The Joy of Heaven

“No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.”Isaiah 65:20Taking the last part of this verse first. Isaiah is telling us that death will be no more. He is using the analogy of what we can understand to point us toward what, right now, is beyond our grasp. It’s hard to get your mind around living for eternity, but you can understand a man living to a hundred, so Isaiah says living to a hundred is nothing in the new heaven and the new earth.Commenting on this future reality, bible scholar Alec Motyer says, “Death will have no more power and sin will have no more presence.” The book of Revelation says, “Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (21:4).The joy of heaven will be more than the absence of death; it will be in the quality of life. Look again at the first part of Isaiah 65:20: “No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days. or an old man who does not fill out his days.” John Calvin interpreted this by explaining, “Whether they are children or old men, they shall arrive at a mature age so as to be always vigorous, like persons in the prime of life… they shall always be healthful and robust.”What do you find most encouraging about heaven?