"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." I have always loved this C.S. Lewis quote, but I just recently learned the story behind it. He wrote these words to a woman facing health complications that she believed would result in death. In an effort to encourage her, he wrote in a letter, "There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." Surprisingly, this woman survived her health complications, but Lewis actually passed away months after penning those words. These powerful words bring tears to my eyes. As followers of Christ, we have the confident expectation that what we have to look forward to in heaven is better than anything we could imagine.
The apostle Paul knew that nothing compares to the splendor, joy, and grandeur of heaven, and he wrote about that in 1 Corinthians 2. As he wrote about heaven, it appears that his own words may have failed him as he wrote in this chapter because he quoted Scripture from Isaiah 64:4, "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). Paul was teaching readers that what we have waiting for us in heaven does not compare to anything that we have seen or heard on earth. It is greater, grander, more beautiful, and more wonderful than anything we could ever imagine. We have no idea what is waiting for us because we have nothing to compare it to. It is better than our wildest dreams.
Heaven is so grand that we have no vocabulary or experiences even to understand it. Our best moments and our favorite days cannot compare to the greatness of heaven. We have so much to look forward to. Indeed, "there are far, far better things ahead than any we [will] leave behind." May you and I look forward to the day our faith will become sight, and we see heaven with hopeful anticipation.
It can be easy to get caught up in our daily routines and our lives on earth that we forget what we have to look forward to. Take a notecard and write the C.S. Lewis quote we talked about at the beginning of this devotion on it. Place the notecard on your bathroom mirror and look at it every morning as you get ready for the day. Let this notecard remind you of the hope you have of heaven and eternal life with Christ one day.
When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”
But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. For,
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to teach him?”
But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
