I think this might be something I am looking forward to most about Heaven—putting faces to names. We have studied them so often and at such depth, that each of us has probably pictured Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Esther, Mary (all of them!), Peter, John, Paul and so many others in our minds. Stuck as we are in our own culture and generation, we probably have erred in our portraits. Jesus certainly was not the pale, brown-haired, blue-eyed, six foot man in the unstained white robes we see in practically every painting.
In fact, if you do as I do sometimes on Sunday mornings and picture him walking among us as our host, communing with us in the feast, you probably see him in robes then too, don’t you? Yet Jesus came down as a man in a time when everyone wore robes. The fact that he blended in so well and looked so ordinary was one of his problems—“Who does he think he is? Isn’t this just the carpenter’s son? Didn’t we watch him grow up among us?” No, if Jesus had chosen this generation to make his appearance, he might very well have been in khakis, or even blue jeans, and some of us would have had just as much trouble accepting him as the scribes and Pharisees did.
Putting faces to names in Heaven will be a revelation. And we won’t have any problem talking with these great people. I am sure you have had the experience of needing to speak with someone who is important, someone who is very busy—perhaps the preacher or one of the elders, or someone who is “popular” in whatever venue you happen to find yourself. You stand in line waiting your turn, and if you are lucky you get 30 seconds before he or she is distracted by something or someone else. You almost feel like a nuisance, and most of the time I find myself avoiding people like that just so I won’t be any trouble to them.
That will not happen in Heaven. How do I know? Because it’s Heaven. Isn’t that the very definition of the word? No more problems, no more trials, no more feelings of inadequacy. We will know everyone and they will know us, and no one will need to wait in line for thirty seconds of token time.
Do you know what? We have that now with God, a taste of Heaven whenever we pray. He is instantly listening. He is intent on our every word, even filling in the ones we can’t seem to get out right. He knows our names and our faces, and with that he knows every problem or fear or anxiety, and we have his undivided attention for as long as we want it. Our faith means we know him, not just his name, and because we trust him, he knows us too.
Putting faces to names in this life can be a lot of fun. Putting a face on God will be amazing.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure, 1 John 3:1-3.
Dene Ward
In fact, if you do as I do sometimes on Sunday mornings and picture him walking among us as our host, communing with us in the feast, you probably see him in robes then too, don’t you? Yet Jesus came down as a man in a time when everyone wore robes. The fact that he blended in so well and looked so ordinary was one of his problems—“Who does he think he is? Isn’t this just the carpenter’s son? Didn’t we watch him grow up among us?” No, if Jesus had chosen this generation to make his appearance, he might very well have been in khakis, or even blue jeans, and some of us would have had just as much trouble accepting him as the scribes and Pharisees did.
Putting faces to names in Heaven will be a revelation. And we won’t have any problem talking with these great people. I am sure you have had the experience of needing to speak with someone who is important, someone who is very busy—perhaps the preacher or one of the elders, or someone who is “popular” in whatever venue you happen to find yourself. You stand in line waiting your turn, and if you are lucky you get 30 seconds before he or she is distracted by something or someone else. You almost feel like a nuisance, and most of the time I find myself avoiding people like that just so I won’t be any trouble to them.
That will not happen in Heaven. How do I know? Because it’s Heaven. Isn’t that the very definition of the word? No more problems, no more trials, no more feelings of inadequacy. We will know everyone and they will know us, and no one will need to wait in line for thirty seconds of token time.
Do you know what? We have that now with God, a taste of Heaven whenever we pray. He is instantly listening. He is intent on our every word, even filling in the ones we can’t seem to get out right. He knows our names and our faces, and with that he knows every problem or fear or anxiety, and we have his undivided attention for as long as we want it. Our faith means we know him, not just his name, and because we trust him, he knows us too.
Putting faces to names in this life can be a lot of fun. Putting a face on God will be amazing.
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure, 1 John 3:1-3.
Dene Ward
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