The best is yet to come! Whether you are trapped in a war zone, living in poverty, or enjoying every modern comfort without a cloud in the sky, the best is yet to come.
We walk with Christ now, but will see Him face to face in eternity. The church is the bride of Christ now, but we are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. We know His comfort daily, but then He will wipe away all our tears in the place where there is no sin or sorrow. The best is yet to come is an understatement! We are bound for glory, for unimaginable joys at His right hand. Hallelujah! Praise God for His grace and love that welcomes undeserving sinners into His splendour.
Pictures of heaven
Suppose you’ve finally summited Mount Everest. Can you imagine trying to describe the route up, the 360o view, and the exhilaration to someone who has never seen snow or a mountain? That’s why God uses pictures to describe heaven. We (collectively) are the temple of the living God (2 Cor. 6:16). Trace the wonder of this through the Bible, see the future hope shown, and note the earthly limitation of each picture. Eden was where God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. The Tabernacle was central for God’s people, God’s presence in their midst. Solomon’s temple was filled with the glory of God. Ezra’s temple was a reminder of how God had led them, Ezekiel’s temple was a vision of the glorious lifegiving kingdom, Herod’s temple was a people pleaser. All these were shadow pictures – getting increasingly limited – but all point to the church as the eternal temple of God. God dwells in His people, we centre on the Lamb that was slain, we worship His exalted name before His throne, and we extol His virtues. What an incredible future for undeserving insignificant sinners like us!
Airport transit lounge?
It sits uncomfortably with me when I read a suggestion that heaven is something like an airport transit lounge. It’s suggested by some that when we die we will have a short stay in heaven, until God recreates the perfect earth that we will live on for eternity. Some authors even use imagination polish to describe our social life, country walks, reading, etc. But there’s a reason the Bible doesn’t give a detailed description of our future – heaven’s glory is beyond our imagination; we don’t have the vocabulary to describe eternity accurately.
But this we do know… We will be like the angels in heaven (Matt.22:30). We go to the dwelling place Jesus ascended to His Father’s house to prepare for us (John 14:2). We have an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Cor. 5:1 – cf the stone in Daniel’s vision). We have been seated in heavenly realms with Christ (Eph. 2:6). God has called us heavenwards for the prize. We’re citizens of heaven. We’ll be like Christ’s glorious body (Phil. 3:14, 20, 21). Our hope is stored up in heaven (Col. 1:5). The Lord will bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom (2 Tim. 4:18). The heroes of Hebrews 11 are longing for a heavenly country. Our inheritance is kept in heaven (1 Peter 1:4). What we are like has not been revealed yet, but we know we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2).
It’s noteworthy that we also struggle with understanding the place of judgment. Hell is clearly real, and punishment is eternal, but the language used in Scripture strains our comprehension.
Revelation
Wonderfully, Revelation shows us several pictures of the church in eternity – the wedding supper, the 12 tribes (the fullness of the church as the Israel of God), and the great crowd before the throne. Then there is the city of Jerusalem coming down – reminding us of the Temple, as it’s a cube just like the Holy of Holies. The details surely show it is symbolic, a mile high and made from pure gold with gates of single pearls named for the 12 tribes.
We will have new bodies – spiritual ones like the Lord. Changed from glory into glory. We don’t know what they will be like – except they’ll be like His glorious body!
Christ became human, and in ascending took humanity into the Godhead permanently – a mystery of infinite love and condescension which we will never fathom. Perhaps the new creation will be absorbed seamlessly into heaven? Certainly, we shall be illuminated by the light of His glory, and shall see Jesus face to face. What more could He do for us!!!!!!!
The best is definitely yet to come!
(PS: I hope readers appreciate my incredible restraint with exclamation marks. Really the theme is so wonderful, every sentence should have at least ten !!!!!!!!!!)
