Let's Talk About Heaven: What Will Eternity Actually Be Like?

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Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free e-books designed to help you grow in your faith. Heaven is a city. Heaven is a garden. Heaven is paradise.

We all have some kind of mental image of heaven, but it may have been influenced by a movie or a TV show or a magazine article or even a cartoon. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us realign our expectations. It's a message from his essential series that helps us build a proper scriptural understanding.

And you can download an MP3 of this study by going to harvest.org. Pastor Greg begins addressing some of the questions we have about eternity. Where is God? Well in a broad sense as we learn God is omniscient.

And that means that God is what? Everywhere. He is everywhere. He is here. He is with us when we leave.

He is overseas. He is in every place at every time. You can't escape from the Lord. Psalm 139 7. I will never escape from your spirit.

I will never get away from your presence. If I go to heaven you are there. But having said that heaven is the dwelling place of God Himself. And so what is heaven like? Well let me begin by saying heaven is an actual place. In John 14 Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you.

That is very important. A place. Heaven is a real place for real people to do real things.

Let me repeat that again. Heaven is a real place for real people to do real things. We often think of heaven in sort of a mystical way. Clouds. More clouds. People floating around.

Little fat angels with tiny wings hovering above us. It sounds pretty boring. Others think of heaven as a really long church service.

You know I know we are going to be doing a lot of worshipping but is that it? Because I am getting bored reading about it. Well trust me heaven will not be boring. Isaac Asimov the science fiction writer made this statement about the afterlife and I quote, it says, I don't believe in the afterlife so I don't want to have to spend my life fearing hell or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell I think the boredom of heaven would even be worse. End quote.

That is a ridiculous statement. And Mr. Asimov has gone to the other side now and he is going to find out the truth. I don't know where he was at spiritually but heaven will not be boring. It is a real place for real people and we need to think of it in that way. Let me pull some illustrations from Scripture. Heaven is described as a paradise.

A paradise. What did Jesus say to the thief on the cross? Remember He said, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said, verily verily or truly truly I say to you today you will be with Me in paradise. Paul said the same thing.

He died and he went to paradise. Now what does that mean? Well this is an interesting word because it is actually a word that describes a walled garden like the king of Persia would have. Now I don't even know what to compare this to. But you have to think of some palatial estate that maybe you have seen or maybe you have seen a film about like Downton Abbey.

I don't know. But some manicured amazing garden that goes on forever with every kind of fruit and flower. That is the word that Paul uses. So it is the idea where he is thinking of the best thing he can imagine and he is saying, it was like paradise to me. And actually Paul went to the other side. Interestingly he didn't write a book about it. He didn't write an epistle about it.

He only gave us a handful of statements about it. Here is what he says. It is over in 2 Corinthians 12. This is from a modern translation and I like the way it is stated. It says, I knew a man who 14 years ago was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don't know if this took place in the body or out of it. Only God knows. But I know this man was hijacked into paradise and he heard the unspeakable spoken but was forbidden to tell what he heard. Now when did Paul have this experience? We don't know. But one could guess that maybe it was when he was stoned in Lystra.

No. Not that kind of stone. He raised a crippled man. He brought him to his feet and the people turned on him and they stoned him and left him for dead outside of the city. So Paul was laying there and the people walked away thinking he was gone.

And maybe he was. Presumably that is when he died and went to the other side. Meanwhile the Christians came to him.

It doesn't say they did anything. It just says the believers came to Paul and he came back to life. So maybe they prayed for him. And I want to just tell you if I die and you pray for me to come back to life and I do I am coming after you.

I mean seriously though. Can you imagine being in heaven and having to come back to earth again? Getting up there and the Lord saying, Welcome to paradise. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Oh God I am so happy to be here. Oh by the way I have some good news and bad news.

No come on. You are God. You are not seeing this. I have some good news and bad news. What is the good news? You are coming back again. Again?

Where am I going? That brings me to the bad news. There are some Christians down there praying that you will be raised from the dead. Lord don't listen to them. They are sinners. Don't hear their prayers. Well God did bring Paul back and He described it as paradise.

Number two. Heaven is described as a city. It is a city. Hebrews 11 tells us the city has God as the architect and builder.

