Thoughts of Heaven

I haven't posted here is quite some time but today I want to share a thought that has worked in my mind for two years now. In June of 2010 there was a Christian conference I had the sad experience of missing the first sessions of but was able to stream the rest online. When I first heard the subject of what was to be the final address in the series of talks I thought to myself: hmmm this will be interesting; but not for a second did I think on how profound what was about to be said was going to be. The topic of the final message to be deliver came from one of my favorite scholars and theologians R.C. Sproul and it was called "Can We Enjoy Heaven Knowing of Loved Ones in Hell? “ 

I will start by saying that very often today we pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ and Heaven gets taught without Hell or Hell without the hope of Heaven. This then means that this message was already a part of a minority of "gospel" messages out there and the second thing to make it so remarkable if you will, is that while so many desire to go to Heaven not enough know what Heaven is from a Biblical construct.

SO, I guess since you've even read this far, you are wondering what it is that was said that I still find to be one of the most profound things in the teaching of Heaven that I have ever heard, well here it is:

“'Don’t you know that when you are in heaven you will be so sanctified that you could look at your own mother in hell and rejoice in the display of the justice of God.'” 

As you can see the quote is a quote from Dr. Sproul who is quoting a teacher of his own. Regardless, the profundity of the statement still stands.

Imagine fully understanding the suffering and the pain of those who shall be in eternal torment and rejoicing as such! It is a ludicrous thought and at a glance may seem cruel beyond belief!

Now imagine that the perfect God, the single being in the universe who can claim perfection, holiness, goodness, and righteousness has wiped away your tears, you are like Him in conformity and have a fully righteous desire to see justice played out such that His desires are completely your desires and there is no longer an option for those who have committed wrongs to receive the grace and mercy extended to them but to receive the just desserts of their actions. The desires of your heart, your pleasure will be wholly in Christ and as His bride no other person; no matter you relationship with them in the past could even begin to move your heart against the justice of God.

So, why is this so amazingly profound? 

1) We peer into how imperfect we are now. Right now the reason the idea at rejoicing at the eternal suffering of a loved one is so horrific is twofold:

          - We place our affection in earthly things as opposed to the spiritual

          -We are called to desire and seek all people for the Kingdom of God

As this is the case when perfected we will seek perfect justice as we have also received perfect mercy (both of which have their meeting on the cross at Calvary)

2) We peer into Heaven. I've heard (and even at one point wondered myself) "if we are to just worship God in Heaven, wouldn't it be boring?" The answer to this is one hardy NO! To live in the presence of God in Heaven could be thought of as the best orgasm ever... multiplied infinitely! My point is, having been truly conformed in the likeness of Christ and being in the presence of Him it will be our joy to worship Him.

3) We peer into just how HOLY and PERFECT God truly is. For anyone else to lay a finger on the one who bore you would be like the beginning of WWIII but God in His wisdom and power is the only one who can distribute justice with no error and no wrong in Himself that would make him unfit to be its deliverer.

Referance:

 Revelation 21:1-8

 Romans 8:19-30
Hebrews10:14

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2010-ligonier-national-conference-rc-sproul-ii/