Heaven

by Randy Alcorn

  Just because we'll be sinless doesn't mean we won't be drawn to certain peo­ple more than others. We'll like everyone, but we'll be closer to some than oth­ers. Jesus was closer to John than to any of the other disciples. Jesus was closer to Peter, James, and John than to the rest of the Twelve, and closer to the Twelve than to the seventy, and closer to the seventy than to his other followers. He was close to Lazarus and Martha, and closer still to their sister Mary. He was so close to his mother that while he was dying on the cross, he instructed John to care for her after his death. Since Christ was closer to some people than to oth­ers, clearly there can't be anything wrong with it.

  In Heaven there won't be cliques, exclusiveness, arrogance, posturing, belit­tling, or jealousy. But when friends particularly enjoy each other's company, they are reflecting God's design. If, as you walk about the New Jerusalem, you see Adam and Eve holding hands as they look at the tree of life, would you be­grudge them their special friendship?

  Perhaps you're disappointed that you've never had the friendships you long for. In Heaven you'll have much closer relationships with some people you now know, but it's also true that you may never have met the closest friends you'll ever have. Just as someone may be fifty years old before meeting her best friend, you may live on the New Earth enjoying many friendships before meeting someone who will become your dearest friend. Maybe your best friend will be someone sitting next to you at the first great feast. After all, the sovereign God who orchestrates friendships will be in charge of the seating arrangements.

  On the New Earth we'll experience the joy of familiarity in old relationships and the joy of discovery in new ones. As we get to know each other better, we'll get to know God better. As we find joy in each other, we'll find joy in him. No human relationships will overshadow our relationship with God. All will serve to enhance it.

  CHAPTER 36

  WHOM WILL WE MEET, AND WHAT WILL WE EXPERIENCE TOGETHER?

  In Heaven, will we spend time with people whose lives are recorded in Scripture and church history? No doubt. Jesus told us we'll sit at the din­ner table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matthew 8:11). If we sit with them, we should expect to sit with others. What do people do at dinner ta­bles? In Middle Eastern cultures dinner was—and is—not only about good food and drink but also a time for building relationships, talking together, and telling stories.

  Who will we talk with in Heaven? I'd like to ask Mary to tell stories about Jesus as a child. I'd enjoy talking with Simeon, Anna, Elizabeth, and John the Baptist. I want to hear Noah's accounts of life on the ark. I'm eager to listen to Moses tell about his times with God on the mountain. I'd like to ask Elijah about being taken away in the chariot and Enoch (and Enoch's wife) about his being caught up by God.

  I want to talk with Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. I'll ask people to fill in the blanks of the great stories in Scripture and church history. I want to hear a few million new stories. One at a time, of course, and spread out over thousands of years. I imagine we'll relish these great stories, ask questions, laugh together, and shake our heads in amazement.

  We'll each have our own stories to tell also—and the memories and skills to tell them well. Right now, today, we are living the lives from which such stories will be drawn. Are we living them with eternity in mind? We'll have new ad­ventures on the New Earth from which new stories will emerge, but I suspect the old stories from this life will always interest us too.

  I look forward to reconnecting with many old friends as well as my mom and dad. I look forward to thanking C. S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, and A. W. Tozer for how their writings changed me. I anticipate meeting William Carey, Hudson and Maria Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliot, Charles Spurgeon, Dwight L. Moody, Harriet Beecher Stowe, some of the Amistad slaves, and a host of others.

  Who's on your list?

  How are you serving Christ today so that you may be on someone else's list?

  WILL WE PURSUE AND DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS?

  One of the things I'm looking forward to in Heaven is meeting people I've known only by phone and e-mail. For those friends I rarely see, we'll finally have time and access to enjoy each other's company.

  I want to spend time again with the people who had an influence on me as a young Christian. I don't know how many of my ancestors were Christians. Perhaps not many. But I can't wait to meet the ones who were and to hear their stories.

