It’s going to be wonderful. A list of Scriptures and comments are included here. A bonus list of wonderful things, too.
When you die in Christ, your body will go to the grave, but your spirit goes directly to heaven. At the final resurrection you will be reunited with your body, which will be transformed and glorified, like Jesus’s body is right now.
But what will life be like for you immediately after you die and go to heaven? What will life be like for you when God recreates the new heaven and new earth?
Sometimes these verses talk about life in heaven right now immediately after you die, and sometimes they speak of life in the re-created new heaven and new earth.
So a fuller and more accurate title would read: “What Will Heaven and Then a Recreated New Heaven and New Earth Be like for You?”
But let’s try our best to sort them out. Whichever Scriptural context it is, life will be great.
1.. Heaven and a new heaven and new earth will have no death.
In Luke 20:35-36 Jesus assumes, as he talks about no marrying or giving in marriage, “and they can no longer die, for they are like the angels” (v. 35). Note that it says we will be like the angels; we will not be angels.
Rev. 21:4 says plainly that “there will be no more death.”
2.. It will have no more sorrow or crying.
Is. 65:19-23 teaches us about the new heavens and new earth and no aging and no infant mortality, and there will no longer be weeping and crying there. Some teach that this is the new and eternal kingdom on a re-created heaven and earth, where we will live glorified but super-normal lives.
Rev. 21:4 goes on to teach that God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and no more mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
3.. It will have no more night.
Rev. 22:5 says that the Lord God will give it light, so heaven does not need the sun or a lamp (electricity). Nighttime will no longer trouble us.
However, the sun will no more beat down on humanity and other things (Rev. 7:16).
4.. It will have eternal light.
Rev. 22:5 says the Lord God will be our light. It may seem boring to have nothing but light, but stumbling around in the dark and not seeing where we are going is no joy, either. It makes no sense to have darkness in heaven or a new heaven and earth.
5.. It will have no more hunger or thirst.
Rev. 7:16 says that those who have been delivered from the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. They will never hunger or thirst again.
6.. No more curse will be there.
Rev. 22:3 says no longer will any curse be able to live there. This refers to the curse in the Garden of Eden, when God cursed—that is, judged—the earth and soil and other things (Gen. 3:14-24). Before we get to heaven, Christ has already redeemed us from the curse of the law of Moses (cf. Deut. 27 and 28). Then in the new heaven and new earth we will be ultimately and forever delivered from all consequences of judgment (curses).
7.. Wicked people will not live there.
Rev. 22:15 lists the kinds of people who will not be there: “dogs” (ceremonially impure persons), practitioners of magical arts, the sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters and “everyone who loves and practices falsehoods.” He is a degenerate who loves falsehoods.
8.. Nothing impure will enter the New Jerusalem.
Rev. 21:27, which describes the descent of the New Jerusalem to the earth out of heaven from God (vv. 10), says that nothing impure or shameful or deceitful will be there, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
9.. It will be eternal.
2 Cor. 5:1 says our earthly tents (present bodies) we live in will be destroyed, but we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven. The Spirit is deposited in us and guarantees what is to come (v. 5).
10.. Righteousness will reign there.
2 Pet. 3:13 says that after natural heaven (the things in the sky and the sky itself) will be destroyed by fire, a purifying agent, and the elements (things) will melt. Then we will have a new heaven and new earth, where righteousness will dwell.
11.. Peace and harmony will reign there.
In Is. 65:25, the lion and lamb will feed together, for the lion will eat straw like the ox. So somehow the lion’s stomach will be transformed. Others see the lion and lamb as symbols of peace and harmony, taking place during the eternal kingdom reign of Christ. Either way or either place, life will be wonderful and peaceful and harmonious there.
12.. Praise and service will happen there.
Rev. 7:15 says that those who have survived the great tribulation and have their robes washed and whitened by the blood of the lamb will serve and praise God, who sits on the throne. He will shelter them with his presence.
Rev. 22:3 says the throne of God and of the lamb will be in the city, and the servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. This indicates that they belong to him.
13.. It is of exquisite beauty.
Rev. 21:10-21 offers an unparalleled description of the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, which shines with the glory of God, and its brilliance is like that of a very precious jewel. Please read the rest of the passage, to be inspired.
14.. The tree of life will be there.
Rev. 22:1-2 teaches that it bears twelve crops of fruit, and the leaves were the healing of the nations. This is the closeout of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9). Some teach, ultraliterally, that the tree in the Garden of Eden, which was guarded for a while by a flaming sword and cherubim, was “transplanted” to heaven, here. That’s a nice thought and image. However, the Book of Revelation is thoroughly symbolic, and the tree may speak of healing and restoration.
15.. Bonus list of qualities of our enjoyment in heaven or the new heaven and new earth:
Using biblical logic about our spirits (before the final resurrection) and our transformed, glorified bodies (at the final resurrection), we can say with confidence our existence will be like this:
No more sweating
No more sewage system (if you know what I mean), for somehow our bodies will absorb any food and drink, if our eating is not symbolic.
No more traffic jams
No more road rage
No more fatal traffic accidents
No more waiting in line (queues)
No more insults that hurt
No more governmental bureaucracy
No need to steal or chip out the streets of gold
No more births and hence no more monthly cycles
No more heartache from rejected love
No more heartache from loss at death
No more anger or hatred
No more cancer
No more heart failure
No more organ failures
No more other deadly diseases and pestilences
Endless love and happiness
Heavenly, beautiful music
Heavenly, beautiful colors
Heavenly, beautiful scenery
Joyous reunions with our family members
Healing and forgiveness and reconciliation with our family members!
Serving each other
Serving and praising God
Living in the presence of God and of the Lamb
More missions to be done
How does this post help me grow closer to God?
Let’s imagine that you have recently lost a loved one, say, your mother or favorite aunt. But she is not lost to God. So how can she be lost to you, when you know where she is? She feels fulfilled and complete. She is home now. She doesn’t feel the pain and sorrow of missing you. She thinks of you often, but she wants you Up There, not that they will visit you as a ghost! That’s an insult to God, her, and Scripture. Don’t try to contact her by seances or the occult. You may be hearing from satanic spirits.
NO! Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
And don’t try to go Up There prematurely (suicide). Find your purpose, and serve it out until God calls you home. Lean into God during your grief of temporarily losing your mother or aunt (or anyone else). Don’t reject him or get mad at him. He’s got them in his arms, now. He wants you to see them again. You do that best by getting intimate with God through Christ.
Don’t grieve as those who have no hope. You have hope. Now get your hopes up!
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SOURCES
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 