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Heaven is a place where we can really look forward to living
- it’s not just a place where we can get away from this life here on earth
- it’s not a sanctuary from Hell
- It’s the better than the best vacation you have ever taken! Imagine that…
What will we do there?
The New Heaven and Earth will provide us with so much to enjoy.
- some might say that, as long as we are with God, that’s all that matters
- incorrect thinking – God has given all things for our enjoyment
- we do not worship the creation, but the creator
- but we do not throw away what the creator has given us
- We enjoy God. But we enjoy all things through God
- 1 Tim 6:17 – God provides all things for our enjoyment
- 1 Tim 4:3-5 – Everything God created is good and shouldn’t be rejected
- God is delighted when we enjoy something He has given us
- Like we delight in the gifts we give
- If we are thankful when we receive a gift now, imagine how thankful we will be when we enjoy God’s gifts in heaven
- Rom 8:32 – He gave us His son, why wouldn’t He give us all things?
- Eph 3:20 – He is able to more than we can even ask or imagine
- 1 Tim 6:17 – He gives us EVERYTHING for our enjoyment
- The curse has caused some things to be used wrongly today
- But the curse will be removed and all things will be used properly then
- All these things will draw us closer to God
- God is infinite so we will never tire of see Him and finding something more about Him
- In the end, it is not about us, it is about God.
- Heaven is not about our healing, our goodness or our importance
- It is about His grace, His glory, His mercy and love
We will eat and drink
- Angels and God did - Gen 18:1-2, 5-8
- Jesus ate after his resurrection – John 21:4-14
- And he said he would drink in the New Heaven – Luke 22:18
- Rev 2:7 – we can eat from the Tree of Life
- Matt 8:11 – many will come to eat at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
- This verse of course is telling us that gentiles will be as welcome into Heaven as God’s people, the Israelites – but it also tells us a little bit about that heaven – that there will be feasting
- Rev 19:9 – We will be at the wedding feast (of the Lamb and his bride)
- Luke 14:15 – A man said to Jesus, Blessed are we who eat in Heaven.
- If he was wrong, Jesus would have correct him
- Instead Jesus reiterates his sentiments by telling a story about a feast (16-24)
- Isaiah 25:6 – We will feast on wine and meat
- Of course, since there is no death, the meat will not be from animals
- Like manna in the desert, God will provide the meat from heaven
- Isaiah 65:25 – The lamb and the wolf feed together, lion and ox eat straw
- If animal eating habits will change, why not ours?
- God will prepare the feast
We will continue to learn
- We will see things more clearly
- Eph 2:6-7 - We will know God more and more
- 1 Peter 1:12 – Angels don’t know everything, but they are learning all the time
- Gods Word will endure in Heaven – Psa 119:89, Matt 24:35
- How about all the other books about God? We will not become duller, but smarter. Why would God remove good books that increase knowledge?
We will rest
We will work
- Gen 2:15 – Adam was to work the earth in the perfect Eden
- John 5:17 – God is at work
- Matt 25:23 – we will be made ruler over many things because we were faithful in the few He gave us to do here in this life
We will dance, tell stories, paint, draw, laugh, play.
What will there be in Heaven?
There will be music in Heaven
We will have houses
- Isa 65:21 – we will have houses and land
- John 14:2 – mansions, places, rooms – regardless, it is being prepared for us
- Luke 16:9 – we will be welcomed into our friends’ eternal dwelling
There will be animals
- Isaiah 11:6-9 – animals will be at peace with each other
- God will restore man and creation and part of that restoration are the animals
- God created them in Genesis on the same day as Man
- He saved them from the Flood along with man and they are included in the Noahic covenant – Gen 9:9-17
- Ex 20:9-10 - He includes them in the Ten Commandments
- In Beyond Death, Gary Habermas says, “It wasn’t until the advent of seventeenth-century Enlightenment…that the existence of animal souls was even questioned in Western civilization. Throughout the history of the church, the classic understanding of living things has included the doctrine that animals, as well as humans, have souls.”
- In the OT, the word nephesh is used to mean soul and it is used of animals as well as man.
- The reason the sacrifices were valid, were worthy to God, was because it was a great, valuable loss. They symbolize and foreshadow the death of God’s own son.
- It is the horror of the death of a valuable, beloved animal that should have caused people to recognize how atrocious their sins were.
- Will our pets be resurrected?
- Psalm 104:24-30 – tells how the animals look to the Lord, have their breath taken away when they die and are created when God sends His Spirit to renew the face of the earth.
- Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 – who knows what happens to their souls – but it certainly implies that they have one
Will we be bored?
- The implication is that sin is fun and holiness, righteousness and goodness is boring
- People who think this way are those who live in sin.
- Alcoholics cannot live without their alcohol but we all know their lives are more miserable.
- Sin blinds us from seeing how “not fun” living in sin is
- Living in holiness will be more fun than we can imagine
- God promises that we will laugh, rejoice, and pleasure in Heaven
- We need to remove our sin-colored glasses that we look at heaven with.
- We can have fun in heaven for eternity
- We can love our work
- We can worship God and serve Him forever
- We can rule with God forever
Will we have relationships in Heaven?
Our relationships will continue
- Jesus continued his relationships with Mary Magdalene, Peter and the disciples
Jesus will be there
- Heb 13:8 – Jesus is the same yesterday (when He was on Earth), today (in Intermediate Heaven) and forever (New Heaven and earth)
- John 14:3 – He will take us there
- Phil 1:23 – We desire to be with Jesus, which is better even than life
Our greatest relationship will be with God
We can see that if the New Heaven and Earth are a continuation of this one and our life continues in the next one, then we will have opportunities to do those things that we thought we wouldn’t be able to do.
- Never got to Jerusalem – you will
- Never got to the Grand Canyon – you will
- Anywhere else? Does it have to be part of the Earth or can it be part of the restored universe? Like to go to Jupiter – or some other planet? Who knows? Why not? Over eternity, will we be able to figure out a way to get there?
Like the movie Groundhog Day – we can keep learning until we get it right.
- then we can continue to enjoy and perfect or we can begin to learn something else new
In light of all we now know about Heaven, how can we not look forward to being there? How can we not anticipate our entry into our new home? How can we not be optimistic even in death?
Our understanding of Heaven doesn’t remove pain, but it puts it in perspective, doesn’t it? Death is painful, but it is the final pain for those who know and have put their trust in Jesus. Death, where is thy sting?
With that, we should be storing up our treasures in heaven and not on earth. We should be setting our minds on heaven and not earthly things. When we look at eternity, we should recognize the lack of importance that anything earthly has on us and the importance eternal things have.
Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
Accept Jesus as your savior.
Love your neighbors.
Live righteously.
Forgive your debtors.
Live for joy, not for happiness (joy is internal, happiness is based on external circumstances)
Thank God for everything |
Reaching and Developing People for Jesus 
