On the Perfection of Heaven

Heb. 11:40 …since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Nikitas Stithatos ca. 1000-1090

The world above is as yet incomplete, and awaits its fulfillment from the first-born of Israel – from those who see God; for it receives its completion from those who attain the knowledge of God. Once it is complete, and has brought to an end the lower world of believers and unbelievers, it constitutes a single congregation, allocating to each member his appointed place, and separating out what cannot be reconciled. It draws to itself the origins and ends of all other worlds and, itself unlimited, it sets bounds to them. It is not affected or limited by any other principle, as something that is under constraint. For it is ever-active, in such a way that it is never self-confined or extended beyond its own limits. It is the sabbath rest of other worlds and of every other principle and activity. (On Spiritual Knowledge, Love and the Perfection of Living: One Hundred Texts 98)