What Will We Do In Heaven? – Part 1

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To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, many people, even Christians, have fallen for the myth that heaven is going to be a place of perpetual boredom populated by boring people, and nothing could be further from the truth. Today, as we continue our series, A Place Called Heaven, we're going to attempt to answer the question, What will we do in heaven? Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. The Bible teaches that heaven will be a paradise where all believers will live forever in the presence of God.

Yet a lot of Christians are almost dreading their future in heaven because they're worried that heaven's going to be boring. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals what our eternal home will really be like. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress, Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Did you realize that most religions don't believe in heaven as Christians do? In fact, the easiest way to expose the fallacy of major religious beliefs is to expose their convictions about eternity.

Some of the notions about life after death are quite shocking. Well, I've written a brochure that clearly shows you how Christian beliefs about heaven differ from religions like Mormonism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The booklet is called, What Seven World Religions Teach About Heaven, and I'm pleased to send you a copy as a gift just for getting in touch with us today.

You'll find all the details at ptv.org. And then I'll remind you that I've written an in-depth book about your eternal home as well. It's titled, A Place Called Heaven, 10 Surprising Truths About Your Eternal Home. Looking back on the last year, I think you'll agree that the conflict in our world combined with several international conflicts have made us long for A Place Called Heaven. Well, the Bible provides vivid snapshots of the place God is preparing for you. And I explain what the Bible teaches in my best-selling book, A Place Called Heaven. It comes with my thanks when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory.

I'll say more about my book and other opportunities later on. It's time to address another question in our series about A Place Called Heaven. I titled today's message, What Will We Do in Heaven? Well, I have no opinion when it comes to heaven or hell because I have friends in both places.

Samuel Sam was Samuel Clemens, whom we know as Mark Twain. Mark Twain had many things and observations about the subject of heaven and hell. In fact, in one speech, Twain joked, and in a comment that seems very appropriate today, Twain said, Now you know, such a tongue-in-cheek comment is built upon a lie that many people have embraced about heaven. Many people, even Christians, have fallen for the myth that heaven is going to be a place of perpetual boredom populated by boring people, and nothing could be further from the truth. Today, as we continue our series, A Place Called Heaven, we're going to attempt to answer the question, What Will We Do in Heaven? Have you ever wondered about that?

That's what we're going to talk about today. Atheist Isaac Asimov said, I don't believe in the afterlife, so I don't have to spend my whole life fearing hell or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.

Is heaven going to be a boring place? Well, people who believe that do so because they have embraced three popular myths about God, heaven, and eternity. Let's look at those myths for just a moment and see what the scripture says. First of all, some people believe that God is a cosmic killjoy. When they think about God, they think about him as being a perennial party pooper, and they think of Satan as being the life of the party. Those who have come to that conclusion are absolutely convinced that heaven must be as dull as watching paint dry, and hell must be as exhilarating as a NASCAR race, but neither is true. And both of those conclusions are based on a flawed understanding of both Satan and God. Have you ever had this experience of being stuck at a dinner party seated next to a really boring person?

I mean, what is only a few minutes seems like hours of trying to make conversation with them. You know, going to hell and spending eternity with Satan is like having that kind of companion. Did you know there's nothing interesting about Satan? Nothing at all. Nothing creative about him. He never created anything.

Instead, he ruined everything. He is a perpetually boring person, completely unoriginal. Contrast that to God. I mean, if you want to know how exciting God is, just look around you at everything that God has created. Everything we live in and watch is good, beautiful, enjoyable, refreshing, fascinating, and exciting because it's created by someone who is all of those things. A second myth people have about heaven is that heaven will be monotonous. You know, the fact is no matter how good something is, we get bored with it after a while, don't we? So we think even as good as heaven is, if we do the same thing over and over and over again, it has to be boring. But the truth is monotony doesn't have to be tedious and boring. GK Chesterton explained why.

I want you to listen to this. This was such a great insight. He said, a child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence of life. Because children have a bounding vitality because they are in spirit, fierce and free. Therefore, they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, do it again.

And the grown up person does it again until he's nearly dead. For grown up people are not strong enough to exalt in monotony, but perhaps God is strong enough to exalt in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, do it again to the sun and every evening, do it again to the moon. It may be that God has the eternal appetite of infancy, for we have sinned and grown old and our father is younger than we are.

Isn't that an interesting thought? The only reason things seem monotonous to us is because we live in bodies that grow tired. But in heaven, we'll have none of those limitations.

We'll be like children saying to the father, do it again, dad, do it again. A third myth people have about heaven and the reason they think it is boring is they believe heaven is going to be one long and unending church service. Now, I remember not long ago, we had a guest preacher here and he stood up and said, you know, these Christians who can't sit through a two hour church service, how are they going to stand eternity when all we do is worship God forever and ever and ever? That's what heaven's going to be. One long worship service. And you all were as quiet as you could be. One guy in the back said, amen.

That was about it. I mean, let's be honest. The idea of heaven being one long church service is a yawn fest for most of us. But the reason we feel that way is we really have a misunderstanding of what worship is going to be like in heaven. Yes, the fact is in heaven, we are going to be worshiping God like we've never worshiped him before. Worship will be a central activity in heaven, but it won't be our only activity in heaven. You know, the Garden of Eden is a template for what the new heaven and the new earth is going to be like. God placed Adam and Eve in the garden before they sinned. And God said, you're going to have perfect fellowship with me, but you're not going to sit around and worship me all the time.

