p. 38 | Joy in Heaven by ADOLPHUS SMITH

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · BATTLE CREEK, MICH. · Jan 17, 1871

Joy in Heaven.

By ADOLPHUS SMITH

If, in Heaven, there be more joy over one sinner that repenteth, than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance, what will be the rapture of immortal beings when our world is redeemed from the bitter curse?

Our ponderous globe rolls in her orbit around the sun, the seasons come and go in quick succession, and the alternations of day and night call man successively to his labor and repose. In their nightly round, the stars glitter in the firmament. With the aid of a powerful telescope, we view our sister planets: Venus with her climate of perpetual spring; Jupiter, with a bulk fourteen hundred times larger than our earth, and her four attendant moons; and Saturn, nine hundred times as large as our planet, with rings of lunar sheen, and eight attendant moons, in all the phases of their changes. From these we turn for a moment to contemplate the center of our system—our own sun. More than one million times larger than our earth, he rolls on in his diurnal and yearly motion round the center of our astral system, emitting corruscations of light that forbid our gaze. We glance a moment at his brother suns—greater in bulk—set like diamonds in the galaxy; and then turn away to view astral systems more remote, until they become irresolvable under the highest telescopic power.

Could we take our position on one of these distant spheres, and stretch our vision to the space beyond, we should, doubtless, behold it filled with the works of God. From thence, we turn to view our world, and it is not. The highest telescopic power cannot reveal its existence. We behold the heavenly spheres, inhabited by sinless races, holding converse with the angels, and with God; while man alone is vile, and the place of his habitation is desolate.

Can the Creator, then, regard with favor this speck, this atom in his wide domain? Yes. It will prove that none of his works have been wrought in vain.

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Jesus leaves the glory of Heaven, exchanges the adoration of immortal beings, for the insults and gibes of rebellious men; he takes upon himself our infirmities, bears our sicknesses, and performs the office of a humble servant;

and, finally, forsaken by those whom he had loved and befriended, in the most insulting manner is hurried to an ignominious death. Men laugh and mock at his agony; but angels turn away and weep; the sun refuses to shine; and the terrible upheaving of the earth, sufficiently attests the grief of nature at the death of our Lord.

For a season, he rests in the grave; but on the third day, rises triumphantly, victor over death and hell. After forty days, he ascends into Heaven. The broken law is vindicated, the wrath of God appeased, and man's redemption made secure. When the service in the heavenly sanctuary is completed, those for whom it has availed are called forth from the tomb to meet the descending Saviour. The living saints are changed, and caught up with them. They are borne to the mansions prepared for them in the New Jerusalem; where, in concert with Christ, they sit in judgment upon the wicked, who have corrupted the earth. At the end of the one thousand years, they descend to earth with their Redeemer, and the New Jerusalem follows them, and rests upon the place prepared. Those who have transgressed the law of God are called up from their graves to suffer, with the author of sin, the devil, the execution of the Judgment. Fire comes down from God out of Heaven; the elements melt with fervent heat; and the world, and the works therein, together with the wicked, root and branch, are burned up, and become as though they had not been. From its ashes spring forth, by the power of God, a new earth, clad in Edenic beauty. Those who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, possess it forever and ever.

The New Jerusalem, the capital of the Father's kingdom, having been transferred to earth, becomes the capital of the everlasting kingdom of his only begotten Son.

“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” Rev. 5:11-13.

Truly, there will be joy in Heaven over the redemption of our world. It cost the death of the Lamb of God. Reader, shall you and I share in the song of redemption?

ADOLPHUS SMITH.