This past Tuesday was one of the best, most exciting, most stressful days of my life. My old college choir, The Master's College Chorale, was in town giving a concert at my church! I learned much that day about how crazy event planning can be, but it was all worth it for how well the whole day, primarily the concert, went. We got to hold the concert in one of the oldest, most historic buildings in downtown St. Paul, and everyone I talked to could not stop talking about how great everything sounded in that venue.
Of course, the thing that encouraged me the most about the concert was that the Chorale was singing the praises of our God in a venue that only made them sound even better (as if they didn't already sound phenomenal). And as I've continued to reminisce about the concert, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is just how exciting it will be to join in an even grander sound when we all are caught up in heaven to reside in the glory of God for the rest of eternity.
As believers, we know that the world has been despairingly tainted by the sin of man, and everything we see is just a shadow of what it should be. Paul writes in his first epistle to the Corinthians, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known" (13:12). The "then" to which Paul is referring is the day when the earth will be restored. The dim mirror we look into now will be cleaned, and we will see everything as it truly is, which is how Christ has seen us all along. Everything that was once beautiful in this life will be magnified to its full beauty. Think of the most beautiful, most memorable sunset you've ever seen. (For me, it would have to be the sunset seen on my first day at a resort on the shore of the Sea of Galilee last year.) How could anything be more beautiful, more glorious than that? Well, we haven't even seen the half of it!
The best part about all of this is, all of this magnified beauty will be to the glory of God. With all of creation restored, it gives all its glory to the all-powerful Creator. The most beautiful song in the world will be sung to the praise and glory of God, and we will all get to join in! Every beautiful thing in creation that we see will be another opportunity to praise God as the Creator.
At times, it was hard for me to just sit in the audience as the Chorale was singing on Tuesday night. I sang in that group for four years, and I would love to continue singing with them if I could. But I can hold onto the hope that one day we will all join together in singing again, singing a song more beautiful than any we've sung before, and all to the praise of our God and Father, and to His Son our Savior. How I long for that day!