“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4 NLT)
A simple way to consider the answer to the above question is this: “Is it boring to be in the presence of Jesus?” Not for me and I’m in His presence every second of every day…and so are you! Every person on earth since the moment of creation has and will continue to be in God’s presence until time as we know it stops.
Upon dying we are either ushered into God’s eternal presence or separated from His presence for all eternity. That’s why it’s hell! Hell is to be separated from God’s eternal presence. That’s the nature of sin. Sin separates – people from Truth, people from people, but most dramatically we see it’s ugly effects as it separates people from God.
Critics complain that God punishes people in horrible and agonizing ways when they are “sent” to hell, but the reality is, these are not “punishments” that God assigns, rather they are circumstances finally realized by the separation we’ve allowed through our choice of sin over holiness; Satan over Jesus; evil over good; ourselves over God. The agonizing torment of then knowing fully how wrong we were will haunt us throughout all eternity, not because God caused it, but allowed it because He gives us choice.
On the other hand, heaven will never be boring because it will be an ever-increasing revelation of who God is and all we will be becoming in Him in our new home. John MacArthur wrote: “Heaven will never be boring or monotonous, precisely because God’s glory will be on full display.”
God’s glory is fully revealed in Jesus, then in and through us to the extent we give revelation to His presence working in and through us in the Person of His Holy Spirit. But all of His creation bears witness to His glory to some extent.
Think of the view from the top of Mount Everest, amplified by the sacrifice in time, money, and physical exertion it took to get there. Then think of the tremendous cost to God, in giving His only Son. But there’s a cost to be had by us as well. For us to remain faithful, we must make choices daily to exalt Jesus rather than give in to the frills and thrills of this world. In the end, it will have cost us everything to love and honor Jesus, even, as it has millions already, to the giving of our very lives.
But in one instant any thought of what we may have given will be erased in the glory of our Savior’s face. Glory equals presence, so, for the first time, though we’ve sensed and lived in His holy presence even before He moved into our lives, we’ll finally see as we’ve been seen. Without obstacle of any kind, we’ll finally look upon unrivalled beauty, the exquisite nature of which human beings have not the capacity to conceive.
We’ll touch and kiss His beautiful feet and realize whatever it has cost us to be in this moment, it was worth it. Heaven isn’t about geography as much as finally experiencing His abiding presence in ways we’ve been restricted because of our humanity. Once being separated by time and space, but then with unhindered joy we’ll finally have full access to His holy presence in a manner heretofore inconceivable.
Nothing about that will be boring!
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 