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Phil Gons

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You are here: Home / Archives for Revelation

Revelation

Is There Regret in Heaven?

April 2, 2008 by Phil Gons

Life As a VaporJohn Piper is one of my favorite living theologians. His writings and preaching have had a profound impact on my thinking, and he is regularly a means of great encouragement and motivation. I rarely find myself disagreeing with him.

I recently picked up the 24-volume John Piper Collection from Logos and have been enjoying working through Life As a Vapor. It’s composed of 31 chapters making it an ideal book to read for a month’s worth of devotional reading.

The second chapter is entitled “Suffering, Mercy, and Heavenly Regret,” in which Piper poses the question, “Is there regret in heaven?” He continues, “Can regret be part of the ever-increasing, unspeakable joy of the age to come, purchased by Jesus Christ (Romans 8:32)? My answer is yes” (19).

Piper reasons that since we will spend eternity praising Christ for ransoming us (e.g., Rev 5:9), we’ll certainly remember our sinful condition from which we’ve been ransomed. And those memories will yield feelings of regret.

[Read more…] about Is There Regret in Heaven?

Filed Under: Books, Exegesis, Theology Tagged With: heaven, John Piper, Logos Bible Software, regret, Revelation

What Does “No More Sea” in Revelation 21:1 Mean?

August 25, 2007 by Phil Gons

Revelation 21:1 reads,

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Does this text teach that the new earth will not have large bodies of water (θαλάσσας)—no more lakes, seas, or oceans? Most think so.

The “sea” . . . must disappear before the eternity of joy can begin.1

The first hint of what the new heaven and new earth will be like comes in John’s observation that there will no longer be any sea. That will be a startling change from the present earth, nearly three-fourths of which is covered by water.2

Why would this be? Most argue that the sea symbolizes evil (or death or disorder), and thus the eradication of evil necessitates the removal of the sea.

[Read more…] about What Does “No More Sea” in Revelation 21:1 Mean?
  1. Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 743. [↩]
  2. John MacArthur, Revelation 12–22 (Chicago: Moody, 2000), 263. [↩]

Filed Under: Exegesis, Theology Tagged With: ESV, grammar, Greek, interpretation, lakes, Libronix, oceans, Revelation, seas, translation, water

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I’m a Christ-follower and the Chief Product Officer at Logos. I’m happily married to my best friend and the father of five wonderful children. I enjoy studying the Bible and playing outside with my kids. More about me . . .

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