The Mysteries of Heaven - GraceLife Church of Pineville

Introduction

There is a shift, a change, that takes place in the life of the one who believes in Christ for eternal salvation. Call it a paradigm shift, if you want—a mindset, a worldview, a disposition, an attitude.

That shift is a possibility that is, of course, wrought because of our new birth in Christ. But that change in mindset becomes an actuality—a real thing in your life—to the extent that you yield to the spiritual benefits that are made available to you. It’s a spiritual mindset that can prevail in your life, but it comes through discipline, through obedience.

We think that way about everyday, worldly, normal things. We know that good things take hard work. Skill takes practice. Sometimes we just hope, however, to wake up spiritual one day. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.

I want to remind you of this—to make a focused call back to our purpose in completing this study that we started at GraceLife over two years ago on what the Bible calls “the elementary principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12). That’s a mouthful. A simpler way of putting it would be “the foundations of our Christian faith.”

The challenge to pursue those principles involves a reminder of our spiritual mindset. We’ve seen it in the context of Hebrews 5:12–6:2—the verses where we’re taught about these elementary principles—where we’re warned that a spiritual mindset, while it’s our birthright in Christ, is not automatic. The author of Hebrews is pretty straightforward about this. He says we can become “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11); as it turns out, we can fail at our calling. The author of Hebrews says, in effect, “To your shame, you should have been further along; you should have been teaching this stuff by now” (see Hebrews 5:12).

A spiritual mindset, while it’s our birthright in Christ, is not automatic.

If you haven’t pursued as you should—if you don’t know these elementary principles, or if you’re tired of thinking about them—my purpose is not to arouse shame. Rather, it is to inspire spiritual fervor, and to confront with the stark reality that the benefits of godly living come through some measure of effort.

Make no mistake, the grace of the Lord for eternal life is free. But successfully navigating this warzone of earthly living requires some measure of work. Scripture says we are to train the senses. That’s very intentional. We think of our senses as just receiving and taking in, but we are actually called to train them. And we’re to practice training. We’re to bear the burden of pressing on toward maturity. (Being mature is a burden sometimes, isn’t it!?)

The grace of the Lord for eternal life is free. But successfully navigating this warzone of earthly living requires some measure of work.

In light of the reminder of these things, let’s look now at Colossians 3.

Positional Truth + Practice

In Colossians, Paul is writing from prison to the people of Colossae. He had been imprisoned for his faith. (It turns out that speaking about your faith sometimes leads to bad consequences (at least in the short term on earth; see 2 Timothy 3:12.) Nevertheless, in this less-than-ideal state, Paul writes the following about our mindset, our shift:

Therefore if¹ you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. (Colossians 3:1–4)

If you’re not familiar with Colossians, these words may sound strange. What does he mean “you have died”?! How can Paul be writing to dead people? Paul is writing to people who have effectively said, “I consider the things of this world as dead to me. I will not pursue the things of the world, the things of the earth. I will set my mind on the things that are above.”

Notice that there’s something in this passage that is positionally true but still requires practical effort: “You have been raised up with Christ” (v. 1). This statement applies to you if you have said (in essence), When it comes to the end of my life, I’m not counting on my good works. I’m not counting on the things that I’ve given. I’m not counting on anything good that I’ve done. I’m counting solely on the blood of Christ to save me from my sins and take me to live with Him forever.

That we who are saved have already been raised up with Christ is a positional truth. Our eternity is secure. But there is a practice that is required for this life. (After all, the last I checked, we’re not in Heaven yet!) That practice is seeking the things above, that is, pursuing the elementary principles.

Pursuing the Elementary Principles

The elementary principles of the oracles of God that we have been studying at GraceLife are everywhere in Scripture. We came to study them explicitly in the book of Hebrews. But part of the purpose of this study is to help you see these principles throughout the Scriptures. In fact, it’s hard to teach the Scriptures and not see at least one of them. The more I read, the more I see many of them in multiple places. In this particular passage of Colossians 3:1–4, I argue that all six are present:

Repentance from dead works
Faith toward God
Baptisms (the means by which we identify with Christ after coming to faith)
Laying on of hands (a way we’re part of the ongoing work of God in the Body of Christ; a symbol declaring “here are His workers—He’s commissioning you”)
Resurrection from the dead (which looks to the future)
Eternal judgment (our current study, which also looks to the future)

In the Colossians passage, Paul says we’re “raised up with Christ,” a phrase that incorporates three of the principles. Having been raised up with Christ is not a matter of you having raised yourself; you’ve been raised up from some former position—repentance from dead works (principle #1). Then, faith toward God (principle #2) is the condition that causes you to be placed in Christ. And there is a reason why the raising is even possible: the resurrection (of Christ) from the dead (principle #3).

