As I'm sure you'd guess, I really enjoy writing – I love putting words together. I love the art of crafting sentences. Conjugating verbs! Diagramming sentences! It's what makes grammar fun to me. But not long ago I was reading in the book of Hebrews, and I almost did a double take at a couple of verb tenses. Because listen to what it says in Hebrews 12:22, "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven."
Do you notice anything odd about that verse? It's the verb tense. The writer of Hebrews says we "have already come" to heaven. Hello?... was the writer of Hebrews bad with grammar? Well, of course not – the Holy Spirit invented grammar. And He chose to write it this way for a good reason: because resurrection promises are never written for the far and distant future but rather for the here and now.
God wants us to have a present-tense excitement, a right-around-the-corner anticipation of heaven. He wants us to believe that we have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem. He wants us to realize that we are already seated with Christ in the heavenly places, "having our conversation in heaven." As far as God is concerned, the coming of the Lord is at hand, ready to explode on the world's stage at any moment.
The resurrection throbs with present-tense excitement when we learn to invest our days in eternity. Friend, when we sit close to self-scrutiny, when we examine our motives, our words, our actions making certain we are building for eternal glory, then heaven seems as close as a heartbeat. Suddenly the future, the distant, and the vague appear as near, and real and very present. The kingdom of God is within you, Jesus said, and that should whet our appetite for kingdom fulfillment at any day, any moment.
I tell you, I love thinking – I love living this way. There's nothing more invigorating than to wake up in the morning and know that heaven is on the horizon. It brings forward the things that most believers think of as far off, invisible, distant, and vague and hazy. Rather, a buoyant hope of heaven has you picturing the mansions, the happy courts, the angelic host, the wedding supper of the Lamb, and the adoring multitudes. It opens your ears to hear heavenly melodies, to catch the very words of angels' anthems. So, today, do not push the idea of heaven away – take a grammar lesson from a Holy Spirit and get living in the future perfect-tense. It's a heavenly way to approach all of life.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
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