We just adjourned the first meeting of the Semicolon Book Club for 2009. We discussed the two book selections for January:
Heaven by Randy Alcorn.
Heaven: Your Real Home by Joni Eareckson Tada.
There were only three of us in attendance, but we really enjoyed discussing the joys and possibilities of heaven, the place where we will live forever at home with the God who made us, redeemed us, and loves us eternally. I printed out this 2003 Christianity Today article by Peter Kreeft, and we discussed some of these “thirty-five frequently asked questions about eternity” in relation to the two books and to Scripture.
The most exciting idea that we talked about was the thought that not only will there be no more sin in heaven, but we will not have any desire to sin. Peter Kreeft writes about it like this:
Will we be free in Heaven? If so, will we be free to sin? If so, won’t anyone ever exercise that freedom?
“Freedom to sin” is a contradiction in terms, like “freedom to be enslaved.” Free choice is only the means to true freedom, “the freedom of the sons of God,” liberty.
In heaven we will not sin because we will not want to. We will freely choose never to sin, just as now great mathematicians do not make elementary mistakes, though they have the power to do so. In Heaven we will see the attractiveness of goodness and of God so clearly, and the ugliness and stupidity of sin so clearly, that there will be no possible motive to sin.
Now, we are enslaved by ignorance. Every sin comes from ignorance, for we sin only because we see sin as somehow attractive, which it is not, and goodness as somehow lacking in attraction. This is an ignorance that we are responsible for, but it is ignorance, and without that ignorance we would not sin. In Heaven, in the “beatific vision” of God, overwhelmed and filled with the total joy of goodness, baptized with goodness as a sunken ship is filled with water, no one could possibly ever want to turn from this perceived glory. Now, “we walk by faith, not by sight”(2 Cor. 5:7). Heavenly sight will not remove our freedom. Ask the blind whether sight would remove their freedom.
Can you imagine such perfect freedom? Joni talks about this kind of freedom in her book, too. Not only will she have a perfected body that will obey her will and mind and do all sorts of things that her now paralyzed body is unable to do, and not only will she have a perfected mind that will learn easily and happily and will enjoy both God and His creation, she will also have a perfected will that is perfectly in tune with that of the Creator, a will that only desires to do His will because we will be able to see Him face to face and understand that His will is always best.
And that’s why there will be no more tears. We will know HIm even as we are known.
Joni, in her book, playfully sets up meetings with friends and acquaintances: “I’ll meet you in Oregon for skiing and a cup of hot chocolate.” That kind of thing. I’m going to say that I’ll be in the Celestial Library, worshipping the Lord with my new mind (the one that doesn’t forget stuff), and I’ll meet anyone who wants to join me there to talk about all the wonders of what God has made.
If you are an online member of the Semicolon Book Club, or if you’re interested in joining in, the February selection is The Love Letters by Madeleine L’Engle. It’s out of print, but available, used, from Amazon sellers for a pittance. Just click on the cover picture to get to the Amazon page.
And here’s a special linky for those of you who posted about either Heaven by Randy Alcorn or Heaven: Your Real Home by Joni. Thanks for reading along.
| 1. Amy@Hope Is the Word (Joni Eareckson Tada) 2. Semicolon (Randy Alcorn) |
3. Semicolon (Joni and Schuyler\’s Monster) 4. Carrie K. (Heaven, post 1) |
5. Carrie K. (Heaven, post 2) |
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Sherry,
I wanted to attend today, but had myself sequestered working on the Ladies Retreat. The topic: Heaven! I had a good time pulling tidbits from Alcorn’s book. I’m exploring the ideas about how our consideration of Heaven can and should affect our day to day living. In other words: “so what?” If one thinks of life as a constant stream from birth through death and on to eternal life, it only makes sense that our consideration of heaven is of primary importance. If I’m getting ready for a move to a new location it impacts so much of what I do on a day to day basis for weeks and even months before the move is made. Certainly the pending move impacts my thinking day in and day out. One of the things I do when I move is lots of research. I want to know as much as I can about where I’m going, what I’ll find there, how I’ll live there… Until recently I haven’t given heaven much consideration. I think I’ve been amiss.
Aha, so THAT’S why I ordered a copy of Love Letters a couple of weeks ago! It arrived last week from Amazon Marketplace and I couldn’t remember where I’d read the recommendation. Maybe the fact that I had a baby in between the two events has something to do with my forgetfulness.
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I read a few of your other entires.where can i subscribe to your blog?
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