Tom Delaney was a talented Jazz musician and songwriter. In 1948, Delaney penned the phrase, “Ev’rybody wants to go to Heaven; but nobody wants to die!” For many people, inside the church and outside the church, this is how they feel about death. Death is not something any of us look forward to, but for those who have faith in Christ, death is only the final moment of suffering in which we enter the glory of Heaven.
Revelation 22:3-5 ESV
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Reflection
In Heaven, disciples of God experience the full release from every curse and cause of suffering that they endured on Earth. We will all be in the service of God, but our work will not be hindered by the cursed-stained toil we experienced in the brokenness of Earth. We will see God face-to-face. No boundaries! We will understand the depth of God’s love and His character in a way that is intimate and inexhaustible. The great theologian and preacher Charles Spurgeon said it this way, “To look into the face of Christ signifies to be well acquainted with his person, his office, his character, his work. So the saints in heaven shall have more knowledge of Christ than the most advanced below. As one has said, the babe in Christ admitted to heaven discovers more of Christ in a single hour than is known by all the divines of the assemblies of the church on earth.” What a great day it will be when we enter into Heaven and meet Jesus face-to-face.
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit! Give us all we need to endure all we can so that others will see our witness of you. May we fear living a life that has no purpose more than death itself, so that in the time of our death, we will know that we have brought Heaven closer to others through our toil. Amen.
