Perfected At
Last
One day I was sitting quietly doing some reading when Roy said, "I want to ask you something."
I responded, "Shoot."
He asked, "What are we going to do in heaven?"
"God knows exactly what we are going to do in heaven," I said. "For one thing, we are going to praise Him all the time. We'll tell Him how much we love Him and how delighted we are to be there."
Roy persisted, "But what are we going to do? In the first place, I want to be married to you in heaven."
I said, "But you don't understand. There is no marriage or giving in marriage in heaven. We are as the angels in heaven."
Roy remembered our dog, an old Weimaraner who had been involved in an accident and could not do much. He just sat around and grinned all the time, scratching himself.
"You mean I am going to have to sit and grin and scratch for an eternity?" Roy asked, putting on the worst possible face to our activity in heaven.
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Looking for a City
We all have questions about heaven, and the more active we are, the more we wonder if it will be genuinely exciting for an eternity. Yet even the heroes of the faith in the Old Testament were looking forward to the glories and rewards of heaven. We read about Abraham:
By faith he [Abraham] dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Heb. 11:9-10)
Abraham remained a nomad all his life, never moving into a permanent dwelling. God had called him to leave home for a piece of the world that was totally foreign to him, and that sense of being a foreigner all his life kept his eye on what God had for him beyond death. He looked forward to permanence, to a city made by God for those faithful ones who accepted what God has for them on earth.
The apostle Paul was another traveler whose most permanent dwelling place seemed to be as a prisoner in Rome. Yes, he stayed in Ephesus for two years, but that was clearly planned as a church-planting interlude. So he moved on when the church had developed enough maturity to succeed without him.
On top of that, Paul experienced horrendously difficult circumstances. I mean, who would want to stick around on earth with the following list of adventures?
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Are they ministers of Christ? — I speak as a fool — I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, exposed to death often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. (2 Cor. 11:23-27)
Anybody ready to match that litany of horrors? It's clear the book of Acts gives only an occasional snapshot of this intrepid missionary. So what is he looking forward to?
For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. (Heb. 13:14)
Nothing Passive About Waiting
That seeking for the heavenly city is no passive waiting for God to drop it out of heaven, or boost us up into it whenever we please. The author of Hebrews indicated that the knowledge that we are bound for a celestial city should be a motivating factor to personal purity, to a life committed to humbly serving the Master Potter, to worship:
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Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Heb. 13:15-16)
That little word therefore follows immediately after his indication that we are seeking the city to come, indicating that in the light of our destination, we ought to begin to praise and worship now. After all, that is what we will be primarily doing, as we believe in John's Revelation of Jesus Christ. And I know we'll all rejoice at not having to fend off the temptations Satan lays on us, or deal with the natural desires of our flesh as fallen human beings.
Glad to Join the Choir
I'm looking forward to just joining the celestial choir and singing to my heart's content. No longer will I be considered a "star," with the spotlight shining on me, for Jesus is the only star there (as He ought to be here!). Even though it seems a good part of the worship in heaven — worship of God and His Lamb, Jesus Christ — is done by angelic beings and elders, there are clearly choirs of the redeemed involved.
At one point there are 144,000 who have the Father's name written on their foreheads (Rev. 14:1) who join an orchestra of harps (v.2) in a joyous expression of praise:
They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. (Rev. 14:3)
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In the following chapter of Revelation, we have a large group who are not clearly identified, but who:
sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
"Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.
(Rev. 15:3-4)
Both Roy and I are now of an age where we are truly looking forward to joining that choir. Roy may add a yodel now and then in his cowboy style, I will sing in more traditional fashion, and our grandchildren will want to be in a contemporary style choir, but the form will not be the issue.
Perfected at Last
We will finally be perfected by the Master Potter, on display for God Himself and all His saints. That is clearly one reason why the Master
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Potter is so active in shaping us throughout life: "that He might present her [the church] to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:27).
I'm looking forward to seeing Roy there, with his new heart and new body, rejoicing in meeting Robin, Debbie, and Sandy again, as well as other members of our large family. But I'm also looking forward to seeing other faithful servants of God there.
I think of Ralph Hoopes and his wife, Georgia Lee, a very pretty girl with a good voice. They both were under contract to Warner Brothers when they met Jesus and accepted Him as Lord. She gave up acting so she could just be a witness for Christ. She was used in a number of Billy Graham films as a result. He worked in the crusades as a witness for Christ, finally founding a church.
I'm looking forward as well to meeting another show business personality who gave up her career in the movies when she accepted the Savior: Colleen Townsend. She was a promising star when she started coming to the Hollywood Christian Group. There she met Louis Evans, Jr., fell in love with him, and married him. She gave up her movie career to become a minister's wife and a mother. She became a witness through her books as well.
I'm also looking forward to worshiping God with Frances and Leonard Eilers and Joy, just like we used to worship together here.
Still Enjoying His Goodness
That doesn't mean I'm not enjoying my life now. In fact, even at eighty-one years of age I'm enjoying
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life very, very much because I have such a backlog of experiences to enjoy. The Master Potter has conditioned me to rejoice in what He has done, rather than complain about my aches and pains. True, the pain connected with my heart attack was not pleasurable at all, but He restored me to an amazingly active life after that, so that all I can do is praise Him.
Do I fear death? No. In fact, at times when I've been so desperately tired I did not know if I could go on, I have prayed, "How long, O Lord?" I've been on programs with people who have had deathbed experiences and have come back, reporting wonderful sights. But I do not fear death because I am sure of my salvation through the Master Potter. I just thank the Lord Jesus for being so gracious to me all these years — and promising me a home in heaven, in the city built by God.
Because of that, I also don't worry about the state of our economy, about our people. The Bible says that God "lifts nations up and puts nations down." I'll let Him take care of the world while I rejoice in my corner of it — and the promise of being perfected at last when I meet my Savior face to face.
The apostle John gave us such a beautiful promise in connection with that: "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:2).
I can live in anticipation of that gladly!
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Reflecting on the Shaping
1. What are your expectations for when you get to heaven?
2. According to Hebrews 11:9-10, why was Abraham willing to stay in tents as a nomad throughout his life?
3. What things can we do as we seek the city to come according to Hebrews 13:15-16?
4. Which of your talents/abilities might the Master Potter use in heaven?
5. What does God want to achieve in us before we are ready for heaven, according to Ephesians 5:27?
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