December 25:  An Eternity of Bliss.

The City of God.
"Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations."--Isaiah 60:15, NKJV

THERE ARE HOMES for the pilgrims of earth.  There are robes for the righteous, with crowns of glory and palms of victory.  All that has perplexed us in the providences of God will in the world to come be made plain.  The things hard to be understood will then find explanation.  The mysteries of grace will unfold before us.  Where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken promises, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony.  We shall know that infinite love ordered the experiences that seemed most trying.  As we realize the tender care of Him who makes all things work together for our good, we shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven.  In the home of the redeemed there will be no tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning.  "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity."  Isaiah 33:24.  One rich tide of happiness will flow and deepen as eternity rolls on.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, 286.

                                          "Also the sons of those who afflicted you
                                                     Shall come bowing to you,
                  And all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet;
                                       And they shall call you The City of the Lord,
                                                  Zion of the Holy One of Israel."
                                                                                    --Isaiah 60:14, NKJV

December 24:  An Eternity of Bliss.

The River of Water of Life.
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.--Psalm 46:4, NKJV

THE PROPHET BEHOLDS THE "RIVER OF WATER OF LIFE, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."  "And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life."  "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."  Revelation 22:1, 22:2, R.V.; 21:4....

..."They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters"  [Revelation 7:16, 17].--Education, 302, 303.

Oh, for language to express the glory of the bright world to come!  I thirst for the living streams that make glad the city of God.--Early Writings, 39.

Let all that is beautiful in our earthly home remind us of the crystal river and green fields, the waving trees and living fountains, the shining city and the white-robed singers, of our heavenly home--that world of beauty which no artist can picture, no mortal tongue describe.--Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 55.

                                   "Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
                                 and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
                                             Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
                                And look!  I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
                                                 Her people will be a source of joy."
                              
                                                               --Isaiah 65:17, 18, NLT

December 23:  An Eternity of Bliss.

The Garden of Eden's Restitution.
For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.--Isaiah 51:3, NKJV

THE GARDEN OF EDEN remained upon the earth long after man had become an outcast from its pleasant paths.  The fallen race were long permitted to gaze upon the home of innocence, their entrance barred only by the watching angels.  At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the divine glory was revealed.  Hither came Adam and his sons to worship God.  Here they renewed their vows of obedience to that law, the transgression of which had banished them from Eden.  When the tide of iniquity overspread the world, and the wickedness of men determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth.  But in the final restitution, when there shall be "a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1), it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the beginning.

Then they that have kept God's commandments shall breathe in immortal vigor beneath the tree of life; and through unending ages the inhabitants of sinless worlds shall behold, in that garden of delight, a sample of the perfect work of God's creation, untouched by the curse of sin--a sample of what the whole earth would have become, had man but fulfilled the Creator's glorious plan.--Patriarchs and Prophets, 62.

              Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
                had passed away.  Also there was no more sea.  Then I, John saw the holy city,
                                  New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God
                                          prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
                 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God
                     is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.
                                     God Himself will be with them and be their God."
                              
                                                               --Revelation 21:1-3, NKJV

December 22:  An Eternity of Bliss.

There Will Only Be Joy and Singing.
It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing.  The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon.  They shall see the glory of the Lord, the excellency of our God.--Isaiah 35:2, NKJV

EYE HATH NOT SEEN, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him"  1 Corinthians 2:9.  Only through His word can a knowledge of these things be gained; and even this affords but a partial revelation.--Education, 301.

There, when the veil that darkens our vision shall be removed, and our eyes shall behold that world of beauty of which we now catch glimpses through the microscope; when we look on the glories of heaven, now scanned afar through the telescope; when, the blight of sin removed, the whole earth shall appear in "the beauty of the Lord our God," what a field will be open to our study!  There the student of science may read the records of creation and discern no reminders of the law of evil.  He may listen to the music of nature's voices and detect no note of wailing or undertone of sorrow.  In all created things he may trace one handwriting--in the vast universe behold "God's name writ large," and not in earth or sea or sky one sign of ill remaining.--Education, 303.

                            For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.
                     Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
                              
                                                      --1 Corinthians 13:12, NKJV

December 21:  An Eternity of Bliss.

A Sinless New Earth.
The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;...Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.  Then the lame shall lead like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing....And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads.  They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.--Isaiah 35:1, 5, 6, 10, NKJV

IN THE BIBLE the inheritance of the saved is called "a country."  Hebrews 11:14-16.  There the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters.  The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations.  There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransomed of the Lord.  There the wide-spreading plains swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits.  On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God's people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.--The Great Controversy, 675.

                               "Look, God's home is now among his people!
                          He will live with them, and they will be his people.
                    God himself will be with them.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes,
                            and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.
                                                All these things are gone forever."
                                                                                          --Revelation 21:3, 4, NLT

December 20:  An Eternity of Bliss.

We Shall Be Like Him.
Beloved, now are we children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.--1 John 3:2, NKJV

THOSE WHO LOVE GOD will have an intelligent knowledge of him.  The image of God will shine forth from the faces of his servants, and they will be openly acknowledged as sons and daughters of God.  When in the world, they did not claim to be their own, and God set to his seal that they were his.  Heaven will be for those who desire it with intense desire, who put forth efforts in proportion to the value of the object which they seek.  The thoughts of those who will obtain heaven, will be upon heavenly things; but those who are all taken up with the excitement and pleasure of this world, will have no love whatever for God or heaven.--"Perils of, and Provisions for, the Youth,"  Review and Herald, May 13, 1890, 290.

