildings and priests who, as far as I could see, had little to offer.

Rules. Morality. Where was this getting us? What could it all accomplish? Somewhere in these anxious and angry thoughts, a rebellion was born in my heart. So you won't be surprised when I tell you that the temple was the scene of my first theft at age 15.

I have been watching as people put their money into the treasury and had been surprised by the low level of secure. It would be as easy, I figured, for me to take money out of the treasury as it was for them to put money in. If the priests weren't going to put the money to good use, maybe I could. As the thought settled, a decision emerged. My palms began to sweat as I watched and waited for the right moment. Then with money in hand, I stepped forward to the basin where the gifts were gathered, famed to the dropping of my coin. and in the same movement gathered a fistful of cash.

Walking away, I felt sure that a large hand would be laid on my shoulder and that I would be confronted, but it never happened. I had committed the perfect crime, and as much as I hated to admit it, it felt good. My theft at the treasury planted the seed of a grander scheme for a nobler purpose. Somebody needed to do something boldly. And that became my life's ambition. Each time I stole it got easier for me.

I had far bigger halls and far less fear of consequences. Over time I became arrogant in my crimes and lazy in my efforts to hide them. After years of stealing, lying, and taking advantage of others, the consequences of my lifestyle finally caught up with me. That large hand of the law I had eluded for so long landed on my shoulder and led me to the cell where I began the last day of my life. Chapter 2 Hatred 9 a.m. Two others shared my ordeal the day I was crucified. One after the other, they nailed us to crosses.

I was not able to see the guards do their work on the third. first victim. But I watched closely as the second was pushed forward. A large beam of wood was placed on the ground. And a moment later, the victim who had been poleaxed by the guard was lying on it. One of the soldiers stomped on the man's right forearm, pinning him to a second beam. Then they produced the nails. An agonized screaming cut through the morning air as the victim's hand was

pierced by a blunt spike. Four times I heard that awful shriek. This is what happens to thieves, shouted one of the guards. His words seemed to be for the crowd rather than the victim to whom he gave no regard. Then it happened to me. Words to describe the pain of crucifixion. All I can tell you is that hatred sustained me. Determined to show me. no weakness, I fixed my eyes on the guard with the hammer and loathed him. He looked at me for a brief moment, but seeing the intensity in my eyes, he turned away. I stared at him and steeled myself as he indulged his macabre act. But worse was yet to come. After fixing my body to this instrument of torture, they lifted me up and dropped to the beam into the roughly cut hole in the

ground. The weight of my entire body sent searing pain through the wounds in my hands. My only relief was to press down with my legs, transferring the most intense pain to my feet. I found that I could breathe when the weight was on my feet, so I developed a kind of rhythm in which I moved between hanging from my hands and pressing on my feet. Either way, the agony was unrelenting. The first victim was clearly the object of unusual attention. His cross had been placed at the center, with the second victim and myself just a few feet away on either side.

I was completely absorbed with my own pain and had taken no notice of him until I heard him speak. Father forgave them, he said. My entire life I found it hard to even. think about forgiving people who wronged me. I held grudges for years over small things people said or did to me. The idea of forgiving these executioners for mutilating our bodies and seemingly enjoying it? You've got to be kidding.

I hated them. Anyone who would forgive them was no friend of mine. As I turned toward him, I saw the writing above his head. This is Jesus. The king of the Jews. Jesus. I had heard about him. The miracle worker from Nazareth, who claimed to be the Messiah.

Well, I thought, if he is able to perform miracles, this is surely the day to produce one. But it's always the same thing with these religious types. Great claims, nice thoughts, but no muscle to confront the harsh realities of this world. Seeing him writhe in agony seemed only to prove my point. Praying for forgiveness might sound impressive to some, but it could never match the raw power of nails and a hammer. I watched him, and already I despised him. I was not alone.

Crucifixions always drew a crowd, but this crowd was larger and more hostile than usual. People walked back and forward in front of his cross, looking up and addressing the helpless victim above them. Someone shouted, If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. The crowd responded by chanting in a wave of agreement. Then someone else from the crowd stepped away and, pointing at Jesus, shouted, You said you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.

