5 Ways Heaven Is Perfect - GraceLife Church of Pineville

Introduction: A Reminder of Heaven

Above is a photo I took earlier this year in Corinth, the city for which the apostle Paul’s two letters to the Corinthians was destined. This photo is, for me, a reminder of Heaven. I’m not saying that I think this is what Heaven looks like. Those sorts of direct attempts to depict the eternal state always fall short. But this photo, for me, is a reminder of Heaven not because of its depiction but, rather, because of what it points to.

If you stop to think about that phrase, “reminder of Heaven,” the fact is, I’ve never been there, so I call it “a reminder” in the sense that it is a reminder to think about Heaven. It is a reminder in the sense that it calls something to mind—it evokes in me something of the heavenly.

I call it “a reminder” in the sense that it is a reminder to think about Heaven.

The things of this world point to Heaven in a different sort of way. For example, the fallen world that we live in points to the coming world when we experience loss and, alongside that loss, the accompanying longing we feel for things to be made right. Things that push our minds heavenward give us a glimpse of possible redemption. That’s why what you see in that photo are the ruins of Corinth—ruins being overtaken by fresh growth. That’s a reminder of Heaven.

Another way in which this place reminds me of Heaven is the way in which former things are overtaken by better things. This was the theatre at Corinth. No doubt, it was a place of pagan practices. In the following photo, you can see me standing at what would have been the floor of the theatre:

Considering what the theatre was, there would have been religious celebrations while shows were happening. In fact, you can’t see it in the image, but just over the other side of the hill was a marketplace during Paul’s time. We read about it in his letter to the Corinthians, where he gave instructions about meat bought at that marketplace—and the question of whether, if the meat had been sacrificed to idols, they (believers in Corinth) should eat it or not.¹

This image, again, reminds me of Heaven in the sense that former things are overtaken by better things. On the day I stood there (captured in the photo), it was not a place of proclaiming praise to pagan deities but (for me) of proclaiming the goodness of God. It was a place of getting to deliver a message about the resurrection from the dead from a place in which Paul had a lot to say about that subject.

I didn’t make a big deal about this in my message, because I didn’t want it to cause offense, but the day I recorded a sermon from that location, I opened my Bible on a makeshift pulpit that happens to be a pagan altar—a bucranium, if you want to get technical (it’s a bull’s skull wrapped in garland). That day, the pagan altar gave way to the Christian pulpit.

You see, Heaven will untwist that which was perverse, then align it with truth so we can see the beauty of what is good.

Heaven will untwist that which was perverse, then align it with truth so we can see the beauty of what is good.

Finally, this location in the photo reminds me of Heaven because it’s Corinth, and outside the book of Revelation, we know more about the next life from Paul’s Corinthian correspondence than from anywhere else in Scripture.

I use this image and this place to remind us of the emphasis of my last sermon in this series: eternity is about the uniting of Heaven and earth.

The Passing Away of the Old

We saw in Revelation that the old earth and the old heaven (this current universe) will pass away. We’ll look at that some more in this sermon. But I want you to understand the way in which I proposed that it passes away: it’s not destruction in the sense of total loss, but a passing away that is, I think, akin to our own death and new life.

It’s not destruction in the sense of total loss, but a passing away … akin to our own death and new life.

Let’s draw the analogy from 2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

If you are a believer in Christ, there is a part of you that has passed away and has given way to the new. But you have not been totally destroyed. And so, I think, the earth will experience a redemption of similar fashion. This world, this earth, will pass away as the redeeming presence of its Creator will bring forth a world fit for eternal life—the resurrection of the people of God and even of His created world.

This world, this earth, will pass away as the redeeming presence of its Creator will bring forth a world fit for eternal life.

So, eternity is our subject, and this is part of our larger series on eternal judgment,² a topic that demands a subseries of sorts on Heaven. We’re not doing a comprehensive study on the nature of Heaven. But if Heaven is a part of eternal judgment (as it is), then we need to talk about it. It would be a shame to say that one option for eternal judgment is life with God, and for you to then come away from such a study without an eagerness for that life in the future—and without an eagerness to live even now, as one whose citizenship is in Heaven.

