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Around 3,000 years ago, the shepherd and King of Israel David uttered two tremendous declarations bookending the best-known and most beloved psalm in Scripture, Psalm 23.
He begins in verse 1 by proclaiming, "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need" (New Living Translation). And at the end he confidently states, "Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life ..." (Psalms 23:6, NLT), concluding, "... and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (same verse).
This framework encapsulates what's been presented so far in this column's series about eternity. Between those two bookends a lot of life happens, be it "green pastures" or "the valley of the shadow of death" (Psalms 23:2, Psalms 23:4), but the words give purpose to what we are going through in this life.
What does it mean to "dwell in the house of the Lord forever"? We will take a peek into that realm, building on two previous columns. The first, "Fixing Our Eyes on Eternity" in the November-December 2019 issue, spoke to man's search for meaning and offered biblical solutions that move beyond our very real moments of human frustration and despair. The second, "I Go to Prepare a Place for You" in the March-April 2020 issue, defined eternity as not merely a destination but as a way of traveling, by entering into a close and deep relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ (John 17:1-3).
As we proceed further, it's noteworthy that Scripture gives more space to the fact of eternity being God's gift to humanity than it does to describing what eternity is and means. God gives us scriptural snapshots based on what we humanly might comprehend of this limitless existence while in our human sphere.
Such "peeks into eternity" can be highly motivating for us who by God's grace will enter the ultimate "house of the Lord." It sustains us in holding dear to Jesus' invitation of "Follow Me" (see Matthew 4:19; John 21:22). Now let's step forward, in preview, to glimpse eternity on display.
Home is often described as where the heart is. And that is the key to eternity. Hebrews 11 defines God's faithful servants down through the ages as those who "died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it" (Hebrews 11:13, NLT).
These spiritual pilgrims never settled for the surroundings of this wayward age, but "were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:16, NLT).
Remember David's conclusion to Psalm 23 ? He pinned everything on ultimately dwelling in the house of the Lord forever. What will that be like?
Growing up in Bethlehem, David experienced the rather rough and functional dwellings of people of his day, but it was home! Why? Home is where your loved ones are. It may not be filled with every furnishing, but it's filled with love.
Additionally, he would have been familiar with the tabernacle at Gibeon, with its designated Holy of Holies recognized as the earthly home of the God of Israel. It's where heaven touched earth and they became one, pointing to God's desire for closeness with His people. As He told the Israelites, "I will take you as My people, and I will be your God" (Exodus 6:7).
We find this desire of God presented in the opening magnified snapshot of eternity revealed in the words of the apostle John: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle [dwelling place] of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God'" (Revelation 21:1-3).
Here is the "better place" those listed in Hebrews 11 longed for. Here is the heavenly homeland -- yes, home! Here is the heavenly city coming down to the earth.
Welcome to eternity! Not only can we read about this epic event for encouragement and comfort now, but one day we will personally witness this scriptural snapshot of eternity on display come into full focus as the climactic reality of what Jesus told us to pray: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
John captured the personal essence of entering eternity in one of his epistles, writing: "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:1-2).
The promise that "the pure in heart will see God" will at last come true (Matthew 5:8), more so than even Moses was permitted to see when the "I AM" told him, "You cannot look upon My face and live" (Exodus 33:18-23).
How is it possible that we are enabled to move into the "unapproachable light" of God's presence? (see 1 Timothy 6:16). The apostle Paul pointed out that "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
To put it bluntly, we simply aren't capable at this moment of fully experiencing eternity on display. We don't have the right equipment, but God of course does! And He is going to allow those "who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12) to go through a miraculous transformation. As Paul further wrote, "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:53).
Yes, we will be in the family of God as the immortal children of God, which is the culmination of God's stated purpose for humanity. As the old saying goes, "Like father, like son." God's gift of immortality will allow us to share in His qualities, as John pointed to in stating that "we shall be like Him." The apostle Peter even said that we are to be "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).
This will not make us equal in authority with the uncreated God the Father and Jesus Christ. Unlike Them, we are created from dust and were given initial birth in time and space. As many promises reveal, we will reign with Them yet under Them, as They will forever be supreme. Yet what a privilege it is to be part of the family and household of God. In the Father's and Christ's love and grace towards us, They open up eternity and allow us to enter and, most importantly, remain!
Eternity will become home -- not a mere guest residence or timeshare. Remember David's confidence that he would abide in the ultimate "house of the Lord forever." Jesus declares to His followers through the ages, "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more" (Revelation 3:12). Bottom line? By God's grace we enter, experience and remain in eternity.
It's a well-known law of nature that for every cause there's a correlating effect, and eternity is no stranger to this reality. What enables every other snapshot of eternity on display is the presence of God the Father and the risen and exalted Jesus Christ (see John 17:1-3).
As we progress through the scriptural snapshot of Revelation 21-22, recognize that eternity to come is, in an important sense, a return to Eden before the curse humanity brought on itself through following Satan into sin, with God and man at last brought together again in perfect harmony. In fact, Revelation 22:3 emboldens us to envision God once again in the midst of His creation, as the Father and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, sit on Their thrones in the midst of eternity on display.
Just as the tabernacle of the wilderness and the temple in Jerusalem were set in the midst of God's covenant people, so this ultimate "household of the Lord," this holy realm, this perpetual home, will likewise be in the midst of the immortal servants of God in covenant with Him. And another emblem of God's righteousness and blessing in the midst of Eden will be here too -- the tree of life (Revelation 22:2).
The presence of God the Father and the Lamb creates an incredible environment -- described with several uses of the word "no." Humanly we often cringe at the sound of "no," upset at a denial of what we want. But God uses "no" in this snapshot to tell us wonderful, positive things about eternity.
There will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying and no more pain. And that's just in Revelation 21:1-3. God continues to roll out the "no's" in that there will be no shut gate because there will be no night (Revelation 21:25; 22:5). And again, there will be no more curse (Revelation 21:3), because there will by no means be anything wrong that defiles (Revelation 21:27).
And one more positive round of "no's" is on full display as the ultimate veil of the physical realm melts away, in that nothing will come between us and the God who loves us and whom we in turn love: "But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light" (Revelation 21:22-23; compare Revelation 22:5).
On the last night of His human life Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2), and here in Revelation we see the fulfillment of Christ's promise -- with God and His redeemed people at last together forever in unending joy and blessing.
But for now we have some homework -- and I might say some hard work and heart work -- yet to accomplish in heeding Christ's invitation of "Follow Me." Until next time, having peeked into eternity on display, let's hold fast to that vision, letting it motivate us to continue on to our ultimate home with God.
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