What is yet to come?–part five

When God first began to create the world, he knew all the problems that would happen in creation. He knew all the sins that would be committed. He knew all the rejection he would face. He knew all the suffering and tribulation that sin would cause in the world. He knew already how he would suffer to redeem sinners and to rescue the world from sin and death. God knew all these things, and clearly he felt that they were worth the cost. You are worth the cost to God. He was willing that sin and death might exist in order that we also might exist.

Paul wrote, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). Jesus might have said the very same words, even while hanging on the cross. The few years we face tribulation are nothing when compared to the eternal glory of the new creation. No matter how much we struggle today, it pales in comparison to what God has in store for us: the eternal celebration that we call heaven.

When Jesus and his saints land on the earth on the Day of the Lord, the planet will have been changed. All sin and evil will have been stripped away, and everything will be new. We will see the world as Adam and Eve saw it before they were tempted and fell into sin. Everything God made was very good, and those very good things will be ours forever in the new creation.

Will there be animals? “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. A nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain” (Isaiah 11:6-9). I cannot say whether the dogs and cats we have loved in this world will be restored, but in the new creation all animals will be tame; none of them will be dangerous to us. There will be no poisons, and we will not have allergies. No longer will our lives be in danger from storms and earthquakes. Best of all, people will not be dangerous to each other. We will all get along and will live in perfect peace and harmony. We will have fellowship with God, with all the people around us, and with all of nature.

Our bodies will be changed. We will be healed of all that happened to us in this lifetime. Our eyes and ears will work perfectly; our legs and knees will carry us without pain. We will be in no danger of sickness. Our minds will be healed too; there will be no anxiety, no depression, no sorrow of any kind. Even someone born with a defect will be healed at the resurrection. We will still be diverse, as we are today, but none of us will have any kind of problem with our health or with our bodies.

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Isaiah 25:6). No wonder Jesus compares heaven to a wedding reception. There will be no starvation, no hunger, and no overeating. We will know how to take care of these bodies and will have no temptation to abuse these bodies.

Without death, there will be no deadlines. There will be work to do, as Adam and Eve had work to do in the Garden, but the work will be enjoyable. Of course, many careers will not be needed in a perfect world. There will be no police officers, no attorneys, and no judges. Doctors and nurses will not be needed. Nor will pastors; all of us will have direct access to God. There will be jobs, but they will be enjoyable. I expect that the tasks you enjoy doing today, the occupations that cause you to lose track of time, are the things you will do in heaven. Whatever you do, it will be done for the glory of God and for the benefit of your fellow saints.

But if someone wants to take a vacation, to enjoy creation for a while, nothing will stop that person. He or she could walk to the mountains, build a cabin in the woods, and live among nature for twenty or thirty years, and then return; and it would be like taking a Saturday afternoon to rest today.

Will there be technology in heaven? Technology is not sinful. No doubt there will be room in heaven for fast cars and motorbikes and other things some people enjoy. Those who do not enjoy those things will not have to do them or be anywhere near them. I will probably ride a horse in the new creation, but if a car makes you happy, I am sure you will have a car.

The devil wants us to think that heaven will be boring. Taking a few scraps of imagery from the book of Revelation, the sinful world has created a cartoon picture of heaven with haloed people wearing white robes, sitting on clouds, and playing harps. Now if playing a harp sounds good to you, no doubt you will have the opportunity. But the new creation will be like this present creation, except that sin and all the consequences of sin will be stripped away. What you like about the world as it is now will probably be there for you in the new creation.

Best of all, we will live each day fully in the presence of God. We will know his love and have no doubts about him. We will always know what is right for us to do, and we will always want to do what is right. Should we have questions, God will have answers. We will know Jesus as well as we know our best friends today, and nothing will come between us and his love.

This is our eternal home, guaranteed to us through the work of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. To him be thanks and praise forever! J.