Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: uriel@oak.circa.ufl.edu (Scott Whitmore) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: One Question!!!! Message-ID: Date: 6 Dec 90 08:23:05 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Florida CIRCA VAX Cluster Lines: 46 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , tywang@wolf.cs.washington.edu writes: > > I have one question concerning of eternity. Is that guaranteed that >we must live happily if we get the eternal life from God? But, say if my >beloved one could not get this eternal happiness, would I be still living >happily eternally? [lots deleted] This is a good question, and fortunately it's already been covered for me by C.S. Lewis in _The_Great_Divorce_ (a book I heartily recommend for anyone) so I don't have as much thinking to do :-). For one thing, Christ told us that NONE of the prior relationships we had while on earth will be binding in quite the same way. (I offer Matt. 22:30. If marriage is no more in heaven, then I can't imagine that any less intimate relationships will exist either.) The reason for this is not that God is going to lock each of us up in a room to ourselves where only He can get to us. Quite the contrary! (Rev. 7:9 may apply here.) All of the Body of Christ are brothers and sisters who will be together forevermore -- but our primary attention will not be upon each other, but on Him. No pleasure of mind or body that can be had on earth will compare to the joy of His presence in Heaven. What about relatives or friends of mine who are damned? (I'm sure there will be at least one.) I might expect I would, even SHOULD, be sad to see them forever separated from me, yet I expect I'd be reminded that (a) I made my choice, he made his. God's justice has been done. (b) For as many people I've "lost" this way, I have gained many, many more in return, just as Job regained his fortune sevenfold after going through his trials. They're not the SAME people who I lost, but even that grief becomes a glory for me through God's grace. Imagine how God, who CREATED that person and DIED for him, feels about seeing him in hell. Yet He is not sad, but has the fullness of joy. Trust Him that you'll have the same. >Tak Yin Wang > >Computer Science of University of Washington, Seattle. My sincere apologies, as always, if I offend. Scott -- Scott Whitmore Internet: uriel@maple.circa.ufl.edu 24-510 Tolbert Hall or uriel@maple.decnet%pine.circa.ufl.edu Gainesville, FL 32612 (USA) Friendly Neighborhood Standard Disclaimer "The Devil...the prowde spirit...cannot bear to be mocked." --Thomas More (?)