That is very specific. An architect and a builder. We are working on our new building right now. We have an architect. So we look at plans. And we walk through the building and we say, Ok a wall is going to go here. And this wall is going to come down.

And this is going to be different here. And then we submit the plans to the city and the city sends them back with revisions and you send them back again and eventually they are approved. And then the builders come in and they follow the plans that the architect laid down. And they put up the walls and everything is completed. And then you have somebody that comes in and does the interior design etcetera. But the point is I love the way it says that it is a city that has an architect and a builder.

So this is very specific. Heaven is a city. Now I want you to think about cities you have been to. Certain cities have unique qualities. The city of Jerusalem at sunset is such a beautiful place.

When we see that golden hue on it. The city of so much biblical history or other cities I have had the privilege of visiting that are unique. And heaven is unique and it is a city. And cities have things in them. Well you have things to do. You have restaurants. You have stores. You have activities.

You have entertainment. Is it possible we could have that in heaven? My answer is why not? I mean maybe we will. Maybe we won't.

Whatever it will be it will be great. But why do we always think of heaven as a cloud that we sit on? Well we pluck a heart. That is not in the Bible. The Bible says heaven is a city. So when I think of a city I think of a city. A real city. And I think whatever city I have been to the best city imaginable. Heaven is going to be way better than that.

Not a diminished version of that. Heaven is described as a country. Hebrews 11 says we desire a better that is a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for He prepared a city for them.

So think about this. Heaven is a country. Heaven is a city. Heaven is a garden. Heaven is a paradise. We tend to think of earth as the real thing and heaven as the surreal thing.

I like the way that C.S. Lewis described earth in his writings. He called it the shadow lands. The reason he called the earth shadow lands was because it was a shadow of the real thing. Earth is a pale version of heaven not the other way around. See.

Not so important to understand. We think this is earth. I love earth. Oh heaven.

No. Heaven is the original. Earth is the copy. See the Israelites are told to build a tabernacle on earth like the one in heaven. So the tabernacle or the tent on earth was like the original. The original is there.

So we are going to that. We are just in the imitation now. Now that doesn't mean that it can't be beautiful on this planet because it is. We see His glory on display in His creation even in a fallen state. Psalm 24 one says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. I mean even Jesus took the time to admire a flower.

I love that. He probably picked it up off the ground. He said, now consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their own clothing yet Solomon in all of his glory was not dressed as beautifully as one of these and he is admiring a flower. No one can appreciate the creation more than the one who knows God. Because we know the Creator.

Our Father made those things. And by the way we are told in Timothy that God has richly provided us with everything for our enjoyment. There is nothing wrong with enjoying life. There are pleasures in life that we can enjoy. The pleasure of the beauty of His creation. The pleasure of being with your family. The pleasure of being with your friends. The pleasure of a great meal. These are good things.

The pleasure of marriage and all the other things that life offers. But here is what we recognize at the same time that as good as life is we know it is never going to be perfect. And the fact is as I said before this is as bad as it is ever going to get for the Christian and this is as good as it is ever going to get for the non-Christian. For the Christian this is as bad as it gets. You say well Greg I am living a pretty good life.

Well then you should be a happy camper because it is going to get a whole lot better for you. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of today's study in just a moment. Emails, letters, and phone calls let us know that you're gaining benefit from Pastor Greg's teaching.

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1-866-871-1144. While we're getting answers to our questions today in Pastor Greg's message let's talk about heaven. You can go online and send a link to today's message to a friend who needs to hear this insight.

Just go to harvest.org. Now when we get there to heaven we're going to be given new bodies. When does that happen? That happens at the rapture of the church. Okay so what happens to people when they die?

Okay here's what happens. When a Christian dies their body goes into the ground and they go to heaven and I don't know what their body is like at that point. I don't know if there is sort of an intermediate heavenly body. But I know that the resurrection happens later. And the resurrection is when this mortal puts on immortality and we change in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. That happens at the rapture you see. And the word rapture comes from the Greek word harpazo. So don't get hung up on the word rapture. Some people say, well the word rapture is not in the Bible.

Well that depends. If you have a Latin Bible it is in there. Because in the Latin translation harpazo is translated rapturis where we get the English word rapture. But the event is found many times in Scripture when we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So that event when it happens when the rapture takes place that is when the dead rise as well.

