The moment after our friends say we are dead

(J. R. Miller, "Glimpses of the Heavenly Life" 1908)  LISTEN to audio!  Download audio

(You will find it helpful to listen to the audio above, as you read the text below.)

No earthly language is adequate to describe the blessedness, the joy, the happiness of Heaven! Perhaps no human word gathers and holds in itself so much of the truest meaning of Heaven, as the word "home". Home is a place of love. It is a place of confidence. We have nothing to hide or conceal from each other, inside home's doors. We know we are loved. Our faults may be seen and known, but we are dear in spite of them. We find there sympathy with our sufferings, and patience with our infirmities and shortcomings. Heaven is our home! Into it, all God's children will be gathered. It is a place of glory, of beauty, of splendor, a holy place—but, best of all, it is a place of perfect love.

As we read the wonderful description of the heavenly life in the book of Revelation, we find that all heaven's glory comes from Christ! "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne!" Revelation 5:6

Whatever else heaven may mean to us, it will, first of all, mean being with Christ! Here we see Him only by faith, ofttimes dimly. We long to see Him as He is. Our hearts hunger for Him. "We would see Jesus!" is our cry all our days.

But when the veil which hides heaven from our sight is torn for us, and the glory is suddenly revealed—we shall see, first of all, before we look upon any of the splendors of the place—Him we have loved—our Savior and our Friend, Jesus Christ! And He will wipe away every tear from our eyes!

Being with Him—we shall need nothing else to make our blessedness complete.
Seeing Him—we shall be satisfied.
Seeing Him—we shall be like Him, changed fully into His image!
Seeing Him—we shall then be with Him forever!

This dull bud will open, and a glorious rose will unfold in all its splendor!
From this poor, feeble, struggling earthly life—will emerge a child of God, in glorious beauty!

If only we could have a glimpse of ourselves—what we will be the moment after our friends say we are dead, could we go on living as if we were made only for the earth? Let us not grovel any longer! Let us who have this glorious future—not creep in the slime and dust! Let us live worthy of our exalted honor. When we see Christ, we shall be made like Him! "We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is!" 1 John 3:2

This hope of Heaven should strengthen us to overcome all earthly discouragements.
No matter how hard the way is—the end is glorious!
No matter how great . . .
  the fierceness of the battle,
  the weariness of the struggle,
  the bitterness of the sorrow,
  the keenness of the suffering
—glory is the final outcome!

"And so we will be with the Lord forever! Therefore comfort and encourage each other with these words!" 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18