November 3, 2024 - Pastor Message
December 21, 2024THE LAST THINGS HEAVEN
THE LAST THINGS
HEAVEN
“See what love the Father has given us that we are named children of God, and we are! On account of this the world does not know us, because it did not know him. Most dear, we are the children of God now, and what we will be is not yet revealed, since we know that, when he himself appears, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:1-3).
Scripture uses many images for heaven - a royal mansion with many rooms (John 14:2); a glorious city (Revelation 21:2); a wedding feast (Matthew 22:2); a kingdom full of light (Revelation 22:5), just to name a few. All of these are poetic attempts to paint a picture of something far beyond our limited, earthly understanding or ability to imagine. Heaven is where God is, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9), and reflects all of his infinite glory and holiness. There we will see God as he truly is, without the need for any mediation, sign, or sacraments, in what we call the Beatific Vision (1 John 3:3; Revelation 22:1-5).
This is the ultimate desire of every human heart, made in God’s image and likeness but doomed to eternal separation from God by sin. We long for reunion with God and seek to satisfy this desire in the flawed and broken things of this world, corrupted by sin. But God did not abandon us to our fate. In his infinite love for us, he sent his Son to take on our wounded nature, putting it to death on the cross, and raised us up to a new, glorious nature, infused with his own divine life and united with God. Thus, by living in his grace in this world that is passing away, we are made able to enjoy the Beatific Vision for eternity in heaven through our new creation in Christ.
Because of our central place in God’s plan, our re-creation in Christ extends to all of creation. Just as our sin brought corruption and death to all creation, so Christ’s grace brings rebirth and new life to all creation, with the promise of a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21) for those reborn in him. There we will be in perfect communion with God and all his creatures, including the angels and all those in God’s glory we call saints. These souls, made holy by their perfect union with God, who alone is holy (Revelation 15:4), already share in his glory while they await the final coming of his new creation, and, without the pain of sorrow but with the passion of their love for God and all their brothers and sisters, they mingle praise with petition as they cry out to God to bring his plan for our salvation to completion, gathering all his children to himself (Revelation 6:9-11). We turn to them on the feast of All Saints, seeking their prayers for us before God’s throne and looking to their example of holiness so that we may be made able to live in the same grace and share with them the same prize when our time in this world ends.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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