And then comes heaven....

By: Lorraine Dick

Recently I have been thinking about what I will do when I get to heaven. All of us at one time or another have had thoughts about heaven – and how we will live there. We know about the streets of gold (Rev. 21:21) along with all the jewels imbedded in the city (Rev. 21:19). Heaven will be a beautiful place. But what will we be doing in heaven?

We know that heaven is where Jesus Christ is. He promised that he would go to prepare a place for us: “My Father’s house has many rooms; … I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)

The Bible gives us a little of what heaven will be like: description of the place and a description of some of what we will do. But most of it is a mystery. As I wait for heaven, it is like waiting for a grand reveal – a great surprise! Here is some of what we will be doing.

We will worship. We will see all the majesty and beauty of God. Our response will be to fall on our faces and worship. It won’t be like any worship here on earth. I don’t think we will have any inhibitions about singing, shouting, praising and giving God glory. Every part of our new bodies will glorify God.  “You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” Nehemiah 9:6

We will grow in knowledge. A day is coming when we will know. We will know better than we know now. For now, things are hidden from us. In heaven we will gain new understanding with our newly created minds. Through God’s kindness we will learn more of God’s grace and love. (Ephesians 2:6, 7)

We will continue to be in relationship. Not only will we have relationship with God, but we will also be in relationship with those who are in heaven. “… But you have come … to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.” (Hebrews 12:22, 23) How will we be in relationship? I think that God has other things planned for us there. Whatever our relationships, they will be God-blessed and God-honouring.

We will be in service. Work has not come to us because of sin. Work is the fulfillment of what God has given to us from the beginning of time. Adam worked in the Garden of Eden before sin sent them away. Revelation 5:10 says that we will serve God. This includes reigning on the new earth. There will definitely be purpose to our work in heaven.

These are only a few of the activities described for us. We are let in on a few secrets so that we will work at laying up our treasure in heaven. God invites us to think heaven-ward – to prepare for the day when we will see Him face-to-face. It’s going to be far grander than I can imagine or explain.