For so long in Western theologies, we have focused most of our attention on all that we believe Christ provides for us—a clean conscience, say, or a restored marriage, a renewed work ethic, a reconciled community, the promise of justice and healing for the creation, and so on—that we have tended to forget the aim of all Christ’s benefits: that we ultimately would be, as the hymn puts it, “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”63 Yes, pearly gates and golden streets will be lovely, but the point of all this heavenly imagery is to help us see that God Himself will be the Christian’s eternal
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