Good morning,
God’s Eternal Valentine
Those of us who have a genuine relationship with the God of creation have the most wonderful and reliable Valentine anyone could ever get. The Bible is God’s love letter to his world and is especially meaningful to those of us who have accepted his love and have become part of his eternal family. Not only has God sent his Son, Jesus, to live with us and then die for us, and then come back as our Savior, he longs for any one of us to accept his free gift of eternal life in time and through eternity. Last Monday we started to look at what God has told us about the eternal part of his promise to give us eternal life. The Apostle Paul had the privilege of the Holy Spirit giving him a preview of heaven and he wrote, I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.(2Cor.12:4) What he was allowed to tell us is that, - our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.(1Cor.15:53) When our human bodies die, broken and weak, they will be raised in glory and strength.(vs.43,44) God’s children never die, they just move from their earthly body to a spiritual body that will live forever. The Apostle John, who was called up to heaven to write the book of Revelation, tells us that, he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.(1John3:2)
The most important part of heaven is not what will happen to us, but who will meet us there and who we will see as we move on into heaven. Tradition tells us that Peter is the gate keeper, but Jesus tells us,"I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.(John 10:7) When we close our eyes here on earth, we will open our heavenly eyes on Jesus himself. Paul tells us, Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord.(2Cor.5:8) How awesome to think of seeing and hearing the Savior we have loved and served here on earth. But it gets ever more awesome than that. Jesus told the disciples that, All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.(Rev.3:5) There are no human words for the eternal honor of being announced by our Savior to the Eternal God and the angels who watched over us. Then Jesus tells us, Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father's Kingdom.(Mat.13:43) He also told us that, I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”(Lk.18:29,30) Paul was looking forward to the crown of righteousness and that, the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.(2Tim.4:8) Alas, I have run out of space to write more for this week. Next week, Lord willing, I will try to end up this short summary of what’s ahead for God’s family in eternity.
1 Corinthians 2:9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."
Roy Wisner
