Lately I've thought more about heaven than I usually do. Not just the idea of heaven in general, but the eternal implications of the truth, "Love never fails" (1 Cor. 13:8). Love never fails, but only flourishes, in heaven. The great and godly theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) wrote the following description of heaven in his sermon entitled Heaven, A World of Love:
And from God, love flows out toward all the inhabitants of heaven. It flows out, in the first place, necessarily and infinitely, toward his only-begotten Son. . . . And the Son of God is not only the infinite object of love, but he is also an infinite subject of it. He is not only the beloved of the Father, but he infinitely loves him. The infinite essential love of God, is, as it were, an infinite and eternal, mutual, holy energy between the Father and the Son: a pure and holy act, whereby the Deity becomes, as it were, one infinite and unchangeable emotion of love proceeding from both the Father and the Son. . . .But this love [also] flows out in innumerable streams toward all the created inhabitants of heaven, to all the saints and angels there. The love of God the Father flows out toward Christ the head, and to all the members through him, in whom they were beloved before the foundation of the world, and in whom the Father's love was expressed toward them in time, by his death and suffering, as it now is fully manifested in heaven. And the saints and angels are secondarily the subjects of holy love, not as those in whom it is as in the original seat, as light is in the sun, but as it is in the planets, that shine only by reflected light. And the light of their love is reflected, in the first place, and chiefly, back to its great source. As God has given the saints and angels love, so their love is chiefly exercised towards God its fountain, as is most reasonable. They all love God with a supreme love. There is no enemy of God in heaven; but all, as his children, love him as their Father. They are all united, with one mind, to breathe forth their whole souls in love to God their eternal Father, and to Jesus Christ their common Redeemer, and head, and friend.
Edwards goes on to describe in more detail this divine love that so permeates heaven, and he also drives home the practical implications of that love in the here and now. Basically, the more we love, the more of a "taste of heaven" we get on earth. The less we love, the farther removed we are from heaven in the framework of our mind and in the disposition of our souls.
In reading these lofty thoughts of love in heaven and the pursuit of heavenly love here on earth, I was taken aback by Edwards' sudden shift to the subject of hell toward the tail end of his sermon. Not that Edwards' ever shrunk back from preaching about hell, but that I was so consumed with thoughts of heaven throughout this sermon, hell never once crossed my mind until Edwards raised the matter. But this only served to arrest my attention (and that of Edwards' original audience, I'm sure!).
Here's the basic thought: If heaven is a world of love, then hell is a world of hate. "That makes sense," you might say. But Edwards is not content to let the matter go with a passing, superficial thought. He wants us to really consider the implications of this. So he writes,
Everything in hell is hateful. There is not one solitary object there that is not odious and detestable, horrid and hateful. There is no person or thing to be seen there, that is amiable or lovely, nothing that is pure, or holy, or pleasant, but everything abominable and odious. There are not beings there but devils, and damned spirits that are like devils. Hell is, as it were, a vast den of poisonous hissing serpents; the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and with him all his hateful brood.In that dark world there are none but those whom God hates with a perfect and everlasting hatred. He exercises no love and extends no mercy to any one object there, but pours out upon them horrors without mixture. All things in the wide universe that are hateful shall be gathered together in hell, as in a vast receptacle provided on purpose, that the universe which God has made may be cleansed of its filthiness, by casting it all into this great sink of wickedness and woe. It is a world prepared on purpose for the expression of God's wrath. . . . It is a world overflowed with a deluge of wrath, as it were, with a deluge of liquid fire, so as to be called a lake of fire and brimstone, and the second death.There are none in hell but what have been haters of God, and so have procured his wrath and hatred on themselves; and there they shall continue to hate him forever. No love of God will ever be felt in hell; but everyone there perfectly hates him, and so will continue to hate him, and without any restraint will express their hatred to him, blaspheming and raging against him, while they gnaw their tongues for pain. And though they all join together in their enmity and opposition to God, yet there is no union or friendliness among themselves - they agree in nothing but hatred, and the expression of hatred. They hate God, and Christ, and angels, and saints in heaven; and not only so, but they hate one another, like a company of serpents or vipers, not only spitting out venom against God, but at one another, biting and stinging and tormenting one another.
What a world of difference there is between heaven and hell! And indeed, we presently live in that world of difference! Earth hangs between heaven and hell, and on earth we see the expression of both love and hate. Only now hate is restrained by the presence of love, just as love is hindered by hate. But in eternity, both hate and love will run rampant, each in its own unrestricted environment.
To which of these worlds will you go? The answer is, it's up to you. Though an ardent defender of God's sovereignty in salvation, Edwards takes great pains to press home the issue of personal responsibility, saying,
God gives us our choice. We may have our inheritance wherever we choose it, and may obtain heaven if we will but seek it by patient continuance in well-doing. . . . If we heartily choose heaven, and set our hearts entirely on ... that land of love, and if we choose and love the path that leads to it, we may walk in that path; and if we continue to walk in it, it will lead us to heaven at last.
If you're not sure whether you're on your way to heaven or hell but would like to know for sure that you are on your way to heaven, click here. And for those of you who do know that you're on your way to heaven, then "conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, ... standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27).