Let’s Talk About Heaven | What We'll Be Doing

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free ebooks designed to help you grow in your faith. I think some people think heaven's going to be a long worship service. Coming up, Pastor Greg Laurie points out what we'll be doing in heaven, influenced by the gratitude and praise that spring up from within us. There will be singing in heaven, and I think one of the reasons for the unbridled worship in heaven is because now we know all things, all of our questions are answered, all of our pain is removed, all of our tears are dry.

Okay, that's going to be amazing. Sometimes we just can't hold back the joy. When our favorite sports team wins the big game, when our young child takes his first steps, when you hear the words, you may kiss your bride. Well, when we get to heaven, we just may not be able to hold ourselves back from worship. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us see what we'll be doing in heaven and what things will be different from this life and what things will largely be the same.

His good insight from the series on the afterlife. Let's answer some often asked questions about the afterlife. Number one, what will our new bodies be like in heaven? Number two, will we know each other in heaven? Number three, will we be married in heaven? Number four, what will we do in heaven? And fifth and lastly, and this is often asked, do people in heaven know what's going on with us on earth? All right.

So let's go question by question. And by the way, in our last message, we discovered of course heaven is an actual place, not a state of mind. It's a real place. Jesus said in John 14, I have gone to prepare a place for you. Jesus tells us and the rest of the Bible tells us, heaven is a city. Heaven is a country. Heaven is a paradise. Whatever you have experienced on this earth, the best of the best of the best doesn't even come close to the glory of heaven.

Why? Because earth at its best is a pale imitation of the real thing, which is heaven. Heaven is not a watered down version of earth. It's kind of the other way around. And so whatever you are thinking, it's going to be far better than you ever imagined.

All right. So what about these new bodies the Bible talks about? What will they be like?

Short answer, amazing. You will be given a new body but it will still be you. It will just be the radically upgraded version of you.

Okay. Here is what the Bible says. 1 Corinthians 15. Our bodies now disappoint us, but when they are raised they will be full of glory. They are weak now, but when they are raised they will be full of power. They are natural bodies now, but when they are raised they will be spiritual bodies. So listen to this. Our new bodies that God will give to us later will be both different and at the same time the same as our body here. By that I mean you are still you as I have already said, but again a radically upgraded version of you.

Okay. So Jesus says in John 14, in My Father's house are many mansions or dwelling places if it were not so I would have told you. If I go I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am you may be also. In My Father's house are many mansions. So what is this mansion referring to in John 14?

A couple of options. One it may be our new body that God will give to us. 2 Corinthians 5. One in the living translation says, when this earthly tent we live in is taken down when we die and leave these bodies we have a home in heaven an eternal body made for us by God Himself. We will put on the new body like new clothes.

Okay. So it could be a description of our new body. But it could be a house. I mean literally a house in heaven. Why not? The idea is that it is a real place waiting for you.

What it is exactly I don't know. But it is going to be amazing. We know that.

And you know I will tell you what. The thing is with life as you get older it seems like it goes more quickly. But here is the good news. Though your body is wearing out like a tent, which is not meant to last forever, God is going to resurrect it and your soul will live forever and your body will be resurrected. So now when we are in heaven will we know each other in heaven? Do you think you are going to be more stupid in heaven than you are on earth?

Maybe I should ask that question. Well do you know each other on earth? Well then you are going to of course know each other in heaven. So I think when you get to heaven yes we will see each other. Yes we will know one another. We are told in 1 Corinthians 13 we will know as we are known. We will know everything we know on earth except more.

We will know everything we know on earth but with divine perspective now. Sometimes people have this mistaken notion that when you get to heaven you have some kind of a brain wipe. It is almost like heaven is a giant lobotomy or something.

No. I want to know. There are memories of earth and heaven. Oh that can't be true Greg because we would be sorrowful. Well you have perspective.

See I understand things now. How can I be rewarded for something I did on earth if there is not a memory of what I did on earth? So you are going to remember earthly things but now with perspective. There is no break in my love for my loved ones. Death breaks ties on earth but renews them in heaven.

We are the same people we were here. Here is one that sometimes asks, will we be married in heaven? Interesting question. All right. First of all let's take a quick poll. How many of you are married? Raise your hand up. How many of you want to be married in heaven? You want to continue to be married in heaven. How many of you would rather not be married in heaven?