Here is what the Bible says. 1 Thessalonians 4. The dead in Christ shall what?

Rise first. And we which are alive and remaining shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. To meet them in the clouds or in the air. And then Paul concludes, so comfort one another with these words.

Why is that comforting? Because Paul was speaking to the church of Thessalonica and there was a concern among the believers about their loved ones who had died thinking oh they missed the rapture we will never see them again. Paul says no their body is in the ground. They are in heaven.

But they are going to be reunited with you. You are going to be reunited with them in the air and they are going to get their bodies glorified and you are going to get your new body all at the same time. And so we have this new body God is going to give us.

What will it be like? Well the blueprint for your glorified body is in the body you now possess. Heaven is the earthly life of the believer.

Glorified and perfected. You are still you in heaven. You don't become another person. You are still you.

That is very important. You are just the radically upgraded version of you. 1 Corinthians 15 Paul writes, our bodies now disappoint us. Do I hear an amen to that? 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 human bodies now. But when they are raised they will be spiritual bodies. So they are like the one we have now but they are perfected. Well I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around it.

You may say ok maybe this will help. Our resurrection bodies will resemble the resurrection body of Jesus Christ. Because 1 John 3 says, beloved now we are the children of God. It has not yet been revealed what we will be but we know when He is revealed we will be like Him for we will see Him as He is. Ok. Now let's think about Jesus after He rose from the dead. Was He still Jesus or was He some other guy? Oh He was still Jesus. He even said to His disciples, It is high and not another. Did He have a voice? Yes. He called to His disciples from the shore.

Hey do you have any food? He had a voice. He was in a body. In fact in His body He still bore the marks of the crucifixion.

Remember? In the upper room He said to Thomas, Go get and put your hand on my side and then the wounds on my hand. So He was Jesus and He ate food. To prove it He said, Hey can I have some fish?

Give me some fish. So He ate food. He walked.

He spoke. It is not like He was translucent or something. Like He ate the food and you see it going down you know. But yet in this glorified body or this resurrected body I should say He did unusual things that He had not done previously. For instance He showed up in a room without using the door.

That would be pretty cool to do. And He ascended to heaven. He went up. And does that mean Jesus flew?

Well I guess in a way it does. So in our new bodies I figure we are going to be in actual bodies. We will still be us. We will still eat.

I am very happy about that. And maybe we will fly. So it will be like Him.

Number two. What will we do in heaven? That is something I have thought about a lot. Well for starters we will be worshipping. And by the way that is why you exist. To bring glory to God. But we will be busy too. Because the Scripture says on many occasions we will be serving the Lord.

And I want you to remember something. We don't stay in heaven forever. To say I am going to die one day and go to heaven and be with the Lord forever is actually not theologically accurate. A more accurate statement would be I will die and go to be with the Lord.

And where He is I will be also. Because one day Christ is going to come back to the earth. And one day heaven is going to come to earth and it will fulfill the prayer the church has been praying for 2,000 years where we pray, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So heaven and earth become one you see. And Jesus is going to come back and we are going to return with Him and there is going to be the millennial reign of Christ. And then there is going to be the new Jerusalem coming out of heaven. So heaven and earth will become one. And there will be a new earth. And in the new earth we are going to do things like we do on earth now but without the limitations. So it is going to be fantastic. And so in heaven we will be worshipping.

I already alluded to this. In heaven believe it or not we will eat together. Revelation 19 says, the angel says, right, blessed are those that are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.

These are the true words of God. I love that word supper. You know we don't usually use that in California. We will say hey want to go to dinner. But in the south they have supper.

I have always liked the word supper. See I was raised for a number of years by my grandparents when my mom was out running around. I lived with my grandmother and grandfather. My grandmother's name was Stella. One of our granddaughters is named after her. My grandfather was named Charles.

And so we called them in kind of the southern way Daddy Charles and Mama Stella. And Mama Stella was the greatest cook I have ever met. I mean she was unbelievable. She made everything from scratch. I am talking the best fried chicken you have ever had in your life.

And she had all those southern things like you know collard greens and black eyed peas and so forth. But her crowning achievement was her biscuit. I am telling you you have never had a biscuit like this. This is the greatest biscuit ever known to man. And I am kind of thinking maybe there is going to be a place for Mama Stella in heaven making those biscuits. But if not whatever we will have will be even better.

