This issue came up for me today. What if you could have heaven, or anything you desired for eternity, without the presence of God? Would you take it? Is the thought of heaven more delightful than the thought of seeing the Lord face to face? If that is your position, you might want to examine yourself in light of the Scriptures:
1. Consider that Moses wouldn’t lead the people into the Promised Land without God’s presence:
- Exodus 33:14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And [Moses] said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.
2. Consider the picture painted by John’s Revelation of the centrality of Christ in the heavenly vision:
- Revelation 7:9 ¶ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
3. Consider that God’s Initial Covenant Promise involves not only a place and a people, but his presence:
- Genesis 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.
- Exodus 6:7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
- Matthew 28:20 …And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
4. Consider that God Himself is the primary portion, inheritance, and dwelling place of His people:
- Lamentations 3:24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
- Psalm 90:1 …Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
5. Consider that Fulness of Joy is to be found in God’s presence:
- Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
6. Consider that Jesus prepares a place for us, not for the sake of the place, but for the sake of His presence with us:
- John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
7. Consider that the vision of Christ’s glory(and our conformity to that glory) is the chief purpose of heaven:
- John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
- 1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
8. Consider why the Apostle Paul desired to depart this life:
- Philippians 1:23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
It seems to me that Isaac Watts summarizes the feeling, desire, and ultimate aspiration of the Christian well in the words of this hymn:
For ever to behold him shine,
For evermore to call him mine, And see him still before me.
For ever on his face to gaze,
And meet his full assembled rays,
While all the Father he displays, To all the saints for ever.”Not all things else are half so dear
As his delightful presence here; What must it be in heaven?…But how must his celestial voice
Make my enraptured heart rejoice, When I in glory near him;
While I before the heavenly gate,
For everlasting entrance wait,
And Jesus, on his throne of state, Invites me to come near him.‘Come in, thou blessed, sit by me;
With my own life I ransom’d thee; Come, taste my perfect favour;
Come in, thou happy spirit, come,
Thou now shall dwell with me at home,
Ye blissful mansion, make him room, for he must stay for ever’ (Isaac Watts).
Where are you? What’s your position? Would you take heaven without God’s presence? Think about it, for it may tell you a good deal about the state of your soul in its relationship to the Lord.
