Wonders of Heaven: Part 2

Posted On May 24, 2020

“When Aslan said you could never go back to Narnia, he meant the Narnia you were thinking of. But that was not the real Narnia. That had a beginning and an end. It was only a shadow or a copy of the real Narnia which has always been here and always will be here: just as our own world, England and all, is only a shadow or copy of something in Aslan’s real world.”

C. S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

Our present world is only a dim copy of the world to come, our true home. As we discussed last week in “Wonders of Heaven: Part 1“, the new earth will be filled with beauty and wonders beyond imagination. But what exactly will we do there? We know we’ll be full of joy and happiness, but are we just going to play harps and sit through a never-ending church service? That sounds, let’s admit, a little boring. Here is what Randy Alcorn has to say about this in his book Heaven:

“Our belief that Heaven will be boring betrays a heresy — that God is boring. There’s no greater nonsense. Our desire for pleasure and the experience of joy come directly from God’s hand. He made our taste buds, adrenaline, sex drives, and the nerve endings that convey pleasure to our brains. Likewise, our imaginations and our capacity for joy and exhilaration were made by the very God we accuse of being boring. Are we so arrogant as to imagine that human beings came up with the idea of having fun? . . . Freedom from sin will mean freedom to be what God intended, freedom to find far greater joy in everything.”

Randy Alcorn, Heaven

In A Travel Guide to Heaven Anthony DeStefano talks about the misunderstanding conveyed by the phrase “Rest in peace.” This doesn’t mean we’ll just sit around relaxing after a busy life of hard work. It means we’ve been promoted to the next stage of our lives: a challenging, even more active life in heaven. And in this new life, since we’ll be free from worry and hardship, we’ll be able to accomplish truly amazing things.

Activities in Heaven

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Psalm 16:11 NIV

There will be so much to do in heaven that we won’t know where to begin. Music, art, culture, and sports will all be a part of our lives in heaven. There will be nature to enjoy and cities to discover. All the nations and cultures of the world, even ancient ones, will be represented on the new earth. We’ll be able to fully appreciate our God-given desire to explore. The first place we may want to see is the capital city of heaven, the New Jerusalem. It will be more magnificent than any human-built city that has ever existed. It will be full of wealth, beauty, natural wonders, and culture. The main features of the city will be the river of life and the tree of life. As Randy Alcorn explains, we will eat from the same tree of life that sustained Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We will depend on God to nourish us and renew us forever though His gracious provision.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”

Revelation 22:1-2

If we need a break from city life, there will be plenty of time to appreciate all that nature has to offer. We can take a quiet walk through a park, climb a mountain, sit beside a campfire, go scuba diving, or sip an iced latte on the beach. God’s amazing creation will be ours to explore. Judson Cornwall in his book Things You Don’t Know About Heaven reminds us that in Genesis life begins in paradise, and in Revelation life is brought to completion in paradise.

“For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay — the things that overcame the world against its will at God’s command — will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s children enjoy.”

Romans 8:20-21 TLB

We will also have jobs to do in heaven, but with none of the negative aspects of work that we have now. In heaven, work will feel more like spending time doing our favorite hobbies. Anthony DeStefano explains that work will be “active contribution.” It will be exciting and bring us more joy and satisfaction than anything we’ve done in this life. Not only will our work expand heaven, it will develop us as human beings. We will love doing it! We may continue in our present jobs or have completely new ones. I am a teacher, an amateur musician, and an aspiring writer. Maybe I’ll do one or all of those things. Or maybe I’ll do something totally different. My husband is a police officer. There won’t be crime in heaven, so we won’t need police, but he’s always dreamed of being an architect. Maybe he’ll design heavenly skyscrapers. God gave us His capacity to create, and we will have all eternity to realize our own creative visions.

“Angels could have maintained the world as God created it. But it takes God’s image bearers to develop, expand, and enrich the earth. That is culture. It includes art, science, and technology. The question of whether these creative disciplines will continue in eternity is settled if we believe the Bible when it says that both mankind and the earth will continue in physical form. If so, then culture must continue.”

