362. Mount Zion
Hebrews 12:22, 23 But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.
God promises that you, the believer in Christ, have not come to Mount Sinai but to Mount Zion: you have not come to the Law but to the Gospel. Mount Sinai (Hebrews 12:18-21) was the physical mountain that burned with fire, and blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and sound of trumpet, and voice of words (Ten Commandments). This was a terrifying place, a place that worked terror and condemnation in the heart. This was the place of the giving of the Law. Now the Law is good and it is meant for our wellbeing and for the enjoyment of life, but we, the sinners, are bad and guilty of disobeying the Law, so the Law always accuses us and brings terror and death. Moses, as mediator, brought a good thing, but because of sin it turned out to be a terrible and frightening thing. Moses is the minister of Death, on Mt. Sinai.
But Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, brought salvation and the forgiveness of sin. He is the minister of Life, in the heavenly Mt. Zion. It is to this mountain that we have come. It is the Gospel. Through Christ and His Gospel we have come to the eternal, spiritual, Kingdom of God. This promise goes by different names, but they are all various descriptions of the same thing: the city of God, the company of angels, the church of the firstborn, the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect. All these promise we have when we hear the Gospel. All of these things we lump generally under the term “heaven.”This is the promise: we have heaven right now in the heart by faith, and we have the guarantee of heaven after we die by sight.
We are now, and we will be, in a glorious company of angels and saved men. We are now, and we will be, in the heavenly city, which is Paradise Restored. Even though we do not see it now and we do not live in it yet, what we do have is the promise. We do see Jesus and we look unto Him. We seek to hear the Gospel that brings us to this Mountain-City-Paradise-Church as often as possible. The invitation is always open: “Come on up! Enter in! You are welcome here!”