Note, since I have knee problems, the picture that is featured for this article is an escalator to Heaven instead of a stairway.

Colossians 3:1 -4 “1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

John 14:1-3 “1Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Philippians 3:21 “who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

I find the title of this article somewhat ironic since in Heaven we will not hunger for anything or more specifically we will not lack any good thing from God since we will be in His presence free from sin!  The many daily needs and wants we have on earth now will not exist in the new Heaven and Earth since we will have a resurrected body that is free from sickness, disease and death.  We will be able eat food, like Jesus did in His resurrected body but not because we need it to sustain our body but because we want to enjoy the taste, pleasure and fellowship of eating.  

We won’t be bored or afraid or tired or stressed out.  We won’t need to bathe for our resurrected body won’t corrupt or stink and we won’t need to figure out what to wear since we will be wearing the robe of Christ’s righteousness and our “inward faith and rewards for faithfulness” will be evident by the “outward glow or appearance” on our robe of  raiment.  We won’t have to be concerned for where to live because Jesus has prepared a place for us in the New Jerusalem and we have a whole New Heaven and Earth to enjoy and explore. 

I think we will be able to experience the limitations of the human body so that we can enjoy “earthly activities and human senses” like seeings, smelling, tasting, hearing and touching and the competition of sports but we will not be limited by a human body when we want to travel to the Spiritual realm and enjoy living in the New Jerusalem.  We won’t envy others or have any resentment of hard feelings.  In fact not only we will be reunited with our loved ones that we knew on earth but we will enjoy everyone in Heaven, even the people we didn’t get along with on earth (that is the ones that believed in Jesus Christ for their salvation from sin) because we will see each other as God sees us … as one of His precious children made in the image of His precious Son.  As far as our beloved pets, well I think there is a good probability that we will be united with animals on the “New Earth”, which is the redeemed earth that will be full of the animals that the Creator God made to live on earth.

We will have time to share and really get to know one another because we will not be pressed for time or feel burdened by the responsibilities of the world of weeds and sin.  We won’t need money or a credit card in Heaven because our life will not revolve around the need to make a living, in fact we will be truly living.  And the way we measure success on earth based on our affluence and self actualization will be inconsequential in Heaven since even gold is used as mere asphalt to pave the streets of Heaven.  Moreover, we will finally realize what our identity as a child of God means, not the person we envisioned we should be but the person God created us to be.  We will always be satisfied in Heaven and have a joy that is beyond our wildest dreams.  And as my pastor likes to say, “when the rolls are passed up yonder I’ll be there.”

And the number one thing to look forward to in Heaven is seeing and being with Jesus.  Here’s a song I wrote to express what I’m talking about.

I’m finally home in Heaven No sickness bothers me
I’m safely in my Father’s arms and Jesus’ face I see
He hugged me and He said my name Then walked me through the gate
The things I didn’t understand are answered in this place

 

I’m finally home in Heaven
I made it here at last
I’m laughing with the saints of God and having me a blast
It’s more than I imagined
I’m new and feeling right
The faith that saved has paved the way and now I walk by sight

I think it is important that we dwell on what life will be like in Heaven so we can keep things in perspective as we sweat to live on earth.  The vision that we will one day be free from stress, drudgery and disappointment is an excellent way to motivate us so we do not grow weary in serving Christ now.  For even as we serve, we are to cast all our burdens on Christ and rely on His wisdom and power to accomplish what needs to be done.  And this is how we will serve in Heaven, connected to Jesus fully, realizing and leveraging His power and wisdom in all we do.  Some people say you can be to Heavenly minded to be of any earthly good but I don’t think that is true at all.   Focusing your mind on Heaven helps you determine what is important to do on earth (Matthew 6:33).  This is what motivated Abraham, Moses and Jesus as they anticipated the “joy set before them”, their Heavenly reward for faithful service to God.  And like those that have gone before us wee too can share in this joy based on our faithful effort to follow Christ as judged by God, not based on the results of our effort as judged by men.   As a born again Christians we have are dual citizenship of both Heaven and earth but our most important one is our Heavenly citizenship.