Randy Alcorn, Heaven

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV

Did I mention the food? Randy Alcorn points out that just as Christ ate in His resurrection body, we will be able to enjoy feasts in heaven in our own resurrection bodies. While we won’t need to eat, God made us to enjoy fine meals to His glory. Just imagine how wonderful everything will taste and smell with our resurrected senses. Not only will we enjoy our favorite foods, but there will be plenty of new ones to try. If I’m honest, my first stop in New Jerusalem will probably be the local coffee shop!

“The best meals you’ll ever eat are all still ahead of you on the New Earth. . . . remember that it’s God who promises that on the New Earth we will sit at tables, at banquets and feasts, and enjoy the finest foods and drinks. And to top it off, our Father promises that he himself will prepare for us the finest foods (Isaiah 25:6).”

Randy Alcorn, Heaven

“Everything you can imagine is real.”

Pablo Picasso

Not only will we be able to enjoy the wonders of the new earth, but also the new heavens. We’ll be able to explore stars, planets, and galaxies. We might even find new beings on other worlds. Does this all sound like science fiction? Here is what Randy Alcorn has to say: “No Scripture passage proves that God will or will not create new races of intelligent beings, either on Earth or on other planets spread across the new universe. It’s not speculative to say there will be a new celestial universe of stars and planets. Scripture is clear on this point; that’s what ‘new heavens’ means. Whether God might inhabit them with new creatures is not provable but certainly possible. God is a creator. He’ll never stop being what he is. We should expect new and wondrous creations that declare his glory. God hasn’t exhausted his creative resources. He never will.” Mr. Alcorn also points out that if we humans, with our divine gift of creativity, have constructed the imaginary worlds of science fiction, it shouldn’t be surprising if God, the ultimate Creator, has designed actual new worlds. Of course, we don’t know for sure, not yet, but being the science fiction nerd that I am, I can’t wait to find out!

“God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!”

Ephesians 3:20 MSG

I saved the best activity for last. Imagine worship services in heaven! Think of the music. Can you envision singing hymns with choirs of angels? Think of the preaching. What would it be like to hear Martin Luther King, Jr., or Martin Luther, or Moses speak from the pulpit? When we sing, “The Lord is in His holy temple,” what would it be like to look over and actually see Jesus sitting in the sanctuary? It takes my breath away just thinking about it. Nothing will compare to meeting our Lord face to face and worshiping Him in the company of angels and all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!’ “

Revelation 19:6-7 NIV

Heavenly Reunions

“. . . he felt two strong arms thrown about him and felt a bearded kiss on his cheeks and heard a well-remembered voice saying: ‘What, lad? Art thicker and taller since I last touched thee!’ It was his own father, the good King Erlian: but not as Tirian had seen him last when they brought him home pale and wounded from his fight with the giant, not even as Tirian remembered him in his later years when he was a grey-headed warrior. This was his father, young and merry, as he could just remember him from very early days when he himself had been a little boy playing games with his father . . .”

C. S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

God created us to be social beings. Never has that been made more apparent to us than during the isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Solitude is okay once in awhile, but we need other people around us to feel fulfilled and happy. As marvelous as the wonders of the new earth will be, we wouldn’t truly enjoy them alone. We’ll want to share them with our friends and family. And that’s exactly what we will do. As long as our loved ones make it to heaven, we’ll see them again. Anthony DeStefano describes what it will be like:

“You know that when you see your friends and relatives there someday, you’re going to see these people in the flesh. You’ll be able to recognize them and they’re going to recognize you. Imagine what that first moment will be like — the first instant when you see your mom, your dad, your husband, or your grandmother. . . . You’ll be able to run up to them the second you see them and jump into their waiting arms and embrace them and kiss them. You’ll be able to cry with joy when you’re hugging them. You’ll be able to feel the warmth of their bodies again. You’ll be able to hear their voices — voices you haven’t heard in so long. You’ll be able to have a converstaion with them, and tell them all that’s happened in your life since you last saw them. . . . Best of all, you’ll be able to be with them again. That’s what the resurrection means.”

Anthony DeStefano, A Travel Guide to Heaven

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.”

