Beyond Our Wildest Expectation
Have you never wondered how it will be in heaven and on the new earth? Will we recognize each other? Will we have eternal youth? What will we do when there? Will we have our own occupations? Or will we only sing God's praises? Will we travel to other places in the universe? How much will we remember of our earthly existence? We are not the first ones to ask such questions!
What did the Sadducees want to know about the life in the hereafter? Matt. 22:23-28.
What did Jesus reply? Matt. 22:29, 30.
The statement of Jesus that is recorded in Matthew 22 was part of a discussion with the Sadducees. They were a group of Jewish leaders who denied the possibility of a bodily resurrection. It is clear that it was not Jesus' intention to give a full description of the conditions of eternal life. The context makes clear that Jesus wanted to emphasize that death has been conquered. He points beyond the reality of death and resurrection. Those who die are safe in His memory, and He can therefore still be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Nonetheless, Jesus' remark also clearly indicates that, in spite of all continuity, we will be raised with the unique identity that we had in this temporary life; there also will be plenty of discontinuity.
What are some of the things we will no longer experience in the earth made new? Rev. 21:1, 4, 22-27; 22:5.
Those of us who love vacationing on the seaside may be disappointed to learn that the sea will be "no more." However, to the people who first heard these words, the sea was a threat. Israel never was a sea-faring nation. For good reasons, it feared the dark depths of the oceans. And we know from several Gospel stories that even crossing the Sea of Galilee could be a scary experience. John the revelator tells us that in the new world that God will create, everything that could possibly be a threat to us will have been removed and everyone who could present a danger to us will be absent. We will be eternally secure!
| Try to imagine a world without sickness, death, fear, loss, a world in which we only keep growing in knowledge and love. What things here give us hints at what it will be like there? Let your imagination seek to grasp what this new existence will be like. What are you especially anticipating? |
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