  I'm eager to meet the young women our family supported in the Dominican Republic. I want to talk to some Cambodian pastors and Chinese house church members who received Bibles from the ministries we gave to. What will it be like to meet the Sudanese people our church helped rescue from slavery and op­pression? I want to thank them for their faith and example.

  I want to spend time with my handicapped friends and watch them enjoy the freedom of new bodies and minds. I look forward to sharp intellectual ex­changes with those who finished their course on Earth with Alzheimer's.(Maybe I'll be one of them.)

  I want to spend time with the martyrs, some of whose stories I've read. Most of them didn't know each other on Earth, but Revelation 6:9-11 portrays them as close-knit in Heaven.

  We'll surely have many new relationships, some based on common inter­ests, experiences, and histories on Earth. If you have a special interest in first-century Rome, perhaps you'll enjoy developing relationships with those who lived in that place and time.

  We'll talk with angels who saw the earth created and who watched their comrades rebel. We'll meet angels who guarded and served us while we were on Earth. Don't you look forward to asking them questions?

  If our conversations would be limited only to the earth's past, we might run the reservoir dry after fifty thousand years. But the beauty is that Heaven will bring as many new developments as Earth ever did, and eventu­ally far more. We won't begin to run out of things to think about or talk about. The reservoir won't run dry. It will be replenished daily, forever ex­panding.

  IF OUR LOVED ONES ARE IN HELL, WON'T THAT SPOIL HEAVEN?

  Many people have lost loved ones who didn't know Christ. Some people argue that people in Heaven won't know Hell exists. But this would make Heaven's joy dependent on ignorance, which is nowhere taught in Scripture.

  So, how could we enjoy Heaven knowing that a loved one is in Hell? J. I. Packer offers an answer that's difficult but biblical:

  God the Father (who now pleads with mankind to accept the reconcil­iation that Christ's death secured for all) and God the Son (our appointed Judge, who wept over Jerusalem) will in a final judgment express wrath and administer justice against rebellious humans. God's holy righteousness will hereby be revealed; God will be doing the right thing, vindicating himself at last against all who have defied him. . . . (Read through Matt. 25; John 5:22-29; Rom. 2:5-16,12:19; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Rev. 18:1-19:3, 20:11-15, and you will see that clearly.) God will judge justly, and all angels, saints, and martyrs will praise him for it. So it seems inescapable that we shall, with them, approve the judg­ment of persons—rebels—whom we have known and loved.272

  In Heaven, we will see with a new and far better perspective. We'll fully con­cur with God's judgment on the wicked. The martyrs in Heaven call on God to judge evil people on Earth (Revelation 6:9-11). When God brings judgment on the wicked city of Babylon, the people in Heaven are told, "Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you" (Revelation 18:20).

  Hell itself may provide a dark backdrop to God's shining glory and unfath­omable grace. Jonathan Edwards made this case, saying, "When the saints in glory, therefore, shall see the doleful state of the damned, how will this heighten their sense of the blessedness of their own state, so exceedingly different from it." He added, "They shall see the dreadful miseries of the damned, and consider that they deserved the same misery, and that it was sovereign grace, and nothing else, which made them so much to differ from the damned."273

  We'll never question God's jus
tice, wondering how he could send good peo­ple to Hell. Rather, we'll be overwhelmed with his grace, marveling at what he did to send bad people to Heaven. (We will no longer have any illusion that fallen people are good without Christ.)

  In Heaven we'll see clearly that God revealed himself to each person and that he gave opportunity for each heart or conscience to seek and respond to him (Romans 1:18-2:16). Those who've heard the gospel have a greater opportunity to respond to Christ (Romans 10:13-17), but every unbeliever, through sin, has rejected God and his self-revelation in creation, conscience, or the gospel.