Matthew 22:2 NIV

Our first day in heaven, according to Anthony DeStefano, will be a big party thrown for us by God Himself. Our friends and family in heaven and all our brothers and sisters in Christ will be there to celebrate. We’ll all be young and healthy again, so I’m sure there will be lots of music and dancing and laughter. We can eat, drink, and be merry and have conversations with people we’ve always wanted to meet. Maybe you’ll talk to your great-great-great-grandmother about what life was like when she was a child. Or maybe you’ll see your favorite athlete and ask for some tips to improve your sports skills. Imagine sitting down next to your favorite author and discussing what you love most about his or her books. You could even run into Abraham or Noah or Paul and ask them to expound on your favorite Bible stories. Not only will we get to meet all these people, we’ll get to be friends with them. We’ll even get to interact with the angels, including our own guardian angels. And if that’s not enough, we will get to meet God Himself. It will be quite a party!

“It’s vital that you visualize in your mind what the scene in heaven is going to look like the first day you arrive. It’s important to see all the details, to take in all the sights, sounds, and sensations. You have to make it real, because it’s going to be real. The problem for us weak-minded humans is that it’s very easy for us to fall into the habit of picturing heaven in the same old gray, lifeless way. It’s easy for us to dismiss our deepest yearnings as mere ‘wishful thinking.’ We can’t allow that to happen, because it’s not true. Christianity hasn’t managed to survive two millennia on wishful thinking.”

Anthony DeStefano, A Travel Guide to Heaven

What about husbands and wives? If marriage is only until “death do us part,” then does that mean spouses won’t get to be together anymore? Not at all. Anthony DeStefano assures us that just because the institution of marriage between spouses will no longer exist in heaven, the relationship will continue forever. As he explains, one of the main functions of a successful marriage is to lead both husband and wife to heaven. Once that has been accomplished, there is no longer a need for the “marriage,” but that doesn’t mean we won’t still have meaningful relationships with our spouses.

“Are we going to know our husbands and wives in heaven? Of course. And yes, we’re going to have special relationships with them. Will they be the same kinds of relationships they were on Earth? No. But they will be special and unique. How could it be otherwise?”

Anthony DeStefano, A Travel Guide to Heaven

Okay, so what about sex? I mean if we are going to have physical bodies, won’t we still desire to be with our spouses in a physical way? Randy Alcorn explains that this is where there is an exception to the continuity we expect between this life and the next. Since Christ said that people in heaven would not be married to each other, and sex is intended for marriage, then it follows that there will not be sex in heaven. Mr. Alcorn also says, “However, since there’s a different sort of continuity between earthly marriage and the marriage of Christ to his church, there may also be some way in which the intimacy and pleasure we now know as sex will also be fulfilled in some higher form. I don’t know what that would be, but I do know that sex was designed by God, and I don’t expect him to discard it without replacing it with something better.” Only God knows exactly what’s in store for us, but we can continue to trust Him to give us good gifts. We will be so filled with joy in heaven that we won’t possibly feel that we are missing out on anything.

“You love him even though you have never seen him; though not seeing him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself.”

1 Peter 1:8 TLB

What about our pets? Will we see them again in heaven? The answer that Anthony DeStefano gives for this question is “Of course!” God wants us to be happy, and He has absolute power to do whatever He wants. We humans are special because we are created in God’s image, but that doesn’t mean God can’t choose to populate the new earth with all types of plants and animals, including our own pets. Randy Alcorn agrees. He points out that animals are made by God, and many people’s lives have been touched through them. As the Giver of all good gifts, He could easily reunite us with our pets in heaven if He though it would please us. In fact, it would be in keeping with His generous nature.

Not only will we see our pets again, but we will be able to interact with all types of animals. They will no longer be dangerous. There will be no more food chain and no more need to hunt. We can see them as they were meant to be. And both authors mentioned above agree that we can expect to see extinct and prehistoric species on the new earth. Yes, that includes dinosaurs! Can you imagine walking around the heavenly version of Jurassic Park? Believe it or not, that’s exactly what we’ll be able to do. And if that isn’t enough wonder for you, Randy Alcorn suggests that on the new earth animals may even talk!