As we discuss the eternal state, hold in your mind that we’re talking about activity, a state of being. We’re talking about a life that is way down the timeline. We’ve moved all the way to the end of the timeline as we describe Heaven or the eternal state. I’m not talking about the state that exists now for believers. But in case you’re curious about that, the short answer of what’s happening now for believers who have died is that something good is happening for them. It’s not soul sleep; it’s not unconsciousness. It’s something good, but it’s not as good as it will be. Why is it not as good? Because we’re still awaiting the resurrection from the dead.

We’ve moved all the way to the end of the timeline as we describe Heaven or the eternal state. I’m not talking about the state that exists now for believers.

If it helps, whatever we’re describing right now for the future Heaven (our future existence with God), much of it will be part of the Heaven that exists now. I don’t know and thus can’t tell you the details, or the extent of carryover from the current Heaven to the next one, but as you’ll see in a moment when we read from Revelation 21 and 22, there seems to be some carryover.

Some will argue that the city that comes down from Heaven, the new Jerusalem, is actually the Heaven that exists now—that it’s just going to be descending in the future to the future earth. That is a possibility, but I don’t think it’s the best option. I think there is genuinely a newness to be revealed at that time.

Heaven as Perfect

We all think of Heaven as a perfect place. I think it’s also accurate to say its current existence offers a hope of perfection, but it’s not yet realized, because (again) the resurrection has not taken place. There are those who, even in the presence of God, are saying, “How long, O Lord? How long ’til all things are new?” The perfect is coming. So let’s focus on that big idea: heaven as perfect.

When we have looked at the closing chapters of Revelation before,³ we focused on the joining of heaven and earth—the concept not of escaping earth to go to Heaven, but rather of Heaven descending and uniting to earth. Now, we’re going to extract something else from the same Scripture passages,⁴ something about the nature of Heaven. Specifically, we’re going to look at five thoughts on why Heaven is perfect.

#1 Heaven Is Perfect Because of Its Preparation

Revelation 21 begins like this:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. (vv. 1–2)

We associate heaven with fulfilled bliss—that is, being given that which we have eagerly desired, having access to that which we’ve always hoped for, or being able to participate in that which gives us ultimate pleasure. And so this image of beholding the bride is appropriate.

The focus here is the preparation that goes into a wedding, specifically the revealing of the bride.

If you’ve ever been part of a wedding in any capacity, you understand the amount of time and money that is spent for this moment. It is the highlight in many ways of the wedding. The costly dress and the beautification process of all that is involved, from the decorating of the building to the decorating of the bodies—a process extending across days. And it’s all so the bride may appear in all her radiance at the appropriate time. It’s that moment, the revealing of the bride in the wedding, at which I wish I could look in both directions at once—to see the bride as the doors fling open and she is revealed, but also to the groom and his reaction at the revealing of the bride.

Just a few weeks ago, my family and I went to a wedding in which we were able to participate. At this wedding, I got to see the marvel and astonishment of the flower girl (our newly adopted daughter), whose mouth dropped open when the bride walked down the aisle. The astonishment for her was the beauty that was possible—and that she got to participate in the pageantry.

Part of our reaction when we see the bride is a reflection of all the preparation that goes into making that moment. Imagine if the bride were not prepared. She’s going to wear that?! Man, maybe she could have done something with her hair!

Cultures, of course, differ in weddings. Most American weddings will be culturally different than the ancient Jewish or Greek wedding at the time of Revelation’s writing, just as weddings today differ from culture to culture. But here’s what’s common: weddings in any culture have always been expensive, costly, and undertaken with great and special preparation.

