Hebrews 12:22

No doubt you've seen pictures or video of Mount Everest. Its beauty is stunning. And its height—nearly 6 miles above sea level—makes it the highest mountain in the world. It's the stuff of legend.

That much you know. What you may not know is that Mount Everest is littered with bodies.

Over the years, you see, about 4,000 people have tried to climb Mount Everest. Almost 200 of them have died in the attempt. So extreme, however, is the terrain near the summit that it's simply impossible to recover many of the bodies. And so they remain on the mountain to this day.

It's a sobering thought: A mountain littered with scores of people who gave their lives for a fleeting moment of glory.

The Lord introduces us to a different kind of mountain—"Mount Zion," he calls it. The heavenly Jerusalem. The city of the living God.  Here there is only one person who gave his life. It's the Son of God himself. Only he didn't do it for a moment of glory. He did it to wash us clean of our every sin. He did it to give us eternal life.

And now he lives. And because he does, Mount Zion is ours. And not just for a moment. Because Jesus lives, Mount Zion—heaven—is ours forever.