No Pain of Any Kind

Many are familiar with God’s promise of no more pain given in Revelation 21:4

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more -- or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” – Revelation 21:4 (NET)

It is exciting to think that in Heaven, we will never be hurt in any way that will cause us to shed tears. You will never have pain from a stubbed toe or accidentally cutting yourself. Can those things happen in Heaven? God only knows. But if you do, it won’t hurt.

I encourage you to meditate on how nothing can hurt our resurrected bodies. If we cannot feel pain and cannot die, there will be nothing to be afraid of in Heaven. The fear of pain or loss drives almost everything we do in this life. Having fear taken away will be a massive relief, giving us unlimited possibilities.

The promise of no pain goes beyond physical pain to include emotional pain. That is why this passage also tells us there will be no grief or crying. You will never feel pain from someone betraying you or saying cruel things about you or to you. We also know this because there will be no sin in Heaven, which means people will always interact in love (see No Sin Allowed). Even if that were the only difference between this life and the next, it would still be awesome. But there is much more awaiting us.

There are other implications from the simple promises in this passage. Not everyone will make it into Heaven. There will be people you knew, likely even loved, who will be in Hell. When God promises no mourning in Heaven, it doesn’t only mean there will be no death. It also includes mourning for those not with us. That is why some translations use the word grief in place of mourning. This promise means He will somehow take that pain from us. Some believe we won’t remember those not in Heaven. However, that seems highly unlikely because it would leave huge holes in your memories. (An upcoming post will discuss how we will likely remember our lives here, but you can read about it here if you want.) I trust that God can accomplish this even if I do not know how He will do it.

 

1 Samuel 28:15-19; Matthew 13:40-43; Revelation 6:9, 21:12-14

Freedom of Worship in Heaven

What do you think of when you imagine yourself worshipping God in Heaven? For a long time, I envisioned standing around singing praises to God. I still believe we will all sing praises to Him (maybe even while playing those cliché harps), but (and that’s a big but) we will worship God in many other ways as well.

Reading the book Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas reminded me that people worship, or connect with, God in different ways. Gary came up with nine categories of worship approaches. Singing is one way to worship, but people show God how they love Him in many forms. Your appreciation for God may be at its highest while quietly meditating on Him, surrounded by the majesty of His creation. It’s hard to imagine God taking away your favorite way to honor Him when we get to Heaven and forcing you to only sing to Him.

In Heaven, I’m sure King David will sing psalms to God with all his might while playing his lyre. Moses may walk around New Earth praising God for his provision and beauty. Elijah may find a tall mountain where he can be alone with God in a cave thanking Him for all He has done. Luke may explore New Earth while praising God for His intricate design. Tabitha may show her love for God by doing all she can to help her brothers and sisters in Heaven.

How do you currently praise God and express your love for Him?

How will you worship God in Heaven? Will you marvel at His new creation while thanking Him for it? Will you find a quiet spot to meditate on the greatness of God while expressing your love for Him? Will you make as much beautiful noise as you can, doing your best to express the love exploding out of you? Will you dance for Him? Will you examine all He has made and marvel at his wisdom and power? I believe there will be souls in Heaven doing all these things.

Here on Earth, everything we do (and I literally mean everything) is tainted with our selfishness. The degree varies, but even our righteous acts are like menstrual rags (Isaiah 64:6) in their purity. This selfishness applies to how we worship God as well. We may go to church on Sunday morning, but, oh, it would have been nice to have slept longer or to have relaxed at home instead. We may take a meal to the woman who just had surgery, but, in the back of our minds, we wish it hadn’t cost so much or taken so long to prepare. We may share the gospel with an unbeliever, but we walk away feeling proud of ourselves. Just as Isaiah said, even our best acts are tainted.

It will be impossible to have pride or selfishness in Heaven because those are sinful feelings. Our worship of God will finally be pure and without taint. Not only will we be in His presence, but our connection to him will not be hindered in any way!

You will be able to worship God in Heaven in your favorite way with no barriers.

