What did you expect?
1Cor. 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love him.
As I was driving to church on Sunday I was observing the lake and the place where we are staying. The beauty of creation took me in, and how even in winter, the trees without their leaves have a special beauty to them. Crossing over the bridge I could see the lake. The water was like a mirror reflecting the trees and the landscape next to the lake. I could see everything double. The trees on the shore, and then their reflection in the water. In the distance there was some fog hovering over the water in one of the coves. It was picture perfect. A picture that truly painted a thousand words!
As I was pondering on how God created all this, I was reminded of this scripture. Have you ever wondered what heaven must look like? If we enjoy the beauty of this creation, I wonder what we will do once we see the other things that God has created for us.
It took God six days to create the world, as we know it. Not to get too deep, if it was one day or thousands of years is not an issue. Some would want to make it an issue. The question is, though, if God is capable of creating it in one day or creating it in a thousand years. The answer to both is yes so we don’t have a problem. As God created this world and all we know in it, He then rested for a day. The fact that He rested does not mean that God never created again. Everyday when someone is born God is creating. When an artist gives expression to a gifting that God bestowed on them, He is creating. The point I am trying to make is that God is still creating. Can you imagine someone with as much creativity as God doing nothing for six thousand years? Can you imagine someone with the talents of Leonardo DaVinci not being able to paint or sculpture?
Now think with me. What has God been up to the last six thousand years? Jesus said that He would go and prepare a place for us. What does that place look like? Can you even begin to imagine what He has been preparing? A God with so much creativity, a God with so much ability, a God with so much potential, what has He prepared? I hear people talk about streets of gold. I think it is something much better. People talk about all kinds of things and the best they can come up with is something that is found on earth. I think it is something much better. The things that He has prepared are something that has never come up in our understanding, has never come up in our hearts. It is a place beyond understanding. This place is not called heaven or paradise. This place is in Him.
What did you expect? Our ultimate destination is Christ. He is the end to all our means and expectations. The same Paul that wrote about us not being able to think or dream what He has prepared is the same Paul that wrote: THAT I MIGHT BE FOUND IN HIM AND BE CLOTHED WITH HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! Can you imagine what it is like to be consumed by him? Can you imagine what it is like to move and live and have our being in Him? Eternal life according to John 17:2 is to know the Father. It is not streets of gold or even anything represented here. Paul also wrote: That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection. What did you expect? Only you can answer that truthfully!
