Depends On The View

Though her earnestness characterized some aspects of her apparent walk with the Lord during a certain point in her life, causing me to both admire her and examine my own zeal for Him, a mere ten years later she had rejected her Biblical beliefs in favor of an ungodly lifestyle. Her spiritual decay, not surprisingly, occurred gradually, corresponding to her undergraduate studies, and accelerating as she neared her PhD. Not  that higher education is solely responsible for pulling her away from Christ--it wasn't. Looking back, even at the seeming pinnacle of her Christian experience she didn't quite get it.

I still recall the room we were in when she made the telling remark, with its rich, dark wall panels. "If we're just going to worship all the time," she mused, "I think Heaven will be boring."

Stunning words, especially from one who otherwise exhibited such a passion for Jesus! Yet I now believe many self-professed Christians hold equal varieties of apathy toward an eternity which centers completely around the Lord Jesus Christ.

Case in point: countless friends of mine have excitedly anticipated dancing, running, and even playing tennis with me in Heaven, as if celebrating my Resurrection body is a main attraction once we enter the Pearly Gates. Others fantasize about conversations with Moses and Paul. Then there are people looking forward to reunions with loved ones who have gone before them, certain that those loved ones will be eagerly awaiting their arrival. Interestingly, Jesus isn't present in any of these scenarios.

Yet the Bible describes Heaven as a place revolving around Jesus Christ, filled with people worshiping, praising and adoring Him without ceasing. He is central!

⁶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
    from every tribe and language and people and nation,
¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
    and they shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” ~~Revelation 5:6-13 (ESV)

Such unbroken worship seems unimaginable to us, as we still live with stubborn sin natures that find the thought of total concentration on Christ to be (if I may be blunt) perhaps a little repulsive. We want Heaven to be about us, and then (once we've received our rewards, comforts and pleasures) we'll give a nod of recognition to Him. After all, we reason, eternity is an awfully long time to stand around singing hymns and praise choruses.


It is...unless we see the Lord in His glory, fully comprehending for the first time the great extent of His sacrifice for us. We forget that, this side of Heaven, our spiritual  vision is dulled, muting His splendor until we forget our sense of wonder at Who He is and what He's done for us. But once we stand before Jesus, gazing into His eyes, we will no longer be hampered by our flesh, and His majesty will so enthrall us that eternity won't seem long enough to Praise God.