Holy Forever

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, 

"Salvation [belongs] to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" 

All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, to our God forever and ever. Amen." (Rev 7:9-12 NKJV)

Last Sunday the worship at my church was simply glorious. We sang songs focused on the holiness of God. When our worship leader introduced the songs, he read from the book of Revelation.

One of my very favorite worship songs is Holy Forever, written and sung by Jenn Johnson here...

As we sung these songs Sunday, I was overwhelmed by some thoughts about heaven.

The first words of the Lord's prayer are "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name." That is our first call and privilege - to exalt His name together! "Let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Those words indicate that the saints and angels in heaven are actively and presently doing the will of almighty God. The will of God is that all beings in heaven and earth worship and adore Him with their whole heart and soul and strength. 

I know my parents were both believers and are now in the presence of God. When I worship God, I am able to join the chorus of heaven singing His praises, as in the book of Revelation. It gives me inexpressible joy to know that my loved ones are worshiping with me as we lift up the name of Jesus. He is worthy of all glory and honor and praise!

The Power of Praise and Worship

I haven't posted much this year, mostly because I can only write when I feel inspired to write. But for months I've been meaning to write something about an experience with God that transformed my faith, my life and my understanding of heaven. But first let me start with this vision of John from the Bible.

And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

 

"Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!
"Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy; for
ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU,
FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED." 

[Rev 15:2-4 NASB95]

 A few months ago a couple of our grandchildren were with us in the worship service, and after the songs were finished my grandson looked up at me and said, "have you been crying?" Well, I guess to a child it would look that way, but I had to explain that many times when I am pouring my heart out singing songs of worship, the tears begin to flow. That's a bit embarrassing and maybe hard to understand, but it hasn't always been that way for me.

In the spring of 2020 the world began to shut down as the Covid-19 virus became a pandemic. The first attempt to stop it (the "15 days to slow the spread" shutdown) finally ended in Texas after a couple of months when the warmer weather came. I was eager to get out of the house, and my wife was hosting her sisters for an extended weekend, so I went to visit my brother-in-law in the Texas Hill Country. Dave is a part-time worship leader and great host, and we had a few days of good fellowship while the sisters enjoyed spending time together.

It's about a four hour drive back to our house, and that was the time when I had my first real taste of heaven. I have a pretty good collection of worship music on my phone, so I began listening as I drove through the hills enjoying the beauty of the countryside. I can't remember the song that was playing, but as I looked into the sky that morning, I felt like heaven was just beyond the clouds, and I began to praise the Lord with thanksgiving in my heart for his great faithfulness and mercy. An hour passed and I stopped for coffee at a drive-through.

When I got back on the freeway, the worship intensified. I could truly envision the saints and angels around the throne of God, singing and bowing prostrate before Almighty God and the Lamb. Song after song played while I sang along and prayed. As I drove up each hill, I felt like I was about to pass through the clouds into glory! The tears began to flow and I could barely keep both hands on the wheel or keep my eyes dry enough to drive. I was singing and shouting praise to God while thinking about the unspeakable joy and gratefulness in my heart, that God would allow a sinner such as myself to come into his presence through the righteous blood of Jesus!

This continued for a couple more hours while I was getting more and more enraptured in the presence of God, until I finally pulled into the garage at my house. The car was still running and I knew my wife was waiting for me inside, but I did not want to turn the music off or leave the throne room of praise. I actually prayed, "Lord if you want to take me now, I'm ready!" I confess I had a brief thought that the carbon-monoxide might have helped, but soon realized that God wanted me to take that experience and remember it for the rest of my life.

This is what I learned from that day. Heaven will be a wonderful place, not because of its spectacular beauty or because of the glory of the new creation, but because of  The One I am with, and the unspeakable joy of being in the presence of saints and angels singing praise and proclaiming the righteous acts of God. In the four hours I drove, I never got tired or sore in the car; I never got bored or wanted to go anywhere or do anything but to continue in ever-increasing praise and worship. This was a truly unique experience that I cannot re-create, though I certainly pour my heart into worship whenever I can.

I also learned (and continue to learn) that our praise has an audience, whether alone or with thousands of other believers. When we come into the sanctuary to lift up the name of Jesus, we are singing and testifying to God himself, and to angels and the host of heaven, proclaiming his righteousness and agreeing with God that all his ways are true and just. God created us to proclaim his testimonies before thrones and dominions in heaven and on earth. And that is why, if you ever catch a glimpse of me with my hands lifted high and my face covered with tears, you can know that I've been in the presence of my savior and the Lord of my life, Jesus Christ.

Understanding the Trinity

One of the things I struggled with over the years is reconciling the monotheistic concept of Judaism with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Since the term "Trinity" is not in the Bible I have felt a need to understand why it has been considered a core doctrine by Christian churches for virtually all of church history.

So before I raise questions in your mind about my own orthodoxy, let me explain. I tremble to even consider that I might misrepresent God's nature, and don't believe that anyone can truly comprehend the nature of God since he exists beyond our frame of reference in time and space. However, I really want to understand what the Bible says about the nature of God and his relationship to Jesus our Lord, so I will proceed with my limited analogy if you will bear with me in this endeavor.

The SHMA

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! (Deuteronomy 6:4 NASB)

This is a phrase that every Jew knows and memorizes as a child. It is the foundation of Judaism and the first commandment in the Torah. Jesus, being a Jewish Rabbi, understood and agreed with the writings of Moses, calling the SHMA the Greatest Commandment. However, the New Testament clearly indicates that Jesus made Himself equal with God by calling God His Father. So now God appears as two personalities in a family relationship.

