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IntroductionIntroduction

• Today, we will again be trying to answer a few FAQs about our Relationships in Heaven”.–As I stated last week, in a number

of these questions, I will be giving my answer in the form of an opinion.

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Whom Will We Meet In Heaven?

Whom Will We Meet In Heaven?

• In Heaven, whom will we meet, and spend time with?–What can we expect to

experience together?

• Will we spend time with people whose names are recorded in the Scriptures?

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• The answer is, most certainly.

• In Matt. 8:11 (Amp. Bible) Jesus informed us that we would sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:–“I tell you, many will come from

east and west, and will sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,”

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• If we sit with these patriarchs, we should also expect to sit with other Bible characters.–What do people do at tables?

• In Middle Eastern cultures, sitting down at the table is not merely about good food and drink.–It is also about fellowship, talking

together, telling stories, and building relationships.

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• Just think what it would be like to talk to people from the Bible.–Wouldn’t it be interesting to have

Mary tell stories about the childhood of Jesus.

–It would be amazing to talk with people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Moses, Joshua, John the Baptist, Noah, Barnabas, Peter, Paul, Deborah, Isaiah, Peter, and on and on.

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• Just think about what it would be like to:–Ask Moses about his time alone

on the mountain with God.

–Or, Elijah about being caught up to heaven in the fiery chariot,

–Or Enoch who walked with God, and how he was caught up to heaven by God.

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• How would you like to talk with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.–How amazing it will be to get to

hear the people who were there fill in the blanks of the great stories of the Bible.

• John 20:30 says:–“And many other signs truly did

Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book:”

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• I don’t know about you, but I want to hear those stories.–Not only from those people who

were there, but from the lips of Jesus as well.

• And we will have time to hear a few million new stories!–One at a time, and spread out

over thousands of years.

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• I believe we will enjoy these stories, laugh together, ask questions, and generally be amazed at all we will learn.–We will have some stories to tell

as well.

–Also, I believe we will have new adventures on the New Earth, from which new stories will emerge.

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–I suspect that stories about lives lived in this dimension will always have interest for us in heaven.

• Aren’t you looking forward to reconnecting with those who have gone before?–I am planning on a great reunion

with my mom and dad and grandparents, and many more.

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• I have visited the graves of my grandparents and great and even great-great grandparents.–Some I know, but as the

generations roll backward, I never knew many of them.

–But if they died in the Lord, it will be fascinating to hear stories from those ancestors.

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Will We Pursue & Develop Relationships?

Will We Pursue & Develop Relationships?

• One of the joys of heaven will most surely be meeting people we have known only through their writings, or by reputation.–We will have eternity to develop

relationships with them and to enjoy one another’s company.

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• Being a preacher, I would like to spend time with all the wonderful men of God of history past.–Beginning with the disciples and

apostles, and on up through the centuries.

–People like D. L. Moody, Charles G. Finney, Andrew Murray, G.K. Chesterton, D. G. Barnhouse, E. M. Bounds, Lewis S. Chafer, etc.

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• I also want to spend time again with those who had an influence on bringing me to Christ.–The Irish preacher who preached

the tent revival in which I was saved and filled with the Spirit at age 11.

–My beloved pastor, Leo Upton is one I want to thank and renew my friendship with.

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• I will enjoy hearing stories of missionaries we have helped to support for over 45 years -- some of whom I have never even met.–It will be wonderful to spend time

with people who I have known on this earth who were handicapped, but who won’t be in heaven.

–To converse with those who had alzheimer’s, but who will be mentally sharp in Heaven.

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• What a privilege to be in the company of martyrs, who literally gave their lives for refusing to abandon God.–Most of them did not know each

other in this life, but in Heaven they are portrayed as a close-knit group (Rev. 6:9-11).

• And, as I have said, we will also surely build new relationships.

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• Some of our new relationships in Heaven may be built around common interests, experiences and histories on earth.–We will no doubt have a special

interest in each other and our fellow believers whom we have been involved with as members of this church, who we will meet again in Heaven.

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• That is why we should always strive to “… to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3).

–My mom used to say, “How do we expect to get along in Heaven if we can’t get along down here.”

