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God's Throne Room - He is Worthy, Part 3

This is the third part in the “He is Worthy” series.
Focusing on God in difficult circumstances by getting a perspective of who God is.

Catch-up on part one, & part two.

Something that has always fascinated me is what is heaven like? I have read some books from people who have claimed to have died, gone to heaven, and then come back again. I have watched multiple interviews and talks from different people, as well as looked into some scientific research. I have talked to Pastor Harry – who has met two people personally on separate occasions who have had a near-death experiences. The testimonies I heard – and the scientific research – none of it contradicts the Bible (I believe). I’m sure there’s all sorts of fruity misinformation out there, so you need to be careful of the source. Careful where you look. There are many commonalities between the testimonies but I want to share just three of these.

Firstly: Words are not adequate to describe. This comes as no surprise to me for a couple of reasons. First of all, we often abuse vocabulary through hyperbole (how often have you uttered “I’m starving”?). Not surprisingly, our vocabulary is tailored (or should I say limited) to earthly understanding & experiences, human senses, emotions, materials, etc.. So to hear testimonies where love is described as a physical property which binds things in heaven exposes as grossly inadequate our vocabulary, and indeed our experiences. There are no words to describe timelessness, total awareness, total peace, and total love, and there’s no way to experience them in our current form.

Secondly: No one comes back from experiencing heaven unchanged for the good. People return and are more empathetic, more socially oriented, lose interest in materialistic values, more spiritual (yet not more religious)

Thirdly: Those that returned completely lose their fear of dying.

There are no words to describe timelessness, total awareness, total peace, and total love

 

Three weeks ago we returned from New Zealand where we attended the wedding of Natalie’s cousin – Kate. When Kate was 17 she was in a horrific car accident and suffered brain injuries. After the accident she said she had an amazing spiritual experience, yet she couldn’t feel, taste, smell, see, or walk unassisted. She had double vision for a long time and post traumatic amnesia for 3 months. She became very depressed and slept a lot – yet helping her get through that time was an undeniable realisation that God was real. I know that sounds strange, but in a lot of testimonies where people interacted with Jesus, people would ask “how did you know it was Jesus?. The response was always – “I just knew”. I recognised him as if I was recognising my spouse/child/sibling/parent.

In the books of Revelation and Isaiah we get two biblical accounts of the heavenly throne room (see Revelation chapter 4 and Isaiah 6:1-7).  It’s as though John is scrambling for words to describe what he saw!  But what I want you to take away is not the description of heaven, but the response of the angelic beings, and Isaiah’s response:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty”

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts – the whole earth is filled with his glory.”

“Worthy are you our Lord and God, to receive glory honour and power.”

“Woe is me! For I am lost.” – Isaiah.

This is to be our response, and not just when we’re in heaven, but today. I have read the words “Holy, holy, holy” so many times that the words become just words, and their meaning diluted. We won’t fully comprehend until we’re in heaven, the intensity and true meaning of these words and what it means to worship God! We worship not because we have to, but because we want to. We worship Him not for what He does or the prayers He answers, but for who He is.

— Andre G.

 

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