 

Psalm 119:12-16, Isaiah 64:6; Romans 1:20

Fruit of the Spirit

We’ve looked at the physical aspects of Heaven, that is the New Heaven and New Earth, and we’ve also seen how sin cannot occur there. Now we will focus on the characteristics of Heaven. Many are already familiar with the promise God gives us about Heaven in Revelation 21:4:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more - or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.”

Most people who long for Heaven look forward to no more crying, pain, or death. Yet, the Bible promises so much more.

In this life, we struggle against our fleshly nature:

For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.

Galatians 5:17

We often fall short of what we know we should do because of the struggle with our sinful nature. In Heaven, that struggle will be removed. There will be no part of us that will fight against what the Spirit desires. We will constantly be bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, ²³gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Try your best to imagine an eternity where these qualities are spilling out of everyone at all times. It is difficult to picture because it is so foreign to us. In this life, even when we perform a good deed, there is a hint of selfishness tied to it or a bit of regret. It will not be that way in Heaven.

You will instantly be able to completely trust anyone you meet. You will never get into a heated argument. You will never lose your patience. Everyone will go out of their way to show kindness to you just as you will for anyone else.

Galatians 5:17-25 Romans 7:13-8:11, Revelation 21:4

No Sin Allowed

The problem with this world is sin. It was very good until sin corrupted God’s creation in the Fall of man. All sickness, death, fights, and bitter feelings are a result of sin. Jesus tells us it will be different in Heaven:

⁴⁰As the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers. ⁴²They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Matthew 13:40-43

In Heaven, there will be no temptations or selfish desires. We will sin no more. If you think about it, that is logical. God promised Heaven would last forever, so it must be impossible for His new creation to become corrupted by sin like this one. Therefore, sin must not be possible in the eternal New Heaven and New Earth, or we would end up in the same condition we are in now.

The promise of our afterlife being eternal was around even before Jesus promised it to us:

Many of those who sleep
in the dusty ground will awake -
some to everlasting life,
and others to shame and everlasting abhorrence.

Daniel 12:2

Think about the implications of not having sin or temptations in Heaven. You will no longer be tempted to get even with someone because of something they did against you. You will never have inappropriate thoughts about someone else. You will never be tempted to cheat someone or lie to them. Every thought will be honorable and good. You will never make a choice you will regret.

Many wonder if we will have free will if we are not free to sin. Does God have free will? By nature, He is incapable of sinning, yet I don’t think anyone would say He does not possess free will. Our resurrected condition will be like God in that we will be incapable of sinning, yet we will be free to choose among an infinite array of good choices, just as God does.

Being face to face with God in Heaven will be glorious. However, that is not something we can relate to. But we can all relate to the daily temptations of life, so having those temptations taken away is one aspect of Heaven we can greatly desire.

What excites you about having no more temptations in Heaven?

 

Matthew 13:37-42; Luke 6:43-45; John 3:36, 5:24, 10:28; Romans 7:14-25, 8:1-13; Galatians 5:15-25

New Heaven and New Earth

The last post talked about how Jesus’s resurrected body was a physical body you could touch just as ours will be when we are resurrected. Therefore, it makes sense that the New Heaven and New Earth will be a physical place on which these bodies will dwell.

Revelation tells us this current world will be replaced:

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, …  ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. – Revelation 21:1,3

Christ came to earth to reconcile it, not to do away with it:

¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. – Colossians 1:19-20

Yes, this current earth will pass away, but it will be renewed or replaced with something better and eternal. Our future home would not be called New Earth unless it will have similarities to this current earth. There are things of great beauty here: sunsets, flowers, and love. Finding such beauty in a fallen and decaying world is encouraging because it seeds our imagination for what might await us in an eternal creation that is perfectly in tune with God with no corruption. The beauty we find there will be far beyond what we can see now.

What might God create there to delight us? The Apostle John speaks of being taken up on a high mountain as he watched New Jerusalem descend to New Earth (Rev 21:9-10). Which makes it seem we will have mountains on New Earth. And why not? Mountains are a beautiful display of God’s power and creativity.

If the New Earth will have mountains, what else do you think God may put there to display his creative powers and his love for beauty? Imagine what a world uncorrupted by sin and man’s selfishness could look like.