Let’s look at some of the ways in which Scripture talks about that preparation:

He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. (Revelation 21:10–11)

These verses again reinforce the beauty and the cost. A few verses later, John continues:

The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl.⁵ And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. (Revelation 21:18–21)

All of these are images, hints, of the perfection and beauty of the next life.

Jesus speaks to us in the oft-quoted 14th chapter of John about preparation:

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “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. 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.” (John 14:1–3)

When we think of eternity with God and life in Heaven, time becomes something of a mystery for us. But if we can take the explanation of time given to us in the Bible, consider this: If God describes having created this universe in six days, imagine what must await us if God has now been preparing the next life—the new heavens and new earth—for nearly 2,000 years!

Heaven is perfect because of its preparation.

#2 Heaven Is Perfect Because of God’s Presence

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.” (Revelation 21:3)

Heaven is perfect because of God’s presence. And in some sense that is all that needs to be said. But to really understand that reality requires a rich theology.

We could argue that this topic, the idea of God dwelling with us and of God’s presence causing perfection, is the topic about which the most should be said because it’s about God. At the same time, it is the topic that only so much can be said because it is about God.

We will need to devote a separate sermon to this topic. We will need to wrestle with the idea that we can have poor concepts of who God is and therefore not have a proper desire for Heaven. We will also need to wrestle with the idea that God has in some sense lived among humanity before. Wasn’t Jesus God? Wasn’t God with Adam and Eve walking in the garden? How is it that His presence will make things perfect in the next life, but not now? Tough questions. We’ll reserve them for another day.

For now, rest in this: Whatever good you’ve encountered in this life—experiences, pleasures, breathtaking scenery, moments of real connection with people, incredible food—all of that is sourced in a Creator who made those things and designed them to be enjoyed by you. All good and perfect gifts come from above.⁶ The day is coming when the good and perfect will not only be above but also among. His presence will bring perfection.

The day is coming when the good and perfect will not only be above but also among.

#3 Heaven Is Perfect Because of What Is Passing Away

Revelation 21:4 says:

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.

He will wipe away tears.

Did you cry this past week? If so, what was it over? What caused the tears? Some new unpleasant thing in your life? Some old but always resurfacing thing that just won’t go away? Whatever that thing is, it’ll be absent in the next life. It will pass away.

Death itself will pass; it will not be a thing. In the words of the poet John Donne, “Death, thou shalt die.”⁷

Mourning, Crying, and Pain

Revelation 21 says no mourning, no crying, and no pain. Why this list of seeming synonyms? I think it could be pointing to this:

Mourning speaks to an internal, private suffering.
Crying speaks to expressed, public suffering.
Pain speaks to the cause of suffering.

Eternally, internal, private suffering will pass away. The expressed public suffering will pass away. And the cause of suffering will pass away.

What causes suffering? One of the causes is undoubtedly other people.

Cowards and Others

Revelation tells us that there are types of people absent from Heaven. Revelation 21:8 tells us something about what’s going to pass away in terms of people:

For the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters, and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Let’s look at some of the items on that list.

Cowards
What a strange way to start the list! If I were to give a pop quiz and ask people to tell me, without looking at Scripture, what the first person on their list would be who will not be in Heaven, I doubt many people would answer “a coward.” We think of cowards as unthreatening people. But that’s not true. Cowardliness is a threat to the whole of society.

The coward tolerates everything and anything because fear will keep him from protesting it, and fear will keep him from protecting who needs to be protected. The coward is selfish. His fear in the face of harm will cause him to protect himself at the expense of everything and everyone else. The coward tolerates injustice. The coward can be convinced to rejoice even in the shame of others, in the hopes that it deflects any negative attention toward him.

The coward is selfish. His fear in the face of harm will cause him to protect himself at the expense of everything and everyone else.

This new city has no place for the coward, because cowards are comfortable only with the familiar, not the new. The new Heaven has no place for the coward because, in the end, the coward is like the next one on the list in Revelation 21:8.

Unbelievers
The one who doesn’t believe, the faithless one, will not be in the new Heaven because he fears turning over the entirety of his life to another Person.