Save yourself. As the taunts wore on, I wonder. how this Jesus had ignited so much hostility. After all, someone who wanted to destroy the temple couldn't be all that bad as far as I was concerned. Pain seared through my body as I pressed down on my feet to take another gulp of air. It was hard to tell how much time had elapsed since my crucifixion

which had been set for 9 a.m. Since then, the minutes had seemed like hours, but from the position of the sun at that point I guessed it was around 10 a.m. One hour had seemed like an eternity. Already it was clear to me that as time passed I would be less able to lift my weight and with that less able to breathe. I was inching toward death on a one-way street. Looking at Jesus, I noticed the many wounds up and down his severely,

beaten body. There were countless deep and open lacerations around his entire torso and up and down his legs. Long thorns had been pressed into his brow as if to crown this bloodied king. If God had a son, it was hard to imagine how he could ever look like this. He saved others, the crowd chanted. but he can't save himself. Who had he saved? What did he save them from?

As a child, I had been taught that God is the one who saves. If Jesus was the son of God, saving was clearly something he would do, and yet when the crowd called on him to save himself, he made no response. A thought came to me like a shaft of light I had never seen before. Behind every hatred lies a deeper hatred of God. I had never thought of myself as a God-hater before, but somehow this thought made sense to me. Long ago, I had come to the sad conclusion that God and his laws were irrelevant to my life and that the religious establishment was largely useless to the great causes of justice and peace.

I had thought of myself as a God skeptic, but in that moment I saw something deeper and darker in my soul behind my hatred of Rome lay my hatred of God. The same God who had allowed Rome to stomp all over his people, who had permitted the tax collectors to extort our family, who

had made a world in which people die excruciating deaths on wooden beams. Pain fueled the hatred that filled my soul in this awful ordeal. I hated Rome. I hated myself.

I hated God. I hated his son. I was on the brink of hell. I could taste it already. What a powerful picture of the Thief on the Cross just filled with this anger and this rage and this hopelessness. You're listening to Heaven How I Got here. It's the story of the Thief on the Cross. A story is written by Colin Smith. Colin is the senior pastor of the orchard just outside of Chicago and a Bible teacher on the radio broadcast unlocking the Bible. Colin, as I think about the thief hanging there on the cross, filled with this anger and this rage, what a hopeless position to begin. Yeah, he's about as far away from God as it's possible for a person to be. And the Bible's very clear that at the early hours of the crucifixion, both of the robbers, the one on either side, on both sides of Jesus, they were both hurling this abuse at Jesus. And I draw encouragement from this because we're going to see in the program,

how a great change comes to this person who was at one point really angry and only had venom to pour out towards God and towards Jesus Christ. And yet he ends up in heaven. So a person who may be as far from God as it's possible to be right now could end up in heaven through Jesus Christ. That's the hope that is in the gospel that we're going to hear in the program today. Hello, I'm Pastor Colin Smith. and I hope you're enjoying heaven how I got here.

I want to take a moment to commend to you another resource from unlocking the Bible, one that I think you'll find useful, especially in these uncertain days in which we're living. Open is a guided journey through the entire Bible story, and it's a free resource available at opentheb Bible.org. In 50 short sessions, you'll walk through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It's all one story. It begins in a garden. It ends in a city and all the way through it points to Jesus Christ. So please visit Openthebibble.org today and get started. These are unusual days and they are an opportunity that you could use to get to know the God of the Bible. So again, visit us at opentheb Bible.org.

Chapter 3. Faith 11.14 a.m. I don't really know how to explain what happened next. All I can tell you is that a strange stillness came over my soul. And for the first time, I began to consider what lay ahead. My life was slipping away. Earth was receding and eternity was looming large on the horizon. I had not planned on this. And I had not prepared for it either.

Back to my childhood. And I heard my mother's voice, quoting the scriptures, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I had always believed in God, of course. That came with my Jewish blood, but there is a big difference between believing in God and fearing him. People who say they believe in God

often give a little or no place to him in their lives, but fearing God means you give weight to him in your decisions and your priorities, pleasing him becomes your first consideration and your greatest joy. I thought back to my first theft at the temple and realized that the fear of God had been largely absent from my life since that time. I had chosen my own path and pursued my own way. I had lived at a distance from God, and now I was dying far from him too. What would lie beyond?

I didn't know. And over the years I really had to be. and cared, but as life was slipping away from me, nothing mattered more. The second victim launched into a tirade of cursing and blasphemy. A short time before, I had joined in with him, hurling abuse at Jesus. But now his antagonism toward God seemed to me like the height of folly. I pushed myself up and called out to rebuke him. Don't you fear God? Second victim became quiet and so I continued. We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve, I said, but this man has done nothing wrong. My words came as a surprise to me, as they must have to him

too. Throughout my life, I always had a defense for everything I did. When I rejected the temple, it was because the temple had failed me. When I stole from Rome, it was because Rome had stolen from me. as I saw it, right was on my side. Someone else was always in the wrong, but in the strange calm that came over my soul in those moments, things looked very different. I began to see that my greatest theft lay not in stealing from Rome, but in robbing God.