The passage says you’ve died, and your life is hidden with Christ—that’s the language of spiritual baptism (principle #4), or identifying with Christ. We’re baptized into Christ’s death. Remember, when you’re baptized with water, it’s not the water that brings about eternal life but identifying with Christ in all things (including death and resurrection). We’re dead to the world and alive in Christ. And the passage says that when Christ is revealed, then you will also be revealed—that’s eternal judgment (principle #6).

So what about the “weird one,” the oddball principle—laying on of hands (#5)? When we were studying laying on of hands,² we talked about conferring blessings and how Joseph was upset because Jacob had swapped hands for the children. Joseph wanted the blessing of the right hand—viewed as the position of prominence and traditionally given to the oldest son. And where are we told in Scripture that Christ is? He is seated at the right hand of God.

I want you to see these things in Scripture, not merely as some intellectual exercise, and not as just some fun observation that you can make to impress fellow believers. I want you to see these things so you can live well.

Understanding the Next Life … as Much as Possible

My proposition is this: Living well in this life is best accomplished through understanding, as much as possible, about our next life.

Actually, that’s not my proposition—it’s a proposition found in Colossians 3:1–2. To put it another way, living well in this earthly existence is best accomplished by understanding, as much as possible, about our heavenly existence. Our mindset, then, this shift that takes place, is a looking toward a new destination (the things above). It involves abandoning in practice the things of the earth while not abandoning our awareness of such things. And oh, how we are constantly aware of the things of the earth. The things of earth bombard us, berate us, bait us in to give in to them. And that’s precisely the reason why we must make the conscious, intentional effort to shift our focus.

Here’s a case in which I think a paraphrase of the Scriptures is helpful—here’s our Colossians passage in The Message:³

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. (Colossians 3:1–4, MSG)

Prominent in this chapter in Colossians, and really in all of Scripture, is the disconnect between this life and that life, the disconnect between this day and that day (when we see Jesus face to face). That disconnect, to some extent, has been an undergirding of everything we’ve studied about Heaven in our current sermon series. We’ve talked about the activity of Heaven and the relationships with Heaven,⁴ and in each case, we looked at that disconnect to help us understand what the next life will be like.

When we talked about the activity of heaven, I said this: “In some instances our best option for understanding the activity of the world to come [Heaven] is to understand how the frustrations or shortcomings of this life do not exist there AND (maybe better) how your mindset about such things will undergo a purification and perfection that brings about real, final, and true joy; true pleasure.” As I explained then, “We only get hints of that in this life.”

When it comes to the relationships of Heaven, I said, “Our imagination of that great existence is built upon our earthbound experiences” including “those instances in which our disappointments have created in us a longing for something different, something greater.”

In this sermon, we’ll close our discussion of Heaven by talking about some of the mysteries of heaven. By no means will this be exhaustive. Most of Heaven is a mystery. But there are a few mysteries I thought worthy of our time.

By no means will this be exhaustive. Most of Heaven is a mystery.

If I were to categorize these mysteries, the truth is, they’d still fit into one of the categories we’ve studied already—either “the activity of Heaven” or “the relationships of Heaven.” (There really aren’t any other categories besides these; What will we be doing forever? and Who will we be with for eternity? are the questions at the heart of what most of us wonder about Heaven.)

Remember, we categorized Heaven as the place where everyone loves God, self, and others perfectly. The other place is the place that has gotten the name Hell; it is the place where no one loves God, no one loves themselves, and no one loves others. Put more harshly, Hell is the place where everyone hates God, everyone hates themself, and everyone hates others.

Mystery #1: How Will I Be Able to Really Enjoy Heaven If Someone I Love Doesn’t Make It There?

Our first mystery relates to our relationship with others. Specifically, how will we be able to enjoy Heaven if someone we love is eternally separated from God?

First, let me offer up a difficult thing to process. It’s possible or probable that, in Heaven, you’ll actually love that person more. See, if we love more perfectly in Heaven, then a decreased love for someone we loved on earth doesn’t sound heavenly. But in this life, increased love for someone is a cause for increased pain when there is some loss. It’s a formula for having joy lessened—for being disappointed.

