The Hope of Heaven Now
Where you’re heading changes your attitude right now.
Have you ever had a dog that loved to go on trips? They eagerly hop into the car whenever they can, bring their leash to you to go on a walk, and are excited about going to new places--until it’s time to go to the vet. Somehow, they know when you’re going. And their attitude shifts. They shrink away from their leash, hate jumping into the car, and panic the whole ride over.
Knowing where they were going shapes their actions, even before they get there.
Heaven should be the opposite of the vet for us--we should be so excited to go there, and reflect that in our lives now. But often, we don’t.
There’s an old country song that sings, “Everybody wants to go to heaven; it beats the other place there ain’t no doubt. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now.” That’s what our lives show that we feel about heaven. We see it as an alternative to Hell--not something attractive itself.
But we’re looking at it all wrong. If we better understand heaven, this moment of consummation when we are finally reunited with God, then it will change how we live right now.
Heaven is a glorious thing. It’s not just harps and clouds like those pictures painted--it’s working and ruling cities and making good things. It’s not just always being full of happy feelings--it’s dwelling in the presence of Him who is fullness of joy, who is the fulfillment of all our hearts’ longings, who satisfies us with good things. This consummation is spent discovering the bottomless depths of the goodness of God’s love.
As part of this consummation, God will transform our natural bodies into resurrection bodies. These will be free from disease, disorder, deformities, and limitations, enabling us to experience love, joy, and peace in infinitely greater and more profound ways.
But more than that, we will be united with Jesus in perfect communion. Have you ever heard a bride describe her wedding day, talking about how “I just wanted to run down that aisle to him!” The bride and groom have only been separated that one day, only not able to see each other for that one day--but they still long to be close to each other again. And they rejoice when they are reunited. Think of the joy there will be when the Church, Christ’s bride, rejoins him when she’s been separated from him for so long!
We will dwell with Him, experiencing His presence and power in every fiber of our being. This will enable us to image God perfectly. We will relate to others in ways motivated purely by love for God and love for them, where we consider them more important than ourselves. We will respond to God with perfect submission, which will result in perfect obedience through the power of God’s spirit. We will also respond to others exactly how God responds to each of us--with patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
We will no longer experience the pain of relational struggles. There will be no more temptation, no more darkness. You will be set free from horrific memories and emotions from the past. Consummation brings complete restoration.
Finally, your story will be completely redeemed by and aligned with God’s story. Jesus has come to restore to us abundant life, so eternity with him will be Life as it was truly meant to be, and the marriage feast of the Lamb will be a feast indeed, with laughter and dancing loud and free and made new and redeemed. No fairy tale can compare to such an ending, that marks the beginning of a never-ending life of love.
This is where we’re headed. This is our ending. And knowing that ending shapes our stories today. Because we know how it ends, we can have courage and persistence to press on through our struggles. We know our struggles won’t last forever--we know we will rest in joy one day. This consummation gives us hope that all will be made right--even our hurts and scars, even the injustices in the world. He has promised that He will make it all new. This consummation gives us assurance. Someday, your journey through brokenness will end.
But it makes a difference today too. We get glimpses, down-payments of God’s abundant love already. The One who will one day wipe every tear from our eye comforts us today too; and the One who we will dwell in complete communion with still is close to us today. This also shapes how we live and love others, as we share in our videos in GCM’s newsletter!
“The One who will one day wipe every tear from our eye comforts us today too; and the One who we will dwell in complete communion with still is close to us today.”
So let’s rejoice as we look forward to God’s consummation. It is glorious beyond our wildest dreams. It enables us to live in the present with hope and courage. So let’s look to His strength today--and look forward to “that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ,” when we are fully reunited with love again.
God, thank you that one day, we will be reunited with you! We will live with you, who is the fulness of all joy, who is glorious beyond what we can think and imagine--and you will wipe away all our tears and our hurts, and make everything new. God, we long for that day. On days when life seems hard and dark, we long for it even more. But help us to walk with courage and hope, knowing every day here is another opportunity to trust you more, and to see your love in our lives. Help us to draw close to you now, and to walk in communion with you and your people. Amen.
