“… a sunny day really does make you feel a bunch better about life,” writes Jude Dobson in the November/December 2013 FAMILY HEALTH DIARY.

She says also that she is sure that “there  must be some physiological basis to it.”

And there is of course.

That’s why I like the what Paul Gerhardt says:

SUN

“Die Sonne, die mir lachet, ist mein Herr Jesus Christ;

das, was mich singen machet, ist, was im Himmel ist.”

Paul Gerhardt was a famous hymn writer in Germany.

For those who don’t know German: He says that the sun shining on him is the Lord Jesus Christ and what makes him sing is what is in HEAVEN.

Now, what do we know about heaven?

If we want to know, we must turn to the Bible. What does the Word of God say?

A.  THE INHABITANTS OF HEAVEN

1.  God the Father lives there, Isaiah 63:15.

2.  Heaven is the home of the Lord Jesus Christ, John 3:13; John 6:38; Luke 24:51.

3.  God the Holy Spirit lives there, John 1:32.

4.  Angels are there, Matthew 18:10; Matthew 26:53.

5.  All the redeemed will be there, First Thessalonians 4:14

A.  THE BLESSINGS OF HEAVEN

1.  We will be forever with the Lord, Revelation 4:2.

2.  We will share in His glory, John 17:24; First Peter 1:11; Romans 8:18; Colossians 3:4.

3.  We will possess eternal life, John 3:36; John 10:38; First Peter 1:4,5.

4.  Heaven is a place of  perfect sinlessness. We will be free from SIN, Revelation 22:3. There will be sheer joy, because the curse of Eden removed forever from man.

5.  There will be no more suffering, Revelation 7:17. No hunger, no thirst and no death!

6.  Everything will be perfect and complete, Revelation 22.  In heaven we will have reached our final destination.

But I like even better, what another German hymn writer says. Philip Spitta, who lived from 1801 – 1851 begins one of his hymns like this:

“O Jesus, meine Sonne, vor der die Nacht entfleucht!”

That means that the Lord Jesus Christ is even our sun in the darkest night!