December 29:  An Eternity of Bliss.

We Shall Have Unending Joy.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.--Isaiah 35:10, NRSV

THE PROPHET CAUGHT the sound of music there, and song, such music and song as, save in the visions of God, no mortal ear has heard or mind conceived.  "The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."  "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody."  "As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there."  "They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the Lord."  Isaiah 35:10; 51:3; Psalm 87:7; Isaiah 24:14.--Prophets and Kings, 730.

There the redeemed shall know, even as also they are known.  The loves and sympathies which God Himself has planted in the soul shall there find truest and sweetest exercise.  The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together "the whole family in heaven and earth" (Ephesians 3:15)--these help to constitute the happiness of the redeemed.--The Great Controversy, 677.

                                      They raise their voices, they shout for joy;
                                   from the west they acclaim the Lord's majesty.
                                       Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord;
                                    exalt the name of the Lord, the God of Israel,
                                                     in the islands of the sea.
                   From the ends of the earth we hear singing: "Glory to the Righteous One."
                                                                                      --Isaiah 24:14-16, NIV

December 28:  An Eternity of Bliss.

Eternal Delight in Our Father's Kingdom.
"So don't be afraid, little flock.  For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom."--Luke 12:32, NLT

IN COMPARISON WITH THE MILLIONS of the world, God's people will be, as they have ever been, a little flock; but if they stand for the truth as revealed in His word, God will be their refuge.  They stand under the broad shield of Omnipotence.  God is always a majority.  When the sound of the last trump shall penetrate the prison house of the dead, and the righteous shall come forth with triumph, exclaiming, "O death, where is thy sting?  O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55)--standing then with God, with Christ, with the angels, and with the loyal and true of all ages, the children of God will be far in the majority....

In this world their minds were consecrated to God; they served Him with the intellect and with the heart; and now He can place His name "in their foreheads."  "And they shall reign for ever and ever."  Revelation 22:5.  They do not go in and out as those who beg a place.  They are of that number to whom Christ says, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."  He welcomes them as His children, saying, "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."  Matthew 25:34, 21.--Acts of the Apostles, 590.

                     "The master was full of praise.  'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
                                  You have been faithful in handling this small amount,
                   so now I will give you many more responsibilities.  Let's celebrate together!' "
                              
                                                              --Matthew 25:21, NLT

December 27:  An Eternity of Bliss.

We Shall Enjoy the Work of Our Hands.
"In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.  Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards."--Isaiah 65:21, 22, NLT

IN THE EARTH MADE NEW, the redeemed will engage in the occupations  and pleasures that brought happiness to Adam and Eve in the beginning.  The Eden life will be lived, the life in garden and field.  "They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them....For as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands."  Isaiah 65:21, 22....

The prophets to whom these great scenes were revealed longed to understand their full import.  They "inquired and searched diligently:...searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify....Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you."  1 Peter 1:10-12.

To us who are standing on the very verge of their fulfillment, of what deep moment, what living interest, are these delineations of the things to come--events for which, since our first parents turned their steps from Eden, God's children have watched and waited, longed and prayed!--Prophet and Kings, 730, 731.

                                                 "They will not work in vain,
                                 and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
                                         For they are people blessed by the Lord,
                                          and their children, too, will be blessed."
                                                                                             --Isaiah 65:23, NLT

December 26:  An Eternity of Bliss.

No Sorrow or Sadness.
"I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying."--Isaiah 65:19, NKJV

WE ARE HOMEWARD BOUND.  He who loved us so much as to die for us hath builded for us a city.  The New Jerusalem is our place of rest.  There will be no sadness in the city of God.  No wail of sorrow, no dirge of crushed hopes and buried affections, will evermore be heard.  Soon the garments of heaviness will be changed for the wedding garment.  Soon we shall witness the coronation of our King.  Those whose lives have been hidden with Christ, those who on this earth have fought the good fight of faith, will shine forth with the Redeemer's glory in the kingdom of God.--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, 287.

The will of God is to be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.  Then the nations will own no other law than the law of heaven.  All will be a happy, united family, clothed with the garments of praise and thanksgiving--the robe of Christ's righteousness.  All nature, in its surpassing loveliness, will offer to God a constant tribute of praise and adoration.  The world will be bathed in the light of heaven.  The years will move on in gladness.  The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold greater than it is now.  Over the scene the morning stars will sing together, and the sons of God will shout for joy, while God and Christ will unite in proclaiming: "There shall be no more sin, neither shall there be any more death."--Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, 42.

                                        "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 21:4, NLT

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