(More Bible Studies Available @ www.marktabata.com)
To Receive These (And Other) Free Bible Studies And Updates Via Email, Contact Mark Tabata @ 606-216-1757 (Text Message) Or hazardhomecoc@gmail.com (Email)
Ephesians 2:7-that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
One of the joys of life is learning.
God has given mankind a beautiful creation to explore and enjoy, and each day I learn new things about life. Solomon was one who loved science and learning as well:
1 Kings 4:33-Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish.
As much as I enjoy learning about this world around us, I am even more eager for what we will be learning in Heaven. Some believe that when we get to Heaven, we will somehow automatically know everything (as if we will be God, having infinite knowledge). Yet that is not the case at all.
Commenting on Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:7, one author has noted:
“I heard a pastor say, “There will be no more learning in Heaven.” One writer says that in Heaven, “Activities such as investigation, comprehending and probing will never be necessary. Our understanding will be complete.”[ 250] In a Gallup poll of people’s perspectives about Heaven, only 18 percent thought people would grow intellectually in Heaven.[ 251] Does Scripture indicate that we will learn in Heaven? Yes. Consider Ephesians 2: 6-7: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace.” The word show means “to reveal.” The phrase in the coming ages clearly indicates this will be a progressive, ongoing revelation, in which we learn more and more about God’s grace. I frequently learn new things about my wife, daughters, and closest friends, even though I’ve known them for many years. If I can always be learning something new about finite, limited human beings, surely I’ll learn far more about Jesus. None of us will ever begin to exhaust his depths. Jesus said to his disciples, “Learn from me” (Matthew 11: 29). On the New Earth, we’ll have the privilege of sitting at Jesus’ feet as Mary did, walking with him over the countryside as his disciples did, always learning from him. In Heaven we’ll continually learn new things about God, going ever deeper in our understanding.” (Randy Alcorn, Heaven: A Comprehensive Guide to Everything the Bible Says About Our Eternal Home (Clear Answers to 44 Real Questions About the Afterlife, Angels, Resurrection, … and the Kingdom of God), 318 (Kindle Edition): Eternal Perspective Ministries)
Interestingly enough, the Lord Jesus may have had this in mind when He declared that in His Father’s house there are many “mansions” (John 14:1-3). One of the meanings of that word had reference to a place of learning!
Notice especially Barclay’s point # 2:
“Jesus went on to say: ‘There are many abiding places in my Father’s house.’ By his Father’s house, he meant heaven. But what did he mean when he said there were many abiding places in heaven? The word used for abiding places is the word monai, and there are three suggestions. (1) The Jews held that in heaven there were different grades of blessedness which would be given according to people’s goodness and their fidelity on earth. In the Book of the Secrets of Enoch, it is said: ‘In the world to come there are many mansions prepared for men; good for good; evil for evil.’ That picture likens heaven to a vast palace in which there are many rooms, with each individual assigned a room such as that person’s life has merited. (2) In the Greek writer Pausanias, the word monai means stages upon the way. If that is how to take it here, it means that there are many stages on the way to heaven, and even in heaven there is progress and development and advance. At least some of the great early Christian thinkers had that belief. Origen was one. He said that when people died, their souls went to some place called Paradise, which is still upon earth. There they received teaching and training and, when they were worthy and fit, their souls ascended into the air. They then passed through various monai, stages, which the Greeks called spheres and which the Christians called heavens, until finally they reached the heavenly kingdom. In so doing, the souls followed Jesus who, as the writer to the Hebrews said, ‘passed through the heavens’ (Hebrews 4: 14). Irenaeus speaks of a certain interpretation of the sentence which tells how the seed that is sown produces sometimes a hundredfold, sometimes sixtyfold and sometimes thirtyfold (Matthew 13: 8). There was a different yield and therefore a different reward. Some people will be counted worthy to pass all their eternity in the very presence of God; others will rise to Paradise; and others will become citizens of ‘the city’. Clement of Alexandria believed that there were degrees of glory, rewards and stages in proportion to a person’s achievement in holiness in this life. There is something very attractive here. There is a sense in which the soul shrinks from what we might call a static heaven. There is something attractive in the idea of a development which goes on even in the heavenly places. Speaking in purely human and inadequate terms, we sometimes feel that we would be dazzled with too much splendour if we were immediately ushered into the very presence of God. We feel that even in heaven we would need to be purified and helped until we could face the greater glory. (3) But it may well be that the meaning is very simple and very lovely. ‘There are many abiding places in my Father’s house’ may simply mean that in heaven there is room for all. An earthly house becomes overcrowded; an earthly inn must sometimes turn away the weary traveller because its accommodation is exhausted. It is not so with our Father’s house, for heaven is as wide as the heart of God and there is room for all. Jesus is saying to his friends: ‘Don’t be afraid. In this world, people may shut their doors upon you. But in heaven you will never be shut out.’” (William Barclay, The Gospel of John, Volume Two (The New Daily Study Bible), 178-180 (Kindle Edition): Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press)
Let us learn from this creation that our Lord has blessed us with, and may we look eagerly for the new heavens and the new earth that He is preparing for His people!
Father, thank You for Your beautiful cosmos that You have made for us to learn from and enjoy. May we see Your hand at work all around us, and may we give You the glory for every good and perfect gift. In Christ Name we pray, Amen.