There are a few hands going up. And some of you are not totally committed in that other question. Kelly. My wife is next to me. I do. Liars.

No. Ok. You will be married in heaven. Now let me return to that and I will explain it in a moment.

You will be married in heaven. Ok so one day a group of people called the Sadducees came to Jesus. Now the Sadducees were different than the Pharisees. The Sadducees did not believe in life beyond the grave.

The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the body. The Sadducees had a pretty bleak outlook. In fact their name said it all. Sad. You see.

Right. Because that is a sad way to see life. So they thought they were going to trap Jesus with a question.

Ok Jesus we have a question for you. There is this woman who was married and her husband died. And then she married the guy's brother and he died. Then she married another brother and he died and went out seven times in the resurrection whose wife is she? I would have asked what is this woman cooking and feeding these men?

What is going on? The point of that is they thought you know oh if you are going to be together in the afterlife who is going to be married to this person. And now Jesus sets the record straight and He says in Matthew 22, You are mistaken not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage.

You are like the angels of God in heaven. So they neither marry nor are given in marriage. Ok so let's say you have a really close marriage. And you can't bear the thought of not being married to your spouse anymore. Well in heaven you will not have the same kind of relationship but it will be better.

It will be stronger. You will be closer but you will not marry or be given in marriage in heaven. But you will have the fully realized version of everything that marriage points to.

So you say well you are contradicting yourself. You just told me we won't be married in heaven but earlier you said we will be married in heaven. You will be married in heaven.

Not to each other. You are the bride married to Jesus Christ who is the bridegroom. So you are married in heaven. Of all the things God could have chosen to show His love for the church and the church's love for Him God chose marriage.

And of all the witnesses God could have chosen to a lost world He chose marriage effectively saying, Hey nonbelievers check this out. See how this Christian husband loves his wife. That is how I love my church.

Hey check this out. You see how this wife loves her husband. That is how my church loves me. So marriage is a beautiful symbol that will be fully realized in heaven.

It will be different than it is now but trust me it will be better. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. So many listeners have commented on the help they receive from these daily messages. God's word ministers to them and it often gets them through some of their darkest hours. Pastor Greg prior to last year my physical body was a mess.

After many different medical procedures they transferred me to an assisted living facility. There I shared a room with a very crabby woman who would yell at me for having my radio too loud or my light on. She claimed that she was a Christian but was a very bitter person because of a tragic event that had happened to her son. Well Greg I was determined that I was going to hear your radio program a new beginning even if I had to lay on top of my radio and surprisingly one morning my roommate asked me to actually turn my radio up.

She said to me I like that minister and what he's saying. I not only was able to show her that Jesus did exist but I gave her one of your new believers bibles. Yes God still works miracles.

As for me I'm home now and independent. My health is improving and I'm much stronger. God is my hope and it's a joy to be alive. Thank you so much Pastor Greg for letting me share my story.

We're so grateful to hear of the changed lives through Harvest Ministries and if you have a story to tell of how these studies have touched your life or that of a family member I hope you'll contact us today. Drop Pastor Greg an email greg at harvest dot org again that's greg at harvest dot o-r-g. Well today Pastor Greg is presenting the answers to five common questions people ask about heaven all centered on how different life will be there than it is here. Number four what will we do in heaven? I think some people think heaven's going to be super boring. Well we know we will be worshiping and that's of course why I exist to bring glory to God but uh revelation 15 says I saw a glass scene mixed with fire and there stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast that would be the anti-christ and his image and the number representing his name.

They were holding harps so there are harps in heaven and God had given them and they were singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the lamb. So there will be singing in heaven and I think one of the reasons for the unbridled worship in heaven is because now we know all things. All of our questions are answered. All of our pain is removed.

All of our tears are dry. Don't misunderstand. This doesn't mean heaven's going to be a long worship service because oh it's going to be like a church service forever. No you're going to do other stuff okay but you're going to be doing a lot of worshiping okay and it's going to be amazing but here's something else you're going to do in heaven. I guarantee this.

