The School of the Hereafter

[Thompson, Darryl]

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Ellen G. White Estate, Devotional for December 21
Visit us at http://www.whiteestate.org
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The School of the Hereafter

Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them. Rev.
21:3, R.S.V. 


Between the school established in Eden at the beginning and the school
of the hereafter there lies the whole compass of this world's
history--the history of human transgression and suffering, of divine
sacrifice, and of victory over death and sin. Not all the conditions of
that first school of Eden will be found in the school of the future
life. No tree of knowledge of good and evil will afford opportunity for
temptation. No tempter is there, no possibility of wrong. Every
character has withstood the testing of evil, and none are longer
susceptible to its power. . . . Restored to His presence, man will
again, as at the beginning, be taught of God. 

Our lifework here is a preparation for the life eternal. The education
begun here will not be completed in this life; it will be going forward
through all eternity--ever progressing, never completed. 

Every right principle, every truth learned in an earthly school, will
advance us just that much in the heavenly school. As Christ walked and
talked with His disciples during His ministry on this earth, so will He
teach us in the school above, leading us beside the river of living
waters and revealing to us truths that in this life must remain hidden
mysteries because of the limitations of the human mind, so marred by
sin. 

The history of the inception of sin; of fatal falsehood in its crooked
working; of truth that ... has met and conquered error--all will be made
manifest. The veil that interposes between the visible and the invisible
world will be drawn aside, and wonderful things will be revealed. 

Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The
acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the
energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the
loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still
there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new
truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind and
soul and body.

>From Maranatha - Page 363