July 26, 2008

Another Meditation on Heaven and Hell

Revelation 6:15-17 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

Notice the desire for death and invisibility in the finally impenitent. Those who will be finally damned will want nothing more than 1) what they vainly hope will bring cessation of consciousness or perception (a cry for death - "fall on us"), and 2) something that will block their awareness of God's wrathful presence ("hide us from the face of him"). This will be the exact opposite of what the saints will experience in heaven. They will 1) sing for joy as they willingly perceive God's nature as they never did before, and 2) they will feel an eternal embrace by the perpetual awareness of the presence of Immanuel.

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