I shall rise from the dead... I shall see the Son of God, the Sun of Glory, and shine myself as that sun shines. I shall be united to the Ancient of Days, to God Himself, who had no morning, never began... No man ever saw God and lived. And yet, I shall not live till I see God, and when I have seen him, I shall never die.- John Donne
"Nothing is more misdiagnosed than our homesickness for Heaven. We think that what we want is sex, drugs, alcohol, a new job, a raise, a doctorate, a spouse, a large-screen television, a new car, a cabin in the woods, a condo in Hawaii. What we really want is the person we were made for Jesus, and the place we were made for, Heaven. Nothing less can satisfy us. C.S. Lewis said, 'The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment He has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God.'
"In his discussion of Christian orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton wrote, 'The modern philosopher had told me again and again that I was in the right place, and I had still felt depressed even in acquiescence... When I heard that I was in the wrong place... my soul sang for joy, like a bird in spring. I knew now... why I could feel homesick at home.'
"I like Chesterton's picture of feeling homesick at home. We can say, 'Heaven will be our eternal home,' or 'Earth will be our eternal home,' but we shouldn't say, 'Heaven, not Earth, will be our eternal home,' because the Heaven in which we'll live will be centered on the New Earth.
"A Christian I met in passing once told me it troubled him that he really didn't long for Heaven. Instead, he yearned for an Earth that was like God meant it to be. He didn't desire a Heaven out there somewhere, but an Earth under his feet, where God was glorified. He felt guilty and unspiritual for this desire. At the time, my eyes hadn't been opened to Scripture's promise of the New Earth. If I could talk with that man again (I hope he reads this book), I'd tell him what I should have told him the first time-- that his longing was biblical and right. In fact, the very place he's always longed for, an Earth where God was glorified, is the place where he will live forever."
