The Glory that is Yet to Come

The Glory that is Yet to Come
We are admonished to “set our minds” and to “set our affections” or “our heart” “on things above, not on things of this earth.” Our whole outlook on life and perspective are affected by meditating on heaven and pondering what is yet to come when we leave this life and begin eternal life in heaven. Our meditations will be sweet if we seek to catch a glimpse of heaven in three different ways: 1) what God has explicitly revealed in His word about heaven. 2) the delights and beauty and goodness that God has given us even in this fallen world. What is good and wonderful and beautiful here in this life, think how much better that will be when there is no more sin, sorrow, pain, or suffering. 3) Think of the attributes of God, who He is and what He has done, the glory of God. And realize the God who created this world and “saw that it was good” and declared it “very good,” that same God has prepared a place for us and is preparing us for that place. His grace, His goodness, His kindness, His love are all seen here. How much more in heaven itself. Listen to this overarching grand purpose of God in His grace and kindness towards us: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6-7

Certainly this will abound to the glory of God: “in order that we . . . might be for the praise of His glory.” Eph. 1:12 He alone is worthy. “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Rev. 4:11 “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Rev. 5:12-13

The triune God alone is worthy of praise and we will be thankful for Him and sing His praises forever and ever. But think also of how we benefit from the fact that God is good and gracious and kind and generous! What is and should be for the glory of God turns out to be “for our good and His glory.” That’s why God promised that “all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” Rom. 8:28

Many explicit truths about heaven are revealed in scripture, especially in the book of Revelation and in Isaiah’s prophecy. And there are many implicit truths about heaven throughout the entire Bible. We will be studying those for a long, long time. For example, “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21:3-5

And there are many more wonderful pictures of heaven in the scriptures, but there is a second way of gaining some understanding of what heaven will be like by thinking of the delights and beauty and goodness that God has given us even in this fallen world. What is good and wonderful and beautiful here in this life, think how much better that will be when there is no more sin, sorrow, pain, or suffering.

Richard Baxter, 1615-1691, wrote of these things in his best-known book, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest:
“My Lord hath taught me to rejoice in hope of His glory. . . . I know He would have my joys exceed my sorrows, and as much as He delights in the humble and contrite, He yet more delights in the soul that delights in Him. Hath my Lord spread me a table in this wilderness, and furnished it with the promises of everlasting glory, and set before me angels’food? . . . Is it not His command to delight thyself in the Lord and His promise, to give thee the desires of thine heart? Art thou not charged to rejoice evermore; yea, to sing aloud, and shout for joy? Why should I then be discouraged? . . . He is delighted with my delights . . . to live in the sweetest thoughts of His goodness. . . . I therefore humbly beg this grace, that as thou has opened heaven to me in thy word, so thou wouldst open mine eyes to see it, and my heart to delight in it. . . . that I may see what glory thou hast prepared for them that love thee!” II, 354-55

Think of the goodness of fellowship among fellow believers that you know. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” Psalm 133:1 The Apostle John wrote, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” 1 John 1:3-4 And if such fellowship brings us such fullness of joy here and now, how much more in heaven where there will be no self-seeking or competition. “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love; The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.”

Our family life should be a little glimpse of heaven on earth as we love one another, help one another, and share in one another’s burdens and problems. Our homes should be a shelter from the world and a place where all learn of Christ and worship and serve Him together. They are not always that way, but to the extent that we show forth the riches of God’s truth in our lives and treat one another in the way that pleases God and we see growth in love and in grace, think of how that closeness will be multiplied in eternity future in heaven.

Think of a simple meal and pleasant conversation around the evening dinner table. Or of a special feast such as the mother or family prepare at Thanksgiving. We all anticipate those special occasions and thank God for them. What about the delight of participating in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? or of breaking bread together with the Lord in heaven. What will that be like?

Do you take pleasure in walking through lovely gardens and long walks along a beautiful river or overlooking a seascape? How much greater pleasure will that be when there is nothing to mar its perfection and when the curse has been removed from this old world? God created man and woman and put them together in a garden, the most glorious, perfect garden you can imagine. He gave them a pleasant, but meaningful task to do and the pleasure of each other’s company. And the Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:8
How much more wonderful will the garden in the New Jerusalem be? “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Rev. 22:1-5

Think of your favorite music and how delightful it is. But what singing awaits us in heaven and we will participate in it with a heavenly choir and perfect voices. “And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” Rev. 5:9-10

“And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.” Rev. 15:3

And if choral music is wonderful, there will be instrumental music in heaven also because several instruments are mentioned in scripture. How much proficiency will we have in music? Remember heaven is a place of perfection and we will have a sinless, glorified body and an attitude much like Jesus Himself. “We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2

One of the joys of life is learning and discovering new truths about life and exploring God’s works and rejoicing in the works of His hands and His wisdom and creativity, enjoying the complexity and beauty of what He has made. We will continue to learn and discover new truths as we explore God’s wisdom. We are finite and of course will continue to be finite in heaven. We will no longer see as in a fog or a “cloudy mirror.” “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” He’s talking about fellowship with the Lord; certainly he’s not saying we will be omniscient! We cannot be because we are creatures and creatures are finite and limited. God is infinite and the works of God are infinite so we will never exhaust what there is to learn and enjoy throughout all eternity.

We will rejoice in the works of God and explore them and talk of them with others. “I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” Psalm 77:11-12 Surely we will continue to do this in heaven. “For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.” Psalm 92:4-5 “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.” Psalm 104:24 “The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.” Psalm 104:31 And so shall we throughout all eternity.

“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” Psalm 111:2-4

The third way to know how wonderful heaven is going to be is to remember God’s purposes in human history. His desire is “in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:6-7 The God who brought us eternal salvation by the agonizing sacrifice of His Son on the cross who triumphed over sin, death, and hell, is our same Lord who has “prepared a place for us” in His glorious heaven. Since we know of God’s glory, of His love, of His patience, of His goodness, of His creativity, of His wisdom, of His holiness, surely we should be able to anticipate with excitement what God has prepared for us. The natural man doesn’t understand this at all: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him.” 1 Cor. 2:9 And yet the Holy Spirit who is the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” has given us a “foretaste of glory divine” because in a limited way, “God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.” 1 Cor. 2:10

As you rejoice in the kindness of God to us in Christ Jesus, realize that it is our same faithful Lord who will take us to the heaven that He has prepared for us. The sufferings we undergo now are preparing us for that place. Trust your omniscient Lord that He knows what He is doing. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” 2 Tim. 2:12

It’s hard for us to grasp that all of us and everything will be absolutely perfect in heaven. We’ve never seen complete perfection except in God. None of us will ever have a sinful thought or selfish desire. We will never do anything unkind. We will be perfectly free from evil forever.

And we will have perfect joy in heaven. As wonderful as God’s joy has been to us in this fallen world, it will be even greater in heaven. We will have perfect satisfaction and perfect pleasure. “In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11