Newsletter –November  2009

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, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"  And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." Revelation 7:9-12

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

      What will heaven be like?  Where did grandma or grandpa go?  Will I see … in heaven?  What about my pet …?  We are coming to the close of the Church Year in November and these questions will become prominent as we move from All Saints Day, November 1^st, to Sunday of the Fulfillment on November 22.

      To help answer these questions about heaven, God gave us the Book of Revelation so that we might have a picture of what Life after life will be like.  Look at what John tells us.  There is a great crowd of people from every nation, tribe, and language wearing white robes and holding palm branches.  There are four living creatures, twenty four elders, the Lamb, the throne of God and God himself sitting on the throne.  All these creatures are on their knees before the throne of God and worshiping Him and speaking words of praise and glory to God and the Lamb.  What a beautiful picture this is for the believer.  We have been given a glimpse in to heaven.  Or have we?

      There is one thing we need to remember about heaven.  We may sing in the hymn “Heaven is my home” but that is not the end for the redeemed of Jesus Christ.  Heaven is a stopping point on the journey to Life after life.  It is not a place of cleansing or a place to make final restitution for sin.  Heaven is merely a place of expectant waiting for the final consummation of the world.

      Now, perhaps you are thinking that the creation we live in is to be destroyed.  Didn’t Jesus say that heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away?  Didn’t St Peter write the same thing about the Last Day when Jesus returns in judgment?  Didn’t he write, “That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.”  Certainly, this is true.

      However, John writes in the final chapters of this Revelation that he sees a new heaven and a new earth, a New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  St Paul writes of the same event when he says, “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”

      We will receive glorified bodies like unto Jesus’ glorified body.  All things having to do with sin will be forever removed from us.  Likewise, the creation we know will be reconstituted to be without sin and the effects of sin, and become for us the Eden where we will live in eternal fellowship with the faithful in God’s presence.

      Those who have died in faith are in the presence of the Lord and the Lamb, and awaiting the great day of our Reunion.  Yes, your family members who have gone before you in faith enjoy the eternal bliss of heaven.  They are dressed in white robes as John describes to us.  Heaven is their temporary home.  Are your pets in heaven?  Are there animals in heaven?  John writes that there are four horses, and four living creatures, but as for other animals that remains to be seen.  Like with Paul Harvey who would say on his news show, “Now for the rest of the story …”, we will have to wait to find out.

      What is most important is this.  Will you be there in the presence of God on the New Heaven and the New Earth?  Have you been brought into the family of God through the preaching and teaching of the Gospel?  Have you been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection?  Have you lived in the obedience of faith?  Do you trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do you repent of your sin and believe that Christ atoned for all your sin?  If so, then you will be among the saints kneeling before God’s throne in eternity.  God bless your faith to eternal life.

      In Christ,      

Rev. Robert W. Schneider

Our Saviour Lutheran Church

Evansville, Indiana