Student Devotion Week 48: The Church Eternal: The New Jerusalem

Key Verse: 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

Harps, clouds, and white-lots of white. That's the picture most of us have when we think about heaven. To be honest, heaven has always seemed kind of gaudy to me. I mean...pearly gates and streets of gold? If this is our picture of heaven, then it's not going to be much of a motivational factor in the life of the Church. Who wants to go to a place where you have to sit in a choir loft for all eternity?

The truth is that heaven is going to be a place more magnificent than your wildest dreams. The Bible says that when Christ returns and takes us home, he's going to make everything new. All the pain and frustration we deal with now-and all the things that cause them-will be gone. Can you imagine what it will be like to not have to deal with sin anymore, to never have to wrestle with your thoughts again, to live in a place where you can see Jesus with your very own eyes?

If heaven seems boring to you, then you don't have a very clear picture of it. This week we're going to look at the eternal future of the Church. We're going to have to use our imaginations, but the Holy Spirit has given us some guidelines in Scripture to help us understand a place that's so amazing we don't even have the words to describe it.