Wouldn’t it be great to have a promo video that showed us what we can expect in heaven? I’m sure our jaws would be on the floor through the whole thing – the sights, the sounds, and the unimaginable glory of God! Right?
But we don’t. (I’m still holding out for a play-by-play video in heaven of all the ways God answered prayers or intervened on my behalf – with angels and all!)
The Bible tells us enough though that should fill us with incredible expectation of what’s to come. And at the peak of that expectation of heaven should be the worship! So to whet your appetite a little bit, here are 8 reasons heavenly worship will be, well, heavenly!
1) We’ll worship God face to face. No more deep strivings to get a mere glimpse of His glory. No more relying on the power of the Holy Spirit living in us (as incredible as it is) to experience His presence. Every limitation of this earth that separates us will be gone when we finally stand before Him face to face.
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;” (2 Cor. 13:12a).
“There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3-4).
And because of this, . . .
2) We’ll know God fully. For now, the depth of our worship is limited to how much of God we know and understand from His word. It’s limited by how hard we seek after Him daily – to know and love Him – and how much the Holy Spirit reveals. So for even the most passionate God-seeker, earthly sight is greatly limited. But in heaven, our anchor will no longer be hope. Perfect light will erase the questions. Our faith will finally and fully be sight!
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. . . . now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (2 Corinthians 13:9-10, 12a).
Which means, . . .
3) We’ll be overwhelmed by God’s beauty. His glorious majesty and holiness will compel us to our knees. No special effects needed. His splendor will take our breaths away to heights unseen everyday for all eternity. Marvelously overwhelmed.
"I saw no temple in [the holy city, New Jerusalem] for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:22-23).
And we’ll have a perfected ability to understand, appreciate, and respond to all we see of Him! Because . . .
4) We’ll always come with “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3-4). No more pride. No more apathy. No more idols. No more unsurrendered hearts. Our love will finally be perfect, pure, and strong.
“. . . and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into [the holy city, New Jerusalem], but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27).
So of course, . . .
5) We’ll have perfect communion with our Savior. Ahhh!!! There will no longer be barriers between us and the throne! Nothing between our heart and His. No sin, no distractions, no confusion. No more lies from the enemy about why we shouldn’t/couldn’t be there. Nothing just for the sake of tradition. Nothing stale or passive. We’ll have absolute perfect, bowed-down communion with the God who blesses us with eternity in His holy presence!
“Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7).
And . . .
6) We’ll worship full-out. No more halfway or passive worship! When pure, enlightened hearts stand in the presence of our unveiled Savior, we won’t be able to contain it! We’ll join the heavenly chorus in unbridled worship!
“And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:13-14).
Not only that, . . .
7) We’ll worship together as the bride of Christ in perfect unity. How powerful! No more of Satan’s accusations or disruptions. No more nitpicky, self-centered desires keeping us from bowing before Him together in perfect harmony. Our perfected love for God will spill over into a perfected love for each other – joyfully expressing our worship before Him together.
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,'Salvation 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).
And don’t forget, . . .
8) We’ll enjoy our place at the foot of His throne forever. This worship party will never end! No one will be watching the clock, because there will be nothing more important or desirous to do. Ever. Can you even imagine?
“And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever” (Revelation 4:9-10).
Until then? We need to take our cue from Revelation 19:7, “His bride has made herself ready.”
That’s us, His bride – the Church! Our highest goal should be to make ourselves ready to be presented to the Bridegroom of all bridegrooms for the marriage of all marriages! We need to allow God to adorn us with His incredible grace and beauty so we might bring Him the most glory while we wait and be perfectly radiant for our wedding day. (Glad there’s a to-do manual for this!) Are we ready?
I love Passion and Kristian Stanfill’s song, Even So Come, and admit there are days I’ve watched this video over and over. It’s a powerful picture of the bride calling out, Lord Jesus, come! Let’s join them! Enjoy!
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