Privileges Now and Afterwards

Privileges Now and Afterwards

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.  They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. …

Revelation 22:3-4

The scene in the 22nd chapter of Revelation is all of glory.  All that was crooked has been made straight.  Everything lacking has been supplied.  The sum of wrongs has been put right.  In the midst of this glorious scene there abides the whole of the population of the redeemed.  Saved, sainted, servants of the Living Christ have reached their final destination.  Our text tells us that in that place there is no more curse.  It then goes on to delineate for us some distinct privileges which we shall enjoy in our heavenly home.  What is even more exciting to consider is that we can enjoy all of those privileges to a degree now, knowing that we shall enjoy them to perfection then.

The first of these mentioned privileges is our service for Christ.  The blessed thing is that we may serve Christ now.  An abundance of opportunities present themselves at every turn of the road.  Whether they are small areas of service or large; evangelistic, charitable, or mundane, these opportunities for service are available to each one of us every day.  The exciting aspect of this privileges is that in heaven we shall begin to make a perfect job of serving.  Now we mourn often that our service is imperfect, but not then.

Another privilege of heaven is that we shall enjoy a perpetual sight of Christ.  Now we see with the eyes of faith, but then we ‘shall see His face.’  It is blessed to see Our Beloved ‘showing Himself through the lattice,’ but how much better will it be to gaze upon Him unobscured.

The third privilege is that ‘His name shall be in (our) foreheads.’  Now we have the privilege of being identified by Christ and with Christ before the eyes of a hostile world.  Then we shall enjoy the privilege of being identified with Christ in His glory.  These are great privileges which we enjoy now and that will be magnified in glory.

Precious Christ,

We recognize the great gift You have given

to Your redeemed,

both now and for all eternity.

Where the Bush is Burning

Tomm Tice