As a side note, in this life (not in the next), being pained over a perceived loss is the right response, as it should propel us to speak with others about the love and truth of the gospel. If they don’t know the good news, it is not loving to keep it from them. The good news is that Christ has died for all, and He has made eternal life possible by believing in Him for it. But we’ve seen Scripturally that there are some people who won’t be there. And we’ve seen in Scripture that Heaven is the place where our tears are wiped away. But I don’t think that the wiping away of tears is a wiping away of our memories. I don’t think it’s the case that we can say, “Oh well, you’ll be happy about it because you’ll just forget that person.” I don’t think we’ll forget. We won’t be dumber in Heaven. Our bliss in Heaven will not be due to ignorance; rather, it will be due to transcendence.

Our bliss in Heaven will not be due to ignorance; rather, it will be due to transcendence.

The Great Either/Or

In his fictional work The Great Divorce,⁵ C.S. Lewis imagines a scenario (remember, he’s not trying to say this is literally what happens—it’s purely imaginary) in which those who are in Hell can travel to Heaven and visit and stay if they choose. But they don’t stay. Why? Because Heaven is unbearable for them. It’s more real than they are.

In the book, Lewis speaks of “a joy that cannot be shaken.” The book is written from the perspective of a narrator who’s walking through Heaven. The narrator has a guide, who is the renowned English author George MacDonald, and whom he calls the Teacher. Together, the narrator and MacDonald encounter different scenarios of the people who are, and some who are not, in Heaven.

One such scenario involves a couple that had been married on earth. The wife makes it—she lives in the blessed land—but the husband does not. It is the wife who has “a joy that cannot be shaken,” and she is speaking to her former husband, who chooses to be miserable. (You ever known anyone like that—someone who chooses misery? Things certainly won’t get any better in a life where God’s presence is withheld.) Here’s what the woman of joy says to the man who chooses misery:

Did you think joy was created to live always under … threat? Always defenceless against those who would rather be miserable…? … You made yourself really wretched.⁶ That you can still do. But you can no longer communicate your wretchedness. Everything becomes more and more itself. Here [in Heaven] is joy that cannot be shaken. Our light can swallow up your darkness: but your darkness cannot now infect our light. … Can you really have thought that love and joy would always be at the mercy of frowns and sighs? Did you not know they were stronger than their opposites?⁷

The Great Divorce is about this great either/or, and eventually the man literally shrinks within his misery while the lady goes about her way. Lewis, in paraphrasing Psalm 91, states, “Nothing can trouble her joy.”

But the narrator, the one watching the story, standing there with his Teacher (MacDonald), is troubled. Here’s the dialogue that takes place:

Narrator: Is it really tolerable that she should be untouched by his misery, even his self-made misery?⁸

Teacher: Would ye rather⁹ he still had the power of tormenting her? He did it many a day and many a year in their earthly life.

Narrator: Well, no. I suppose I don’t want that.

Teacher: What then? [Implied: What’s the other logical option?!]

Narrator: I hardly know, Sir. What some people say on earth is that the final loss of one soul gives the lie to all the joy of those who are saved.¹⁰

Teacher: Ye see it does not.

Narrator: I feel in a way that it ought to.

Teacher: That sounds very merciful: but see what lurks behind it.¹¹

Narrator: What?

Teacher: The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that Hell should be able to veto Heaven.

Of course, Hell will not veto Heaven. There is a great either/or.

Joy or Misery?

There’s another insight from Lewis’s work that I want you to see. But there’s a phrase that you should understand first: “dog in a manger.” I’ve never heard anyone actually use this phrase, and the term can cause us to have some religious connotations that aren’t there. But try to get that idea—that picture—in your mind. A manger, of course, is a feeding trough for animals, and imagine a dog lying inside it. The food of the trough—the hay or whatever it is—is of no use to the dog.

Such troughs aren’t made for sleeping. It’s an expression that captures the idea of a person who has no intent of enjoying something but spitefully prevents others from enjoying it. It’s like a dog lying in a manger. It’s not what the manger is for. The dog really has no use in terms of feeding there, but by lying in the manger, he prevents all of the animals that do feed there from enjoying it.

With that idea, here is what the Teacher concludes to the narrator:

Son, son, it must be one way or the other. Either the day must come when joy prevails and all the makers of misery are no longer able to infect it: or else for ever and ever the makers of misery can destroy in others the happiness they reject for themselves. I know it has a grand sound to say ye’ll accept no salvation which leaves even one creature in the dark outside. But watch that sophistry [attractive, but false argument] or ye’ll make a Dog in a Manger the tyrant of the universe.¹²

It will be joy or misery. Believers in Christ are headed to the place of joy.

