Heaven without Christ

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? (15)

Author and pastor John Piper presents the scenario in his book God is the Gospel (Piper, John. God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008. Print.). Our first knee-jerk, Sunday-school-indoctrinated response is "No way! Heaven without Jesus would be wrong." But take a moment and think about it; no pain, no sorrow, surrounded by friends, pleasures evermore. Sounds pretty good actually.

But it only sounds good because I am regularly deceived by and often willingly accept the fact that true and lasting pleasure can be found in these things; it can't. The very basis for anything being good, or worthy, or pleasurable, or joy-inducing, or happiness-engendering is Christ Himself. The fact that I can even consider the notion of Christ-less joy or Jesus-less satisfaction or Son-of God-less pleasure means I am making a foundational error in my thinking. AND I MAKE THAT MISTAKE ALL THE TIME.

God, bring me to a place of maturity in you, of Christ-likeness, that I recognize that the only good, the only true pleasure, the only satisfaction, and the only worth is found in You.