Those who take no pleasure in thinking and talking of God in this life, will not enjoy the life that is to come, where God is ever present, dwelling among his people.  But those who love to think of God will be in their element, breathing in the atmosphere of heaven.  Those who on earth love the thought of heaven, will be happy in its holy associations and pleasures.  The prophet says, "...His servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads."--Perils of, Provisions for, the Youth,"  Review and Herald, May 13, 1890, 289, 290.

"Faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24), Christ presents to the Father the purchase of His blood, declaring: "Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast given Me."  "Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept."  Oh, the wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin's discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the divine!--The Great Controversy, 646.

                         "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
                      that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
                          For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
                                         but that the world through him might be saved."
                              
                                                            --John 3:16, 17, NKJV

December 19:  An Eternity of Bliss.

Endless Delight.
"Then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."--Isaiah 58:14, ESV

THE HERITAGE THAT GOD has promised to His people is not in this world....

...All that are Christ's are "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise"--heirs to "an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away"--the earth freed from the curse of sin.  Galatians 3:29; 1 Peter 1:4.  For "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;" and "the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."  Daniel 7:27; Psalm 37:11.--Patriarchs and Prophets, 169.

You must be there.  Whatever you lose here, be determined to make sure of eternal life.  Never become discouraged....Live for Jesus....Seek earnestly for the crown of life.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, 131.

Look to Jesus, keeping your eyes fixed on the glory at the top of the ladder.  Through Christ alone can you make sure of heaven, where all is purity, holiness, peace, and blessedness, where there are glories that mortal lips cannot describe.  The nearest we can come to a description of the reward that awaits the overcomer is to say that it is a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.  It will be an eternity of bliss, a blessed eternity, unfolding new glories throughout the ceaseless ages.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, 131.

                                      "For as the new heavens and the new earth
                                                             that I make
                                          shall remain before me, says the Lord,
                                       so shall your offspring and your name remain."
                              
                                                                 --Isaiah 66:22, ESV

December 18:  An Eternity of Bliss.

The Greatest Honor.
Honor and majesty surround him; strength and joy fill his dwelling.--1 Chronicles 17:27, NLT

THOSE WHO TAKE CHRIST at His word, and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering, will find peace and quietude.  Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by his presence....

As though Jesus we enter into rest, heaven begins here.  We respond to His invitation, Come, learn of Me, and in thus coming we begin the life eternal.  Heaven is a ceaseless approaching to God through Christ.  The longer we are in the heaven of bliss, the more and still more of glory will be opened to us; and the more we know of God, the more intense will be our happiness.  As we walk with Jesus in this life, we may be filled with His love, satisfied with His presence.  All that human nature can bear, we may receive here.  But what is this compared with the hereafter?--The Desire of Ages, 331.

The true Christian's joys and consolation must and will be in heaven.  The longing souls of those  who have tasted of the powers of the world to come and have feasted on heavenly joys, will not be satisfied with things of earth....Their amusement will be in contemplating their treasure--the Holy City, the earth made new, their eternal home.  And while they dwell upon those things which are lofty, pure, and holy, heaven will be brought near, and they will feel the power of the Holy Spirit, and this will tend to wean them more and more from the world and cause their consolation and chief joy to be in the things of heaven, their sweet home.--Early Writings, 112.

December 17:  An Eternity of Bliss.

The Joy of Being in His Presence.
"You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence."--Acts 2:28, NKJV

LET THOSE MEN AND WOMEN...FOR AN INSTANT witness the high, the holy state of perfection that ever abides there,--every soul filled with love; every countenance beaming with joy; enchanting music in melodious strains rising in honor of God and the Lamb;...realize that there is higher and greater joy yet to experience, for the more they receive of the enjoyment of God, the more is their capacity increased to rise higher in eternal enjoyment, and thus continue to receive new and greater supplies from the ceaseless sources of glory and bliss inexpressible.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 266.

Heaven is a good place.  I long to be there and behold my lovely Jesus.--Early Writings, 39.

                            For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.
                       Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
                                                                                           --1 Corinthians 13:12, NKJV

                 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal,
                                  flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
                                      It flowed down the center of the main street.
                                        On each side of the river grew a tree of life,
                            bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month.
                                 The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
                                       No longer will there be a curse upon anything.
         For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.
                   And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads.
                              
                                                                 --Revelation 22:1-4, NLT

December 16:  An Eternity of Bliss.

We Shall Rejoice at His Appearance.
Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: "Your brethren who hated you, who cast you out for My name's sake, said, 'Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy',' but they shall be ashamed."--Isaiah 66:5, NKJV

CHRIST IS COMING with power and great glory.  He is coming with His own glory and with the glory of the Father.  He is coming with all the holy angels with Him.  While all the world is plunged in darkness, there will be light in every dwelling of the saints.  They will catch the first light of His second appearing.  The unsullied light will shine from His splendor, and Christ the Redeemer will be admired by all who have served Him.  While the wicked flee from His presence, Christ's followers will rejoice.  The patriarch Job, looking down to the time of Christ's second advent said, "Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger."  Job 19:27, margin.  To His faithful followers Christ has been a daily companion and familiar friend.  They have lived in close contact, in constant communion with God.  Upon them the glory of the Lord has risen.  In them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ has been reflected.  Now they rejoice in the undimmed rays of the brightness and glory of the King in His majesty.  They are prepared for the communion of heaven; for they have heaven in their hearts.--Christ's Object Lessons, 420.

                                       Beloved, now we are children of God;
                               and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
                                     but we know that when He is revealed,
                              we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
                                                                                        --1 John 3:2, NKJV