My best guess is that in our redeemed existence, we’re going to be able to remember the things that we want to, but we will see everything in light of Christ’s redemption. And Christ’s redemption is either powerful enough to cover even those bad memories, or it’s not. My money’s on Christ’s redemption.

We’ll either have the capacity to call the loved one to mind, and we’re going to view whatever goodness was in them as the grace of God given to us in life; or, if that’s not the case, we’re going to be so taken in by the love of Christ that everything else will be pushed away.

I talked about this same idea when discussing loving ourselves (one of the three relationships of Heaven).¹³ I discussed the “expulsive power of a new affection”—an affection that is so great that it pushes everything else to the side; it transcends other things and causes you to wholeheartedly be given to the moment.

We get tastes of this in our current life—of a joy so strong that you don’t think of other joys (or pains).

What a somber reminder about the possibility of loved ones not being in Heaven. Here’s the truth: If the loved one is not in Heaven, he or she will not be whatever positive vision we currently have of them. You see, it’s those in Heaven who will eternally and perfectly love God and love themselves and love others. Anyone not there will be the sort who does not love God, does not love themselves, and does not love others. We would not desire that person to be there. We’ll not desire anything to be there that’s not already there or potentially there.

If the loved one is not in Heaven, he or she will not be whatever positive vision we currently have of them.

There won’t be any declarations of, “Boy, this place is great … if they just had better coffee! The view sure is nice, but man, the people are lame.” That will not be the mindset in Heaven. Instead, it will be Psalm 23—but without “the valley of the shadow of death” part.

You will not lack in Heaven. You will not lack things, nor will you lack the relationships that you either need or want. You will rest in the place of plenty and peace. You will have a restored soul. Those who walk the paths there will be the righteous who bear His name. You will walk with no other—and you won’t want to.

Speaking of “you,” let’s move on to the second mystery of Heaven.

You will not lack in Heaven. You will not lack things, nor will you lack the relationships that you either need or want. You will rest in the place of plenty and peace.

Mystery #2: What Will I Look Like in Heaven?

Two questions usually come to the surface on this topic: (1) How old will I be in Heaven? and (2) What will I wear in Heaven?

Let’s address each in turn.

Question 1: How Old Will I Be in Heaven?

An easy answer to this question of age is, “It’s a category mistake. Ageless beings have no age.” That answer is probably unsatisfactory to most, though, and since we will be physical beings, asking what we’ll look like is a pretty reasonable question.

I gave you what the easy but maybe unsatisfactory answer was. Let me give you the mysterious and (what I think is) exciting answer: I think it’s possible that we will be to some extent all ages. That is, I think we might somehow exhibit that which is good about all ages. Or perhaps for lives cut short, they will get to experience ages they never got to in this life.

Those of us who are parents—or if you’ve just been around children—you know the bittersweet joy of watching a child grow. You leave these stages that you’ll never get to experience again. You certainly want the child to grow, but there’s a reason we get nostalgic and go through the pictures of when they were little and toddling around.

We’ve said that the good of this life is preserved in—and points to something in—the next life. Perhaps somehow, in some mysterious way, we experience all the ages in the next life.

Bottom line: You will be you at your best in Heaven.

You will be you at your best in Heaven.

This is kind of like the question “How old were Adam and Eve?” The answer is they were newborns, if you want to measure time.

But I get the question “What did they look like?”—or “What was their appearance?” or “What was their physical maturity related to the normal course of events?”

Again, I appeal to C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce, where he talks about describing the people of Heaven:

No one in that company struck me as being of any particular age. One gets glimpses, even in our country, of that which is ageless—heavy thought in the face of an infant, and frolic childhood in that of a very old man. Here it was all like that.¹⁴

When he describes meeting the Teacher, Gordon MacDonald, in Heaven, he says:

On one of the rocks sat a very tall man, almost a giant, with a flowing beard. I had not yet looked one of the Solid People in the face. Now, when I did so, I discovered that one sees them with a kind of double vision. Here was an enthroned and shining god, whose ageless spirit weighed upon mine like a burden of solid gold: and yet, at the very same moment, here was an old weather-beaten man, one who might have been a shepherd—such a man as tourists think simple because he is honest and neighbours think “deep” for the same reason. His eyes had the far-seeing look of one who has lived long in open, solitary places; and somehow I divined the network of wrinkles which must have surrounded them before re-birth had washed him in immortality.¹⁵

You’ll be you at your best.

