Calvin was a Reformer practicing and pleading for ad fontes. Nevertheless, he was a man of his times, and as George H. Tavard has shown his spirituality in connection with how we should view heaven and this earthly life is reminiscent of medieval mysticism and of the devotio mederna. That is seen in this chapter of his Institutes (Book 3, Chapter 8).
Here is my summary.
1. Heaven is the place we seek and long for as Christians. That is, we seek and long for it only as God by tribulation and sore chastisements faithfully teach us the vanity of this life.
2. Why do we so easily forget about heaven? Calvin tells us “our blockishness arises from the fact that our minds, stunned by the empty dazzlement of riches, power, and honors, become so deadened that they can see no farther...In fine, the whole soul, enmeshed in the allurements of the flesh, seeks its happiness on earth” (Pg., 712).
3. God in love for his elect continually proves and demonstrates the miseries of this world, giving us tribulations and sore chastisements.
4. This does not mean we should hate this life. Life is a gift from God which teaches us of God’s love, goodness, and authority over us.
Calvin: “When we are certain that the earthly life we live is a gift of God’s kindness, as we are beholden to him for it we ought to remember it and be thankful. Then we shall come in good time to consider its most unhappy condition in order that we may, indeed, be freed from too much desire of it” (Pg., 715).
5. Paul longed for the life to come, but he also served God while he was living in this world. This is to be the stance of the Christian. As Calvin puts it, “We are now, by God’s will, at our sentry post” (Pg., 716). We serve God in joy on this earth until we die. [2 Cor. 5:6; Rom 7:24 w/ Phil 1:23-24; Rom 14:8]
6. But are not many scared to death of death itself? Yes. Only godly knowledge overcomes this fear, and the believer must heartily apply his mind and heart to God’s promise if he will escape this cold fear.
7. Does not faith seek what we naturally dread? Believers desire to be clothed with immortality (2 Cor. 5:2-3), and those filled with God’s Spirit look for a city whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11). Believers joyfully await the day of resurrection (Tit. 2:3 w/ 2 Tim. 4:8) and praise God as their redemption draws closer, day by day. (Lk. 21:28)
8. We must not envy the wicked and their seeming comfort in this life (Ps.73:2-3). They will not be blessed in the next life, they will be punished. (Isa. 66:24; Matt. 25:41; Mark 9:43,46; Rev. 21:8; 2 Thess. 1:6-
7). However, God’s children are and will be victorious through Christ. Calvin writes: “If believers’ eyes are turned to the power of the resurrection, in their hearts the cross of Christ will at last triumph over the devil, flesh, sin, and wicked men” (Pg., 719).
9. In conclusion, “Let the aim of believers in judging mortal life, then, be that while they understand it to be of itself nothing but misery, they may with greater eagerness and dispatch betake themselves wholly to meditate upon that eternal life to come” (Pg., 716).
This is my comment. Calvin’s eschatology does not consistently lean toward the blessing and power of the resurrection and the age of the Spirit. Yes Calvin is a theologian of the Spirit and gives bright sunshine to the Spirit’s role in our union with Christ, sacraments, and Christian sanctification, but in this section of the Institutes we are not left with a clear hope or a healthy outlook for our present life. The already but not yet does not come out clearly. This life is miserable, but we need to make the best of it for God, but real life is always in heaven. This is the devotion moderna.
The NT teaches us the victory of Jesus Christ. What is bad about this world is sin; but that sin has been overcome and is being overcome through Christ’ gospel. Through this gospel the world will be made new as the gospel spreads to all even as the waters cover the sea.
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