During the recent NANC conference, one of the speakers made the comment that over the past few years, he’s conducted a personal experiment of randomly asking professing Christians: “When you get to heaven, who do you look most forward to seeing?”

This is something I’ve thought about as well, based on some previous conversations with people over the years, especially as a pastor. One of the things for us to think about is that when many of us are asked that question of who we want to see when we get to heaven is that many of us immediately think of family and friends who have passed on ahead of us. This is not necessarily bad, but the more I think about it, family and friends, no matter how close they were, should never be our first answer.

The more I think about it, the more I’m becoming convinced that our “off the cuff” answers reveal much about our hearts’ desires. It’s true, after all, that what comes from the mouth is an overflow of the heart (Matthew 15:18). So what does it reveal when our first answer is not that we can’t wait to see Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2)? Consider how Scripture describes Christ (Colossians 1:15-20):

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Hebrews 1:3 says: “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Jesus Christ is the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-47) and “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:2-4).

Without Christ there is no salvation and yet our first thought is often that we’d like to see family. I don’t think it’s that most of us would say that we’d rather see our family than Christ, it’s just that we think of our family before we think of Christ which reveals more than I think we’d like it to.

Our churches need to do a better job at cultivating true spiritual affections and appreciation for Christ. Christ is not an add-on to our sermons, He is not the key to our “better lives,” he is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega (Revelation 22:13) in whom all things hold together. Christ is our treasure, Christ is our hope, our cornerstone, yet we are so easily distracted and we so readily believe that there are other treasures to be had and other foundations upon which we can stand. Though it might seem like a simple question, our answer to “Who do you most want to see when you get to heaven” carries quite a bit of weight with it.

When you get to heaven, who do you most look forward to seeing?

• Read The Incomparable Christ by John Stott
• Read A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards
• Read The Glory of Christ by John Owen