Question 2: What Will I Wear in Heaven?

The question “What will I wear in Heaven?” is a reasonable one because in Revelation there’s a lot of talk about robes, but in Genesis, in the paradise called Eden, there’s a lot of talk about being naked.

In Revelation there’s a lot of talk about robes, but in Genesis, in the paradise called Eden, there’s a lot of talk about being naked.

If the idea of wearing a white robe sounds strange or ultra boring, don’t worry. I think it’s a case in which symbolism is more important than the thing itself. It’s the expression of the righteousness that will characterize the next life. Revelation 19:8 says this, “It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” In this verse, we see clothing representing something of character.

Now, I don’t know what you think about the nakedness. To some, that sounds just like Heaven, and to some that sounds just like Hell. I think the best way to frame it is to ask, What does nakedness or clothing represent in the Scriptures? And yes, Scripture talks about that.

Genesis 2:25 says, “The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Naked and not ashamed.

Here’s the chief takeaway: Heaven is the place where shame no longer exists. There is freedom:

Freedom from your own insecurities
Freedom from the exploitation of others
Freedom from guilt

We have, because of the Fall, created this false line between sexuality and the sacred. Remember, before the Fall (Genesis 3), humankind was in this condition in the very presence of God Himself. God wasn’t saying, “Hey, don’t do that around Me.” He made them that way!

Heaven is the place where shame no longer exists.

If I may, I will take one more time from The Great Divorce. (The aspect I love about this book is that, even though it talks about this great either/or when it comes to Heaven or Hell, when it comes to these sorts of mysteries, there is a both/and.) The traveler describing Heaven says:

Some were naked, some robed. But the naked ones did not seem less adorned, and the robes did not disguise in those who wore them the massive grandeur of muscle and the radiant smoothness of flesh.¹⁶

If I could summarize what’s expressed in that work of fiction, it’s this: Clothing is an expression of the character, and nakedness is an expression of the innermost spirit.

When it comes to describing a particularly righteous woman, a particularly beautiful woman, Lewis wrote this:

I cannot now remember whether she was naked or clothed. If she were naked, then it must have been the almost visible penumbra of her courtesy and joy which produces in my memory the illusion of a great and shining train that followed her across the happy grass. If she were clothed, then the illusion of nakedness is doubtless due to the clarity with which her innermost spirit shone through the clothes. For clothes in that country are not a disguise: the spiritual body lives along each thread and turns them into living organs. A robe or a crown is there as much one of the wearer’s features as a lip or an eye.¹⁷

What do we conclude? You will be, at all times and for all time, the best version of you in Heaven. You will have perpetual perfection.

We’ll talk more about rewards in a future sermon series. For now, know that the extent to which you reflect Christ, the extent to which you are the best version of you, even the things that you wear and represent Christ, will be based on the things you’ve done in this life.

If you’re thinking “Oh no!” at this point, know, too, that there’s still time. “As long as it is … called Today,”¹⁸ there’s still time. Perpetual perfection is what we’re heading toward.

That brings us to the last of the mysteries of Heaven that this sermon will address.

Mystery #3: What Prevents Heaven from Being Ruined Like Eden?

What a gift Heaven will be—but we, the human race, haven’t done so well historically with the gifts that God has given us.

He gave us the whole world, and we brought about its ruin.

Then He gave the whole world His Son, and we killed Him.

We were placed in the paradise of God, and we were dissatisfied.

When He visited the earth as one of us, the chosen people of God preferred their own religious performance over the perfect Messiah.

The human race has proven itself unable to live with God every time. Is the third time a charm?

Again, we turn to Genesis for some answers.

By the way, you’ve seen by now that answers to biblical mysteries aren’t necessarily the sorts of answers that bring such resolve that wonder and curiosity are erased. That’d be unfortunate if wonder and curiosity about Heaven were erased. What I offer are plausibilities—logically satisfying resolutions (I hope), but not the sorts of answers in which you’ll say, “Well, that’s not a mystery anymore.” No, these mysteries will remain mysterious. But I hope that even if the mystery increases, that faith will increase in fitting proportion.

Genesis 2 says this:

The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. … Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” … So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took [from his side] and closed up the flesh at that place. (vv. 8–9, 15–18, 21)

What can we observe from these verses? (Remember, we’re answering this question about what’s going to prevent Heaven from having its own Fall.)

