God's children have a glorious future. What a glorious moment it will be when the Lord Jesus welcomes them into His glorious kingdom. He speaks of this in Matthew 25:34: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Then God's children will receive the reward of their perseverance and struggles. Then they will be justified before the whole world. On earth they were at times unjustly condemned, but then they will receive heavenly approval. They will be crowned with glory and honour. All tears will be wiped from their eyes. "Come ye," the Lord will say. They may come and they will be brought into His blessed presence and remain there forevermore. They will depart from all wicked persons. Their hearts were often grieved by their ungodly conversation, but now they will never again have to be in their presence.

Redeemed by Free Grace⤒🔗

They may come into their Saviour's presence. Love will radiate from their faces and they will be filled with joy. They will recall that they are bought by His blood and were redeemed by His free grace. They have often fallen into sin and were guilty of countless transgressions, but the Lord saved them. The Lord had mercy on them and it became their desire and longing to love Him above all, and He sus­tained them. That they may now hear "Come" is not because of anything in them but only because of the faithfulness of their God and Saviour. They sinned grievously, but He washed and pardoned them with His blood. Therefore His Name, Jesus, shines gloriously for them.

Delivered from Every Corruption←⤒🔗

They will have beautiful, undefiled bodies that will be incorruptible. Never again will they have any impure thoughts. Forever they will be without sin. All corruption will be gone. All suffering will be left and there will be no more tears. Most important, the Lord Jesus will be there. With glorious streams of joy they will see others being taken up and they will follow into the light and glory of God.

They are summoned to enter this most glorious place. They realize that all the struggles and hardships of life are not to be compared to the great and exceeding glory laid away for them. They have a perfect vision of God and they see Him Who loved them from eternity. The joy on His face will be reflected on their faces. They will forever be joined to their Saviour with perfect love.

What joy there will be within them and around them! All will be joy. The sweet happiness they receive has never entered into the heart of any man. With great joy they enter the New Jerusalem to serve Him forever with gladness and joy. This is the moment they have ardently and expectantly hoped and waited for throughout their life.

Can you also say that you expect that great day with a most ardent desire? (cf. Belgic Confession, Article 37)

Life in Heaven←⤒🔗

Is there more to be explained of the heavenly life with Christ? It is beyond our imagination and understanding! There will be nothing to cause our body or soul to have any discomfort or unrest. No darkness will overwhelm the mind and no sinfulness will pollute the soul. The soul will no longer feel deserted and no longer will there be any battles against the flesh, world and the devil. All sorrow, grief, anx­iety, heartache and fear will be eliminated. There will be no poverty, opposition, oppression, pain, hunger or anything to grieve the soul or the body. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Rev. 21:4). In Revelation 7:16 we read: “They shall hunger no more, nei­ther thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.”

Perfect Communion with God's Children←⤒🔗

In heaven there will be perfect fellowship among the redeemed. They will know each other in the Lord and they will love each other perfectly and have fellowship with each other. Brake! states that the redeemed will explain to each other how the Lord drew them and saved them. All the saints will be there from Adam to the very last one to be saved. They will all have communion with each other.

Perfect Communion with God←⤒🔗

The main joy of God's people in heaven will be that they will be with the Lord. The presence of His being constitutes the blessedness of heaven. The Lamb is there and God's chil­dren will be in His blessed presence. Believers will be forever with the Lord. The most fervent desire of God's children is to be with the Lord and to be close to Him. They will see the Lord Jesus with their spiritual eyes. God will be seen with the enlightened eyes of the understanding.

On earth Gods children may have taste of this joy. It quickly fades a in heaven the enjoyment of Goad's presence and communion will be perpetual.

Unending Blessedness←⤒🔗

In heaven there will be undisturbed and perfect love. There the souls will behold God perfectly and will be surrounded by the glory of God. They will walk in the light of His countenance forever. God will fill the soul and His people will delight in His perfections. This will be attended with perfect happiness and joy. It is the peace that passes all understanding. The soul will experience inexpressible joy and be entirely dedicated to God.

Nothing will be able to terminate this blessedness. This is "eternal life (Jn. 10:28), the everlasting kingdom" (2 Pet. 1:11), "eternal glory" (1 Pet. 5: 10), an eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:15) and "eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1).

This glory is Only for Believers←⤒🔗

This glory is laid away only for those who are in Christ" and who believe in Him. You, who are unconverted, strive for faith in Christ and flee the eternal perdition which otherwise awaits you. Flee to Christ and trust in Him. Let Him be your refuge and hope and you will not be put to shame.

The Duty of God's Children←⤒🔗

Those who know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ anticipate this glorious salvation. Therefore, conduct yourselves as heirs of glory. Brakel writes about the duties of God's children in expecting future glory. He summarizes several matters:

1. Consider all the things of the world so insignificant and temporal that you will not set your heart on them. Do not set your heart on prosperity, riches, honour or entertainment. They are not worthy to be mentioned in comparison to the glory of heaven. If you encounter difficulties or tribulation in this world, realize that they are nothing in comparison to future glory (cf. Rom. 8:18).
2. Rejoice in the future glory and inheritance of God. Many of God's children have a deficiency in that they focus too much upon this world or at other times focus too much upon the state of their soul. Yet all the while they do lift their hearts up to Christ in heaven. They are too earthly minded and too much focused on the comforts of this present life. Brakel contends that they do not focus enough on the glory to come. He writes:
   They would like to fare a bit better in this world, for this would then yield a somewhat more quiet life for them. At another time they are only concerned about the state of their soul, considering whether they are in the state of grace. Time and again they insist on examining themselves and repeatedly must be able to conclude that they are in a state of grace. Then they insist that they ought to have more sensible grace and more power to resist sin. In the mean while time passes on, and they do not lift up their heart enough to anticipate the great glory they may look forward to. They have but a few fleeting thoughts about it. Instead, one ought to be occupied in reflecting upon eternity, and upon the certainty and reality of this your inheritance. One ought to focus continually upon the glory of this inheritance, and by faith traverse heaven, beholding how gloriously the Lord Jesus manifests Himself_; how the angels bow before Him_; in what immediate manner He deals with the glorified saints_; what light and immediate fellowship with God they enjoy_; how they are moved and filled with a magnificent happiness toward God, Christ, the angels, and each other_; how sweetly they may sing the praises of the Lord_; and how they may adore and lose themselves in the perfections of God and the perfection of their state! We would then forget ourselves and, so to speak, find ourselves among the glorified multitude. In coming back to ourselves upon earth, we would then delight ourselves in bringing this glory to mind and we would go our way with joy, not stumbling over every spiritual difficulty.
3. Make this glory to be the only goal you pursue. The goal motivates the worker and the more ardently he delights in it, the more seriously he will apply himself to this work. Let this goal be your aim: "Look thereto unto Jesus" (Phil. 3:13,14). He is the Author and the Finisher of faith (Heb. 12:2). Moses did this when he had respect unto the recom­pense of the reward (Heb. 11:26).
4. Anticipate this future glory by stirring yourself up to live a holy and heaven-oriented life. Conduct yourself here as a stranger who is going to his homeland. Philippians 3:20 admonishes to have our conversation in heaven. Children of God, be an example of godliness, faith and courage. Hope upon the Lord Jesus Christ and have fervent love to Him. Be filled with Holy Spirit, for He will teach you all these things.