Enjoying God forever. Perhaps the first thing to say is that forever is a very long time and that it can be divided into at least three parts. I say that partly because in John 17:3 Jesus says to his Father Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Once you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ then you have eternal life so whereas as Christians we might want to say 'I hope to have eternal life', we should be saying 'I have eternal life'. The first part of eternal life is now and so the first part of enjoying God for ever is enjoying God now. You have been talking about this already this week, I understand.
Intermediate State
But then there is eternal life beyond death and the grave. This can be divided into two parts. Theologians speak of the intermediate stat and the final state. The state that we enter into when we die is the state where we have no body. Our bodies, whether they are buried or cremated or whatever happens to them, remain here on earth but our souls or spirits leave our bodies to be with God. It is true that the Word of God doesn't provide us with very much insight into what this will be like, it does at least assure us of some four things.
- When the Christian dies he is away from the body and at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8)
- When the Christian dies it is gain. He is with Christ, which is better by far (Philippians 1:21-23)
- When the Christian dies he enters Paradise - I think that is a fair assumption from what Jesus says to the dying thief in Luke 23:43
- We can probably go a little further and say that it is to be before the throne of God in order to serve him day and night in his temple and to be sheltered with his presence. It is the end of hunger, thirst and suffering. Every tear will be dried. (Revelation 7:15-17)
It is still difficult to imagine life not in a body, of course, but clearly it is a good life, a happy life, a life in the immediate presence of the Saviour, Jesus Christ and so most desirable and easy to be enjoyed.
Final state
But then beyond the Christian life on earth and in the intermediate state, there is the final state, what will be in the end the state in which the Christian is for the longest. What insight does God's Word provide us with as to what this will actually be like?
Now here it is a little more difficult for at least two reasons.
Firstly, because we only have limited information. So, for example, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 it says For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
So, dead believers will be raised and live ones will be caught up in the air to be with the Lord forever. But have you ever thought about this? If Christ comes again when you are 90 years old will you carry on looking 90, a perfect 90 yes but 90 still. Or will you begin to look younger? And those who are raised up from the dead, what sort of age will they look? Will babies look like men and women or will they still look like babies?
And then, secondly, one of the obvious places to turn to learn about this subject is the Book of Revelation and we know that book is full of pictures and symbols. So, for example, in Revelation 21:21, describing the New Jerusalem, it says The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. It is not likely that there are literally twelve gates each made of a single pearl nor that the streets of heaven are literally paved with gold, as pure as transparent glass. Presumably, the point is that the new heaven is a splendid place, where gold is considered so common and so unimpressive that they use it to pave the streets!
So we need to be careful how we understand what is said but we can still learn a number of things from Revelation and from 1 Corinthians 15, which is about the resurrection body.
1 Corinthians 15
From that chapter we learn certain things.
- There is some sort of connection between our present bodies and our resurrection bodies but only to the extent that a seed resembles a plant. Our bodies are going to be transformed.
- Whereas the body that is sown is perishable, the resurrection body is imperishable. Mortality gives way to immortality.
- There is a change from dishonour to glory, weakness to power, from being a natural body to being raised a spiritual body, a body suitable for life in heaven. What exactly a spiritual body is we cannot be sure. There is some evidence that the risen Christ could enter locked rooms at will. Maybe that gives us an insight.
- There is surely something to learn about the resurrection body from the body of Christ after he had risen. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
Revelation 21, 22
At the end of the Book of Revelation John tells us he saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. He adds and there was no longer any sea. We all like being by the sea here in Aber but no sea in heaven. To understand that you need to remember that John was on the Island of Patmos surrounded by sea, cutting him off from Christian fellowship. The sea also often stands for turmoil and trouble. So that is the point - the end of that. It goes on - he saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. A bride dressed for her husband, the church ready for Christ the groom - another powerful picture. He also heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. God with us.
Once again it is stressed that for these people God will wipe every tear from their eyes. More There will be no more death ... mourning ... crying ... pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
One of the characteristics of this place is that everything will be new. This is a reason why it is so difficult to go beyond giving a general impression.
John says of New Jerusalem It shone with God's glory ... its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. He then describes the great, high wall with 12 gates ... three on each side ... 12 angels at the gates and On the gates ... the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. The wall of the city had 12 foundations on each there was written the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb and so on. Twelve is a perfect number and the city is a perfect cube made of all sorts of precious stones. This all has to be taken figuratively.
But then John says I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. He notes how it had no need for sun or moon as the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. The city gates are never shut as there will be no night there. The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor ... anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Again, lots of symbolism but no Temple sounds real.
As you come into Chapter 22 the final things said are that the place has a river - the river of the water of life ... clear as crystal, flowing from God's throne the Lamb's throne down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
The curse is now gone and God reigns forever. and his servants serve him. They will see his face, it says and his name will be on their foreheads. ... And they will reign for ever and ever. So, serving yet ruling too. How that works out in practice is difficult to imagine exactly.
I often think it is a little like when as a child you try to imagine what it will be like when you are grown up - you have an idea of what it might be like but the reality only becomes clear when you are actually grown up. Perhaps it is something like the caterpillar and the butterfly. You know the story of the two caterpillars walking along who see a butterfly in the air and the the one caterpillar says to the other, "You'll never get me up in one of those things". Perhaps it is only when we are butterflies that we caterpillars will really understand what enjoying God forever is really all about.
This was prepared for a session with the prime time group on the final night of their meeting at the Aber Conference in 2022.
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