The Abominable
Some translations say “detestable” or “vile” instead of “abominable.” You might be thinking, “You can’t say that about other people—that people made in the image of God are abominable!” It is in Heaven that we will be able to say it more truly than it has ever been said. Because these people will be those who, in the end, have rejected all hope of renewal and all hope of redemption. They will be twice dead, eternally. All that will remain of them will be left to eternal corruption. It will be vile. It will be detestable. It will be abominable.

Murderers
Why do these people make the list? Because those who take life can’t live in Heaven because it is a place in which life is given.

Immoral Persons
Many translations correctly clarify this term as the sexually immoral. The sexually immoral can’t live in Heaven because it’s a place in which passion is united to its proper object. Sexual immorality seeks gratification in (to use the phrase of a popular book) “less-wild lovers.” It is, again, the role taken on not by the adventurous, not by the brave, but by the coward—by the one who selfishly seeks gratification at the expense of others because he’s scared to show his true strength as a being created by God. The sexually immoral is faithless that even greater pleasure exists beyond whatever immediate satisfaction is before for him.

The sexually immoral can’t inhabit Heaven because he chooses the temporary over the transcendent. Heaven is about eternal things.

The sexually immoral can’t inhabit Heaven because he chooses the temporary over the transcendent. Heaven is about eternal things.

Now, I don’t want you to hear that if in this life you have murdered, been a coward, or been sexually immoral, then you’re prevented from going to Heaven. That’s not what’s being said. Heaven is a place where those things have passed away. Heaven is a place where the redeemed of God no longer wrestle with such things.

Heaven is a place where the redeemed of God no longer wrestle with such things.

Sorcerers, Idolaters, and Liars
Some more people on this list of Revelation 21:8 are sorcerers, idolaters, and liars. Sorcerers may seem strange to us. Admittedly, I don’t know that I’ve ever walked into a gathering and thought, “Man, I hope there are no sorcerers here.”

Here’s how I think we can categorize this list: This group consists of those who attempt to gain the good life through manipulation.

The sorcerer attempts to gain the good life through the manipulation of nature.
The idolater attempts to gain the good life through the manipulation of the spiritual realm.
The liar attempts to gain the good life through the manipulation of other people.

All attempts to gain that which is good through avenues other than Goodness itself (or, rather, Himself) will pass away.

This group consists of those who attempt to gain the good life through manipulation.

Again, I’m not saying that if you’ve ever participated in these things, Heaven is out of your reach. But all of those things lead to death, which has no place in the next life. So I urge you to realize that there’s no advantage in death in this life either. Choose life so that you may live.⁸

I’m not saying that if you’ve ever participated in these things, Heaven is out of your reach. But all of those things lead to death, which has no place in the next life.

Personal Application

I’ve said in this sermon series that we are studying eternal judgment in the sense of applying it to ourselves. So take a moment to do some application regarding judgment. Are you seeking to live in light of the good life to come? Consider:

To what extent have you been manipulating others or circumstances to try to attain the good life?
To what extent have you been a coward, sexually immoral, a liar, or a murderer? Remember, that is not the life. We’re called to choose life so that we will live the truly good life.

#4 Heaven Is Perfect Because of God’s Promise

We might say Heaven is perfect because of God’s promises (plural). Revelation 21:5–7 says:

He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”

Heaven is perfect because of God’s promises. We will finally see the promises of God unfold. Faith will be sight.

We will finally see the promises of God unfold. Faith will be sight.

Did you see the word in verse 5—“Behold” (“Look; see it!”)?⁹ He is making all things new.

We see from verse 6 that the promises will be kept. The enduring word of God will last into eternity. We will see (behold) that:

The promise was always.
The promise is.
The promise will always be.