You're going to be eating amazing food in heaven. Come on you want that don't you. See well where do you get that? From the Bible.

The only authoritative source in heaven. Revelation 19 19. Then the angel said blessed are those who invited to the wedding supper. Let's remind you we're the bride of Christ. The wedding supper of the lamb.

These are the two words of God. I like the word supper. In the south they called dinner supper and I was raised by my grandparents for many years of my life.

Stella and Charles McDaniel. I called my grandmother mama Stella and I called my grandfather daddy Charles. And then when my mom was running around with all of her guys and getting divorced and getting drunk and all that crazy stuff she sent me to live with my grandparents and so there with them it was a very stable home.

It was almost like being raised from someone from another century actually. My grandfather was quite a strict disciplinarian I have to say and but my grandmother was an amazing cook. She made everything from scratch.

She never served leftovers one time in her life and we had all that good southern cooking and if you know the southern cooking you know fried chicken that was just incredible. Black eyed peas. Okra.

Collard greens. You ever tried those before? Now these are the things my grandmother would make. But her crowning achievement was her biscuit. I've never had a biscuit anywhere like this. Like if a biscuit could be literally anointed by God. This is what I'm talking about.

It was like so insane. It was a buttermilk biscuit. And when my grandmother was getting older I said to my wife Kathy watch mama Stella make the biscuit. Learn the secret of the biscuit. Grasshopper.

You must learn it. And you know she did a pretty good job reproducing them but no one could quite produce the biscuit that my grandmother mama Stella made. And I just think you know when we get to heaven I'm hoping to get some of those biscuits again.

I'm going to find mama Stella. But some of you don't you know connect to southern cooking. You're into Mexican food.

Ok. So you're thinking enchiladas and tacos and all those things. And then others you go no no no it's Italian food. Italian food. No it's you know pasta and the pizza. I had pizza today.

Here's my problem. I love all those foods. Everything I love is fattening.

I don't love anything that's not fattening. I don't love kale salad. I don't even know what the point of eating salad is. To me eating salad is like practice. It's just like ok I can chew and swallow. Good. You know someone says I had a nice salad for lunch. I'm like what?

It's just nothing. It's just lettuce and stuff you know. But whatever it is that rings your bell good chance it'll be in heaven. And if it isn't there there'll be something better there. I'm into sushi. Ok. Sushi then. Whatever you like it's going to be better than what you could ever dream of. And not only will you have that meal but you'll be with people. The whole thing about having a nice meal is having it with someone you like to be with right. Being with friends and family. Enjoying a meal together.

Well check this out. You're going to have some pretty amazing company. Matthew 8 11 says, and that day comes you will take your place at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

How's that for starters? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to have a meal with. You can sit down at a table with Moses. Moses could you pass the manna? Elijah my meat's a little undercooked.

Could you give it a little more fire? Lot could you pass the salt? Oh Lot you're so sensitive. Get over it. You made it to heaven. Come on man. You have to know the Bible to get these jokes.

Ok. These are insider Bible jokes. But one of the things that I've enjoyed over the years is getting to meet a lot of wonderful men and women of God. And whenever I'm around older people who have known the Lord for many years I pick their brains. You know I've gotten to know people like Chuck Sundahl, David Jeremiah, Dr. Dobson, Alan Redpath, and of course Billy Graham.

I think I drove Billy Graham insane with all of my questions. Because whenever I was with him I wanted to know everything about everyone. Because he was like Mr. History. You know he knew all these people I've read about. He knew Golda Meir the prime minister of Israel. He knew Muhammad Ali came over to his house for lunch. He knew every president going back to Truman. Bono from U2 came and visited him and read poetry to his wife Ruth. And his wife Ruth was as amazing as Billy was. She was just a wealth of Bible knowledge.

And it was so wonderful to be with them. He knew C.S. Lewis.

I mean I quote C.S. Lewis. He met C.S.

Lewis for Pete's sake. It's just amazing the people he knew. So I mean thinking of that think about meeting people of the Bible. Asking David what was it like to slay Goliath. You know Noah so how did that work being in that ark all that time. Or Moses when you parted the Red Sea give me some details about it. Esther what was it like to save the entire Jewish race. Deborah what was it like to lead all those people into battle.