  Everyone deserves Hell. No one deserves Heaven. Jesus went to the cross to offer salvation to all (1 John 2:2). God is absolutely sovereign and doesn't desire any to die without Christ (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9). Yet many will perish in their unbelief (Matthew 7:13).

  We'll embrace God's holiness and justice. We'll praise him for his goodness and grace. God will be our source of joy. Hell's small and distant shadow will not interfere with God's greatness or our joy in him. (All of this should motivate us to share the gospel of Christ with family, friends, neighbors, and the whole world.)

  We'll also understand the truth revealed in 2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." We will marvel at the patience God showed us and all of our loved ones, and how he long withheld our due judgment to give us opportunity to repent.

  Although it will inevitably sound harsh, I offer this further thought: in a sense, none of our loved ones will be in Hell—only some whom we once loved. Our love for our companions in Heaven will be directly linked to God, the cen­tral object of our love. We will see him in them. We will not love those in Hell because when we see Jesus as he is, we will love only—and will only want to love—whoever and whatever pleases and glorifies and reflects him. What we loved in those who died without Christ was God's beauty we once saw in them. When God forever withdraws from them, I think they'll no longer bear his im­age and no longer reflect his beauty. Although they will be the same people, without God they'll be stripped of all the qualities we loved. Therefore, para­doxically, in a sense they will not be the people we loved.

  I cannot prove biblically what I've just stated, but I think it rings true, even if the thought is horrifying.

  Not only in Heaven but also while we are still here on Earth, our God is "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3). Any sor­rows that plague us now will disappear on the New Earth as surely as darkness disappears when the light is turned on. "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,.. . neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain" (Revelation 21:4,ESV).

  This is God's promise. Let's rest in it.

  Of this we may be absolutely certain: Hell will have no power over Heaven; none of Hell's misery will ever veto any of Heaven's joy.

  WILL WE EVER DISAGREE?

  Because we're finite and unique and because we'll never know everything, we may not agree about everything in Heaven. We'll agree on innumerable matters and wonder how we ever thought otherwise. But we'll still likely have different tastes in food and clothes and music and thousands of other things. We will have discussions, perhaps even debates, about things we won't yet understand. Of course, there will be no personal attacks, no ill-informed biases, and no prideful refusal to grant a valid point.

  Some of us will have insights others don't. Some will have a better under­standing in one area, others in a different area. Our beliefs can be accurate but incomplete, since we'll not be omniscient. Adam was without sin, yet he needed more than himself. Even before sin, surely he and Eve brought different per­spectives. Not all disagreement is rooted in sin.

  The companionship of other finite beings involves discussion and dialogue, which creates progress through synergy. That synergy involves differences and even disagreements. Could Michael and Gabriel, two sinless beings, have dif­ferent opinions on a military strategy? Could they think differently enough to disagree? Why not?

  C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and other friends in their group called The In­klings often argued ideas with each other. On the New Earth, could Jonathan Edwards, G. K. Chesterton, Francis Schaeffer, Charles Spurgeon, and John Wesley agree on 90 percent of the issues, yet still challenge one another's ideas in what's still unknown to them, stimulating each other to a greater under­standing? Could they even say, "Let's think and talk to the King, approach an angel or two, bounce our ideas off Paul, Luther, and Augustine, and then meet again and share what we've learned"?

  Even though Christ's insights would be absolutely accurate, that doesn't mean we'll always fully understand them. God has made us learners. That's part of being finite.

  If we will always and automatically see all things alike, then why will there be rulers and judges on the New Earth? In a perfect world, why would there be a need for authority? Because that's the way God has made us. He's the ultimate authority, but he delegates authority to mankind. It's not sin that necessitates au­thority, it's simply God's design, existing first within his triune being (John 8:28). Since we're told that we'll judge angels, will there be disagreements to pass judg­ment on? If sinless people see differently, might they still need wise counsel?

