Is Heaven for you?

When it comes to thoughts about heaven, I think we have it all wrong. We have it wrong because our thoughts typically center around us: what will we do, who we will see, where we will live, what our crowns will look like, how big our mansion will be. We bring our selfish earthly perspective right up into the presence of the Almighty God! I believe this occurs because we have a very small view of God in light of His infinitude. Instead of magnifying the character or qualities of God, we tend to magnify the personal impact of those attributes. We are trained to dwell on the fact that God loves us rather than meditating on the truth that God is love. We think about how God's mercy has impacted us rather than realizing that God is merciful. We relish how God's grace has granted man salvation through faith instead of worshiping God for being gracious. Like Romans 1 states, we can worship the creation rather than the Creator.

Is it wrong to thank God for what He has done for us? Not at all. But our primary purpose is to glorify God for who He is. Without doing anything, God is worthy of all praise. Consider the prayers of the saints in heaven revealed in the book of The Revelation. Rev. 15:3-4 says, "They 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! [4] 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. 7:10-12 describes an innumerable multitude "...crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" [11] All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, [12] saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."

I must admit I become rather annoyed when I hear people make their desire for heaven contingent on who might be there or what activities they might enjoy. We have been created to glorify God on earth as well as in heaven. We have been created not for ourselves, but by God for God. The view of heaven we see from the book of The Revelation is not the saints conferring with each other, signing autographs, giving high-fives, or mentioning earthly exploits. We never see crowds of people surrounding Abraham, Moses, and David like reporters around football players after the Super Bowl in the locker room begging for a word. This is a disgusting degradation of God! Do you know what heaven is? It is knowing God and being in His presence. There is an actual place called heaven where those who trust in Christ will dwell eternally. But unlike on earth, God will receive all the attention and glory in heaven.

It is in heaven when a believer can worship God without the hindrances and distractions of our weak flesh. Rev. 4:8-11 paints us a vivid picture of heavenly worship: "The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" [9] Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: [11] "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created." We read about the living creatures saying "Holy, holy, holy..." continually and we wonder if they ever get bored! God is eternal and infinite, deserving of continual praise and worship. An eternity with an infinite number of worshipers will not do Him justice!

A lot is made of the glorified bodies we will receive, but we don't read of a single believer in heaven thanking God for them. I'm looking forward to a glorified body too, but it will simply remain a gift from God that pales in comparison to the glory of the Giver. Heaven is wonderful because God is there and He is wonderful. Heaven is awesome because God is there and He is awesome. Heaven is lovely because God is there and He is lovely. Amazing that God would make man out of dust, become a man for the purpose of suffering and demonstrating His divine love. God humbled Himself that men might be saved from the curse they brought upon themselves by Christ dying and rising from the dead! Then to prepare a place for us in the heavens that we might ever be with Him is phenomenal! God is worthy to be served even if we were all justly thrown into hell for our sins! Wonder of wonders, that He would satisfy justice by His own sacrifice on the cross, that we might be saved from destruction. And be filled with the Holy Spirit. And be granted perfect peace. And have complete joy! But more than what we receive from our loving Savior, we must glorify Him for Him.