The idea of seeing Jesus and life going on forever and ever in a perfect world (after death) has been on my mind recently. What if that reality is closer than we think? There’s the analogy so many pastors use when they share the Gospel of what if you die tomorrow…? It is true that we often don’t receive a heads up when we are about to die, though I don’t want people to be living in fear. I do wonder though if Jesus might come back for His Bride sooner rather than later, but Jesus doesn’t even know when He will come back for us. I believe He is sitting on His throne in heaven with great anticipation to coming back for His Bride, though!
The Gospel is a grand story with the greatest plot out there. People like to say that every story written today is based off of Shakespeare’s stories. I think Shakespeare is based off the Bible! A benevolent Creator created a universe and then the creation rebelled against the rules set in place. Then years of torment occurred because of this decision and the creation tried to work their way out of their own mess. The Creator came up with ways to interject into their lives and reconnect, even choosing a people group to set apart as His very own. Then finally, the Creator sent His only Son to be a sacrifice to break the curse the creation had brought upon itself and restore what had been broken. And now we await the redemption of all things….
Redemption of all things. That has been rolling around in my head. We will live forever, in perfect communion with our Creator. The sin, pain, mess, hurt… it will all be gone. That is impossible to imagine. I have no context for how much sin affects my life, though I know it does. A family friend died for a short time and was brought back. But while she was dead, she got to see Jesus and experience life outside of this life. She didn’t want to come back because it was so terrible on this earth. She understood how close sin clings to us and how it separates us from God, even when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. I think God gives us glimpses of the eternal glory sometimes, but it doesn’t last in this world. Perhaps it is even so we can endure the pain we are going through. Paul knew he would be better off going to heaven, but wanted to do His part of shepherding the Church on earth. That was the only thing that kept him from wanting to go home to heaven (Philippians 1:23-24).
God is with us at all times, doing this life with us, but what would it be like for sin to not exist?
I believe that in the New Earth, we will still have jobs and responsibilities. How cool will it be to work on a project alongside Jacob, Moses, Nehemiah… How cool for our ideas, plans, and projects to not have the same setbacks and mistakes we now experience? Failure would have no sting. I believe creativity and gifts of all kinds will be in their perfection in eternity. How will the Kingdom culture break down barriers between people groups, helping us find our sameness? Will cultures still exist in the way we see them today? Will we get to travel? Will we live close to people we knew on earth? Will we just naturally fall into the worship that goes on there? Will we get to go see Jesus any time we want?
There are so many things to ponder about eternity, but the key is to make sure our relationship with God is solid in this life so that we will go to heaven, to that wonderful place to be with Jesus!
grace flowing 