  Uniqueness and differences existed before sin and will exist after it. Only God has infinite wisdom and knowledge. We should expect some differences in perspective, but we should also expect an ability to resolve them without ran­cor or bruised egos. Imagine the ability to question and challenge without any malice and to be questioned and challenged without a hint of defensiveness. Wouldn't that be Heaven?

  WILL WE SHARE DISCOVERIES TOGETHER?

  Many friendships emerge from shared experiences. Doing things together bonds us. The same will be true on the New Earth. We'll be knit together as we discover together the wonders of God and his universe.

  Suppose you're taking a two-week extended family vacation, but you arrive at the vacation destination four days after most of the other family members. They say, "You should have seen the sunset last Thursday. It was incredible." Or "You should have been here for the barbeque." They talk about the whale that breached two hundred feet from shore. "You should have seen it."

  What's your reaction? You're happy the family's been having a good time, but you feel as if you've missed something. You've missed the bonding that came with the common experience.

  Wouldn't it be great to travel to Heaven together, simultaneously? Wouldn't it be great to be like Lewis and Clark, discovering together the wonders of the new world? In fact, that's precisely what Scripture tells us will happen. Though we go to the present Heaven one at a time as we die, all of us will be charter citizens of the New Earth. We'll be resurrected together and set foot on the New Earth together.

  Throughout eternity we will live full, truly

  human lives, exploring and managing God's

  creation to his glory. Fascinating vistas will

  unfold before us as we learn to serve God

  in a renewed universe.

  EDWARD DONNELLY

  We'll discover what no one else has ever seen. We'll share our dis­coveries together, grabbing each other by the hand and saying, "You can't be­lieve what Jesus made—an animal I've never dreamed of. You've got to come see it!"

  We'll discover some things on our own, and we'll enjoy things that others have discovered. We'll get to share our finds.

  Unlike the hypothetical experience of your arriving late to your vacation des­tination, you won't have missed out on the beginning of the New Earth. You will be there first—with everyone else. When someone asks, "Remember when God made the New Earth and brought the New Jerusalem down out of Heaven and came to dwell among us in the new world he built for us?" all of us will nod our heads and say, "Sure, I remember—how could I ever forget? I was there!"

  What will it be like for those who died weak and elderly to take their first steps
in their resurrected bodies? In C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle, on entering heaven Lord Digory says he and Lady Polly have been "unstiffened."274 He adds, "We stopped feeling old." I look forward to seeing my mother and father "unstiffened" again—and to being completely unstiffened myself!

  How glorious it will be for grandchildren and grandparents—and great­grandchildren and great-grandparents who never knew each other before—to enjoy youth together in the cities, fields, hillsides, and waters of the New Earth. To walk together, discover together, be amazed together—and praise Jesus together.

  WILL WE WITNESS TOGETHER GOD'S NEW CREATION?

  In The Magician's Nephew, C. S. Lewis portrays two children, a few adults, and a horse transported from Earth to an unknown place. It's the darkness and silence that precedes the day of Narnia's creation. They watch in wonder as this beauti­ful new world is masterfully shaped by the creator, Asian the lion, who sings it into existence.275

  God asked Job, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? . . . On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7).

  The picture is of angels, created beings, witnessing God's creation of the first Earth. I believe Scripture makes clear that we'll have the privilege that was experienced by the fictional characters in The Magician's Nephew and by the real angelic beings who witnessed the creation of the first Earth: We will actually witness the creation of the New Earth.

  In John's vision, after he saw humanity's resurrection, he saw "a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:1-2).

  Although Scripture doesn't state this, the New Earth's creation might un­fold in stages just as the old Earth's creation did. The first Earth was raw and uninhabitable, dark and empty (Genesis 1:2). God then created light, and on subsequent days he created water, sky, clouds, dry ground, vegetation, seed-bearing plants and trees, sun and moon and stars, and the entire celestial heav­ens. Then he made the sea creatures, birds, and the rest of the animals, domestic and wild. Finally, he fashioned the man.