Hey Mary Mary what was it like to carry Jesus in your womb and later have him in your heart. You know I mean don't you want to ask those questions. I do because when I'm around godly people I want details.

I want information. I want to learn from them and you'll have access to all these great men and women of God from the Bible who've gone before us to meet the Lord. And but of course it's being reunited with loved ones that we miss. How many of you have someone that was very close to you who has gone to heaven.

Right now you have someone in that's pretty much everybody. So you think about those people don't you. And you think about being with them because one of the hardest things about death is communication is cut off immediately. And you want to communicate with them.

And it's so hard when you can't. And sometimes people want to try to talk to their loved ones and they'll go to mediums who will tell them I'm getting messages from your loved one right now and just understand that is never real. It's either not real or it's demonic. But that you don't want to go there. You don't want to ever try to communicate with your loved ones in heaven.

And I'll hear people say well I sensed my loved one who died is with me and they spoke to me the other day. Can I be blunt with you. No they didn't. They didn't speak to you. They're not guiding you and they're not involved in your life right now. They aren't.

Okay I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you they were. I wish I could tell you that that they're you know helping you right now.

No they aren't. They're in the other side. As David said of his son who died he cannot come to me but I will go to him.

So they're not talking to you. They're not coming to you. But one day you will go to them. You will be reunited with them if they died in faith. Biblical truth today on matters of eternity from Pastor Greg Laurie. The only information we can count on about the hereafter comes from the Lord himself. And Pastor Greg will have more insight as he continues this message here on A New Beginning. You know Pastor Greg some people are major league worriers and minor league prayers. Yeah.

And they just don't know how to change leagues. But you have a book that discusses the basics of prayer along with several other subjects. Isn't that right? Oh yes they do.

It's called The New Believer's Guide to Effective Christian Living. Listen worry affects all of us. Some worry more than others. Minds you have a story of a guy who had a real problem with worry.

Always worrying. And one day one of his friends someone said man you seem to be really chill. You're relaxed. You're not worrying like you used to. He goes oh yeah I don't worry at all anymore. His friend said really?

How's that even possible? He said I hired someone to worry for me. His friend asked how much do you pee a guy like that? He says I pay him $15,000 a week. His friend said you don't make that kind of money.

How do you afford to pay him? He said hey that's for him to worry about. Some of our listeners have heard that one before right? But here's the thing the Bible is very clear on this topic. It says don't worry about anything. Pray about everything and the peace of God that passes all human understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. So I encourage people turn your worries into worship.

Turn your panic into prayer. So the next time you're tempted to worry just immediately transform that into a petition to heaven and say Lord this is bothering me right now. I'm burdened by this but you've told me to cast all my care upon you for you care for me so here it is Lord. So Dave I talk about this a lot more in this book that we want to offer our listeners called The New Believer's Guide to Effective Christian Living. I also talked about how to resist temptation, how to know the will of God, how to pray. We already touched on that for just a moment and so much more and I'd love to send you this little book The New Believer's Guide to Effective Christian Living for your gift of any size. Now whatever you send we'll send you one of these books. Some can give more and we thank you for that. Some can only give a little and we want to make sure you get this resource but whatever you give will be used to continue to expand this radio outreach that is heard literally around the world. So order your copy of The New Believer's Guide to Effective Christian Living. Dave tell them how to do it exactly.

Yeah it's easy to do. Just give us a call at 1-800-821-3300. You can reach us anytime 24 hours a day and we'll walk you through the details right over the phone. That's 1-800-821-3300 or write us if you'd like at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or just go online to harvest.org and once again the title is The New Believer's Guide to Effective Christian Living. I don't know if you know about this but we have a weekend service called Harvest at Home exclusively for people that are tuning in literally from around the world.

Listen to this. We even have harvest groups where you can get into a small group with folks from all around this planet of ours and study the Word of God. So join us this weekend Saturday and Sunday for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well next time Pastor Greg helps us sharpen our focus on eternity as he continues his series focusing on what the Bible says about heaven and the afterlife. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. The preceding podcast was made possible by Harvest Partners helping people everywhere know God. Learn how to become a Harvest Partner, sign up for daily devotions, and find resources to help you grow in your faith at harvest.org.