Randy Alcorn in his book “Heaven” explains that we should make it a priority of our life to think about Heaven since one day we are going to be living there.  For example, if you were going to make a trip to France, you would study up on the customs of France, try to learn some French words and make an itinerary for the places to see and discover.  It would give you joy to imagine yourself at the Le Baron Bouge in Paris, enjoying some fine wine and a plate of saucissons and fromages or taking in the spectacular view from the top of the Elfie tower.  In the same way, when we think of Heaven we can take joy in the thought of one day walking the streets of gold in our resurrected body and also walking on the streets of earth during the Millennium Kingdom when we reign and rule with Christ. on earth.  And we can take joy in the thought that one day we will walk on the “New Earth” and in the “New Jerusalem” city in a Kingdom that never ends.  Yes, we will finally have the joy and peace we long for, a peace made possible because there will no longer be a presence of sin in us, not based on a deception of peace contrived by sinful men who are trying to establish a New World Order.

Some people think Heaven will be boring, where we sit on a cloud all day playing a harp.  But on the contrary, life in Heaven on the new earth will be very much like it is now except it will be fun and amazing, like the excitement you felt when you woke up as a kid on Saturday to go play with your friends or the wonder your experienced in exploring the woods and building a fort.  In Heaven, we will be morally “perfect” like Jesus but we will not be perfect in knowledge or perfect in our ability to do everything.  Only God is perfect and all knowing … we are all learning.   Of course, the Spiritual realm of Heaven, where God and the Angels abide will be a place of wonder like we have never seen or imaged but as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven we will have a resurrected body that can traverse between the Spiritual realm into the physical realm of earth, where we will enjoy life as we know it now.  In our resurrected body we will reign and rule with Christ on earth but I think there will be time for sports, arts, singing, building … basically all the activities we do now but without sin to wear us down and tear our good works down.

For instance I think we will be able to enjoy a game of golf on earth with Moses and Elijah and David but don’t expect to have super human strength and make a hole in one each time.  But with no time limit you might finally be able to cure that nasty slice.  And I’m sure there will be new sports, new challenges and new worlds to explore.  I think there will be competitions on the new earth but not for pride to see who is the best but in order to see who brings God the most glorify, in their effort.  And it won’t be all play because God has prepared work for us to do until the eternity.  Work that will be very enjoyable and fulfilling as we will be able to actually see Jesus as He instructs us, empowers us and encourages us.

Here’s a real life example of how a Heavenly focus helps ease our weary earthly mind.  At one time I was in charge of an effort to install new software on thousands of computers where I worked.  For the most part the nightly script did the job and the phone remained silent but in the world of computers there are always a few cats and dogs that need special attention.  So for several months different people would rotate and help with “problem” computers.  One time a guy who recently transferred to the area was put on duty to help with the effort.  After a couple of days on the job he said he wanted to take a day of leave and I told him that was fine.  He then said he had several days of leaved saved up and wanted to take off three days of leave and I told him was fine.  He finally said he had 10 days of leave saved up and wanted to use all of them and I said that was fine, it was his leave to do as he pleased.  At that point he became flabbergasted that I wasn’t putting up a fight like all the other people he had ever worked for and he just went back to doing his job befuddled and content.

This is kind of like what it will be like in Heaven, without the part about being flabbergasted or befuddled.  We will be motivated and content to work, moreover we will have joy in being obedient and serving the Lord.  We will understand that each person is serving Christ to the best of their ability and is doing God’s will.  We will realize that it is was not God’s will or bad circumstances on earth or other people that held us back from being content and satisfied on earth but it was our sin nature that plagued our senses and made us think we had to “control the outcome” in order to enjoy pursuing it.  Sometimes people ask “will we sin in Heaven” but I think when we are in the presence of Jesus our soul will be so satisfied and overwhelmed by His goodness that it will be illogical and therefore impossible to want anything else but to worship and bath in His holiness.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

 – Rogersings  +8^)

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