Inconceivable Blessing

The glories of heaven are so great that we cannot fully conceive of them. The picture John gives in Revelation 21:4 is like a negative exposure of film. Each item in verse four is a negative experience (sorrow, pain, death) that is negated or said to be done away with. Therefore we are called to look forward to the positive counterpart when the film is developed. He will not just wipe away our tears, God will make His face to shine on us and revive our joy to last forever. As Isaiah says, “The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their herds. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10). Not only shall there be no more death, but there shall be the glorious resurrection where “this mortal shall put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). Not only will there be no more crying, there shall be the singing of praise, the shouting of glory, and the offering up of endless Hallelujahs to the Redeemer. Sorrow will be gone and to take its place will be the outpouring of God’s joyful presence. As David says, “In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forever more” Psalm 16:11. Not only will the former things be passed away we read in the next verse: “Then He that sat on the throne said, “ Behold I make all things new!” (Revelation 21:5). God says that His glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14 and Numbers 14:21.) When our lives and our souls are most filled with God’s glory that is when we will be most content and blessed. To our thirsty souls God summons us to come and drink and find our satisfaction in Him---“I will give of the water of life freely to him who thirsts” (21:6). This satisfaction is found in our intimate relationship with our Maker and our King. All of these blessings will be bestowed on those who have repented of their sins and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.

To add to what has already been described, God says that we will experience and enjoy all that it means to be His sons--“I will be His God and he shall be my son” (21:6). All that a Father can be to a son, God will be to us. We begin the Christian life by crying out, “Abba, Father.” We will continue it in heaven by knowing the Father-heart of God revealed to us with increasing intimacy for all eternity. To add to all of this an angel next says to John “Come I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” (Rev. 21:9). Who can describe what it will be like to be the bride of the King of kings? God’s people will live forever with their heavenly bridegroom the Son of God.

Now, to our surprise John has one more chapter to write on heaven. He describes heaven in the last chapter of the Bible as a return to Paradise. It is like a return to the Garden of Eden but in eternal glory. “And he showed me a pure river of water of life clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river was the tree of life which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:1-5). Here we see five more glories that God with which God will crown our eternity. God promises us 1) refreshment from the heavenly fountain that flows from the throne of God, 2) total healing from the Great Physician, 3) the continued privilege of serving Him in glory, 4) the intimate fellowship of seeing Him face to face, and 5) the security and felicity of sharing His victory in the blessed reign of God forever. This is the longing of our hearts now. We must have a taste of this daily to maintain our calm steady pursuit of our spiritual purpose in life as we live in light of eternity.

Charles Spurgeon shows us how to begin to enjoy heaven in the present time. He says we must do this by maintaining a prayerful spirit. “The very act of prayer is a blessing…To pray is to mount on eagle's wings above the clouds and get into the clear heaven where God dwells. To pray is to enter the treasure-house of God and to enrich one's-self out of an inexhaustible storehouse. To pray is to grasp heaven in one's arms, to embrace the Deity within one's soul, and to feel one's body made a temple of the Holy Spirit. To pray is to cast off your burdens, it is to tear away your rags, it is to shake off your diseases, it is to be filled with spiritual vigor, it is to reach the highest point of Christian health. God give us to be much in the holy art of prayer.” (CH Spurgeon, "Order and Argument in Prayer" )