I spent the last two years reading the theology of the Creator, Creation, and the Beatific Vision. It’s been a rich feast. I wanted to share it with friends but found it was difficult to communicate the depth very succinctly. In this blog, I’ll share what I discovered, one thought at a time, over the course of the next year. Subscribe if you’d like to join me in this journey.
Sadly, there hasn’t been much written for the layperson regarding the theology of the Creator, or Creation, or the Beatific Vision for the last one hundred years. (Perhaps we’ve been so focused on debating the interpretation of Genesis 1-3, and arguing with natural materialists over the age of the earth and Darwin’s theory of evolution, that we haven’t talked about the theology.) If there had been more discussion, I doubt understanding the role of joy and beauty would have been such a revelation to me.
Similarly, the study of seeing God’s face has also been lost in the post-modern era. Even though I am a seasoned Bible teacher, I had never researched the beatific vision. I knew that one day we would see Christ at his Second Coming, but I did not know the richness of what Christians have understood about the beatific vision during the last two thousand years.
My main takeaway from my study is that I now have so much joy in my life every day. I experience a deep sense of joy that even transcends sadness and uncertainty. It’s a joy that causes me to turn toward Jesus and open my heart to receive his love and peace. It’s a joy that celebrates all that is good and beautiful and true. By the work of the Holy Spirit, I am being transformed.
Buy a new journal, then join me on a journey of Joy this year and see where it leads you.