Jonathan Edwards - Heaven Is a World of Love

Heaven Is a World of Love

Copyright 2020 by Crossway

Published by Crossway
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Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Crossway is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Jordan Singer

Cover image: Windrush, 1883 (block printing on fabric), William Morris (18341896), Bridgeman Images

First printing 2020

Printed in China

Scripture quotations in the main text of the book are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations in the foreword are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-7071-1
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-7074-2
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-7072-8
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-7073-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Edwards, Jonathan, 17031758, author.

Title: Heaven is a world of love / Jonathan Edwards.

Description: Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2020. | Series: The Crossway short classics series | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020005191 (print) | LCCN 2020005192 (ebook) | ISBN 9781433570711 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781433570728 (pdf) | ISBN 9781433570735 (mobipocket) | ISBN 9781433570742 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: HeavenChristianity.

Classification: LCC BT846.3 .E48 2020 (print) | LCC BT846.3 (ebook) | DDC 236/.24dc23

LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020 5191

LC ebook record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020 5192

Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

2020-08-03 03:47:54 PM

Heaven Is a
World of Love

Heaven
Is a World
of Love

Jonathan Edwards

Labor to get a sense of the vanity of this world.... Labor to be much acquainted with heaven.

Jonathan Edwards

I cant think of anyone who was more productive during the course of his earthly life than Jonathan Edwards. One need only glance at the twenty-six substantial volumes in the Yale University Press edition of his collected works to verify this as fact. And that does not take into account the vast number of as-yet-unpublished sermons that we hope will one day be made available.

I cite this about Edwards merely to refute the oft-heard clich that some people are so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good. Edwardss earthly achievements may be directly linked to his focus on, dare I say his obsession with, the glory of heaven that he had not yet experienced. Edwards was consumed with a vision of the eternal bliss that awaits Gods people. Many have written on this theme, but none with the clarity and conviction that I find in Edwards. I trust that this volume will bear witness to the truth of my conclusion.

Yet there are many who still contend that contemplating the not yet will serve only to undermine our energy and devotion to the vast and varied needs we face in this life, on this earth. Edwardss life and ministry are a lasting testimony to the opposite conclusion. He was persuaded, as am I, that our capacity for satisfaction of soul and happiness of heart in this life comes primarily from looking intently at what we cant see. The strength to endure hardship now comes from reflecting on the promise of everlasting bliss in the age to come. Students of the apostle Paul have often marveled at his remarkable capacity to persevere under the worst imaginable circumstances in this life, be it persecution, slander, imprisonment, or multiple beatings. Paul himself alerted us to the solution. We do not lose heart, he wrote to the Corinthians, no matter what we are called to suffer. Indeed, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. How so, we ask? It is only as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:1618 ).

Paul was quick to remind us that our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself (Phil. 3:2021). Little wonder, then, that he would exhort us to set [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth (Col. 3:2). It is the prospect that we will appear with him in glory (v. 4) that strengthened Pauls resolve, and strengthens ours, to maintain vigilance in this life and to redeem every opportunity for the reward that it will reap in the coming age. There is no escaping the fact that we must take steps to intensify in our hearts a yearning for the beauty and satisfaction of eternal life in the presence of our Savior.

The greatest joy that awaits us is found in the promise of Revelation 22:4, that we will see his face. The prospect of this beatific vision, as theologians so often describe it, provides the spiritual fuel to energize our commitment in this life and our resilience in the face of hardship and deprivation.

The apostle Paul was joined in this perspective by Peter, who reminds us that the ultimate purpose of our being born again is that we might lay hold of a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us (1 Pet. 1:34). If that were not enough, Peter proceeds to exhort his readers to set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (v. 13).

One also thinks of Abraham and the other patriarchs who were sustained in their earthly sojourn by the prospect of a city that has foundations (Heb. 11:10). Their relentless determination in the face of numerous trials was fueled by their desire for a better country, that is, a heavenly one (v. 16).

Why? What is it about the promise of eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth that fuels such perseverance in our Christian experience? Paraphrasing Edwards, as satisfying and joyful as life on earth is now, what we see and sense and savor in this life is an ephemeral shadow compared with the substance of God himself. Earthly joys are fragmented beams, said Edwards, but God is the sun. Earthly refreshment is at best a sipping from intermittent springs, but God is the ocean!

Many who suffer now in ways that we cant even begin to comprehend are empowered to remain faithful, knowing that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Rom. 8:18). The unnamed author of Hebrews reminds us that the emotional and spiritual capacity to bear the reproach of Christ in this life is grounded in the expectation of a city that is to come (Heb. 13:1314), namely, the heavenly New Jerusalem.

Edwards looked to the experience of the saints in heaven to reinforce his conviction that the essence of true religion consists in holy affections. His point is that we learn the quintessential nature of anything by looking closely where that thing is found in its highest and purest expression. To know true religion, therefore, we must look at it in its heavenly expression.

If we can learn anything of the state of heaven from the Scripture, the love and joy that the saints have there, is exceeding great and vigorous; impressing the heart with the strongest and most lively sensation, of inexpressible sweetness, mightily moving, animating, and engaging them, making them like to a flame of fire. And if such love and joy be not affections, then the word affection is of no use in language. Will any say, that the saints in heaven, in beholding the face of their Father, and the glory of their Redeemer, and contemplating his wonderful works, and particularly his laying down his life for them, have their hearts nothing moved and affected, by all which they behold or consider?