Q: Will we physically see God the Father in Heaven? As we will finally dwell with Him and be in His presence?
This is a great question – the new creation is filled with truth about our perfected relationship with God and all the blessings that will flow to us, unrestricted in our union with Christ as members of the New Covenant. We will live our lives consciously and visibly in the presence of the triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It’s worth thinking about how we will relate to each person of the Godhead. We know God the Father, in Christ, by the Holy Spirit – that’s the order in which things go in the Bible. For example, we pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit’s enabling.
If you want to think more about what it means to relate to each person of the Godhead, look up John Owen’s essential book “Communion with the Triune God” someday – or read about it here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-we-need-to-learn-from-john-owen-on-the-trinity
In Heaven we will bathe in the loving presence of God the Father, enjoy face to face, side by side relationship with Jesus, and be filled to overflowing with the joy of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Will we see the Father? Well the question is: what is there to see? Throughout Revelation we’ve heard about “the throne” and “one seated on the throne” – that language reappears in the final vision. Why doesn’t John describe to us the one on the throne – the Father? Well maybe there isn’t anything physical to describe – there’s just glorious light emanating from the holy splendour of His presence: “God who alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16). The prophets in their visions of God speak in such terms of God on His throne. God is “invisible” – and Jesus “is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). He is spirit – without physical form or property. John tells us: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). Jesus in dialogue with His disciples says:
Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? (John 14:8-10)
Paul tells us: “For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
So just from these few verses I do not believe we will see the Father in the way the question supposes. We will know Him and His omnipresent presence with us, all around us, enjoying His goodness, singing His praises, fellowshipping with Him in our work and play. We will know Jesus face to face. We will know the Holy Spirit by His continuing work in us. However, the only physical form of God came into being in the incarnation of the eternal Son of God, who took to Himself a human body and through His resurrection from the dead and glorification in heaven continues to meet with us in that body.
Q: Why are the leaves of the tree of life used for the healing of the nations, if there is no disease in heaven?
As we look at the final vision, remember we are dealing with pictures of what the new creation (the future heaven) will be like. These pictures are of real things but also they are described in ways that is filled with symbolic theological significance. For example, I wear a wedding ring. It is a symbol of the value of my marriage (precious metal), it is a picture of the promises I made to my wife, and it depicts the unbreakable bond of marriage (an unbroken circle). Yet it’s a real thing, filled with symbolic significance. Likewise, approach the vision in Revelation in a similar way: real things are described in ways of theological richness, teaching us about Christ and His relationship with His people. The Tree of Life reappears from the Garden of Eden. Had our first parents remained faithful in their covenant with God they would have been allowed to eat from this Tree, and immediately receive eternal life and be eternally confirmed in their innocent state. However, they were covenant breakers and received the curse and were expulsed from God’s presence and barred access to the tree. This was so that in their fallen state they were not been confirmed in their sinful state forever, but so that redemption could be a possibility. Now through Jesus, who has borne and removed the curse, we again have access to the Tree. It’s almost like the Garden of Eden is the central park of the city of New Jerusalem. God’s people are in God’s place under God’s rule and all is well again. The nations, the peoples of the world, who have endured many a pain and trouble can eat from the Tree – this picture is simply reminding us of what Jesus will do for us: “He will wipe every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said: Behold I am making all things new” (21:4-5).
Q: Can we build the kingdom of God on earth today in order to hasten the new creation?
The Kingdom of God – God is the king and He rules. This is what the phrase means. When Jesus proclaimed the “good news of the kingdom of God” – the blessings of the good reign of God are breaking into this world under the tyranny of the kingdom of Satan. Under the reign of King Jesus, the curse of evil is being pushed back, as the captives of sin are being set free by Him.
The good reign of God has broken into this broken world today (starting with Jesus’ first coming, death, resurrection and ascension) and will climax at His second coming when He makes all things new. The good news of the kingdom is experienced today as rebels against the reign of God (i.e. all of us who are sinners) surrender and become children of God through faith in Jesus. The kingdom is bad news for rebels; only the fact that the king has died for the rebels transforms it into good news!
The blessings of that reign are experienced in part today by Christians in our lives, by the blessing of the indwelling Holy Spirit and Christ ruling in our hearts. The blessings of this reign will be experienced in the world at large only at Christ’s return – however today in the midst of the world, the church is an outpost of the kingdom of God, it is the present manifestation of the community of the kingdom of God. It is in the church that the reign of God is lived out as a community of people. It is also through the work of the Church and individual Christian that we erect signs and foretastes of the goodness of the reign of God in the world. Because we know God will wipe every tear from His peoples’ eyes, today it’s good for Christians to care for the sick, comfort the hurting, feed the hungry, and help the homeless. Because we know that God will renew the earth, today it’s good for Christians to care for the environment and its non-human inhabitants. Because we know there will be no sin or sinners in God’s perfect world, today it’s essential that Christians share with their friends the good news of what Jesus has done to save us from our sins. In all these ways we can live, work and speak for the king.
