Dr. C. Baxter Kruger has really helped me a lot in my understanding of how great God’s love is for all of humanity through his writings. It was a great blessing for me that I was able to hear him personally when I attended a Trinitarian Theology conference organized by my denomination, the Grace Communion International back in 2007 at the Hyatt Regency, Indian Wells, California. Here’s an excerpt from his booklet entitled, “Parable of the Dancing God” which explains what I mean:
Heaven a Party, a Feast!
“It has been said that while the Bible speaks often about heaven, it does not actually tell us much about what heaven is going to be like. Well, if you want to know what heaven is like, here it is. It is a party. It is a feast. It is a celebration thrown by God the Father and He is the lead dancer. Heaven is about being at the Father’s party and being the celebrated guest of honor, in spite of your disqualifying failure. The first of these three parables says that there is “joy in heaven” (v. 7, NASB) over one sinner’s rescued life. In the second parable the angels of God throw a party when a sinner gets the point and turns from his nothingness to the Father. In the third parable there is no mention of joy in heaven, no mention of angels throwing a party, there is only this wonderful picture of the dancing God. There is only this vivid image of the Father running, embracing, and kissing this fallen son, and commanding a great celebration. That is heaven. It is the excitement of God; it is the Father’s dancing joy, exploding into the greatest party in history. Is that not a wonderful picture of what church is to be like here and now—the joy of God taking shape in our hearts and producing a celebration? We are into “models” today when we talk about the church. Well, here is a great model: the partying church.
The Heart of Missions and Evangelism
Is this not the very heart of evangelism? Should it not be that when people, like the older brother (v. 25), come in from work, they hear music and dancing in the church, and want to know what this is all about? Is this not the very heart of our mission? Are we not called to be a celebrating people who are so excited and filled with the grace and joy of our Father that the celebration gets the attention of the world?”