A Ladder Leading Up to Heaven

Recently in one of the many Bible-centered discussions my wife and I usually have around the dinner table, I shared with her how we (Christians) are/should be in a state of continuous spiritual growth. In fact, for true believers who seek to do the Lord’s desire, not growing is not just a sign of weakness—it violates the commandment of the Lord. Peter in his second letter concludes with this: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). Thus, continually growing in the grace and the knowledge of God is not an elective element of spiritual life—it is a biblical command.

One of the intriguing analogies of our relationship with the Lord is that of a ladder, leading up to heaven or to him personally. As a ladder has many rungs, our spiritual journey has many levels of growth and development with each level being higher than that below (or before) it. Climbing a higher rung is the equivalent of growing further in the grace of God and getting to know him more closely. This is akin to getting to know a friend, a co-worker, or even a spouse. The more time we spend with them, the closer we get to them and the deeper we know and encounter them. Knowing God is no different.

I am reminded of the blessed prophet Ezekiel and the vision he saw of a stream of water proceeding from the temple toward the east of Jerusalem. In this vision he was accompanied by a man, presumably an angel of the LORD. As he went farther east, the man measured 1,000 feet and the water was up to Ezekiel’s ankles. After another 1,000 feet, it was up to his knees. Later still, the water was up to his waist. Finally, the water rose so high that Ezekiel describes it as a river that could not be passed through (Ezekiel 47:1–12). I envision our spiritual journey exactly as Ezekiel’s experience: we first begin with knowing the Lord from a distance, but as time goes by and as we spend time with him daily in his word and in prayer, we reach a level of knowing him that resembles a river that can’t be passed through—the beauty of his person and the grace of beholding his face overwhelms and overtakes not only our minds and souls, but our entire existence!

As it is the case in the natural world, so it is in the spiritual world, or what some people refer to as “the supernatural.” Any being that does not continually grow, does not grow for one reason: it is dead! I perceive that the same is true in the spiritual realm. If we do not continually grow in our knowledge of God, we are essentially dead. For this reason I ask you: where were you spiritually a year ago? Where do you stand spiritually today compared to this time last year? If you can’t discern that you have grown spiritually, you are probably dead spiritually.

Some may ask, How can I know if I have grown spiritually or not? There is one gauge to determine the answer to this question. In order for a tree to grow and get bigger, it must send its roots deeper and deeper every day into the ground. Our Lord Jesus likened himself to a vine and likened us to the branches. He said that the branch that does not bear fruit gets removed, and the branch that bears fruit the Father in heaven prunes so that it may bring forth even more fruit (John 15:1–11). In order for us to bring forth fruit we must become rooted deeper in the vine with each passing day. To gauge your spiritual depth, simply ask yourself this question: Can you genuinely say that you know the Lord today in a deeper, more intimate way than you did a year ago for example? If the answer is No, then you have not grown.

To climb a new rung in the spiritual ladder I spoke of earlier one must rise up to new heights in his or her spiritual journey. While this comes with abiding in the Lord continually through prayer and daily Bible reading time, it is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that we can climb higher in the Lord. This is simply because each higher rung represents a higher level of God’s revealing himself to you. It is impossible to know God unless he reveals himself to us. As Paul puts it, “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10–11). Thus, knowing the Lord more intimately is solely the work of the Holy Spirit. No one can discover God. God has to reveal himself to you us first and has to allow us to get closer to him. But you should be certain that it is the LORD’s will that you know him more closely. He seeks and desires to have a more intimate relationship with you. He has already sent his only Son, Jesus, for that sole purpose—that we may have fellowship and communion with him. He has also sent his Holy Spirit to abide within us permanently so that our fellowship with him may be continual.

I will close with this. You can’t climb your way up to God. He has to come down and reveal himself to you—and he indeed has in his Son, Jesus. All that is required of you and all that I encourage you to do is to spend time with him daily so that you can taste and experience what he has revealed of himself to us in his word. Make no mistake, you cannot know God through someone else’s experience. No matter how many sermons or podcasts you listen to, no matter how many books you read, and no matter how many consecutive Sundays you have been to church lately, unless you sit face-to-face with the Lord daily in prayer and Bible reading, your knowledge of him will always be intellectual not experiential or personal. To our Lord Jesus be all the glory. Amen!