“In a universe teeming with God’s creativity, should talking animals or intelligent non-human beings (such as angels and ‘living creatures’ that not only talk but worship) surprise us? If people will be smarter and more capable on the New Earth, should it surprise us that animals might also be smarter and more capable? Remember, both in the Fall (sin) and the rise (resurrection), as goes mankind, so goes creation.”

Randy Alcorn, Heaven

Anthony DeStefano says, “Does all this seem too childish and silly to believe? I certainly hope so, because that’s a sure sign that it’s true.” He reminds us that Jesus Himself said in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, we have to be like little children. (See Matthew 18:2-4 and Mark 10:13-16.) God is serious and solemn when necessary, but He is also playful. To fully enjoy our lives in this world and the next, we have to know how to have a childlike sense of wonder and openness in all that we do.

“You need not mourn over Narnia, Lucy. All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures, have been drawn into the real Narnia through the Door. And of course it is different; as different as a real thing is from a shadow or as waking life is from a dream.”

C. S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia

Preparing for Heaven

We’ve covered a lot in this two-week tour of heaven, but we’ve barely scratched the surface of everything there is to know. There will be so much more to discover and learn once we get there. In the meantime, I encourage you to do your own reading and use your own imagination to think about what awaits us. In the “References” section below I have listed the books we’ve been discussing. There are many other books out there on heaven. And of course, we can learn about heaven from what God has revealed to us in the Scriptures. I hope you are inspired to find out more about our eternal home. As Randy Alcorn reminds us in Seeing the Unseen, God wants us to anticipate heaven because doing so transforms us into living the way He wants us to today.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.”

C. S. Lewis

“Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are;
help us to spend them as we should.”

Psalm 90:12 TLB

Our eternal life has already begun on this world. We can start investing in heaven now. When we make God and His kindgom our top priority, then everything else we do will begin to reflect this. We will want to learn more about Him and our eternal home through studying the Scriptures. We will crave communion with Him through prayer. We will be filled with the Holy Spirit as we ask for wisdom and strength to do God’s work. We will be determined to help others and to share the good news of heaven with them so they don’t miss out. We will begin developing the holy character of Christ. Our time on this world is very brief. Let’s make the most of it by following Paul’s advice in Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (NIV)

“Life on Earth matters, not because it’s the only life we have but precisely because it isn’t — it’s the beginning of a life that will continue without end.”

Randy Alcorn, Seeing the Unseen

This week’s Scripture passages encourage us to set our hearts and minds on things above. There is a printer-friendly pdf version below the image. May we all keep our eyes fixed on heaven and the wonders God has in store for us!

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

Revelation 22:17 NIV

References:

• Alcorn, Randy. Heaven. Kindle ed., Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2003.
• Alcorn, Randy. Seeing the Unseen, Expanded Edition: A 90-Day Devotional to Set Your Mind on Eternity. Multnomah, 2017.
• Cornwall, Judson. Things You Don’t Know About Heaven. Charisma House, 2007.
• DeStefano, Anthony. A Travel Guide to Heaven. Image, 2003.
• Lewis, C. S. “The Last Battle.” The Chronicles of Narnia, Harper Entertainment, 2005, pp. 665-767.

Images:

• Cave Portal featured image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay
• Fjords image by enriquelopezgarre from Pixabay
• Canal City image by djedj from Pixabay
• Park image by Roman Grac from Pixabay
• Potter image by Lubos Houska from Pixabay
• Food Platter image by 지원 이 from Pixabay
• Planet Bridge image by PIRO4D from Pixabay
• Church Choir image by Gabriele Ottich from Pixabay
• Friends Talking image by StockSnap from Pixabay
• Banquet image by Vic Padilla from Pixabay
• Sunset Beach image by RENE RAUSCHENBERGER from Pixabay
• Dog image by Manfred Richter from Pixabay
• Mountain Landscape image by RÜŞTÜ BOZKUŞ from Pixabay
• Rainbow Waterfall image by Free-Photos from Pixabay