Basic Christian
Doctrines 50
1.
Heaven is Our Eternal Home.
Heaven is real. It is not wishful thinking, a never-never land of childish dreams. In fact, Heaven is more real than Earth. Heaven is the eternal destiny and final resting place of all true Christians. It is sometimes described as a home (2 Cor. 5). It is home sweet home. There's no place like this home. We will be gathered together with the rest of our spiritual family, to live forever in our Father's home. We belong there because we are in the family. See John 14:2.
2.
There is No Pain in Heaven.
There
will be no physical, mental or emotional pain in Heaven. There will be no
sorrow or tears there. There will be no regrets. Nobody will miss Earth. There
will be no sad memories. There will be no worries. There will be no fatigue or
fear, or any other negative emotion. All pain is in Hell, where there is no pleasure. Also, there will be no death
in Heaven - only eternal life.
3.
There is Full Pleasure in Heaven.
Heaven is the place of exquisite pleasures of all sorts. There will be perfect peace there. There will be overflowing joy. There will be rest from all tiring work. Even work in Heaven will be pleasurable. The internal spiritual pleasures will far outweigh the external physical pleasures of Heaven, great as they may be. "In thy presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psa. 16:11). Earth is mixed with pain and pleasure. Earth is the closest that we will ever get to Hell. Pain will be only a distant memory in Heaven, and even the memory will not cause pain. It is irreligious to ask if there will be pleasurable things like baseball in Heaven. God Himself will be the source of Heaven's pleasure. We will truly enjoy God to the fullest, even to overflowing. It is pure and perfect joy.
4.
Heaven is a Place of Holiness.
There is no sin in Heaven. That alone would make it a wonderful place. All sin is left outside. Christians are made sinless, not only legally but experientially. There will never be a "Fall Number 2". We will be made holy and pure and impeccable. The holiness of God will be revealed there and will transform everything and everyone there into living conduits of His holiness. Heaven is alive and pulsating with holiness.
5.
We Will Receive Rewards in Heaven.
Just as there are degrees of punishment in Hell, so there are degrees of rewards in Heaven. This does not include salvation, which is by grace alone. But Christ will give rewards to all of us according to how we obeyed on Earth. They will be gauged by factors such as how much we sacrificed, how much we suffered, how we followed the will of the Lord as we knew it, etc. Some will have more than others (Apostles, prophets, martyrs, missionaries, etc). Some will have few because they lived only a short time after their conversions, like the dying thief. Others will receive large rewards because they were converted young and lived a long life of faithful service. But those with fewest will not envy those with more, for all are perfectly happy.
6. We
Will Meet Other Christians.
We will meet the rest of the
family, from Adam onwards. We will meet Old Testament believers, New Testament
saints, great Christians from church history. We will be reunited with dear
relatives and friends. We will meet those who witnessed to us briefly and never
saw us again. We will meet our converted spouses, though we will not be married
to them any more. We will recognize each other, even in our perfected bodies.
We will share happy memories and testimonies of God's grace. We will see all
those in Heaven, including the holy angels. But we will also be able to view
those in Hell. This will not frighten or worry us, however. Rather, it will
cause us to thank God for saving us, and glorify God as He righteously punishes
them. See Rev. 19:1-4.
7.
Christ and His Bride Will Be United in Heavenly Marriage.
We were
betrothed in election and engaged in conversion. One day the greatest of all
marriages will happen. Each of us will be married to Christ and enjoy a full
and perfect union with Him. But the Bride also consists of all true Christians,
so this union will be between all them and us and with our beloved Jesus. It is
spiritual, not physical. Sex will not be physical. The union will be far
greater. It will produce a progeny of glory and bliss and eternal love. It
will, of course, be permanent and indissoluable. We will know Christ deeper and
deeper into all eternity.
8.
We Will See God.
God is presently invisible and hidden. In Heaven, He will reveal Himself visibly to us. We will see Him with our very eyes. This is called the Beatific Vision. See Matt. 5:8, I Cor.13:12, I John 3:2. "And they shall see His face" (Rev. 22:4). We will also see God spiritually and mentally. We will understand more of what He had not revealed, and will understand more and more into all eternity, but will never understand everything about God. We will gaze upon our precious Savior in all His beauty and grace and glory. We will look at God looking at us, eye to eye, heart to heart, with nothing to block the vision. Even one glimpse of that glory would be worth spending a million years in Hell. And we will see God forever and ever.
9.
We Will Love and Be Loved by God Forever.
God elected us
so as to show us the glory of His grace (Eph. 1). We will receive this love in Heaven. Heaven is a world of love,
an ocean without shore or bottom, in which we will swim and bathe forever. Romans 9:23 says that God elected and saved
us so that we would become vessels of mercy - containers of His love and
goodness and grace. He will fill us to overflowing, and increase our capacity
so we may receive more. In turn, we will love Him for first loving us. He will
never stop loving us, and we will never stop loving Him.
10.
God's Glory Will Be Revealed.
The ultimate purpose for which God created all things is to display His glory. He does this at last in Heaven (in Hell in another way). He will reveal the beauty of His glory in all it’s splendor and radiance, transforming everything and everyone there into living mirrors that reflect glory to everyone else and back to God. He will reveal the glory of all He is, in His many attributes, like bright light in all its wondrous colors. We will be overwhelmed in awe. We will respond in love, humility, and worship. We will adore God forever. His being and glory are infinite, so He will be increasingly revealed forever and ever. And thus will be fulfilled God's plan of the ages.