This Father-Son relationship is most fundamental to Christianity and most abhorrent to the religion of Islam, who consider Christianity to be a polytheistic religion. So how do you explain to a Muslim (or a Jew for that matter) that you believe in one God who has multiple forms or personalities? Is He one God or two or three? One morning recently I awakened with thoughts that helped resolve that question in my mind.

The FORM of God

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:6 NASB)

All through the Old Testament there are references to the "right hand" or "strong arm" or "outstretched arm" of God. These references uniformly occur in places where God is interacting with creation as Lord and Savior, in other words, in the role of Messiah. In fact in practically every reference you can substitute the name of the Messiah for this term and it makes perfect sense. For example,

My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And the Messiah will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait for Me, And for the Messiah they will wait expectantly. (Isaiah 51:5)

Ah Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and the Messiah. (Jeremiah 32:17)

Try this yourself; I think you will find a blessing in that.

In the New Testament we see the glorified Jesus our High Priest, seated at the right hand of God. The thought occurred to me that perhaps Jesus actually is analogous to God's right hand. The concept of a spiritual body consisting of multiple interacting personalities is not foreign to the Bible; reference the Body of Christ for example.

So when Jesus communicates with the Father, is this a conversation, or an interaction analogous to the interaction of the brain with the body, where the brain communicates via a type of nervous system to produce visible action? In this case, even though the Son of God is communicating to the Father as a person, in the spirit the two are considered one. You would not refer to me as "they" in reference to my body parts, but as to "him" who has a single will and many interconnected members. Is it possible that in the incomprehensible nature of God we can make such an analogy? Let me continue.

The Spirit Connection

I now understand that the Holy Spirit is analogous to the central nervous system of God. The Holy Spirit makes it possible to connect directly to God. It was the Holy Spirit that rested upon Jesus, fusing His will to God and allowing Jesus to carry out the perfect plan of God on earth. The Holy Spirit so fully embodied the Father's presence in Jesus that He could say "whoever has seen Me has seen the Father."

Now, the body analogy may be confusing since the Holy Spirit is invisible, like the wind. In my lifetime this has become much easier to visualize since we transmit control signals invisibly all around the world and through the darkness of space by various forms of electromagnetic radiation. Certainly the Creator of the universe could operate in ways that go far beyond our mortal technologies, even transcending the boundaries of time.

Jesus said that those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. That is our connection protocol. We authenticate by being authentic, by emptying ourselves of our old lives to put on the righteousness of Christ. We connect to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, the Helper whom the Father sends to be with us and in us, who teaches us and intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. The Holy Spirit translates our earthly requests to heavenly and perfect petitions before the throne of God.

Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." In our human form we cannot behold the face of God and live, but through His Spirit we can grasp the nail pierced hand of God and draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.

Conclusion

Though we may not comprehend God's true nature while we exist in earthly form, we can understand that God took the form of a man (Jesus), and was indwelt by the Holy Spirit who empowered Him to perfectly reflect the nature and will of God on earth. The creator is still worshiped as the one true God. There is one throne in Heaven, not three, and Jesus is seated or standing there at the right hand of God to execute God's plan for creation.

The Valley of Jehoshaphat

"I will gather all the nations

    And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

    Then I will enter into judgment with them there
    On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
    Whom they have scattered among the nations;
    And they have divided up My land.
"They have also cast lots for My people,
    Traded a boy for a harlot
    And sold a girl for wine that they may drink."
Joel 3:2-3 NASB

Joel prophesied that the LORD will execute vengeance on the nations in the last days. This would happen in the "Valley of Jehoshaphat". Another way to translate this is "Valley of God's Judgment" since Jehoshaphat means "God is Judge". This is no doubt in reference to the valley where God destroyed the nations who came against Judah, in response to their fasting and prayer and praise and worship.

It is from this chapter that John draws at least two quotations in the book of Revelation:

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
            Come, tread, for the wine press is full;
            The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.

The sun and moon grow dark
            And the stars lose their brightness.
Joel 3:13,15 NASB

These verses are clearly referring to the battle of the ages between the armies of the LORD and the armies of the nations. What have the nations done to merit this day of vengeance?

• Scattered His people among the nations - desolation of the church by persecution and corruption
• Divided up His land - confiscation of property and occupation of holy ground
• Cast lots for His people - slave trade
• Traded a boy for a harlot, sold a girl for wine - sex and drug trafficking

These atrocities happen around the world, but mostly outside America. My church has committed to fighting human trafficking and the sex trade. I must believe that as heinous as the persecution of the church has been throughout history, rampant sex trafficking of innocent children must surely fill the cup of God's wrath to overflowing.

We are working to stop the tide of human trafficking and sex slavery, and I have to believe from studying these verses about Jehoshaphat that we can:

• Recognize that we are powerless before this great multitude coming against us
• Stand before the LORD with our infants and wives and children
• Bow with our face to the ground and worship the LORD
• Rise up early and put our trust in the LORD our God
• Begin singing and praising God
• Stand and see the salvation of the LORD on our behalf 
• Take back the spoil, which are the poor desperate young people caught in these traps

We will surely overcome, but if not, surely this cup of reeling will one day overflow in the Valley of Jehoshaphat and bring the armies of the LORD to the final battle.