It is obviously impossible to treat a subject so vast and so
profoundly interesting as this within the limits of a _Parish Paper_,
except in the most cursory and superficial manner. Yet I am induced to
make the attempt, in order, if possible, to impress my readers with
such ideas of our life in heaven as are more in accordance with the
nature of man and the Word of God, than, I am inclined to think,
obtain among many sincere Christians, who accordingly are deprived of
encouragements in duty, comforts in sorrow, and bright hopes to cheer
them amid the world's darkness, which they might otherwise possess.
Let us inquire, then, in what shall consist the believer's happiness
in God's presence.
Now, it will greatly aid us in answering this question regarding our
true life in eternity, if we first consider what constitutes our true
life in time, or what would constitute our perfect happiness now, if
in the full enjoyment of all our mental and bodily powers, and if, in
the best possible circumstances, we perfectly fulfilled upon earth
God's purpose in our creation.
In endeavouring to solve this question, I remark that our perfection
consists in the gratification of every part of our many-sided nature.
Thus, for instance, enjoyment might be derived through our senses,
though the intellect was comparatively weak, and our moral being
depraved; or from the exercise of our intellectual or spiritual
nature, while the body suffered from pain: or delight might be poured
through all those channels, but yet if we were doomed to be solitary
beings, without any companion or friend with whom to communicate or
share our gladness, or were prevented from expressing our thoughts and
desires by action, the result in either of these supposed cases would
not be perfect happiness. But, on the other hand, if we can imagine a
man with his whole nature in a state of perfect health, each portion
demanding and obtaining its appropriate nourishment, and with all his
powers beautifully balanced and in perfect harmony with the plan of
God, "according to the effectual working of the measure in every
part,"--the senses ministering to the most refined tastes,--the
intellect full of light in the apprehension of truth, and strong
in its discovery,--the moral being possessing perfect holiness and
unerring subjection to the will of God,--the love of society able
to rest upon fitting objects, and to find a fall return for its
sympathies in suitable companionships, while ample scope was afforded
for activity by congenial labour;--then would such a state be
perfection or fulness of joy in God's presence here below. I do not,
of course, allege that every part of our being has the same capacity
to afford us joy, or that the flood can pour itself into the soul with
the same fulness through each of these channels, as if, for instance,
we depended in the same degree for enjoyment upon our sentient as we
do upon our intellectual or moral nature. All I mean to assert is,
that whatever proportion may come through each, God has so made us,
that perfect joy is derived only through all. Such is man's actual
constitution as he came from the hands of his Maker; and such would
have been his happiness had he remained unfallen. Placed, as Adam was,
in a material world so rich in sources of physical happiness, with
an intellect capable of unlocking the countless treasures of
science,--with a nature pure and spotless, delighting in the excellent
God,--with society begun with woman as a helpmeet for him, and
with the active labour required "to dress and keep" his earthly
paradise,--he possessed, in such perfect adaptations, a heaven upon
earth. And had perfect man been translated to another region, we
cannot conceive his joy thereby to become essentially different in
kind, though different in degree, supposing him to remain the same
being, and to possess the same human nature. Now, man's fall has not
altered this principle. Sin is a perversion of human nature, not its
annihilation; a disorder of its powers, not their destruction. Nor is
restoration by Jesus Christ the gift of a different constitution, as
if He made us something else than human beings, but the renovation of
the old constitution after its original type. It is making the "old
man," diseased, bent down, paralysed, deaf, blind, the "new man," with
frame erect, limbs strong, eyes and ears open, and all his powers
fresh and vigorous for immortality; and, therefore, that which would
constitute the happiness of man were he perfect on earth, will be
his happiness, though in a higher degree, when he is made perfect in
heaven. This supposition, I repeat, only assumes the fact that we
shall be the same persons for ever; that human nature will never
cease to be human nature, or be changed into a different species of
existence, no more than Jesus Christ, the Head of His Church, will
ever cease to be what He is--"_the man_ Christ Jesus," with a human
body and a human soul, "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."
There is another way in which I might describe the nature of our
future life, although I shall base my remarks on the principles now
stated. We must admit that the perfection of our being is fellowship
with God the Father in the possession of that spirit of son-ship which
was revealed in Jesus Christ the Son of God and the Son of man. This,
and this alone, must insure fellowship with Him in His character and
joy. We shall consequently rejoice in all that He rejoices in--_as far
as this is possible for creatures_. Thus, if He rejoices in the glory
of His own Being, as Father, Son, and Spirit, so shall we; if He
rejoices in all His works, so shall we; if He rejoices in what He
does, in what He knows, in what He purposes, so shall we; if He
rejoices in the communion of holy and happy men and angels, so shall
we. In one word, if "our chief end is to glorify God," when that
end is fulfilled, we shall "enjoy Him for ever." And this was our
Saviour's prayer when He said, "The glory Thou hast given me I have
given them, that we may be one!"
But as those two lines of thought would lead practically to the same
conclusion, it seems to me that the nature of our future life will be
best understood by most of my readers if I endeavour to shew "what we
shall be," according to the arrangement already proposed.
Let us, then, meditate on the glorious supply which God has provided
for filling up every part of this our complex nature in heaven.