 

Romans 8:18-21; 1 Cor 15:53; Colossians 1:19-20; Revelation 21:1-3, 9-10

Jesus’ Resurrection

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). That’s why when we have serious questions, the first and best place to look is to Jesus. There is no bigger question than what happens to us when we die. The Bible makes it clear that if we put our faith in Christ, we will be with Him in Heaven after our deaths. What is not as clear is what that life will be like. However, once again, looking to Jesus helps us find answers.

The Bible gives us clues about our eternal home, but the most direct and visible information comes from the source of truth: Jesus. He was with His disciples for forty days after He was raised from the dead, showing them His resurrected body and proving He had risen from the dead.

What did Jesus show His disciples about His resurrected body? He made it very clear that it was a physical body: Touch Me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have (Lk 24:39). He made a point of eating in front of them (Lk 24:43). He was able to walk around with holes in His side and hands (Jn 20:27). He even popped in and out of locked rooms (Jn 20:26). Those are just the obvious things.

Why should examining what Jesus did in His resurrected body get us excited about Heaven? Because Jesus promises to give us a resurrected body like His:

²⁰but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.

Philippians 3:20-21

Jesus will transform the sick, tired, and weak bodies we now inhabit into bodies like His glorious, resurrected body. What does that mean? We will dive deeply into that in future posts, so let your imagination run with that promise for now.

 

Mark 16:9-12, Luke 24:13-43, John 21:9-15, Romans 6:5, 1 Corinthians 15:16-20, 35-49, 1 John 3:2-3 (all quotes are from the HCSB)

Discovering More About Heaven is Practical and Exciting

 What gets you really excited? I mean can’t-wait, why-isn’t-it-here-yet excited. Most of us get excited about Christmas, but only during December (and maybe November). Your birthday may excite you (or depress you depending on your age) but only a few weeks prior to the event. Is there anything that excites you every day of the year? If you struggle to imagine something that could do that, you may not have looked closely enough at Heaven yet.

Are you ready to get more excited about what awaits you in Heaven? After studying Heaven for almost 10 years, I am more motivated than ever to get others excited about what our Loving Father is preparing as our eternal home. In this first post, I want to explain why getting excited about and learning more about Heaven is a practical endeavor. If you are like I was before I explored what the Bible says about Heaven, I rarely thought about it. Back then, I dreaded thinking about Heaven. That was because I envisioned an eternity of being before the throne of God in a purely spiritual state, singing for all eternity. When I looked to scripture instead of to culture for information about Heaven, I saw a drastically different vision. Now, rarely a day goes by where I am not encouraged by some aspect of Heaven and excited by it. I’ll discuss those in this blog in the weeks ahead.

How is studying Heaven a practical use of your time? A greater appreciation of Heaven strengthens your eternal perspective, which is useful in many ways. One significant way it helps is dealing with trials that come upon us. If you can put any difficulty this life throws at you on the other side of the scales from the wonders of Heaven, the scales will slam down on the side of Heaven every time. I like the way Mother Teresa put it, “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than one night in an inconvenient hotel.” The Apostle Paul also had something to say about this:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 (HCSB)

It is essential to not let your thoughts get stuck on the difficulties of this life. There is no hope when we only look down at this life. We must lift our eyes toward Heaven, where our hope lies. The Apostle Paul encouraged us to focus our thoughts on heavenly things:

¹So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth.

Colossians 3:1-2 (HCSB)

Having a strong desire for Heaven can also encourage you to reach out to others so they can join you there. When I had little desire to be in Heaven, I also had little desire to teach others about Christ. I was afraid they would ask me what I thought about Heaven, and I would have nothing encouraging to say about it. Why would anyone want to face possible hardships in this life for the name of Christ, only to be bored for all eternity? I felt I had nothing to offer them. Sure, they wouldn’t go to Hell, but I couldn’t give them a hope of Heaven that was all that much better than Hell.

I hope you will check back often for more encouraging thoughts about Heaven. They will strengthen your eternal perspective and get you more excited about Heaven while helping you understand why Jesus paid such a high price so we could be there with Him.