One of the books I am reading right now is "The Good News We Almost Forgot" by Kevin DeYoung. This book divides the Heidelberg Catechism into 52 Lord's days, with commentary on the catechism by DeYoung. Lord's Day 22 deals with the subject of Heaven. Reading this chapter made me want to go to heaven so much more by the time I was done. I hope my favorite quotes from it have the same effect on you, because I know God wants us to rejoice in the eternal hope we have (1 Pet. 1:3-9). I'm so excited for the day we can finally be there together.
Some quotes:
This [here on earth] is the intermediate state where we experience the joy of fellowship with Christ even in our disembodied existence. But this is not our final hope. Ultimately we are waiting for the resurrection of our bodies.
It's hard to grasp the goodness and delight of life everlasting, because “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined” the blessedness that will be ours in the age to come (1 Cor. 2:9). But we must trust that God will not disappoint. Everlasting life is an article of faith (“I believe...”). We must believe with longing and hope all that the Bible teaches about our final state. We are meant to think of the end of the story more than we do. pg. 112
[Heaven is] like that rare moment when you know in your bones that God is with you and you know you really love Him and you want to sing and shout and tell everyone how you feel...except the moments never stop and never wane.
All this experience of delight and glory will go on forever. On earth, all our joy is fleeting. Food tastes good and is gone. Sex is enjoyable, then it's over. Kids are precious, but they drive you nuts. On earth there is anticipation of pleasure, a moment or season of delight, and then it passes. Joy is always mingled with pain. Delight is always interrupted by suffering. But not in heaven. There, the glory and delight and love are always growing, always swelling, and always increasing as we learn more and see more of God. Every Tuesday is better than Monday. Every Wednesday is better than Tuesday. Every Thursday is better than Wednesday. Nonstop, continuous, everlasting glory. 113
Great post...I love this book. I haven't gotten to chapter 22, but it makes me want to read ahead. I especially love the last quote. That's a good one--the unending joy without pain.
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"There, the glory and delight and love are always growing..." yay!
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