I looked again toward Jesus, who despite the relentless taunting had remained silent. The crowd was outraged because he claimed to be the Christ. What if he was? They hated him because he said he was the son of God. If that were true, there would be some evidence and apparently there was. The crowd had said he saved others. I thought about that.

If he saved others, was there any chance he could save me? But as I watched him moving toward his death, I realized that his kingdom did not belong to this world. It was odd. They say that as you get closer to death on the cross, your brain struggles for oxygen. You would think that my brain would have been slowing down, and yet it was the exact opposite.

My growing fear of God kept driving my thoughts, and the thoughts were becoming clearer and clearer. If Jesus was God in the flesh, he would indeed be the Christ. If he was the Christ, he would be in the business of saving people. And if he saved people, he could bring them into his kingdom.

Within a few hours, Jesus would be leaving this world, and so would I. His kingdom would be on the other side of death. Perhaps he could do something to help me. Jesus, I said, come into your kingdom. It was an audacious. request. A few moments before I had been in a league with the crowd and the second victim pouring out curses on Jesus. If he remembered this when he came into his kingdom, I would be done for.

In truth, I suspected that I may be done for already. My mind kept going back to my mother, teaching us the Ten Commandments. Hope began for me in the strange words of Jesus that at first had filled me with hate. Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing. Hello, I'm Pastor Colin Smith, and I hope you're enjoying heaven how I got here. You know, during times of crisis,

people often reach for the Bible, but sometimes they don't know where to begin. And I've found that while many people know some stories from the Bible, they don't have a good grasp of how the whole story fits together. And that's why our team at unlocking the Bible have set out a new resource called Open. In 50 short sessions, you'll walk through the entire Bible story.

You'll see how it begins in a garden, ends in a city, and all the way through points to Jesus Christ. So visit openthebible.org today to get started. These are unusual days and they're an opportunity that you could use to get to know the God of the Bible. So again, visit us at open the Bible. org. Openthebible.org.

Folks, you've been listening to Heaven How I Got Here by Colin Smith. It's brought to you by unlocking the Bible. This is a special edition of the Erkmataxis show. Forgiveness. If Jesus could offer forgiveness to his torturers, perhaps he would offer forgiveness to me. At first, this had sounded like the very weakness I despised, but at that moment, it seemed to open a glorious and unexpected window of hope. Forgiveness was scarce in the legalistic moral world my mother spoke of so often.

To her, the universe was an unbreakable system of cause and effect, regulated by a rules-oriented God. Do good, and all will be well. Do bad. And you had better watch out. there was no hope for a person like me in that. If you honestly measure your life by the commandments of God, I suspect you will come to the same conclusion.

Reeping what you sow is not good news for any of us. Forgiveness is, if Jesus remembered me when he came into his kingdom, there might be some hope for me. What would be in it for him? I couldn't think of anything. If he took an interest in me, it would not be because of anything I had done or anything I could offer. If he remembered me at all, it would be an act of undeserved mercy and kindness.

But that was exactly what he offered to the soldiers who crucified him. He showed them mercy and kindness. Would he do the same for me? Asking him to remember me was deceptively simple. I began to fear God. I recognized my sinful condition. I believed that Jesus was who he said he was. The Christ, the Messiah,

and I asked him to save me. That is something you can do too. Doing this, I gave up all the hostility in my heart, and I abandoned my illusion of having a life that would somehow be impressive to God. I placed my life as it was with all I had done. into the hands of Jesus. My hands outstretched to his hands outstretched. I believed in him as the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior, and the king of the rest up to him.

Clinging to life by a slender thread, I gasped for breath and waited for him to respond. Chapter 4. Hope 11.15 a.m. My request had been simple. Jesus. Remember me when you come into your kingdom. His answer was simpler still. No mistaking his enthusiasm. Joy filled his eyes as he looked at me. It was as if he had been waiting for me to ask, as if his answer to my request was bound up with why he was there. It felt to me as if his arms which were pinned to the cross were reaching out to me with the same love and forgiveness. that he had offered to the guards. Amen, I'm with you.

