Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2 ESV)
There is a strain of thought amongst those who support a liberation theology of disability that disability will follow people into heaven. That’s problematic on a number of fronts.
1 John 3:2 provides a simple and wonderful answer – when Jesus appears we shall be like him! But the greatest thing about that isn’t a freedom from disability (though I believe that is part of it). The ESV Study Bible puts it really well when unpacking that verse:
In eternity, Christians will be morally without sin, intellectually without falsehood or error, physically without weakness or imperfections, and filled continually with the Holy Spirit.
I don’t even have categories for what it will be like to live without sin or error! But even that isn’t the best part. That comes at the end of the verse: we shall see him as he is.
You know what that means, right? The reason we get to see him is because we get to BE WITH HIM! And there’s nothing in all the universe better than that!
I so anticipate that day!
Amen and amen!