Acts 7:1, 44-60And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 And Stephen said:
“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
My great Aunt Lydia was a missionary to India. I never met her, but the story of her death has stayed with me some 60+ years after hearing it. She apparently saw heaven in her dying moments and said, “It’s so beautiful I cannot describe it!” Then she died. If you’ve ever been with someone who is dying you might be surprised to hear that anyone is lucid enough to speak so cogently at the time near death’s door. The people I’ve seen die have been nearly completely unconscious.
My Aunt Lydia and Stephen (among others, I’m sure) were conscious. Not only so, both Stephen and Aunt Lydia saw a vision of heaven and reported it to those around them. It was their witness to God’s promises and our Christian hope.
I’ve lost two sisters to an untimely death. I’ve lost my mother and father to death as well. I look forward to seeing them with all the throng of the heaven in the life of the world to come. I anticipate a grand reunion with them on the Great Last Day. But I believe that reunion will be secondary to the glorious beauty of the new heaven and new earth, and the exuberant celebration of God’s glorious grace in Jesus Christ. I anticipate seeing Jesus then. Learning what he looks like for real. Seeing him reigning at the right hand of God will bring profound joy to my heart.
We don’t really know much about the life of the world to come. We get glimpses in Revelation 21, Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of God as a wedding banquet, Paul’s mention of being taken up to the seventh heaven (whatever that means), and this account of Stephen’s vision. We do know that Jesus has conquered death for us, and promises life in the world to come. We see all this with the eyes of faith.
David Bahn - Reflections 
Leave a comment