Your prayer is mine. It will be done. My wasted years, it would not have been surprising if he had responded with caution. Don't you think it's a little late for you to be thinking about my kingdom? After the hatred I had shown toward him

just a few hours earlier, I could hardly have complained if he had said, the kingdom of heaven is not for people like you. you. But that is not his way. He joyfully accepted my prayer and took his stand with me as I took my stand with him. I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and asked him to save me. He said, and then after a short pause, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise, where God's people enjoy his present. I had no doubt that this would be Jesus's destination after he died.

I was shocked by his unconditional promise that I would be there with him. Hanging on that cross, I could taste hell already. I had nothing left but fear. And Jesus promised paradise. When I reached out to him, I thought his kingdom would be in a distant future. That's why I asked him to remember me. But Jesus made it clear that I didn't need to worry about him remembering. I would be in paradise before the day was done.

Today you will be with me in paradise. These were the greatest words anyone had ever spoken in my life. They changed to F. Looking back, I see even more in the promise of Jesus than I was able to grasp at the time. He had said, you will be with me. And so it was. It was Jesus' last companion on earth and his first companion in heaven.

I am still amazed that he would choose me as the first person he would usher into heaven. I expect the angels were astonished too, that they should know by now that Jesus chooses some surprising friends. Like many others, I thought heaven. belonged to holy and faithful people who honored God with lives of love and sacrifice for the good of others. It's no accident. I was the first one he brought into heaven. I am an example of what he is able to do with the least likely candidates. He snatched me from the brink of hell and brought me into the joys of heaven. Jesus said to me, today, you will be with me in paradise.

And he was as good as his word to a long period of unconsciousness, nor does it lead to a long process of being prepared for the friends of Jesus. Death is an immediate translation into the joys of life at the right hand of God. My story is unusual, to say the least. but it teaches something that everyone needs to know. Entrance into heaven does not depend on your performance in the Christian life. Think about what happened to me. I trusted Christ and went to heaven on the same day.

I missed out on the entire Christian life. I had no battles with temptation and no struggles with prayer. Since I've been here in heaven, I've learned that many people on earth believe that their entrance into heaven depends on living a good and godly life. They may believe that Jesus forgives, but deep down they feel that their progress in the Christian life is the key that will open the door of heaven. I went to heaven without ever living the Christian life. I didn't have the opportunity with my hands fixed on the cross. I was in no position to do good works

With my feet nailed to a wooden beam I could hardly walk in paths of righteousness And with death only hours away There was no time for me to turn over a new leaf And live a better life You too need to know this Your entrance into heaven Does not depend on how well you live the Christian life

We can't live the Christian life well enough to deserve heaven. Nobody can. You reach out to Christ in faith and repentance. He accepts you unconditionally. How could you ever know that you've lived a good enough life? The good news is that salvation does not depend on your work for Christ, but on Christ's work for you.

Your work for him is never done. But you can take it. for me that his work for you is already complete. You can rest your life, eternity. That's what I did. And I can tell you I was not disappointed. You're listening to Heaven, how I got here. It's the story of the thief on the cross.

And Colin, what a point to meet the thief here? Hanging on the cross. He's turned, he's asked Jesus to remember him when he goes into paradise. And what an answer he received. Yeah, indeed. Today you will be with me in paradise. Now, that's how we are saved. How can you enter into heaven? How can any person enter into heaven? You turn towards Jesus Christ, you ask of Jesus Christ, and you trust in Jesus Christ. That's what the thief did. That's how he got into heaven, and that's how entrance comes for us as well. Well, what a great reminder and synopsis of the story, Colin. Maybe that's a decision that you've not made before, but today, You're thinking about that and ready to turn, to ask, and to trust. I'd encourage you to do that and then to let us know about that.

You can do that when you come to our website. It's unlocking the Bible.org. Hi, I'm Pastor Colin Smith. You know, people sometimes say, I wish God would speak to me. Well, God has spoken in his word, the Bible, and what God has said in Scripture is what he says to you and to me today. You know, the Bible's so much more than information. It brings transformation because when you open the Bible, you are hearing the Word of God.

And the Bible tells one story. It begins in a garden, it ends in the city, and all the way through it points to Jesus Christ. And you can follow this story through Open, a new resource from unlocking the Bible. Visit openthebible.org, and you'll find 50 short sessions that will help you and your friends or family to discover the whole Bible story. Please visit Openthebible.org today and get started. Again, that's openthebible.org.