Jonathan Edwards on Being with Loved Ones in Heaven
It is not uncommon to hear someone speak of longing to be with a loved one who has gone to be with the Lord. Heaven has often been thought of as being a place where we are reconciled to those who have passed to glory before us. In his first published sermon, God Glorified in Man’s Dependence, Jonathan Edwards made a striking observation about the reason why we would enjoy being with loved ones in heaven. He wrote:
The Lord God, He is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem, and is the river of the water of life that runs, and the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God [Rev. 21:23; 22:1-2]. The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will forever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things : they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in anything else whatsoever, that will yield them delight and hapiness, will be what will be seen of God in them.1
[1]Jonathan Edwards The Works of Jonathan Edwards (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999) vol. 17 p. 208.
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Wonderful words by Edwards. I can long to see Christ and see my loved ones as I see Him in them. Encouraging!
Les, I thought it was a pretty amazing way of looking at things.