The closing curtain of this year reminds us that our end is drawing near on earth. When the true believer bids farewell to the house of God below, he finds another home above. The departed saint reaches the summit of Mount Zion and enters the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22–24). He joins the innumerable company of angels and saints, whose names are written in heaven. He appears in peace and reconciliation before God, the Judge of all, and forms an everlasting fellowship with the spirits of the just made perfect. He comes to Jesus “the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Heb. 12:24).
Oh, how blessed is a believer’s translation from the church on earth to the church in heaven! Goodness and mercy have followed him throughout life, and now goodness and mercy surround him on every side. Who shall describe the unspeakable joy of his soul as he enters into glory? How satisfied he will be with all he sees and hears! With grateful adoration he will worship his faithful God who has fulfilled all His promises and surpassed even the believer’s highest expectations. Who can conceive of the joy and gratitude with which he will join in the song of his redeemed brethren: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5–6)!
How imperfect are our highest conceptions of the beauty, blessedness, holiness, and glory of God’s eternal house. To know it as it is, we must be caught up, as Paul was, into the “third heaven,” but even then its realities cannot be described in earthly language (2 Cor. 12:2, 4). As great as is the happiness and glory that the departed saint enjoys in his purely spiritual condition, there is more to come. His mortal body will be raised out of the dust and no longer be natural and corruptible, but be transformed into a Spirit-dominated and immortal body, made fit for heaven (1 Cor. 15:44). Gathered from the dust of the grave by the hand of the Creator, it will become a pure and crystal vessel prepared to receive the believer’s glorified soul. Joy will abound in the house of the Lord on resurrection morning, when the souls of the saints are joined with their resurrected, glorified bodies. They will be delivered from the bondage of corruption and be introduced into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). “So shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17).
When the Great Shepherd appears in the heavens, there will be joy unequalled in heaven and earth. The “times of the restitution of all things” will gladden all the holy angels and every redeemed human being (Acts 3:21). The trumpet will sound to proclaim that “the year of my redeemed has come” (Isa. 63:4). Universal liberty will be granted to all God’s elect. The bond slaves of corruption will finally be emancipated. The prison house of the grave will be thrown open, and its bodies resurrected. There will be a continuous season of spiritual peace, harmony, joy, brotherhood, happiness, and prosperity. All the saints will be arrayed in white and shining garments; as victors, they will wave palm branches and wear crowns of life and righteousness received from the hand of Christ.
The dead in Christ will rise first, and the saints who are still alive will be changed into the likeness of their Lord. Then in one blessed company they will all be caught up in the air to meet their glorious Redeemer (1 Thess. 4:13–18). He has already changed their vile bodies into the likeness of His glorious body—incorruptible, powerful, spiritual, and heavenly (Phil. 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:42–44, 49). So in soul and body the redeemed saints will now be the perfect possession of their Lord. Their names will be confessed before the angels of God (Luke 12:8), and they will possess their everlasting inheritance. They will forever dwell in the house of the Lord and surround the throne of the Lamb!
The pilgrims will rest in their true home (Heb. 11:13). As good and faithful servants, they have completed their work, which the Lord declares to be well done. They are then invited to enter into their Master’s joy (Matt. 25:21). The runners of the race have finished their course and have won the prize of their high calling (Phil. 3:14; 2 Tim. 4:7). The soldiers of Christ have fought the good fight of faith, secured victory by grace, and received the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:7–8).
The little flock of sheep need not fear anymore, for they see that their Father’s good pleasure was to give them the kingdom (Luke 12:32). They were poor but now find treasure in heaven, inheritance in light, fullness of joy, and an eternal weight of glory (Ps. 16:11; Matt. 6:20; 2 Cor. 4:17). All doubts of their acceptance are gone. Faith has given way to sight; hope has given way to fruition. They see that the One who went before them has indeed prepared a place for them (John 14:2). They are safe within their fold. They are welcomed at the table that their gracious Host has prepared for them. They behold the King in His beauty (Isa. 33:17) and live in the enjoyment of His love. The reigning Lamb leads them to fountains of living water and wipes away all their tears (Rev. 7:17). The Lord God Almighty is their unfading portion, their ever-open temple, their everlasting light, and their eternal glory (Rev. 21: 22–23).
As believers, we will dwell in heaven in a perfected state; all good will be walled in, all evil, walled out. There we can do no wrong, see no iniquity, hear no evil, and receive no spiritual harm. The Redeemer, then seen in His glorified human form, will fill our thoughts, and will be the theme of our conversation and the object of our adoration. Our soul will burn within itself while Christ reveals what He has suffered and the glory that is now His. In beatific vision, we will experience inexpressible delight in Christ’s presence and praise the Triune God forever in high, holy, and celestial strains. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