First, Eden was a place of good, but it was never a place in which all the threats to the good were eliminated.

Second, evil is not only possible in Eden, but the threat of it held a prominent place. There was this tree right there in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And I’m not trying to say that Eden was a drag. It wasn’t. It was paradise. It was a pleasure garden. There was all the protection that was needed. And man held within his power the ability to continue to live in paradise.

But he also held within his power the ability to bring it all crashing down.

Not only did evil hold a place there in Eden, but death was also a possibility. God allowed and announced in Eden a situation also in which He Himself said, “Hey, this isn’t good.” There was something that man was lacking to start with. He lacked a companion suitable to him. And so God said, in essence, “I’ll make one—I’ll make for Adam a wife.” But even that process to get the good caused, or would have caused, pain had God not put Adam to sleep.

Now, those are some minor issues in Eden that tell us that something could possibly go wrong. However, if we consider what happens in Genesis 3, we’ll see just how wrong something was.

You see, a liar lived in the garden. The evilest being that exists and has ever existed was given access to the garden. Why? That’s a mystery for another day. But the answer of this mystery from the beginning of Scripture is answered at the end of Scripture.

Notice how the description of Eden in Genesis 3 compares with the description of the Heaven to come in Revelation 21:

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. (v. 1)

For those who know the Bible, you will recognize that Revelation 21:1’s reference to “a new heaven and a new earth” is an allusion to Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the end, He will create a new heavens and earth.

There’s a mysterious statement, “There is no longer any sea,” at the end of the verse, which we’ve looked at in a prior sermon. I think that also is an allusion to Genesis 1. After the writer tells us about the creation of the heaven and earth, he says, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters” (vv. 2–3). By saying there is no sea, I believe the writer is conveying that the sea is the place over which darkness dwelled. None of that is in Heaven.

Revelation 21 continues: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned with for her husband” (v. 2).

Unlike the creation in Eden, Heaven does not lack a bride. It’s there from the beginning. I think it is a picture of complete worship.

But about this idea of Eve being a helper suitable … what was their purpose? The conclusion is this: She was to be his companion in worship. And so Heaven would be the place in which our worship is complete, made perfect.

In Eden there was the possibility of death, but not in the new life to come.

Revelation 21 goes on:

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.” (vv. 3–4)

The promise of verse 5 is this: The one “who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’”

Before we get to this spot in Revelation, we see that Satan and his followers have been thrown into the lake of fire. The devil has been cast out. The Scripture says He is making all things new. Do you know how Revelation refers to Satan? “The serpent of old.” The apostle John, in Revelation, sees the serpent of old, but Heaven is the place where all things are new. Satan will not be there. Spiritual warfare will have ceased. All of the battlefronts—the world, the flesh, the devil—will be gone. The world will be new. The devil of old is eternally bound, and the flesh (that’s us) will be made new.

The promise of Heaven is that those who believe in Jesus will be granted complete conformity to the image God. We approach that conformity in this life; we strive for it (or at least should); but we never quite reach it. But glorification (where we’re headed) means not just a new you but a new you that is like Christ.

Remember what John told us in his letter: “Beloved, now … it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (1 John 3:2). Jesus is unable to sin. That’s not a limitation. Susceptibility to sin is a limitation. Being unable to sin is a perfection.

You will for eternity have a redeemed nature that perfectly and correctly aims at the good. You will have for eternity not only the full power of the Spirit, but the full presence of the Spirit of God. And that’s about as much “how” of an answer as you’ll get.

Yes, heaven will restore Eden in a sense, but it’s better than that. It’s of a different order. There will be a new order of being that it’s difficult for our fallen minds to imagine. That’s why faith toward God is one of the elementary principles—there are things we cannot see, and so we hold onto them with faith. We can long for the day in which faith becomes sight, the day in which the mysteries are revealed and we see all in the city of Light.

Yes, heaven will restore Eden in a sense, but it’s better than that. It’s of a different order.

The bottom line is that God is powerful enough to bring about this guaranteed blissful existence. He will do so in such a way that preserves our freedom and our status as creatures who willfully and meaningfully choose Him and love Him. The love will be real and unforced. It will be so perfect and so different than our current circumstances that it will be hard to imagine. But that’s kind of the point—there’s a huge disconnect between this life and the next.

Conclusion

I’ll close with this encouragement from Paul, who acknowledges the difference, looks forward with hope, and challenges us to live now with our minds set on the things above:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. (Romans 8:18–25)

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