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I grew up in a Christian faith that perpetuated a belief that those entering eternity with God would fully enjoy the after-life in the presence of God. In this belief system, whether one comes to faith early in life or on their death bed, it is believed that each one will be completely satisfied and happy in eternity.
Overall, I do agree.
Nevertheless, I think there is an aspect of life in eternity that is greatly affected by the life we live on earth. I’ll say it this way…
Our capacity to enjoy eternity is formed by the way we live our lives while on earth.
Let me explain (Don’t throw stones…yet.).
I believe that the eternity I enjoy will be much different from anyone else in heaven. For example, I believe that Mother Teresa’s capacity to enjoy God will be on a different level than I will ever experience. Although both of us will be completely satisfied in eternity, her greater capacity for enjoyment was formed by the way she lived life here on earth.
I think this understanding highlights God’s just character. He does reward accordingly. This is not to say that our access to heaven is somehow rooted in what we do for him. That portion is definitely rooted in his loving grace.
I’m simply emphasizing that our capacity to enjoy God is greatly determined by our relationship with him, his creation, and his work. In other words, what we do here on earth matters; not only for the now, but also for eternity. People who have a view that commitment to Christ can be pushed aside until the end are missing out on an opportunity to increase capacity for experiencing God.
Staying in relationship with him and caring for the things he cares about (e.g., humanity, creation, etc.) will not only greatly impact your experience of God in the now, but also eternity.
Your work for him in never in vain.
Your thoughts?
Life Scribbles: Increasing Capacity to Enjoy Eternity
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Life Scribbles: Increasing Capacity to Enjoy Eternity
When you said “Your work for him is never in vain” I cannot help but think of the Apostle Paul’s great chapter on the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15. I agree with you and include that the fact that there is a resurrection of our bodies should energize us to do the work of the Lord. Or to put it another way the fact that we await the resurrection of our bodies should help to form the way we live our lives now.
“Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).
So what we do does matter for eternity. So our capacity to enjoy eternity is formed by the way we live our lives while on earth. And also eternity (or the hope of eternity) gives us a new capacity to enjoy and truly live our lives now.
Life Scribbles: Increasing Capacity to Enjoy Eternity
Yes, I agree …. with an asterisk.
I love that you are talking about heaven. When God tells us to set our sights on things above, I think he wants us to have some sort of understanding (even if it’s not the full knowledge of) what we are setting our sights on. And I grew up, sadly, with a MISunderstanding of heaven. I am grateful God has been gracious enough to show me otherwise.
I definitely agree and believe we enter heaven with different levels of knowing/experiencing Him — based on how we experienced him here on this earth. And it seems to me his command to ‘store up treasure for ourselves in heaven’ might further back up your post. Why else would it be important for us to ‘store up treasure,’ through obedience, if it didn’t have some sort of impact on eternal life and how we experience it?
I also believe in heaven we will continue to learn and grow. (Which, I am HUGELY excited about.) So my thought is: even though we enter heaven with our different understandings, we could grow in our depth of knowledge and understanding, while living on the new earth, to know God in the same way as, say, Mother Teresa.
You happened to hit on a topic, I LOVE to talk about — albeit, my understanding is still growing and being shaped. Thanks for your post!
And as an aside: I would love to talk to Mother Teresa once in heaven to hear her thoughts. I’m aware she forged through much darkness in her interior life that few were privy to while she was alive. I would love to hear her wax eloquent on the freedom she is experiencing now that it’s gone.
Life Scribbles: Increasing Capacity to Enjoy Eternity
Systematic theology removed a lot of the excitement out of Heaven by coldly calculating that if the greatest joy we can experience is the presence of God, then all that matters about Heaven is the presence of God. This divorces the soul from the body and negates any reason for bodily resurrection or for its resurrected environment. So while we can therefore say that there is an aspect of physical enjoyment that is procured in Heaven, would any “levels” be in accordance with this or simply in accordance with the spiritual and intellectual knowledge and appreciation of God that was discovered while on earth through living out the life of Christ?
If the levels of enjoyment don’t correspond to our physical enjoyment of Heaven, but relate to an appreciation of God, then wouldn’t a differentiation in the experience of God be a limiter on the self-revelatory capabilities of a divine being? If Paul is truthful in I Corinthians 13 he looks forward to a time where knowledge is replaced with perfection, could we then therefore say that the experience of God will change over time in Heaven?
Nevertheless, scripture does seem to indicate that there is greater honor (for lack of a better term) afforded to those who got the best head start on eternal life in their earthly bodies. If N.T. Wright is correct that work is done in Heaven because work existed in Eden, then might this be a more accurate place to understand different levels of enjoyment?
Life Scribbles: Increasing Capacity to Enjoy Eternity
Thanks Marc for the note. I was actually referring to that passage in Corinthians
April, thanks for stopping by. Love to hear more about your thoughts on learning in heaven. I haven’t really heard too much about that.
Love your thought about Mother Teresa. I can’t even imagine how many would want to speak with her
Thomas, interesting thoughts. I think you bring up great questions about mind/body relationships. I suppose capacity is primarily referencing the mind in this case. I’m not too sure of what kind of new body we would receive. Have you reached any conclusions?