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If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.” |
| —1 John 4:15 |
From time to time, most people wonder, at least for a moment or two, what eternity will be like.
C. S. Lewis wrote the seven books in his The Chronicles of Narnia series largely to answer questions some children of his fellow professors had asked their fathers.
Lewis characterizes heaven when he invites those traveling with him to “come further up, come further in.”
The gospel songwriters, Virgil and Blanche Brock, described eternity in the sentimentality of these words that fairly drip with emotion:
Beyond the sunset, O blissful morning
When with our Savior heaven is begun
Earth’s toiling ended, O glorious dawning
Beyond the sunset when day is done.
Beyond the sunset, no clouds will gather
No storms will threaten, no fears annoy
O day of gladness, O day unending
Beyond the sunset eternal joy.
Beyond the sunset, a hand will guide me
To God the Father whom I adore
His glorious presence, His words of welcome
Will be my portion on that fair shore.
Beyond the sunset, O glad reunion
With our dear loved ones who’ve gone before
In that fair homeland we’ll know no parting
Beyond the sunset forever more.
But there is a much more practical side to eternity, as Jesus stated in His words recorded in 1 John 4:15-21:
“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
“We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.
“For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
“And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
Eternity will hold for us the perfection of genuine love. And that experience—the experience of the Kingdom of God—begins in the here and now.
Let us cast off any feelings of hostility we may have for our brothers and sisters in Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with God-breathed love for one another.
