Prayer for Divine Guidance

Heavenly Father, I ask that your Holy Spirit bless and enlighten me as I read, reflect and rest in the boundless riches of salvation that Christ Jesus has won! Abba Father, draw me closer into the Divine Dance with You, Your Son, and Holy Spirit to continually transform my life here on earth to taste life with You in Heaven! Amen.

Reflection

Imagine standing on the threshold of eternity. This is the promise of eternal life: not the end of the journey, but the endless journey into the glory and joy of God. Each step will mean a new discovery of God’s infinite goodness and beauty. This is the endless adventure of becoming like God: life expanding, love deepening, grace unfolding without measure. Love keeps on growing within the Divine Dance of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Joy expands eternally as there will be more to know and to experience of God.

C. S. Lewis described this entrance to eternity as “further up and further in” in The Last Battle, the final volume of The Chronicles of Narnia. The protagonists of Lewis’ book journey from the old Narnia into the new, true Narnia, where each step reveals the ever-greater goodness and glory of God. They explore ever-expanding landscapes, each more beautiful and true than the last. “Come further up, come further in!” No arrival, only a continuing journey into the joy and wonder of God!

With Lewis’ portrayal of the Dance as “further up and further in”, he draws on a rich-long tradition of Christian thought. There is Gregory of Nyssa (335-395) who played a key role in shaping early Christian theology, particularly defending and articulating Trinitarian faith. Gregory says that there will be no end to our delight in the life of God. Because God is infinite, we will always have more of God to discover, and more to become. Gregory wrote in his book, On the Life of Moses: “No limit can be set to our progress towards God: first because no limitation can be put on the beautiful, and secondly because the increase of desire in the soul creates in it a greater capacity for enjoyment.”

Then, there is Ephrem the Syrian (306-373), a prominent theologian and hymnologist in the early church, who wrote of eternity as inexhaustible joy in the wonder and glory of God. Ponder Ephrem’s delight in God: “The vision of His face is an ocean without shore; the blessed dive into its depths, finding ever new treasures of joy, yet never reaching its end.” (Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise, Hymn 8.11) And again, Ephrem wrote: “The treasure of His glory is not diminished, nor is His beauty exhausted; for the righteous, beholding Him, are filled with delight, and yet there is always more to see.” (Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise, Hymn 11.15)

But a greater expression of the endless crescendo of God’s glory are words by the apostle Paul: “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). “Observe that the design of the gospel is this – that the image of God, which had been effaced by sin, may be stamped anew upon us, and that the advancement of this restoration may be continually going forward in us during our whole life.” (John Calvin, Commentary on 2 Corinthians)

Paul reveals that our transformation into God’s image, beginning in this life, attains its fullness in eternity as we are transformed “from one degree of glory to another.” Each degree of glory opens to yet another in the constant progression from “glory to glory.” This is the never-ending, everincreasing participation in the likeness and glory of God! Even in our worst trials and suffering we can say with the apostle Paul, “This slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

For now we see “the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror”, but the time is coming when “we will see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). And the vision of God will be transforming! It will be as the apostle John declares, “We will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

One day our bodies will be raised in glory (1 Corinthians 15:42-45). We will join that company of countless angels (Hebrews 12:22) and the multitude of the redeemed, that no one can number (Revelation 7:9). And we will look upon the face of God and behold new depths of His love, His beauty, and His grace. Each moment will be for us a new discovery of God’s inexhaustible goodness. The more we know Him, the more we will want to know Him, and the more we will become like Him. The old hymn was right: “When by His grace I shall look at His face/That will be glory for me.” And we will go “from one degree of glory to another.” What we taste here in part, we will one day drink in full.

This is the Divine Dance of the Trinity. The Dance of self-giving love and joy. And God says that you are invited! Why not let God love you, and be forever discovering, forever delighting, and forever becoming like Him. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36). Let’s dance!

“On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”

(John 14:20)