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something special. The first night performances
of plays are just as sought-after.
– For tennis or football fans, the finals in Wimbledon
or the Superbowl game are a special treat.
All that we now consider attractive, beautiful to
look at or a pleasure to hear pales in comparison
to heaven. The Bible describes both the wisdom
of God as well as heaven fittingly when it says:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has
conceived what God has prepared for those who
love him” (1 Cor 2:9).
Not just our eyes and ears but all our senses will
be satisfied in heaven. That includes for example,
our tastebuds but also much, much more –
everything that makes us feel good will be available
in heaven: love, peace, joy, friendliness,
goodness.
3 Heaven is the place of everlasting
celebration
How do we prepare for a celebration? The yearly
presentation of Oscars took place in Los Angeles
on March 23 1998. It was a gala party of film, to
which previous Oscar-winners, sponsors and
many actors were invited. One magazine
described the Oscar time-stress as follows:
“Pre-Oscar:
three months to go: book appointment with
hairdresser
one month to go: visit spa
10 days to go: get hair cut
3 days to go: visit tanning salon
On Oscar Day:
morning: work out, shower, wash hair, eat light
meal
lunch: wait for hair stylist
afternoon: wait for make-up artist
4pm exactly: guests must be in auditorium
Then the doors close. The dice have been cast.
’And the Oscar goes to…’ ”
As this example shows, the preparation for a celebration
which only lasts a few hours can take
tremendous effort. Most of the effort is spent on
beauty. In this world, everything deteriorates, and
beauty fades. The effort to compensate with artificial
means increases with age. None of this will
be necessary in heaven. There we will all be beautiful.
More precisely: we will all be glorious, and
glorious is the superlative of beautiful.
Jesus is described even in the Old Testament
when we read, “The Lord reigns, he is robed in
majesty” (Ps 93:1). He is the “glorious Lord Jesus”
(James 2:1). On his return, He will come in all His
power and glory (Matt 24:30). In John 17:22, He
prays to His Father: “I have given them the glory
that you gave me.”
God has a problem: How can He make us
humans understand the glory and festivity of
heaven? Jesus explains in a parable: “The kingdom
of heaven is like a king who prepared a
wedding banquet for his son” (Matt 22:2). A
wedding is the most beautiful celebration on
earth. Everything is prepared, down to the last
detail:
– beloved guests are invited
– the best food and finest drink will be served
– no problems will be discussed on the
special day
– the bride will look more beautiful than ever
before, and will wear the most beautiful and
most precious dress of her life
– everyone will have a good time
In using this well-known picture, Jesus tries to
describe heaven to us as an unusually beautiful
celebration. At the Last Supper, He says to His
disciples: “I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of
the vine from now on until that day when I drink
it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt
26:29). That wine will be like nothing we have
ever tasted here on earth. I also believe we will
eat in heaven. How else are we to interpret Luke
12:37: “He [= Jesus] will dress himself to serve,
will have them recline at the table and will come
and wait on them.”
We can safely assume that it will be a richly set
table. The earthly concepts of “costly” and “pre-
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