 The Eclipse
The recent eclipse on April 8th was a very impressive thing to experience. To be honest, I don’t know what I was expecting. The kind of hype that I had heard was that it would be an amazing thing to see and it would fully live up to the anticipation. I had seen videos where people would scream and cry and express many emotions when viewing the totality. I did not experience any of that but, I was impressed to see the phenomenon. One thing that stood out to me was that what really made this a big deal was that most of us had never seen one and would never see one again. The sight was beautiful and astonishing but I was struck by the thought that if we had one daily or weekly, we would probably become immune to the amazement. Rareness makes us think of things as special and often regularly repeated things get disregarded simply for being common. Later that same day, I happened to be outside at sunset. I noticed just how glorious the sunset was as I contemplated this majesty. I was reminded that I ought to be attentive to the many amazing ways that God so richly displays His glory, both those that are rare and those that are regular. Sustained Glory As mentioned above, our sense of wonder and awe can often become dull from regular repeated exposure. But if this is true, how will we not become numb to the glory of God in His eternal presence forever in our future? I propose that this is a serious issue because we were created to worship. It is our purpose as the image bearers of God to eternally magnify and rejoice in the glory of God. As the catechism says our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. But will we be able to sustain such astonishment, such wonder, such awe! I think that there could be many facets to consider about this question but here I would like to consider just two. The first point to consider is probably the one that we all assume most naturally. That is that God’s glory unveiled and unmediated will be of a kind and scale so great that we will always be overwhelmed with His greatness. I am sure that this is true. Consider the last chapter of the Bible (Revelation 22:1-4). Here the Lord describes through the Apostle John this eternal scene. One thing that we must not overlook is the newness of this place. We are told that the river of life is flowing out from the throne of God and Christ. Flowing rivers are pictures of continual renewal. If I go down to the Buffalo river today and swim I cannot return and swim in the same water tomorrow because the water is constantly flowing. Also, on either side of this river the tree of life is yielding its fruit every month. Also, the night never comes for the light of God's glory shines on for this glorious eternal day. The point I am making is that God’s glory and our eternal existence is perpetually new. The newness will never wear off because we will be living in the eternal newness of God’s glory. I, of course, cannot explain how this is or how we will experience it for no one has yet to experience it but we will! Eternal Capacity The second aspect that we also must remember is that we will not be the same as we are now. Of course in this life the things around us get tarnished and fade from their youthful beauty. But in eternity it is not only our surroundings that will be renewed but us also. We will be living in glorified bodies! We will be thinking with renewed minds! We will be hearing with perfected ears! We will be seeing with clear eyes! We will be loving with our regenerate hearts unbound by even the presence of sin! My point is that we will be different. We will have the capacity to glorify, worship, rejoice, and enjoy God that we cannot now even fathom. I believe that this is what the Apostle Paul referred to as an eternal weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). As wonderful as the Eclipse was, it was beheld by my fallen and frail eyes. But when we see Jesus in glory, we will see Him as He is and be like Him (1 John 3:2). This means that we will be able to experience the glory perfectly and fully!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |