Since writing my book on heaven, I've had the privilege of going on a "blog tour" where I visited different blogs and answered questions that were posted there. I decided to post all those questions that appeared on all the different blogs and the answers. I hope some of these questions and answers helps you in your journey to The Better Country. And yes, if you have some questions and are willing to ask them, I'm willing to try to answer them. Please note the word "try." Some questions we just don't have the answers to here on earth. Where the scripture is silent I must be silent. But the Bible tells us far more about heaven than most of us understand.
Anyway, I hope to get more questions. And if you know of a blogger who might want to have me come and do a tour on their blog, please let me know.
Here are the questions and the answers:
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON HEAVEN FROM VARIOUS BLOGS
Question:
Dan, in your research for the book, did you find anything that would indicate how we will appear in heaven? For instance, my sister died when she was 20. Will she look like she did at 20 in heaven? Will people who die in their nineties look like they did when they died? Thanks, Annette
Answer:
Unfortunately, no Annette, there is nothing in scripture I am aware of that speaks to what age we shall appear. However, we do have hints. When Moses and Elijah appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, there were no comments on “and they appeared very old.” It seems that the disciples were not surprised by the age appearance of these two, or at least did not remember it as anything out of the ordinary. (Of course, we’re not exactly sure how they learned this was Moses and Elijah unless Jesus spoke to them as such, none of the disciples would have known what Elijah or Moses looked like since Moses died hundreds of years earlier, and Elijah went up into heaven hundreds of years before). It is just an opinion (so please take it only as such) that we shall appear in that age at which our body is healthiest (without reference to conditioning), since age and the deterioration of the body are the results of sin. The human body seems to mature completely at the age of about 19 or 20 years old. After that we learn that our body is heading downhill (sad, isn’t it?) That, of course, leaves the issue of how we might recognize some who we only saw in an older age. This is one of those Deuteronomy 29:29 things (“The secret things belong to the Lord”).
Question:
I often hear about how wonderful it will be to be in God's presence. And, it will be! I wonder what our relationships with others we have known and loved on earth will be like in heaven. What do you think my relationships with my husband, children, parents, etc. be like? – Judy
Answer:
Judy, this is a good question that I asked myself as I was doing the research for this book. The more I thought about it the more I realized the main problem was that I would be comparing an imperfect relationship with a perfect one. No matter how much you love your husband, children, parents, etc., it is with an imperfect love, and therefore, you also are loved imperfectly. If you can imagine what it would be like to have a PERFECT relationship with anyone, then you can begin to imagine what those wonderful meaningful relationships would be like. Sadly, that is the problem. We can’t. I think one of the reasons we ask this question is because we feel such a kinship, such a closeness with certain people and we are somehow afraid that we might lose that in heaven because “we will love everyone the same.” Yet the fact that there is no marriage in heaven (except for all of us who will be Jesus’ Bride) does not mean that we will not have special and closer relationships with some than with others. To love someone dearly because you have so many shared memories or family ties to them does not mean you can’t love others perfectly. Your relationships with others will be different, but not less. To love someone differently is not to love them less, to love someone in a more tender way because you have so many shared memories with them does not preclude you from loving others perfectly.
To sum up: you will love your husband more perfectly than you ever have, and he you. You will finally be able to give your children the PERFECT love you always wanted to give them, but were unable, and vice-versa. How much time will we spend just learning and enjoying the reality of a perfect love in a perfect atmosphere?
I’m not sure I perfectly answered your question, but I’m not sure there is a perfect answer. But thinking about it is fun, isn’t it?
Question:
Pastor Schaeffer, I know that because I have put my trust in Christ Jesus, I am going to heaven when we die. But I also read that we are to reign and rule with the King of Kings here on earth. Is heaven a temporary abode until Jesus sets up His kingdom here (kind of a divine training camp), or will those who go to heaven stay in heaven?
Answer:
Hi Kevin! There is a bit of confusion about what exactly transpires when. Let me try to help. When you or I die and pass from this life into the next, we will enter what the Bible terms “Paradise.” We shall be in the presence of our Lord and probably living in what I believe to be a real heavenly city (Hebrews 12:22) We will remain here for an undetermined amount of time.
Here it gets a little fuzzy. Some believe that when the Millennium occurs (the 1,000 year reign of Christ upon the physical old earth after He conquers the kingdoms of the world—read Revelation 20), the church and saints of old will come to earth to rule and reign with Christ for the 1,000 years. There are some scriptures which might indicate that, but they do not seem to be conclusive to me. Others believe that the church and saints of the Old Testament will live in the New Jerusalem (the heavenly city spoken of in Revelation chapters 21 and 22) while Christ rules on earth for 1,000 years. Where will this city be? That is the subject of a lot of speculation, and the fact is we just don’t know. There is simply no way to be absolutely true. There is nothing in the Bible which speaks of any kind of divine training camp. We will not need training as we will become like Him. We will finally be perfect (though not divine).
I think it is safe to say that when you go to heaven you will stay there, what might change is the make-up of heaven! When you read the scriptures carefully you will see that God’s plan all along was not that we would live in a heavenly city in the air forever, but that He would recreate the heavens and the earth and we would live forever on earth. But it will be a new earth, one with no curse of sin, one perfect in every way. The heavenly city Jerusalem will come and rest upon this new earth. It will be AWESOME!
Suffice it to say, Kevin, that you will be with Jesus forever. Part of that time will definitely be in Paradise (His presence in heaven) but once He recreates the earth, that will be our home forever. Hope this helps!
Question:
Why does the Bible describe heaven in terms of precious metals and gemstones when elsewhere it tells us to see such things as vanities?
Answer:
Hi ReformedHenry! Good question! Let me attempt to give you the best answer I can. First of all, I’m not sure the Bible does teach us to view precious metals and gemstones as vanities. The temple (designed by God) in the Old Testament was a place where gold was plentiful. The ephod worn by the High Priest was covered in stones. All of these beautiful stones, including gold, were created by God, and they are good. He was the One who designed these precious stones into the Ephod and the Temple, as well as the Ark of the Covenant. We delight in them because they are rare and they are beautiful. Whatever is rare and beautiful in our world becomes desirable. However, their very rarity makes it impossible for every one to enjoy them equally. Those who have more wealth have the ability to acquire them; those who don’t can’t.
I think what the Bible condemns is coveting, in other words, wanting what someone else has because he has it and you don’t. We are also reminded that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money itself is not sinful, only a love of it which replaces our love of God. Women are warned against indulging in vain apparel and the like, but not because pretty dresses are sinful, but rather because apparently these women were adorning themselves outwardly, but failing to adorn themselves with the fruit of the Spirit and that which becomes a godly woman. They were substituting jewelry and clothing for the things which make a woman attractive to God, a pure heart.
So, why are gemstones and precious metals used to describe so much of heaven? I find it ironic that the streets are paved with gold, meaning that the most valuable commodity in our world is what the streets are paved with in heaven. In other words, what is most precious here is common in heaven. Heaven will turn our earthly values upside down. I believe, ultimately, that heaven is described in terms of precious metals and gemstones precisely because that is what it will be made of. I take the descriptions as mostly literal (though recognizing their symbolic value as well). As I point out in my book, something can have symbolic value and still be literal. The temple and the Ark of the Covenant were both literal places and objects, yet they were filled with symbolic decorations. They were both literal and symbolic. Hope this helps!
Question:
Hi, Dan, Since it seems that God created us to work and be creative (before the Fall the tending of the garden, the naming of animals, etc.), what do you think we'll be doing in heaven? Will I be editing for eternity, or won't there be any typos? But seriously ... will our work be worship or what? --Judith
Answer:
Hello Judith! What a great question, because it gets to the heart of so many of our fears about heaven. (Yes, fears. Many of us have fears of the place we will live forever--mainly that we will suffer boredom). I believe heaven will be the place where our gifts and talents, which were never able to reach their greatest potential on earth due to the curse of sin, will do so in heaven. But the idea of work needs desperately to be re-examined. Think of the work you absolutely LOVE to do. In fact, often a hobby is a better example. Many of us can work on a piece of art, or music, or creation of our mind or hands, and enjoy it at a level so deep it is hard to explain. When I try to explain to someone how I feel when I am writing a book or an article I can’t quite do it. I LOVE writing, I love playing with the words, moving them around, trying different rhythm to sentences. I believe each one of us was designed to glorify God in a unique and phenomenal way with the gifts and abilities that were designed into us. In heaven I believe we will each reach that potential we reached so vainly for here on earth. Our writing gifts will be perfect, our musical gifts will be perfect, our creative or investigative abilities will finally be perfected and complement the world which He will make for us. We spend so much time on earth lamenting those “missed opportunities” to chase and find our fulfillment in the work we love most, or feel that we never quite lived up to our potential, or were forced by circumstances to give up our dreams. It is in heaven that these God given abilities will be fully realized. Your work will be your worship in the sense that everything we do will honor and glorify God. Remember, we have a whole new world to investigate, write about, explore, and live very real human lives in. I guess the real question is: is editing your passion, or just your job? Whatever your passion is, wherever your gifts lie, in whatever you find the most fulfillment and joy, that will be your work, and your joyful task forever!
I believe that I will be writing and speaking in heaven about the glories of our God and His amazing creation. Why would my gifts and abilities, which are such an integral part of who I am, suddenly disappear? Unfortunately, I am doubtful we will do quite as much editing there as we do here We see through a glass dimly, so I can only speculate, but I believe my speculation has a basis in Biblical teaching. Hope this helps.
Question:
Being the mother of young children, what have you found to be the best way to describe heaven to them so that they can get a clear picture of what it will be like? without it seeming to be like this church service or something that they cannot even fathom? Melissa
Answer:
Hi Melissa! The difficulty in answering your question is that so few of these children’s parents have a really good grasp of what heaven is like that it becomes impossible to describe to a child. It is only with the greatest difficulty that we understand it, and we only understand a tiny fraction of what the reality will ultimately be. The good news is that it will be so much better than we can imagine.
Having said that, for a young child I guess I would describe a place where no one ever gets mad, where everyone is always happy and where it is so beautiful and so big that we are always finding some new beautiful thing. Remind them of the first time they saw a butterfly, or a rainbow, or a bird soaring gracefully on the wind and tell them that in heaven we will keep finding out new and wonderful things. There are no scary dreams in heaven, and nothing to ever hurt you. Best of all, Jesus will make sure that everything is so wonderful for you that you won’t ever miss anything back on earth. There will be animals, trees, gorgeous colors, wonderful food, singing, laughing, towns, cities, and always a new thing to be excited about and a new place to discover. No one is ever bored, or ever wants to leave. Best of all, Jesus will be there making sure we feel loved and happy all the time. This is, of course, simplistic, but still basically accurate. Will they be able to fathom heaven then? Probably not, but then can we fathom it either?
Question:
Dan, does the Bible give us any indication as to where heaven is located? If the earth is to be renewed,will its location be the same as we now know it?
Thanks, Carol
Answer:
Hi Carol. If you are speaking of heaven as the place where we will spend forever, that will be located on the recreated earth, the one God will make after He destroys the old earth. Is that the place we will go immediately after we die (if, for example we die before Jesus comes back)? No, that place is called Paradise. Remember the thief on the cross, and Jesus telling him that “this day you shall be with me in Paradise.” That “place” is what I believe Hebrews 12:22 calls the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. Apparently that is where we shall live until all things are made new. Are the new heavens and the new earth a real place? Yes, surely they are. Jesus has a physical glorified body, and that body is in a place. Wherever that body is, in that place we will be as well. I believe the descriptions of that city in Revelation 21 and 22 give an idea of what it might look like.
Now will the new earth be in the same galaxy as the old earth? We can’t know, because it appears that God is going to remake both the heavens and the earth (which would include the entirety of His creation, including those parts we have yet to even discover). The entire universe was affected by sin, not just our little planet. All of His creation awaits its renewal. Paul writes to the Romans, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:22). To try to fix the location of an entire world is, of course, impossible, especially one that has yet to be created. Hope I didn’t muddy the water too much.
Question:
Dan, are we given any information about whether or not the Lord takes into account the earthly accomplishments of human beings, and if so, does He allow them to carry over into heaven? In other words, will be hear the music of Mozart, read Dostoyevsky's novels, or plan an amazing game of baseball in heaven?
Answer:
That is a great question. Does anyone else have a question…?
Wow! I’ve never heard that question before. Let’s see. We will certainly live in dwellings, which were created by someone on earth. We will play, sing, and listen to music, which was invented (or discovered) by men and women some of whom may or may not have known the Lord as their Savior. In other words, we will certainly be using earthly ideas and activities in heaven. But will we remember and revisit old earthly music or novels by particular people? I think probably not. The best of them are tainted and lessened by sin and heaven will be a place of perfection. The old will have passed away, behold new things will have come. If Mozart knew the Lord, however, we may definitely be listening to new and perfect music written by Mozart in heaven, music more beautiful than anything Mozart could have ever envisioned in his earthly limitations.
Will we play competitive sports? I don’t know, but if we do, the element of competition will be different than it currently is. Can a game be played for the sheer joy of playing it, without any thought to winning or losing? I’m not sure. I’ve surely never seen a game played like that on earth! I’m as anxious as you are to know the answer to this one!
Question:
OK, my question(s) would be about what we remember of our lives, specifically in two areas- the lost, and our sins. Recently, when chatting with one of my friends, who- like me- has non-Christian relatives, we discussed whether, once in heaven, we would remember those we know here who won’t be there. While we will see how hell fits in with God being loving, and we will see hell as being just, would we actually know “A is in hell” or simply not remember them? And would we remember our sins from this life? While we would know what Christ has saved us to, would we remember the sin He saved us from? Graham ~ Aug 15, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Answer:
Wow, Graham, that’s a great set of questions. I am going to have to be a bit speculative here because we are treading on areas that the Bible does not directly speak to. I always want to be careful to differentiate between what we know about heaven, and what we guess or think about heaven. Deuteronomy 29:29 reminds us that the “Secret things belong to the Lord…” There are simply things He hasn’t told us. We do know for certain that there shall not be any crying or sadness in heaven. In Revelation 21:3,4 we read, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
One of the things we worry so much about as we think about heaven is the possibility of regret. Regret for our past actions, regret for friends and loved ones who didn’t know Christ, regret for so many things. We are afraid of being eternally sad. Jesus Himself wants us to know that anything that could possibly cause us to mourn, or be sad, will simply not be a part of our new world and life. Pain, sadness and regret are all part of the life that will have “passed away.” The question of how much we will remember is probably not as important as the idea of how we will remember. Keep in mind that we are hobbled now mentally and spiritually by our sinful nature. It can still harbor a secret fear that somehow God is not just, or that if anyone else is suffering we can’t possibly be happy. Obviously God has emotions far more perfect and far more intense than we do, and yet it is clear that God will have created the Better Country for His joy as well as ours. If he will be able to know all things (including the fate of those who rejected Him) without mourning and regret, why couldn’t we? Knowing that would be a major part of our sadness and regret, wouldn’t He address that in our new creation?
Even today I can look back at things I have done which were wrong or just stupid years ago and not feel nearly as strongly about them as I once did. That is simply the result of the passing of time and a spiritual maturity that realizes I am prone to sin. What would happen if my very person, my mind, my heart, my soul were absolutely perfect? How would I then look on past mistakes? I’m not sure we’re going to have to forget everything, or have our minds and memories wiped clear to enjoy eternity. I think remembering my sin in the Better Country that God is preparing for us would not be a reason of sadness, but of joy, as we are reminded again of the grace of our God and His mercy towards us. However, I do not think we will be remembering our sin because there would be no purpose for it anymore. All consequences for sin would be a thing of the past.
I do think it is clear that our focus will be on the Better Country and the continual presence of Jesus and the joys of our inheritance forever. If we do think about others, we can know for sure that it won’t be a sad thing, or something that will cause us to be depressed. It could also be that our minds and hearts will be so full of the present that there will be neither room nor desire to think of things in our past except those which glorify Christ. Please forgive the long answer, but you addressed several important issues. I hope this helps a little.
Question:
Will we have purpose outside of 24/7 worship of God? Adam was given the garden to tend, and based upon other scriptures I believe we were created in such a way that we need to have purpose (work?). Would that continue in Heaven? sherry ~ Aug 17, 2008 at 7:26 am
Answer:
Hello Sherry! This is such an important question because so many of us have the idea that heaven is one long worship service (kind of like one long Sunday church service). It is this idea that, frankly, worries us. It sounds a little boring. Not that worship of Jesus would bore us, but we can just imagine us standing around singing and praising God for the rest of forever. Let’s put this idea to rest!
When you think about it, we were created as completely unique beings, each one of us. God intentionally made us good at certain things--gave us certain talents and abilities that He gave to no one else in exactly the same combination. He made us to work; He even gave us passions and desires for certain work more than others. One of our greatest frustrations in this life is that our passions and desires and giftedness are not often used in our everyday jobs. I’ve met people with incredible gifts in art or music or building who have to satisfy themselves with hobbies because their gifts, passions and abilities do not create enough income for them. You can spend your whole life in a job you absolutely hate, or one that bores you to death. We can spend an entire life unfulfilled in our work.
But, have you ever met someone who gets paid for what they absolutely LOVE doing? It is so rare, but I believe it is a foretaste of heaven for us. The Better Country will be on a renewed and recreated earth, not in some celestial city in the sky. There will be buildings, towns, roads, gardening, etc. There will be nations who come to the Heavenly capital, meaning we will have so many of the same civil organizations we have here, except without the stain and crippling effect of sin. I believe with all my heart that God will give us jobs, real work to do, but not the kind we are worried about. Think of something that you would absolutely love to do every day, something that would fulfill you in every possible way. That is the kind of work we will have forever in heaven. You will do the job God created you to do—forever! Isn’t that exciting!
I am writer and a speaker. That is what God has made me good at and what I love to do. I expect to be writing for Him in heaven, creating pieces that I could not dream of writing here. I expect to share of His excellencies as well through speaking. I expect to explore the worlds that God will have remade. No time clocks. No pressure, just the joy of doing what you were made to do, what you have been gifted to do, and being able to present it to Him as worship. The more I think about it, the more excited I get about going to work in the Better Country. Hope this helps.
Question:
Does 1 Cor. Verse 41 by referring to three glories refer to 3 different levels of heaven. Eddie ~ Aug 17, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Answer:
Hi Eddie. I’m going to assume that you are referring to 1st Corinthians 15:41 (you didn’t mention the chapter). It simply reads, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.” I don’t believe that there are three levels of heaven if you are referring to eternity in heaven. The Bible makes it clear that all are equal in Christ, there won’t be a series of graduating lifestyles in heaven. You can’t have graduating levels of perfection You can’t improve on perfection. However, the Bible uses the term “heaven” in scripture in three distinct and different ways. First, the word “heaven” is used for the atmospheric heaven—referring to the sky, the space surrounding the earth to a height of 6 miles. This is the idea of “looking into the heavenlies.” (It is used this way in Deuteronomy 33:13, and Isaiah 55:10 to name a few). Secondly, the word heaven is used of the celestial heaven; that is the realm of the sun, moon, stars, planets, and galaxies, etc. (You can read about this use of the word heaven in Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 33:6.) The third use of heaven is the dwelling place of God. This is what Paul was referring to in 2nd Corinthians 12:2 as the “third heaven” and what Jesus called Paradise. (You can see heaven used this way in Psalm 2:4, Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 6:9, and Revelation 4:1ff). It is in this third sense that we speak of the Better Country (Hebrews 11:16), the place Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us to live with Him (John 14:1-4). I believe Paul is contrasting and comparing earthly and heavenly things in 1st Corinthians 15:35 and following to demonstrate that our human bodies will be glorified and changed when they are resurrected and “fitted out” for eternity (in this chapter Paul is countering the skeptics who doubted the truth of a literal physical resurrection from the dead). The glory of our earthly human bodies will not compare to the glorified human bodies we will inherit, just as there is a glory of the sun, and a glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, so there will be another glory of our future resurrection bodies from our present earthly bodies. I hope I have answered your question!
Question:
Do we face some of the same challenges in heaven that we do on earth? Eddie ~ Aug 17, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Answer:
No, Eddie, we don’t. (I’m assuming here that you are using challenges in a negative connotation. Some challenges are exciting). Our greatest challenges on earth (in fact, all of them) are due to our sinful nature which is magnetically attracted to sin. Either our own sin, others sin, or the effect of sin upon our earth make life on this earth a great challenge in so many ways. ALL OF THAT will be gone forever. You won’t ever even be tempted to sin. You will have a perfect heart, a perfect mind, and a perfect body with which to dwell forever in a perfect world that God is going to make for you. Think of it this way. God made Eden a perfect place. He created Adam and Eve without sin. Things went along just fine for awhile, no challenges at all! When Adam and Eve sinned, something foreign was introduced into a perfect environment, something which didn’t fit. Eden was no longer a place they could live in because they no longer fit in it. Perfect and imperfect blend together like oil and water. If you were going to try to fix a problem with your car’s engine, you would need to have the proper part. You couldn’t fix a valve problem with a new tire, or an overheating problem with a new pair of wiper blades. In the same way, we can’t “fix life” so that it works correctly because we no longer have (or are) the right tools. That is our greatest challenge. So God fixes it for us in eternity. He not only changes the environment, removing the stain of sin, but He makes us brand new and unchangeably perfect. If we do have a challenge in heaven it will be to find new and better ways to glorify our Lord. Isn’t that great news!
Question:
The Bible tells us the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, the tongue is unruly evil and full of deadly poison; we battle with pride, self-centeredness, covetousness - how will God make us fit citizens for heaven? Laurie ~ Aug 18, 2008 at 12:08 am
Answer:
Laurie you hit on such an important point about heaven in your question. How can anyone be made fit for a perfect place? We know that heaven is the city of the living God, the Better Country we have been waiting for and searching for all our lives. But how can we be made good enough to be fit to live there? The answer is we can’t possibly be good enough, unless God does something miraculous to us. That is what salvation is. Salvation is where God saves us from the penalty of sin and then begins the process of transforming us into the image of Christ. That process cannot be completed perfectly until we are made perfect by Him in eternity.
In Romans 12:1,2 we are urged by Paul to “present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Here Paul urges us to be an active participant in God’s constant prompting to be transformed. Yet, no matter how hard we try, we can never be perfect because we have a sinful nature. Our very nature needs to be transformed. But Paul later, in 2nd Corinthians 3:18 says, “18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” God is slowly transforming us even now, even when we fight the process. God’s promise in the Old Testament was that He would “Put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.” (Ezekiel 11:19,20). The process of becoming perfect is called sanctification. To be sanctified means to be set apart from sin unto God. It has three parts, a past, present, and a future. We are sanctified in the past by being saved from the penalty of our sin, we are presently being sanctified by being saved from the power of sin, and in the future we will be completely sanctified by being saved from the very presence of sin. The wonderful part is that ultimate sanctification (being made perfect, fit to live in a perfect place) is God’s responsibility. This happens not only when He forgives us our sins and washes us clean, but also when He gives to us His own righteousness. Galatians 3:27 reminds us that we have been “clothed with Christ.” His righteousness is added to us, finishing our glorification in our resurrection.
Only someone who has been made perfect could even enjoy a place of perfection. God will change us from sinful to perfect, that is the promise of our salvation. Good question!
Question:
Will God’s Plan be revealed to us? Will we know what the future will hold and why? Will the unexplained mysteries of this life make sense when we make it to heaven? Chris ~ Aug 18, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Answer:
Chris, that is an interesting question and one I’ve not only heard often, but one I’ve wondered about myself. I’m not sure we are asking the question properly however. We always assume that the answer to all the questions will be so important to us in the Better Country. Today, as we struggle with the pain and frustration of sin in our lives and in our world we want answers, answers that will help it all to make sense. We know intuitively that this isn’t the way life was supposed to be, don’t we? Because we are surrounded on all sides with failure, pain, mistakes, conflict, and questions we are unable to answer, we imagine that once we get to heaven these questions will hold the same attraction to us. I’m just not sure that’s true to be honest.
If you are hungry and want to get something to eat in a strange city you have tons of questions about the quality of the restaurant you are visiting. Will the food be good, will the service be good? You want answers, but unfortunately you don’t know anyone in town so you can’t get them until you enter the restaurant and order some food. But when you walk through the restaurant, you see and smell wonderful dishes, you see happy people commenting on how they love the food, and observe wait staff smiling and attending everyone carefully. You no longer wonder about the food or the service, your questions have been answered without ever having to ask them. I think that is what heaven is going to be like.
What about the unexplained questions and mysteries of this life? Will we still feel the same about those questions when our hearts and minds have been perfected and we see things in exactly the same way God does (not that we will be divine, only that we will have hearts made perfect by Him)? I don’t think we will. I think many of the questions we have will be self explanatory when we reach the Better Country and have been glorified in mind, heart, and body. Whether or not we will ever be told by God His ultimate plan I can’t say, no one can.
I do know we will know perfect and unending joy which is impossible when we have nagging questions. Most of our questions get down to trust anyway. Do we trust where God has taken us, what He has allowed us to go through, and where He intends to take us? When we enter heaven, all these questions will have been abundantly answered as we see that the Better Country was what He intended for us all along. Life wasn’t supposed to be painful, it wasn’t supposed to be hard and frustrating and sad. We will instantly know, “This is what life was supposed to be like!” Hope that helps Chris.
Question:
Todd.Richmond said...Do you think 'the new heaven and new earth' (Rev 21:1) might actually look something like the old one before the fall? And do you think we might actually work, similar to what Adam did before the fall? Or does the future hold something completely different? August 20, 2008 4:24 PM
Answer:
Todd, that is a great question because I think deep down in each one of our hearts we hope that the new heaven and new earth will look a lot like the old ones. The fact is that most of us, if we had the choice, would choose to spend forever on earth if the stain of sin was removed and our natures were perfected. Earth is what we are familiar with, it is what we know, and truthfully, it is what we love. We hate the sin that has stained our world and made it difficult to live here, but we love earth itself. This is why we can feel a sense of regret about leaving earthly things behind to go to what has been described to us as “some celestial city in the sky.” The regret isn’t necessary. We aren’t leaving earth behind, we are going to live forever on a new earth, recreated for the perfect enjoyment and fulfillment of the children of God.
In answer to your question, I believe that yes, the new heaven and the new earth will look in many ways like the old ones. To speak of a “new” heaven and earth presupposes an identity with the old ones. An earth that was in no way “earthy” would not be a new earth. A new heaven, that is in no way like the old one, would make it something entirely different, and not, in fact, a new heaven. We often get confused about these things because we are painfully aware of the way sin has affected and infected the whole creation. Yet it is sin that is the problem, not the creation itself. If you remember, after the creation God pronounced, “It is good!” God is not planning on trashing the whole design, but to restore it to an infinitely better than original condition.
Will new heavens and new earth be exactly like old heavens and old earth? No, it is quite clear the old will be destroyed. However Jesus said to His disciples who were asking what reward there would be for them who had followed Jesus faithfully that, “…at the renewal of all things, when the Son of man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28-29 NIV). What will be renewed? From prophecy (Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22) we know it is the new heavens and new earth. As one theologian wrote, “They are called ‘new,’ but this does not mean new in the absolute sense; for ‘the earth abideth forever’ (Psalm 104:5, 119:90). Another theologian writes, “In those passages which speak of the passing away of the earth and heaven the original word is never one which signifies termination of existence…the main idea is transition, not extinction.”
Having said that, I expect to see trees, mountains, lakes, rivers, meadows, flowers, streets, houses, walls, and many other “earthy” things. Some I might recognize, some I’m sure I won’t, but they will be incredible! I actually believe that this renewal will be far better and more amazing than even what Eden was. In Eden Adam and Eve were able to walk through it and tend it, yet it seems that in eternity, our boundaries will be non-existent. We will be able to travel to and visit and experience everything in God’s creation there is to experience. And since our God is a creating God, that will take forever for He is always creating. Doesn’t that blow your mind? Think of how amazing it would be if our bodies were not limited by atmosphere, gravity, etc., and could just travel anywhere we wanted within the present creation. I believe that will be our freedom in the new creation—we will have bodies like our Lord for whom present earthly limitations held no sway.
I believe our work will be according to our giftedness and passion and therefore will be the most exciting and fulfilling thing we have ever done. Nothing on earth, no hobby, no passion will be able to equal the “work” God will give us to do for Him in this new world. My gifts and talents will be perfectly fitted to ruling and reigning with Him in this Better Country. In this world we often dread going to work. But there are certain things that we get to do that we can hardly sleep for our excitement about it. THAT is life in the Better Country. Not just a perfect world, but perfected people living and working in it. In short, you will have a job you absolutely LOVE and are perfectly fitted to. It will fulfill you in every possible way. We sometimes think that our human pursuits on earth will be entirely done away with in eternity. Why? We will live on an earth that will provide us with an abundance of activities. Will we still garden? Why not? Will we still travel? Why not? Will we still create and invent and seek to discover? Why not? None of those things are sinful; they are what God created us originally to do. For the first time we will be able to fully glorify God in accomplishing them. I’m an author and I believe that God will give me the opportunity to create with words books and stories I could never have dreamed of accomplishing here. I hope to spend eternity exploring the amazing world God will have created for us here on earth (and in space as well?). The future looks good to all those who are in Christ Jesus!
Question:
TGove said...Currently I am only about a third of the way through my first complete read of the Bible, but I sometimes get the feeling that the Earth is a proving ground where souls who do not qualify for Heaven return to try again, and souls that get it right pass the test. Have you ever come across this type of thinking in your studies? August 20, 2008 11:05 PM
Answer:
Hi TGove! That’s exciting that you’re reading through the scriptures. Keep it up! The earth is, in a way, a proving ground. However, it is a proving ground not for our works, to show whether or not “we measure up” to God’s standards. In fact, the Bible makes it very clear that we can’t measure up to God’s standard of righteousness. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Paul, the apostle, writes in his letter to the Galatians (3:11,12), “no one is justified (that means to be declared righteous by God) before God by the law, because “The righteous will live by faith. The law is not based on faith; on the contrary…”
Later Paul goes on to explain why God gave us the Law (the 10 commandments and other laws in the Bible) in the first place, “What, then was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come” (Galatians 3:19). In other words, God knew we couldn’t keep the law, but His law pointed out to us that we were indeed sinners. How do you know you are a sinner unless there is a law that makes it clear to you? The law condemns us, shows us that we can’t be holy enough to satisfy a perfectly holy God. But that is the bad news. Paul goes on to share that “the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified (to be declared righteous by God) by faith! (Galatians 3:24). What we could not do, keep the law and be perfect before God, Jesus did! Furthermore, Jesus came to give his life a ransom for us, to take the punishment our sins deserved so that we would not have to undergo eternal punishment. All that is required of us today is that we accept what Jesus has done BY FAITH. Hebrews 11:6 says “and without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews chapter 11 then goes on to share the Hall of Faith of people in the Bible. What is highlighted is not their perfect lives, but their faith.
The Bible does not teach that we get a second chance to do it right in another life. It teaches rather that we get thousands upon thousands of chances (if we live a normal age span) in this life to accept the mercy of God and the work of Jesus on our behalf. We are not saved by our works, but by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8,9, Titus 3:5). At some point we need to humble ourselves before God, accept His offer of mercy and grace, and begin to allow Him to change us from the inside out. Jesus called this being “born again (John 3:3).”
Heaven, eternal life, is not earned, it is bestowed as a gift upon those who have placed their faith in the work of Jesus who was the sacrificial Lamb of God. Jesus “passed the test” as you put it, because, frankly, no one else could. I hope this helps answer your question.
Question:
Derek Wadsworth said...My question is will we all be equal in heaven or are there levels of perfection? Derek Dansville Community Church Plant
August 21, 2008 10:14 AM
Answer:
Hello Derek. This is a question I am encountering more and more. I know the idea is often brought up in light of Paul’s statement in 2nd Corinthians 12:2 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up into the third heaven.” This seems to give the idea that there are different levels of heaven, or perfection.
Actually, the problem stems from the fact that the Bible uses the term “heaven” in three separate and distinct ways. First, the word “heaven” is used for the atmospheric heaven—referring to the sky, the space surrounding the earth, the atmosphere if you will. This is the idea of “looking into the heavenlies.” (It is used this way in Deuteronomy 33:13, and Isaiah 55:10 to name a few). Secondly, the word heaven is used of the celestial heaven; that is the realm of the sun, moon, stars, planets, and galaxies, etc. (You can read about this use of the word heaven in Genesis 1:1 and Psalm 33:6.) The third use of heaven is the dwelling place of God. This is what Paul was referring to in 2nd Corinthians 12:2 as the “third heaven” and what Jesus called Paradise. (You can see heaven used this way in Psalm 2:4, Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 6:9, and Revelation 4:1ff). It is in this third sense that we speak of the Better Country (Hebrews 11:16), the place Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us to live with Him (John 14:1-4).
The Bible teaches that all are equal in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). This eternal truth will not change when we enter eternity, in fact, it will for the first time be fully realized. Furthermore, the Bible makes clear that the “average Joe’s” might fare much better than those who are famous and well known here on earth. Jesus said, speaking of the coming Kingdom, “Many who are first will be last; and the last, first.” (Matthew 19:30). When Jesus said these words, He was saying them as a caution to those who might think that the way things appear (and people appear) on earth is the same way God sees them. Many people do externally impressive things (and even apparently selfless things) for very selfish motives which are hidden from our eyes. God alone knows these things. Honor will be given to those who have earned it, not to those who have bamboozled us here on earth. I have been incredibly impressed by the actions of people that no one will ever hear about. This is not to imply that there will be no special rewards for service rendered, the Bible makes it very clear that our lives here are the place we earn those eternal rewards. However that does not deal with the issue of equality. One can be an honored son, but one cannot be a superior son. Someone may have lived a life far more honoring to Christ than I did upon earth and receive greater honor than I do in heaven, but that does not close any doors to me. Christ will treat me the same, and I will have full access to all the benefits of being His child. All the joys of heaven, all the experiences of eternity; a glorified body, mind, and renewed earth, the entire creation will be just as much a part of my eternal inheritance as theirs. Being a son or daughter is conferred by your relationship to the parents, in this case our Heavenly Father. Since we were all equally adopted into the family of God, and were equally in need of the mercy of God, there is nothing that could make anyone in heaven better than anyone else. In other words, there will be no second class heavenly citizenship. I hope this encourages you.
Question:
P.Awwiller said...My question is about the number of actual "Heaven(s)" you think there are? 2 Cor 12:2 mentions a guy getting taken up to the third heaven, in Deut. 10:14 it talks about heaven and the highest heavens... and the bible makes several references to Paradise, is this heaven or a different place? There are others that stump me, but these are just a couple. Thanks. August 23, 2008 11:58 PM
Answer:
Hi! I actually answered most of your question while answering Derek’s question above! When we are speaking of eternal heaven, the place we will live forever, there is only one heaven. However the Bible uses the term “heaven” in several different ways. It is used in scripture to describe our earthly atmosphere as well as the moon, and stars, and galaxies beyond our vision. Paradise is where Jesus and the saints of the Old and New Testament are right now. It is the presence of God, and I believe a place, though not a place found on earth. You can’t call Paradise heaven because the true description of heaven is that of the new heaven and new earth that God promised He would create for us to live on eternally. However, I call that time we spend in Paradise pre-heaven because it embodies all that we will experience forever. Obviously we are presently still living on the old earth and viewing the old sky and space. So when we die, we can’t be taken to the ultimate destination of the new heaven and new earth because they have yet to be created. The place we will be taken upon our death is Paradise, the immediate presence of God. I personally believe this place to be the amazing city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). I believe it is a real and physical place of incomparable beauty and color and joy. It appears to me to be the same city described in Revelation 21 that will come down out of heaven from God to take its place upon the new earth.
Don’t feel bad, there are questions about heaven that stump me, too!
Question:
Amanda said...I'll be honest, one of my greatest fears is death...but not of myself dying. It's the people I feel attached to here on earth. And a big part of that is because I don't understand Heaven. I'm not sure if we will definitely KNOW people (i.e. that's Josh, my husband or those are my parents). To some degree I believe we'll know the identities of people but not have the same relationship to them as we do here on earth. But that's my question...Is there any Biblical evidence that we will KNOW the people we see in heaven. And in all honesty, I'm prepared to hear that there is no evidence and quite possibly we will not have the same relationship with those in Heaven as we do on earth (because Heaven is about finally being in the physical presence of God...seeing our Creator and our Savior in the flesh, being able to see Him glorified for all He's done and for who He is). August 24, 2008 3:31 PM
Answer:
Hi Amanda. Thanks for your honest question. The answer to this question is so important to our ability to truly look forward to heaven. Keep in mind that God created us to be in right relationship to Himself and to others. What are the two greatest commandments? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. When God described Himself and His relationship to us, He uses the term Father, a term of relationship. He has not only called us, but He has made us His children (John 1:12). God has made it clear in scripture that He is concerned with our relationships with people, especially our biological and Christian family members. Husbands are told how to treat their wives, wives are told how to treat their husbands, parents are told how to treat their children, children are told how to treat their parents. Many scriptures are given over to how we are to treat each other in the Body of Christ.
Can we believe that these very relationships that God so clearly wants us to cultivate and nurture will suddenly be taken from us—and that will be heaven for us? Remember, heaven is for us, the Better Country is for our enjoyment, not for God’s. He needs no place or situation to be perfectly happy. There are several scriptures which, I believe, support this idea. If you remember the story of Lazarus that Jesus told in Luke 16:19-31 you will remember that a rich man lived in luxury every day, while a beggar suffered at his gates every day. After the rich man died, we are told that he was in hell (hades) and in torment, but was able to see Abraham and the poor man, named Lazarus by his side. It seems clear that the rich man was able to clearly identify who Lazarus was. He knew Lazarus, he also remembered his own brothers, who were still on earth. He asked Abraham to go and warn his brothers. This seems to indicate that he not only recognized people, but still cared about them. Keep in mind that Jesus never indicated that this event was a parable, or a mere story. In my mind, Jesus was relating a historical event that only He would know the details to.
In Jesus transfiguration before His disciples (Matthew 17:1-4) Moses and Elijah suddenly appeared with Him. Their former identity remained with them as did their interest in the things happening upon the earth. In the Old Testament in 2nd Samuel 12 we read of when David had sinned with Bathsheba, and that God’s punishment was that the child born of their adultery died. David had been in such deep mourning for an entire week as the baby lay ill that he could not be comforted by his servants. When therefore the baby finally died, they were afraid to tell David, afraid of what he might do. When David saw them whispering, he surmised what had happened. Then he got up, washed himself and came into the temple and worshipped God. His servants were confused. David replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me, that the child may live. But now he has died; why should I fast? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” (2nd Samuel 12:23). David fully expected to go to where his child would be and he drew comfort from that. He fully expected to see his child again and rejoice. David would not have drawn comfort from simply the idea that his child was in heaven and he would never again know him or be known by him. His comfort as a father was in knowing that he would see, remember, and be involved with his child again. We will not lose any of our identity in heaven, therefore we will not lose any of our relationships in heaven (with those who also went to heaven). They will be better than they have ever been because we will finally be made perfect ourselves, without the ability to sin and hinder our relationships.
The amazing thing, however, is that we will have PERFECT relationships not only with those we have always known in a special way, but now with EVERY OTHER person in heaven. Heaven is not where we lose things, Heather, it is where we gain them. Hope this helps. Blessings!
Question:
Bob asks: What kind of bodies will we have when we get to heaven? Linda ask; Do children go to heaven when they die? August 26, 2008 10:49 AM
Answer:
Hi Bob and Linda. First Bob’s question. We will have AMAZING bodies when we get to heaven. Resurrected bodies! Glorified bodies! Now keep in mind that ultimately, heaven will be on earth (the recreated earth God promised in the Old and New Testament—see my answer above on this). So, until the final resurrection, when we will receive our resurrected bodies, we will be in Paradise (the city of the Living God—Revelations 21). The question has been asked: will we have physical bodies in Paradise, or will we be like souls floating around? In Revelation 6:9-11, which I’ve referred to above, we see a scene in what I believe to be pre-heaven, or Paradise. We hear the souls of those who have been martyred crying out to God and asking when judgment upon their enemies will finally come. It then says in v.11 “and there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer…” How do you clothe a soul or spirit? In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, again, both Lazarus and the rich men’s human bodies were decaying on earth when this story was being told, and yet the rich man could ask for Abraham to “dip his finger in water” and he could clearly identify who Lazarus was. How could he do that unless he had human features of some sort? I believe (and this is just an opinion, please take it as such) that we will have a type of body or form that is clearly recognizable. It will NOT be our final glorified body, but it will be what we will inhabit, or what we will evidence until that final resurrection of our physical bodies.
As to the type of resurrection bodies we shall have, they will be just like the bodies we have now in many respects. You’ll have your regular human bodily features (though perfected) but your resurrected body in eternity will have far more glory than your present body. Our body will be like our Lord’s resurrected and glorified human body that could be touched, hugged, seen, recognized, and that could eat, as well as go through walls and ascend out of our atmosphere with no concern for gravity. I could go on and on, but space demands I stop here. We’ll have perfect human bodies designed for a perfect world.
Linda, your question is, of course, close to many people’s hearts who have lost babies or children to death. I could spend pages and pages on this subject, but if you just look at the passage I referred to above with David and the baby son he lost you’ll see that David confessed that he would one day go to be where his son was now. In other words, David knew he would go to heaven and be with God and his child would be there. He fully expected to see his child again! I believe in what is called “the age of accountability.” That is, that God does not hold a child responsible for responding to His offer of grace and mercy when they are mentally and emotionally unable to do so. At a certain age known only to God, each child is able to finally decide and choose. Until that time, if they die, I believe they go to heaven. Jesus showed us his love for children when He chided His disciples for forbidding parents to bring their children to Him. Will we know our babies and children we have lost to death, and will they know us in heaven? I believe we most surely will, and they will. There is much about this subject that is shrouded in a mystery, but God has proven His love to us so many ways, should we doubt it here where our hearts are most sensitive?
Question:
Jera asks; "I realize that we will not be of the same physical body type, or even be physical at all, as we become a part of heaven. I often flip flop back and forth wondering if we will recognize family and friends by spirit, and if in reality ,we will even be of the same spirit we have become while present on the earth. Will each spirit be individual in it's personality(assuming we will continue to have our own personalities?) or will the entirety of heaven's population be universal in spirit-doing and "thinking"(for lack of any other word) the same in all that heaven is? One more question...I have lost parent's and grandparents(Christian believer's.) Are they able to watch over me, and my family(as we are all told as children) or are they just a part of heaven and have no recollection of their past lives and what has been left behind? August 26, 2008 2:44 PM
Answer:
Hi Jera. I’ve got some good news for you. Those who live in heaven eternally (in the recreated heaven and earth) will have a body, a real, physical, and glorified HUMAN body. That is the thrust of Paul’s powerful argument in 1st Corinthians 15 to those who argued that there was no resurrection from the dead. In 1st Corinthians 15 Paul says a lot about our resurrection. Here are just a few excerpts: “Now, if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain….for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins….But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep (dead)…for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive…Later in v. 42 Paul goes on to say, “So also is the resurrection of the body. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power, it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” Read the whole chapter of 1st Corinthians 15 for more fascinating information on the resurrection.
A spiritual body does not mean that it is immaterial, only that it is eternal. You can’t have an immaterial body. A body is by definition physical. Our body will be like Christ’s body, as Paul points out in v. 49 “and just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” Remember that when Christ was resurrected, He was visible and tangible. He had a real human body, the same body He had before, but transformed into a glory beyond anything we can imagine. His disciples clearly recognized Him, and he talked, ate, and invited others to touch him to confirm that He was alive and that His body was not only real, but tangible. As Jesus was still Jesus after His body was resurrected, so we will still be who we are after our resurrection. At the transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17 1-3, we see Moses and Elijah appearing with Jesus. They were obviously recognizable as two men, and were clearly identified as being Moses and Elijah. Both had been gone from the earth for many hundreds of years. Moses had died, and Elijah had been taken up in a flaming chariot. There is no scriptural evidence whatsoever for a blending of our spirits into one universal spirit. In fact, the fact is clear that when God created each person, He created them uniquely, as David remarks in Psalm 139: 13-16.
Also, keep in mind that heaven in the future will be on a recreated earth, a physical planet with physical earthly characteristics probably similar to the present one, except better by far. Why a physical planet if we aren’t going to have physical bodies to live in it with? The idea that heaven is a “spiritual,” and therefore not a physical place, is simply not Biblical. Jesus is some place right now. He has a real glorified human body, a resurrected body. It has legs to stand on and to walk around with. While He is omni-present in His Spirit, His perfected human body has physicality and locality.
You mention that you aren’t sure we will be of the “same spirit” as we were. In this you are correct. We all possess sinful natures here on earth that are magnetically attracted to sin. When we die and enter the presence of God, we will have that sinful nature removed from us by God. In that day our natures and hearts will be magnetically attracted to God! Our spirits will become transformed into the image of Christ. But we will not lose our personal identity through that, we will actually gain it. We will finally become everything God originally meant US to become. Each one of us has been made in the image of God to glorify Him in a unique and special way. Only in eternity, with our new glorified body and heart and mind will we finally be able to accomplish that lofty goal.
Regarding the universal spirit and thinking, I think that will be true, but not in a mindless, mass herd mentality way. We will finally all be made perfect by Christ, therefore we will have the same heart, the same love, the same compassion and the same understanding. This will not make us clones, for as I said, each one of us will uniquely represent the glory of God. We won’t think each other’s thoughts; it’s just that all of our thoughts will finally be sin free. They will be different and unique, but holy. We will all know the truth in the same way with the same intensity. You will maintain your personality, for it is part of God’s creation of you. You did not create your personality, you were born with it; it is the gift of God. The difference is that your personality will finally be perfected.
Regarding your question of whether your parents can watch over you, there is obviously no absolutely clear answer, but Revelation 6:6-9 seems to indicate that the martyrs in heaven (those who had died) were aware of the fact that certain things had not transpired on earth that they were waiting for. Does this mean that in heaven we can view what is going on down here? It’s possible, though we can’t say for sure. We know that the angels watch what happens down here with great interest. Surely we have a much greater stake in what happens on earth than they do so it is reasonable to assume that we will be able to see or be aware of some things that happens. We certainly won’t all be sitting around some large screen gazing at transpiring events like spectators at a football game, but that doesn’t mean we might not be able to track certain things. Like I said, this is speculation.
Finally, it is my firm belief that we do not lose our memories of family, friends, etc. These are the things that make us truly human. Can my loved ones who are Christians and who have already died see what is happening in my life? This we simply don’t know, but there is certainly room to believe that they are able to know certain things. This falls into the category of Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord.” However we know that the Lord watches out over us at all times.
Anyone who dies and goes to heaven will know and remember those people they knew before. Our memories will not be erased, they will finally be perfected. Memories of those we love are not sinful.
Good questions Jera, I hope I helped a little bit.
Question:
Will there be a sense of time in heaven? ;)
Answer:
This is a really good question, unfortunately there’s not a really good answer. Some scholars and philosophers say in essence that since time will no longer have any meaning, it simply won’t exist. 2nd Peter 3:8 reminds us that “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” A popular hymn even says, “time shall be no more.” Yet in Revelation 6:10-11 we hear the martyrs in heaven told to “wait a little longer,” when they are questioned about when the Lord will judge the inhabitants of earth. Waiting is a measurement of time. In Revelation 7:15 we are told that the saints in heaven serve him “day and night” in His temple. In Revelation 22:2 we are told that the New Earth (earth that has been restored to its new condition for all eternity) has a tree of life and that tree “yields it fruits every month.” In other words, it appears that those people in heaven now are operating within the confines of time. Why should that cease? Time is not our enemy, death is our enemy. When we remove death, time ceases to be something that causes us stress or worry. Because we live in a world of deadlines and sickness and pain, time is a measurement that often causes us stress. But time will not distress us in heaven, we will not worry about “getting things done on time,” or feeling sad that the joy we are experiencing will fade away within a period of time. I believe that time will continue to exist in heaven and we will “sense it,” however all the negative aspects of time will be removed. Not long ago I went on a wonderful and much needed vacation. I do not ever remember being so weary both physically and emotionally before a vacation. One of my great joys was enjoying “time” as it passed without stress and without deadlines. Time was simply helping me measure sunrise, morning, noon, and twilight, all of which brought me great peace and contentment. I think that is the way we will experience time in heaven. Does this help? I hope so.
Question:
I'd be interested to hear comments relative to "equality" in heaven. Example: Mother Teresa verses Joe Christian Average. Thank you.
Answer:
The Bible teaches that all are equal in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). This eternal truth will not change when we enter eternity, in fact, it will for the first time be fully realized. Furthermore, the Bible makes clear that the “average Joe’s” might fare much better than those who are famous and well known here on earth. Jesus said, speaking of the coming Kingdom, “Many who are first will be last; and the last, first.” (Matthew 19:30). When Jesus said these words, He was saying them as a caution to those who might think that the way things appear (and people appear) on earth is the same way God sees them. Many people do externally impressive things (and even apparently selfless things) for very selfish motives which are hidden from our eyes. God alone knows these things. Honor will be given to those who have earned it, not to those who have bamboozled us here on earth. I have been incredibly impressed by the actions of people that no one will ever hear about. This is not to imply that there will be no special rewards for service rendered, the Bible makes it very clear that our lives here are the place we earn those eternal rewards. However that does not deal with the issue of equality. One can be an honored son, but one cannot be a superior son. Someone may have lived a life far more honoring to Christ than I do upon earth and receive greater honor than I do in heaven, but that does not close any doors to me. Christ will treat me the same, and I will have full access to all the benefits of being His child. All the joys of heaven, all the experiences of eternity; a glorified body, mind, and renewed earth, the entire creation will be just as much a part of my eternal inheritance as theirs. Being a son or daughter is conferred by your relationship to the parents, in this case our Heavenly Father. Since we were all equally adopted into the family of God, and were equally in need of the mercy of God, there is nothing that could make anyone in heaven better than anyone else. In other words, there will be no second class heavenly citizenship. I hope this encourages you.
