Mankind was created in a paradise, but that paradise was soon invaded by the devil. And the devil brought in sin, which meant that Adam and Eve could not continue in the paradise God had created for them. They were cast out and, as long as there was no revelation of God’s grace, there must have seemed no hope that they could ever have returned to a paradise.
Yet very soon after the Fall, God made known that, through the seed of the woman, there was mercy for guilty sinners. And “when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:4,5). The Son of God became man so that He might suffer unto death for sinners and restore them to a place among God’s children. These children are rescued from the consequences of Adam’s fall, and have a right at last to enter a paradise from which no human being will ever be turned out. This last blessing is specially implied in the promise of eternal life to everyone who believes in Jesus.
So when the thief on the cross addressed the suffering Saviour with the believing words, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom”, he was assured of eternal life in heaven. “Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:42,43). His was a speedy passage to the promised paradise, but every other sinner who believes in Jesus will reach heaven just as surely – if not so quickly.
Yet some of those who seem to believe are not genuine; they will not persevere to the end; they will meet temptations which they will fail to overcome. On the other hand, the Saviour promised the Church in Ephesus, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (Rev 2:7); goodness and mercy will follow them all their days, and they will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. There they will enjoy a full restoration of what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were never able to eat the fruit of the tree of life there, never having reached the end of their probationary period under the covenant of works. So they were never secured in a state of perfect innocence; they never reached
the stage where they would have absolute protection from temptation and sin. Yet everyone who reaches heaven will, figuratively, “eat of the tree of life”; they will have total security from all temptation and sin in that state of perfect blessedness which will be their eternal paradise.
Accordingly John makes a particularly significant statement in describing what he was shown of heaven: “There shall be no more curse” (Rev 22:3). In heaven God’s children will never again experience what was so damaging to them in this life. Sin will never disturb them – sin in other people or in their own hearts – for evil can never again enter heaven; when sin entered the hearts of a proportion of the angels, they and their sins were immediately banished: they were cast “down to hell, and delivered . . . into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement” (2 Pet 2:4).
In a world where there is no sin, every grace must be in perfect exercise. That is why, in a sermon on 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, Jonathan Edwards1 describes heaven as a world of love, because it is “a state in which the Holy Spirit shall be more perfectly and abundantly given to the Church than it is now on earth”. Lying behind this is the fact that “heaven is the palace or presence-chamber of the high and holy One, whose name is love, and who is both the cause and source of all holy love”. And he goes on: “There dwells God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit, united as one, in infinitely dear and incomprehensible and mutual and eternal love”.
Under his second head, Edwards makes the following points about heaven: (1.) There are none but lovely objects there. (2.) They shall be perfectly lovely. (3.) They shall be all those objects that the saints have set their hearts upon, and which they have loved above all things while in this world.
He concludes this section by encouraging those who have the beginnings of that love: “Every Christian friend that goes before us from this world is a ransomed spirit waiting to welcome us in heaven. There will be the infant of days that we have lost below, through grace to be found above; there the Christian father and mother and wife and child and friend, with whom we shall renew the holy fellowship of the saints, which was interrupted by death here but shall be commenced again in the upper sanctuary and then shall never end. There we shall have company with the patriarchs and fathers and saints of the Old and New Testaments, and those of whom the world was not worthy, with whom on earth we were only conversant by faith. And there, above all, we shall enjoy and dwell with God the Father, whom we have loved with all our hearts on earth; and with Jesus Christ, our beloved Saviour, who has always been to us the chief among ten thousands and altogether
1All quotations are from Edwards’ volume, Charity and Its Fruits, reprinted in paperback by the Banner of Truth Trust at £7.75 and available from the Free Presbyterian Bookroom.
lovely; and with the Holy Ghost, our Sanctifier and Guide and Comforter.”
It is useful to quote from the main points of Edwards’ fifth head: (1.) Love in heaven is always mutual. (2.) The joy of heavenly love shall never be interrupted or damped by jealousy. (3.) There shall be nothing within themselves to clog or hinder the saints in heaven in the exercises . . . of love. (4.) In heaven love will be expressed with perfect decency and wisdom. (5.) There shall be nothing external in heaven to keep its inhabitants at a distance from each other, or to hinder their most perfect enjoyment of each other’s love. (9.) In heaven all things shall conspire to promote their love and . . . mutual enjoyment. (10.) The inhabitants of heaven shall know that they shall for ever be continued in the perfect enjoyment of each other’s love.
We may now turn to Edwards’ application of his subject: he first points out that, “if heaven be such a world . . . we may see a reason why contention and strife tend to darken our evidence of fitness for its possession”. He then comments on the blessedness of those who are entitled to heaven and gives some marks to help distinguish them from others: (1.) They have had the principle or seed of the same love that reigns in heaven implanted in their hearts in this world, in the work of regeneration. (2.) They have freely chosen the happiness that flows from the exercise and enjoyment of such love as is in heaven, above all other conceivable happiness. (3.) From the love that is in them, they are, in heart and life, in principle and practice, struggling after holiness. The preacher then warns the impenitent, reminding them that what has been said ought to alarm them: (1) by putting them in mind of their misery, in that they have no portion in this world of love; (2) by showing them that they are in danger of hell, which is a world of hatred.
Before closing, Edwards exhorts his hearers to seek heaven earnestly; he gives five directions, particularly to believers: (1.) Let not your heart go after the things of this world as your chief good. (2.) You must, in your meditations and holy exercises, be much engaged in conversing with heavenly persons and objects and enjoyments. (3.) Be content to pass through all difficulties in the way to heaven. (4.) In all your way, let your eye be fixed on Jesus, who has gone to heaven as your forerunner. (5.) If you would be in the way to the world of love, see that you live a life of love – of love to God and love to men.
Those who are brought to heaven found Christ in this world. As they were drawn to Him, they began to love Him, and it is a love that will never end. That love will find perfect expression in heaven for ever and ever, as God’s adopted children cry: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Rev 5:12). Has that love begun to find expression in your heart?