Reflections on 'I Can Only Imagine' by Mercy Me

This is a lesson that I did several years ago – actually in 2003. But it was brought to my attention this week and after reading it I felt that maybe God was leading me to do this again. And as we entered into our first night of the Judgment Day ministry and we try to “portray” what Heaven will be like, I felt that this is the lesson I am supposed to do today. So here it is again with some changes.

Reflection #1
"Look, Daddy, look what I learned today!" A four year-old girl, delighted that her father is finally home from work, motions for him to sit down on the living room couch. As her mother looks on with pride, a would-be ballerina gracefully lifts her arms and slowly spins on her tiptoes.
If you haven't experienced a scenario of this type firsthand, you can picture it. It doesn't take much of an imagination to see that little girl in your mind's eye. She's still dressed in her pink tutu and satin slippers. Her eyes are wide with excitement. Her face beams. As she looks into her father's smiling face, she senses his unconditional love. Knowing that, she longs to creatively express her love.

What a beautiful picture that impromptu dance recital is of a future homecoming. When we gather in the front room of heaven, the joy of being reunited with our Father will result in unlimited expressions of praise. Will we want to dance? Will we want to sing? Well, that's exactly what the group Mercy Me wants to explore with us as they sing "I Can Only Imagine."
At this point in lesson we played the entire song in class.
I am sure everyone reading this lesson has heard this song but you can listen to again as you read the read the lesson on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you, Jesus, or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine.
Who's to say what we will actually do once we get to heaven? No one knows for sure. We are certain of a couple of things. For one thing, the attractiveness of heaven will be mind-boggling. It will be the fulfillment of everything we've longed for. "No longer will there be a curse upon anything" (Revelation 22:3 NLT).
Just imagine. Sin and all its consequences will be absent--no death, disease, heartache, pain or loss. Injustice won't be found there; neither will there be a hint of terrorism or tragedy.
And another certainty we have about heaven is the fact that we will find appropriate ways to communicate our love as we see our Father face to face. "For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face" (Revelation 22:3-4 NLT). Can you imagine that? Seeing the face of the one we have waited our whole lives to see
Reflection #2
Fanny Crosby wasn't born blind. She was the victim of a tragic mistake. The family doctor inadvertently confused the chemicals he was mixing for a routine eye drop prescription. At six weeks, the infant girl's eyes were flushed with a toxic substance and she immediately lost her sight. That accident occurred early in the nineteenth century long before society would have insisted on lawsuits as a way of seeking retribution. The way Fanny responded to this unthinkable injustice was to write hymn lyrics.
When she died at the age of 95, Fanny had written over 9,000 hymns. Although sightless, Fanny had eyes of faith that allowed her amazing biblical insights. Because she knew she would one day see her Savior face to face, her vision of heaven was all the more keen. With pen in hand she wrote as she imagined heaven's splendor. In one of her best-loved hymns she celebrated the joyful assurance of her salvation while longingly anticipating the day she'd be with Jesus.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love
(Blessed Assurance).
Miss Crosby once surprised an admirer by saying, "Do you know that if at birth I had been able to make one petition, it would have been that I should be born blind?"
"Why?" her amazed fan asked.
"Because when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior!"
Fanny's old-English way of talking is a bit outdated. But her delight imagining what it will be like to actually see the Lord is timeless. It's what Mercy Me sings about in "I Can Only Imagine." Perhaps their lyrics are a bit easier to relate to.
I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When Your face is before me
I can only imagine.
That's the very thing the apostle Paul whets our appetite for in the famous love chapter of the Bible. In 1 Corinthians 13 he calls us to imagine what it will be like to have perfect vision and perfect love. “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
Reflection #3
Why do so many babies die of Sudden Infant Death syndrome? Why do young mothers get cancer and leave school-age children to grow up with only a dad's love? Why didn't God intervene on September 11? Does God's perfect will for my life include a given career and a certain person for me to marry?
Can you imagine how often a pastor is approached by well-meaning people wondering why God allows certain circumstances or events or what He intends? Let's just say very often.
And well-meaning ministers do their best to respond. "When we get to heaven, we can ask God why Hitler was allowed to exterminate 6 million Jews, His chosen race. We'll be able to ask Him why innocent civilians are killed in combat. You can ask the Lord what He had in mind when He let that chain of events take place in your life."
Often people will ask “Will I see my mother, my father, my child, my best friend that went on to be Jesus before me?” We want to give comfort to those that have lost loved ones and so we say ‘Certainly”!
These are good responses. It just might be like that. But nowhere in Scripture is this kind of conversation with God hinted at. Nowhere does it imply that once in heaven we will have the need to know answers to those kinds of questions. In heaven earth-issues may not seem nearly as important. As the lyrics of an old Gospel song, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, speculate, the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. And God says in Isaiah 17, “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
It's entirely possible that we will be so blown away by His majesty and splendor that questions of any kind will seem inconsequential in the Lord's presence. That's what Mercy Me gets at in their song.
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine.
In Psalm 46 the Lord speaks. What He says suggests that extended seasons of reverential silence may be more the norm in heaven than non-stop singing. "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10 NIV). It's an invitation to quiet reflection in His presence while we can only imagine what heaven will be like.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
My personal belief is that the greatest words that we could ever experience would be to hear Jesus say to us as we enter into Heaven: “Well done, my good and faithful servant” as He said them to the faithful servant in the story of the “talents” in Matthew 25:21.

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