–Our relationships here won’t end at death, we will pick up in heaven where we left off here.

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• It is extremely important that we love one another, as Jesus commanded in John 13:34:–“A new commandment I give unto

you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” (See also John 15:12, 17).

• In Eph. 4:32, Paul implored us:

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–“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

• Read again I Cor. 13:4-8 (Amp. Bible): –“Love endures long and is patient

and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. . .

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– 5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. . .

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– “6It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. 7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. 8Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].”

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• This is the way we should love each other.–We will all meet again in Heaven.

–That is the incentive to treat everyone in love.

• We are human, and therefore our carnal (fleshly) nature overcomes the spiritual at times, but we must continually strive to love those we will see again in Heaven.

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• I want to talk with angels of God.–I would be particularly interested

in meeting my guardian angel or angels – I will owe them apologies.

• What stories the angels of God will have to tell, who saw a third of their number rebel, and who have fought in the army of the Lord against Satan and his angels.

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• If our conversations were only limited to the earth’s past, we might run the ‘conversation well’ dry after a few million years.–But the beauty of Heaven will be

that it will create as many new developments as this Earth ever did, and far more.

–We’ll never run out of things to think or talk about.

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Will We Still Be Individuals in Heaven

Will We Still Be Individuals in Heaven

• Absolutely, we will still be “us” – a redeemed and perfected us, but us nevertheless.–God took great care that each of

us be His unique creation.–There is only one you, and there

will never be another.–Your fingerprints are unique.

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–Your retinal patterns, vocal patterns, etc., are all unique to you so far as scientists have been able to tell.

–No two people have the exact same DNA – even identical twins.

• Although identical twins have the same genotype, or DNA, they have different phenotypes, meaning that the same DNA is expressed in different ways.

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• Traits determined by phenotype, such as fingerprints and physical appearance, are the result of the interaction of the individual’s genes and the developmental environment in the uterus. –Thus, a DNA test can't determine

the difference between identical twins, while a simple fingerprint can.

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• So, even twins so identical in appearance that even their parents have difficulty telling them apart, are unique and differ.–God thought so much of you that

He purposefully caused you to be born with a certain hair color, facial features, voice pattern, cellular strengths and weaknesses. We are all unique.

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Will We Share Discoveries Together?

Will We Share Discoveries Together?

• Here, friendships are often based on shared experiences.–If a man collects knives, he will be

naturally drawn to someone else who collects knives.

–Many relationships develop and are maintained over shared interests.

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• In my opinion, the same will be true in the New Earth.–We will be bonded together as we

discover the wonders of God and His universe together.

–But we won’t exclude others and form cliques in Heaven.

–We will have closer relationships, perhaps, with those we shared a history with here, but not to the exclusion of others.

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• Throughout eternity, we will live truly human lives – redeemed and perfected – but human lives.–We will be perfected and freed

from sin and the Curse, but we will be human.

• We will explore and manage God’s creation by His direction and to His glory.

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• I envision being able to explore the New Earth and the universe together.

• Rev. 22:5b says that the Redeemed,–“…shall reign for ever and ever.”

• And Rev. 5:10b says of the redeemed that in Heaven we’ll be,–“…unto our God kings and priests:

and we shall reign on the earth.”

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• And wouldn’t it be great to travel to the eternal Heavens together?–To arrive simultaneously and

discover together the wonders of the New Earth as one group?

• In fact, that is precisely what the Bible tells us will happen in the eternal Heaven!

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• Though we may die and go to the Intermediate (present) Heaven one at a time as we die, all of us will eventually be “Charter Citizens” of the New Earth.–We will be resurrected together

and will set foot on the New Earth together after the present Earth is renovated by fire.

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• We will discover together what no one else has ever seen.–We will share our discoveries

together, at the same time.–We will see sights we cannot

even imagine.• Throughout eternity we will

remember together when God made the New Earth and brought the New Jerusalem down to it.

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• Imagine what it will be like for the formerly weak, diseased, handicapped, elderly, and so on, to take their first steps in their resurrected, perfected bodies?–How wonderful it will be for

children, grand-children, parents and grand parents, great- grandparents and so on to be together forever.

