God gives us this anticipation of eternal life with Him in order that our lives here on earth might be more fruitful for Him. While no human has ever seen God except His Son, the Son of man, it is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that the promise and the vision of the everlasting kingdom comes to us. When we need this vision and assurance most, it comes to us through prayer. It comes to us by our faith and our hope. Our love for one another helps God reveal His promise of eternal care and comfort and joy to us.
In Revelation 21:1-7 we are told: "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."
God, through Christ and the Holy Spirit uses the faithful to help carry out His work among His people. It is not always easy for me to love my brother or sister, but as I seek God and learn His ways and His promise, I see how He loves me a sinner and I learn how to love. We can more readily experience life and love with God if we learn to love one another as He loves us. This brings heaven so much closer to us. God did not create us to live as individuals. He created His people as unique individuals for the purpose of coming together in love to worship Him.
As mortals we tend to seek things and experiences as if our time is running out and we've got to get it all in before we die. This is a very fatalistic way of viewing and experiencing life. This is why we fear death. By seeking God's eternal kingdom through our living the life in Christ within the Body of Christ, life itself is connected to eternity for us and we have no deadlines or quotas. "The home of God is among mortals!"
We are tested many times in wanting to see things before we believe. In John 4:46-54 we learn about faith in this story: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.' The official said to him, 'Sir, come down before my little boy dies.' Jesus said to him, 'Go; your son will live.' The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way."
The royal official that approached Jesus in Cana where our Lord had turned water into wine had a sick son in Capernaum. The man begged Jesus to go and heal his son. This is when Jesus brought the man up short by saying, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe." The man was looking for Jesus to perform a miracle and to do this by going to the place where his son lay ill.
Jesus then said to him, "Go; your son will live." He believed the word of Jesus and went on his way to Capernaum. When he arrived he found that at the very hour that Jesus had said to him, "Go; your son will live," the boy's fever left him. Now the man and his whole household believed. Jesus did not make the trip to Capernaum, but the boy was healed. He was healed by faith.
So often we try to direct the Lord in our prayers and wishes. We look at healing and other needs through our own eyes and not through God's eyes. We are sometimes too specific in our prayer and lay out the details of the work that we want God to perform. We predetermine which outcomes that we will accept. We pray, but we lack faith. We think that Jesus must make the trip to Capernaum in order for the boy to be healed. We look for "signs and wonders" so that our belief can be confirmed.
Jesus saw that the man loved his son enough to humble himself and beg Jesus to heal the boy. The man was a royal official of much higher social and political ranking than Jesus. He believed that Jesus could heal his son. This belief was all that he needed. He did not need to presume anything other than this. Jesus did not need to go to the boy. He simply said, "Go; your son will live."
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