 What will worship in the new heavens and new earth be like? In Rev. 21:3-4 we read: "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
Two things immediately stand out. First, we see that God will be there. Overstating the obvious? Maybe, but sometimes we forget that God will be the highlight of heaven! John Piper explains it this way: "Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savouring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel." This is what should excite us most about eternity: that we can worship God perfectly in his glorious presence. Heaven would not be heaven without Jesus. Which brings us to the second point of the passage: when we worship God in glory, we will do so in perfect joy and contentment. In his presence we will not have pain or mourning. Why? To equip us for the worship of heaven God will make us new - glorified. In other words, glorified spirits and resurrected bodies are not the goal of our salvation. They are the means through which God makes it possible for us to reach the goal: perfect worship. How does this change your worship now? It should remind us where our focus should be: God. Make every blessing a servant of worship, not the object thereof. Because of Christ, Pastor Pieter |