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• What an ultimate ‘family reunion’ that will be.–Especially among those who

never knew each other before.

–And we can enjoy the cities, fields, streams, mountains, lakes, forests, plains, etc. together.

–We will be amazed together and praise God together for all He has done.

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Will We See The Creation of New Earth?

Will We See The Creation of New Earth?

• This is an interesting question, and I will venture my opinion on it.

• In Job 38:4-7 (NIV) God asked Job, –“Where were you when I laid the

earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? . . .

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–“. . .Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

• Angels and created beings witnessed God’s creation of the original Earth.

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• As I’ve said before, I haven’t a clue as to how God will protect us while He renovates the Earth with fire, but I rather believe that we will be able to witness that and the creation of the New Earth.–After the resurrection, John saw

the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God to the New Earth (Rev. 21:1-2).

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• The Bible doesn’t specifically say so, but I am inclined to believe that the New Earth’s creation might unfold in stages.–I base this opinion on the fact that

the original earth developed in stages.

–God took seven creative days to create this present Earth.

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• He began with an earth ruined by Satan’s Flood.–An Earth without form and void –

raw, uninhabitable and empty.

–Then He spoke light into existence, and on subsequent days He created water, sky, clouds, dry ground, vegetation, plants, trees, sun, moon, stars and all the heavens.

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• Then God made the sea creatures, birds and the rest of the animals, and finally, He made Adam.–God may form the ground of the

New Earth directly from this present Earth, just as He will form our resurrected bodies out of genetic material from our old, pre-resurrection bodies.

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• This time, however, resurrected mankind will pre-exist the New Earth.–But as He did with Adam and Eve,

He will prepare New Earth for us before we set foot on it.

• He will certainly make it a true and eternal paradise, for it will also be His home.

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• If God does create the New Earth in stages, I can imagine Him on the sixth day of the New Creation.–Instead of forming man from the

dust, resurrected men and women – who have beheld His creation of the New Earth – will be brought down to enjoy His magnificent creation.

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• It is an intriguing and exciting thought to me.–It would be fabulous to watch God

at work for a creative week, beholding his unfolding wonders one by one.

• The formation of the New Earth will be a resurrection of the old Earth, not a creation from nothing.

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• Assuming we do get to watch the creative process like the angels and created beings witnessed the original Earth being created, there will be a lot of ‘ooohing’ and ‘aaahing’ I’m sure.–And, I am certain, there will be an

abundance of praise for God and His mighty power.

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What Might Life Be Like in Heaven?

What Might Life Be Like in Heaven?

• In general terms, the Bible teaches that our life in Heaven will be purposeful and joyful.–As already pointed out, we will

serve God and reign and rule with him forever (Rev.7:15; 22:3-6).

• Our reigns will not be solely governmental ruling.

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• Our rulership will be exercised for the good and benefit of the natural people on the New Earth forever, and will also involve such activities as:–Teaching

–Guiding

–Building

–And generally assisting them.

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• Although we will work, there won’t be pain or weariness associated with it.–In Heaven, we will rest from our

labors.• Life in Heaven will involve eating

and drinking together in joyous fellowship.–I can’t wait to enjoy all the new

taste sensations.

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• God is preparing many things that we have never eaten before.–(I just hope he keeps some of the

things the same, so I can catch up on what I’m missing now – without any health ramifications)!

–I wonder what heavenly banana pudding and pizza and fried chicken, etc. will taste like?

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• While the home of the Church will be the New Jerusalem, we shall also have full access to the New Earth and enjoy all of its beauties.–I anticipate spending eternity in

the company of family and friends, old and new, gainfully employed at something I will love doing, and spending my free time traveling.

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In ClosingIn Closing

• In our most fanciful imagination, we could not hope to come close to the magnificence and wonder of Heaven.–I feel sure that our fondest hopes

and desires will be far more than satisfied.

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• In the next lesson on Heaven, we will discuss some other FA Qs.

End of Lesson

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• And for that matter, God may choose to make everything instantaneous.–Either way the New Heavens and

the New Earth will be spectacular.