He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

What is that great truth? It’s this: The newness of life is free. “I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost” (v. 6, emphasis mine). This truth of the gospel is something so many whom we call brothers and sisters in Christ don’t understand. Heaven is a gift for the thirsty. It’s a gift for those in need. It is not the case that we will say, “I have been drinking from the correct waters the whole time. Lord, you can let me in now.” It’s not to be worked for. The great truth is that the newness of life is free.

Heaven is a gift for the thirsty. … The newness of life is free.

And the promise, according to this Scripture, is that you will be a child: “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son” (Revelation 21:7). The promise is that you will be a child. I’ll probably continue to make frequent references to adoption. No apologies for that. Scripture says that it is “the anxious longing of the creation” that “waits eagerly for the revealing of the [adopted] sons of God” (Romans 8:19). Scripture says, too, that it’s “the spirit of adoption” that makes us “cry out [to God], ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15). Given our recent adoption of twins from Hungary, the ages of those children, their history, and their new lives, a question I hear multiple times a day is this: “Are you, my father?” Yes, always.

In that question, repeated over and over, there’s this progression. It begins in uncertainty and fear and confusion. But in some moments, there’s joy (“Are you, my father!?”—said with an anticipatory smile, now aware of the answer that’s coming).

That’s the way it is for us with God, is it not? In the next life, it will be only joy: “Are you, my Father?” Yes. In the next life, every time we hear His answer, we will rejoice both like we’re hearing it for the first time and like we’ve always known it to be true.

Heaven is perfect because of God’s promises.

#5 Heaven Is Perfect Because of What It Preserves

Heaven will honor the life that was before. How do we know this? Well, look at what’s preserved according to Revelation 21:12–14:

[This holy city, Jerusalem] had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

It’s all new. But wait, we know those names—they’re real people who existed: the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, the names of the twelve apostles. It is a testimony of God’s working throughout history. We will not forget those things. It is a preservation of the nation from which came the Messiah of mankind. It is a preservation of the apostles upon whom was built the body of the Messiah, the Church of God. All work done in the name of God will last.

And I think we get some comfort in these passages that there is at least some correspondence between this life and the next.

All work done in the name of God will last. … There is at least some correspondence between this life and the next.

Look at the curious correspondence in verse 17. There’s an angel measuring a wall: “And he measures its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements” (Revelation 21:17). Foot to foot, yard to yard—some things will be the same.

Look, too, at Revelation 22:1–2:

He showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.

There seem to be even some semblances of measurement of time, regularity, pattern, perhaps months, even seasons preserved from this life to the next. To what degree are these things preserved? I’m not sure. What exactly will carry over into the next life? The details we’re just not sure of. But I believe that the good in this life we live now will find its place in some form in the next. That could be through expansion of the good, renewal of the good, or freedom of that good. It could be that that good gives itself over to the better thing to which it has always pointed. In any case, Heaven is perfect because of what it preserves.

The good in this life we live now will find its place in some form in the next.

Conclusion

We conclude with these words of Revelation 22:3–7:

There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

“And behold, I am coming quickly.¹⁰ Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”

All of the elements of perfection that we mentioned from Revelation 21 are here again in these beginning verses of Revelation 22:

There’s the perfection of preparation. It is a well-planned city (the street, the trees; vv. 1–2).
There’s no more of that which is passing—no more curse (v. 3).
There’s the presence of God. His very throne is there (v. 3).
There is the preservation of the good, because the servants who serve will still serve there (vv. 3–6).
There’s the promise once again—Jesus reminding us that “These words are faithful and true” (v. 6).

I’ll close with the words of a 19th-century pastor and missionary who wrote on the perfection of Heaven found in these verses:

• And there shall be no more curse—perfect restoration.
• But the throne of God & of the Lamb shall be in it—perfect administration.
• His servants shall serve him—perfect subordination.
• And they shall see his face—perfect transformation.
• And his name shall be in their foreheads—perfect identification.
• And there shall be no night there; & they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light—perfect illumination.
• And they shall reign for ever and ever—perfect exaltation.¹¹

Let us exult even now, knowing that perfection awaits us.

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