As hard as that is for me to believe. Matthew 8 11 says, I tell you they will come to them east and the west and take their place at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. You will be able to sit down with the great patriarchs of the Bible. The great matriarchs of Scripture and spend time with them. Imagine what it will be like to ask David what it was like to fight Goliath. Ask Noah what it was like living in the ark. Ask Moses about parting the Red Sea. Ask Daniel about the lion's den. Ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego about the fiery furnace.

So it is going to be amazing. Pastor Greg Laurie bringing a fascinating glimpse at what we can expect in our heavenly home. Good biblical insights from his message, Let's Talk About Heaven Today on A New Beginning.

If you missed any part of today's study, you can hear what you missed at our website, Harvest.org. You know, Pastor Greg, I'm looking at one of the two children's books we're making available from children's author Sally Lloyd-Jones called Near, talking about how God is always near our child or grandchild. Really, that's no small thing. That's talking about God's omnipresence. True.

Somehow, God can be in heaven, and at the same time, He's with us. Yes. How do we bring those significant truths to kids in a way they can understand?

Yeah. Well, we have to come down to their level. You know, Jesus said, unless we become as a child, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. This does not mean we need to be childish, but it means we should be childlike, and there's a difference. Childlike means that you enter their world. You speak with words they understand. Of course, art and illustrations are very helpful at a time like this, and these two resources that we're offering do just that, but a child needs to know that God is with them, and they're not alone in life because they're things that scare children late at night.

They have bad dreams, and parents have them too, but it's always good to comfort them with the Word of God and teach them to pray and teach them to call on the Lord, and this needs to start at the earliest age. You know, both of my sons, Christopher and Jonathan, I started reading Bible stories to them when they were just little ones, even before they could fully understand them, and then they grew to love them and want to hear more of them, and I've done it with my grandchildren, and it was very gratifying to see both of my sons do the same with their children, enter into these stories with the kids, and it's so important because, you know, Moses tells us that the responsibility of parents and specifically the father is to teach these things to your children when they get up in the morning, when they lay their heads down on the bed at night, and it's great to have a little help, right? And so we have some great help to offer you. Two resources we're offering this month, both by my friend Sally Lloyd-Jones, a prolific and outstanding children's author.

One of them is called Near. It's a beautifully illustrated little book based on Psalm 139 showing the child that God is omnipresent, which means he's present everywhere. God is with them wherever they go. The other resource is called Babies Carry Along Bible. This has outstanding packaging, a very heavy duty paper on the inside, a hardcover, beautiful illustrations with a little handle on it so the little one can carry their Bible around the house or carry it with them when you go to church or wherever you go. And these are two resources that are going to be very effective with small children, newborn to age four. I highly recommend you order them for your kids or your grandkids, for some of you, maybe your great grandkids, and we'll rush you your own copy of Near and Babies Carry Along Bible written by Sally Lloyd-Jones for your gift of any size. So whatever you send to us here at Harvest, we'll take those resources and use them to continue to reach out through our radio broadcast and our other ways that we reach people through television, online, et cetera, and bring the teaching of God's Word and the proclamation of the gospel. So order your copy of this book by Sally Lloyd-Jones called Near and also her book, Babies Carry Along Bible.

Yeah, that's right. We have both of them here waiting for you, and we'll send both together to thank you for investing so Pastor Greg's teaching can continue coming your way each day. We're so grateful for listener support. It's the only way we can make a new beginning available. So get in touch today with your donation, and we'll send you Near and Babies Carry Along Bible to say thanks. Write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514, or call 1-800-821-3300.

We can take your call anytime 24-7. Again, 1-800-821-3300, or go online to harvest.org. Hey everybody, Greg Laurie here, encouraging you to join us this weekend for what we call Harvest at Home. It's worship, it's a message from the Word of God.

You can watch it with your family in your front room, or you can watch it on the go on your tablet, on your phone, or your computer. Take it with you, take the Word of God with you and join us for Harvest at Home at harvest.org. Well, next time, as we talk more about heaven, Pastor Greg points out a proper view of heaven will lead to a proper way to lead our lives. That's next time here on A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to A New Beginning. This is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. So for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make Him known to others, or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.