Location: Colonial Williamsburg, Va.

Listen to J. D. Sumner sing the song HERE

John 14:2–3 (NKJV)

² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ 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.

I grew up loving and singing Southern Gospel music. My dad used to pack us up and travel around to various little churches out in the backwoods of Mississippi which were hosting what we called "Sings" (short for "Gospel Singings"). After the morning service there would be dinner on the grounds and people would sit and listen as various quartets (and sometimes singles, duets, trios, etc) would come up and sing selections usually taken from some old Stamps-Baxters song book ("shape notes" all). I can't really, now, defend some of the theology in those old songs... but oh my, what a good time it was.

One of my favorites, as a very young boy, was "Just A Little Cabin..." A lot of people have sung it and I always liked it with a bit more upbeat tempo than J. D. Sumner sings it in the link above but for all of those who have never heard one of the world's deepest bass voices, give it a listen and you get the gist of the song.

That song always, and I literally think that is true, rattles around in my head when I see old cabins or homesteads. The sentiment it expresses is one of humility and that is good. The idea that our eternity with Christ is sufficient reward... that any kind of "glory" that will accrue to us in heaven is nothing compared to the incomparable value of knowing Christ Himself, is all well and good.

But yet... it still falls short of the truth of the Gospel. The truth is, that because of our covenant inclusion with Jesus as our Head, all of the "glory" that is merited by Christ is ours also. When He said that there are many mansions in His Father's house (above) and that He goes to prepare a place for us, He meant it. Our "cabin" in heaven will not be a literal dwelling, I don't think, but it's heavenly counterpart will be a "mansion" beyond our wildest imagination. There will be no "little" rewards... we will enjoy the fruits of our labors and we will be absolutely content to the fullest measure in the just rewards we receive as well as the just rewards we see given others. There will be no jealousy... only delight in our shared inheritance with the other saints, but what an astonished delight it will be.

The most serious issue I have with the idea behind the "little cabin" song, is that it lends itself to the impression that some of us just kind of "sneak in" to heaven. We may think of ourselves that way or about others. It's almost as if we think that God, quite justly, should meet us at the gate and say... "look, you know, I thought it over, and .... well, you just didn't quite measure up. I thought you could do it there for a while but, well, I'm sorry but you just didn't make the grade." Or, that God might think that way but takes pity on us because of Christ making one last intercession for us and then changes His mind and lets us in anyway.

That is not the gospel. When Jesus uttered those words "It is finished" He meant it. There is nothing between us and God that prevents His full embrace and loving acceptance. There is no "sneaking" in to heaven... it is our right and privilege to be there. We are sons and daughters of the Most High King... yes, we are adopted as such but we are adopted with full rights and privileges. Our brother Jesus has secured for us this great blessing. He is the heavenly Joseph who has called us out of the drought plagued land and showered us with His favor in our new home. We're family and we will be treated as family... no matter how much we struggled with our sin in this life... no matter how weak our faith on occasion... no matter how long it took us to rise to the Christian freedom faith commends.

This is who we are. This is our inheritance. The seal of faith unites us to our Christ and absolutely to the promised blessings of His Covenant of Grace.

There are no "little cabins in the corner of glory land"... there are only mansions of glory indwelt by the equal saints who were washed in the blood of the lamb.