Question:
Do our loved ones in heaven have a view of what is still happening on earth? Are they able to see their family? Skip (And I would love the book:)
Answer:
That is an interesting question because we actually have evidence in the book of Revelation that those in heaven are aware of what is happening on earth. In Revelation 6:9-11 we are allowed to witness a scene in which the martyrs (those who had been slain because of the Word of God and the testimony they had maintained) in heaven called out in a loud voice, “How long Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” In other words, they knew and were somehow aware that this had not yet occurred. While it does not say in the scripture that those in heaven can see what is transpiring upon earth, it certainly seems reasonable that this might be true. It seems very possible to me that we might be able to see, or be made aware of, special events transpiring upon earth while in heaven. However, we must not think that our lives will be like those in books and movies who peer continually into magic crystal balls that are so popular in fantasy literature. Our existence in Paradise will not be spent totally engrossed upon earthly realities. Remember, we will be in Paradise, the city of the Living God. We will be fully immersed in the greatest joy, contentment and excitement it is possible for a glorified human to achieve. If we can see what is happening on earth, it seems unlikely we will see all things at all times. Frankly, that would become, at the very least, tedious. I would pity the poor soul who was constantly fixed upon me as I spent hours devouring books, or sleeping. Possibly we will be privy to special events upon the earth, or by special grace, special events in our human family, or those of close friends in our Christian family. I want to hasten to add that this is nothing more than an opinion based upon a possible understanding of the above passage, however it does seem a reasonable idea to me. Hope this helps!
Question:
Hi Pastor Schaeffer, your book sounds great and I'm excited to read it.
For many years I had drifted away from the 'childishness' of imagining a physical Heaven. It became crass and immature to me to think in terms of rewards in the afterlife. I thought it was more important, and certainly more noble, to try to concentrate on being with God and doing His will here on Earth - while letting Him worry about what Heaven actually was like.
Part of this, I'm ashamed to confess, came from accidentally allowing New Age concepts to seep into my thinking. I started to think in terms of dissolving back into the 'energy' of the universe and the ultimate consciousness. I started to feel that I would lose any sense of self as I entered the "Oneness". This image is not at all enticing or uplifting - to say the least. I was also losing any concern of my loved ones going to Hell because I thought they, too, would only be atoms of consciousness. I decided I wouldn't even know of their fate or recognize them if we were to meet again anyway. This was comforting, lazy, and a nice way to excuse my failure to fulfill the commission.
In the last few years, however, I have become very excited and hopeful about hearing those words, "Well done , my good and faithful servant".
It started when I read C.S. Lewis and, especially, his expositions on Joy, nostalgia, love and longing. I started to realize that we really do belong to this other world of God, that there is a real existence for which we were created and in which we'll be fully known and accepted. For the first time ever my emotions made sense to me.
To attain wealth Anthony Robbins wrote something along the lines of "don't waste your efforts imaging making fifty thousands dollars, imagine making millions - only this will excite you and motivate you to achieve any changes".
And that's how I view true riches now. The kind of Heaven Jesus talks about and promises us, where we lay up our true treasures, really is motivating and worth changing our lives for.
So what's my question?
We are made in God's image and among His attributes that we share are intelligence and creativity. How will we be exercising these in Heaven? How will we be employed and what will it mean to be the kind of people who, as Dallas Willard said in The Divine Conspiracy, God can trust to set free in the universe to do our will?
Having been found faithful in the small things, what are the great things we will be entrusted with?
Sorry for blathering … especially if your time is limited here.
Answer:
Hi Daron! Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your journey towards the Better Country. I also had very immature ideas of heaven, even as a pastor, so when I began this study of heaven it was because I had questions that I didn’t have good answers to. I had answers, as you did, but they weren’t good ones, weren’t very scriptural, and definitely didn’t excite me about heaven and eternity. Whether they are New Age concepts or just getting our ideas of eternity from movies, many of us harbor ideas about eternity that are tragically unscriptural. I say tragically because the real place and life God has designed for us is incredible and worth longing for!
To me, one of the most exciting thoughts is that I was made uniquely by God. There is something about me that in terms of gifts, abilities, personality type, and other things that enable me to praise and worship God in a way no one else can. I like what CS Lewis said, “Be sure that the ins and outs of your individuality are no mystery to Him; and one day they will no longer be a mystery to you…your soul has a curious shape because it is a hollow made to fit a particular swelling in the infinite contours of the divine substance, or a key to unlock one of the doors of the house with many mansions....your place in heaven will be made for you stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.”
Commentator Albert Barnes wrote, “The universe at large will be heaven—the earth and all worlds; and we are left free to suppose that the redeemed will yet occupy any position of the universe, and be permitted to behold the special glories of the divine character that are manifested in each of the worlds He has made.” Again, theologian A.A. Hodges wrote, “Heaven, as the eternal home of the divine Man and of all the redeemed members of the human race, must necessarily be human in all its structure, conditions, and activities. Its joys and its occupations must all be rational, moral, emotional, voluntary, and active. There must be the exercise of all faculties, the gratification of all tastes, the development of all talent capacities, the realization of all ideals. The reason, the intellectual curiosity, the imagination, the aesthetic instincts, the holy affection, the social affinities, the inexhaustible resources of strength and power native to the human soul, must all find in heaven exercise and satisfaction.”
Again Albert Barnes writes, “The universe, so vast and wonderful, seems to have been made to be suited to the eternal contemplation of created minds, and in this universe there is an adaptation for the employment of mind forever and ever.”
So…how will we be employed? We will be “employed” not in the sense that we have to show up to a job that is a grind, but that finally, the very thing that God has made us so perfectly suited to do, that brings us more enjoyment and fulfillment than any other thing, the thing that in today’s vernacular, “I just can’t wait to get up in the morning to do” will be our unique position in the Kingdom. Our employment will be our greatest pleasure.
Pastor Ray Stedman wrote, “We will be busy in the most wondrous possible way. There will be new planets to develop, new principles to discover, new joys to experience. Every moment of eternity will be an adventure of discovery.”
However you point out an important issue: a perfect place without a perfect person would not work. First God has to remake our hearts, minds, and emotions. In the Better Country we will finally be the person God always intended us to be. By that I mean you particularly, Daron. I have no idea the person God truly intended Dan Schaeffer to be because I was born into sin and sin by choice. I have only the faintest hint at the holiness God desired from me when in eternity past He created me in His mind, nor the perfect love and righteousness He planned for me. While heaven has a wonderful allure for me today, an even greater allure is that I will finally be able to act as Christ would act, love as He loves, respond as He would respond, forever. I will no longer be able to sin in thought or deed. That will be heaven all by itself. Imagine no longer fearing interaction with people because you can’t possibly say or do the wrong thing around them.
What will God entrust us to do? The same thing He entrusted us with in the Garden of Eden, to be the stewards of the Better Country He has made for us. The Better Country will not have been made for Him, it will have been made for us and for our enjoyment forever. We are told we will rule and reign with Him. I take this to mean that we will rule and reign over others in this world as they will rule and reign over us, in a real human government type of activity. Yet we must not think this will be an unpleasant thing, for it will be the first perfect government ever! I could go on and on and on, but space demands I stop. I haven’t even touched the tip of the iceberg of your question because the answer takes up a book! Your question is one that excites me if you hadn’t noticed! I hope this helps a little, Daron.
