Throughout the centuries the promise of Jesus in John 14:2, 3 has filled the hearts of Christians with hope: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." In the darkest moments of despair, disappointment, despondency, or defeat, the hope of living with Jesus in heaven has brightened the day, cleared away the clouds, and lifted the spirits.
Heaven, what will it be like? Words are inadequate to describe it, but the Holy Scriptures give us glimpses of the glorious future. There all will be harmony, peace, love, and unity. All will be purity, holiness, and blessedness. Gone will be sorrow, crying, and pain. Best of all, death will be no more.
"There we shall know even as also we are known. There the loves and sympathies that God has planted in the soul will find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion With holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages, the sacred fellowship that binds together 'the whole family in heaven and earth'--all are among the experiences of the hereafter."
We look forward with joyous anticipation to the day when Jesus will return to earth, not as a Man of sorrows but as King of kings and Lord of lords. In that day the dead in Christ will rise first, then his followers who are alive will be "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Corinthians 15:51, 52), and together this redeemed company, now immortal, will travel through time and space to the paradise of God, to heaven itself.
This book provides glorious pictures of the future life both in heaven and on the new earth. It enables one to hear by faith the thrilling music sung by angels and the redeemed. It excites one with the prospect of engaging in fascinating occupations and enterprises. As you sense the wonder and reality of the future life, may you determine to be among the citizens of heaven, and live forever in that land "where we never grow old."
Board of Trustees of the Ellen G. White Estate.