I've also given you work to do. In fact, he said in Genesis 2 8 and verse 15, you are to cultivate the garden and keep it. There were two primary activities in heaven, worshiping, but also working. And the same is going to be true for us.

Let's look at each of those two activities in depth. First of all, heaven will be a place of indescribable worship. Indescribable worship. You know, just think about one of those worship experiences you've had, where you were moved to the very innermost parts of your being and you felt so connected to God. Think about those great moments of worship in the past you've experienced and multiply it by a million. That's what heaven is going to be like, the worship we engage in, because in heaven we'll actually see Jesus face to face.

It's no experience. We'll match that. If you want to get an idea of what that experience is going to be like, look at Revelation 5 verses 11 and 12, where John describes the worship we will experience in heaven. He said, then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders. These are the representatives. This is the church. This is you and I, the elders, the church. And the number of them was myriads of myriads, thousands of thousands, literally ten thousands upon ten thousands, millions of people surrounding the throne. And notice verse 12, saying with a loud voice, underline that word loud. And what will they say? Much what the choir said today.

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the power and the riches and the wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. They praised with a loud voice. Just a few years ago, the fans of the Seattle Seahawks football team set a world record as the loudest fans in NFL history. On December the 2nd, 2013, during a third down defensive stand against the New Orleans Saints, the Seahawks fans produced an ear-splitting 137.6 decibels. Now, to let you know how loud that is, that would be exactly the same as standing 100 feet away from a roaring jet engine.

In fact, the sound of those fans was so loud that it triggered a minor earthquake beneath the stadium. Now, that's the kind of worship we're going to have in heaven. In Isaiah 6-4, Isaiah said, And the foundations of the temple trembled, the foundations of the temple trembled at the voice of the angels of him who called out in worship to God. We're going to have loud, exuberant worship. Now, occasionally I have people say to me, Pastor, why does everything have to be so loud in our worship services? Why can't we have quiet moments of reflection? I'd like us to build some quiet moments of reflection in our worship services.

You know why we don't do that? Look, quiet moments of reflection are great for your personal worship with God. But in the Bible, when God's people get together, they are never quiet. Show me one time in the book of Revelation where they had quiet, reflective worship.

No, it is a time of celebration and praise. And that's what it's going to be like in heaven. It's going to be a time of large worship people, myriads, tens of millions of people are going to be worshiping. A loud crowd and a loud voice is going to be what heaven is like. Yes, we're going to participate in indescribable worship. But is that all we're going to do? Is heaven going to be a time of unending worship?

Well, the answer to that question is yes and no. It all depends on how you define worship. If you define worship as a formal time of God's people getting together to praise God, then no, that's not all we're going to do in heaven. But you know, in the Bible, worship is more than just formal times when we assemble together. In 1 Corinthians 10, 31, Paul said, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

There is a way of going through the day, conducting our work, getting stuck in traffic on Central Express Way, sitting down for a meal, relaxing. There's a way of living where God is always a part of your existence. And that's really what worship in the broadest sense is. I didn't put it on your outline, but I want you to jot down this definition of worship. Worship is the continual awareness of gratitude toward and submission to God in everything we do.

Let me say it again, worship is a continual awareness of gratitude toward and submission to God in everything we do. And in that sense, yes, we will worship God continually in heaven, just as we should be doing here on earth. Heaven will be a time of indescribable worship. But there's a second thing we're going to experience in heaven. Heaven will also be a place of enjoyable work. No, Pastor, please tell me it's not so. We're going to be working in heaven? I'm looking forward to floating around on that cloud, plucking the harp. You're telling me we're really going to work in heaven? Now, before you rebel at that idea, follow with me on a couple of things.

And I think you're going to feel a lot better about this when we're finished. First of all, remember, God is a worker. God didn't just create the universe in six days and then go into retirement.

He took a day off, but that's all he took off. In John 5.17, Jesus said this about God. My Father is working until now, and I myself am working. God's a worker. And not only that, secondly, God created man to be a worker. You and I were created in the image of God, and therefore we too were created to be workers. In Genesis 2.15, God gave this assignment to Adam. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden to cultivate it and to keep it. You know, many people believe that work is a curse from God, that it was a punishment for man's sin against God.

That's not true. Genesis 2.15 takes place before the fall in Genesis 3. In his original form, man was created to work. Now, it's true, after the sin of Genesis 3, work became harder for us.

It became more tedious. But work itself has never been a curse. It is a privilege God has given us because we are created in his image. Now, God put Adam and Eve in the garden. Even though Eden was perfect, it was not self-sustaining. God basically said, I'm going to give you this slice of paradise called Eden, but you have a responsibility to cultivate it. That is, you're to till the soil. You're to plant the seeds. You're to harvest the crops.

And it's the same thing with us. God is a worker. He created us to be workers. I have a friend who says that when he was growing up, occasionally on Saturdays, he would sit down on the sofa and watch television for a few minutes. And if his father came through, he'd look at his son and say, get off that couch.

What do you think you are, an international playboy? And my friend said, you know, I grew up always afraid to sit down on the couch on Saturdays or watch TV because my father was a worker and he wanted me to be a worker as well. Well, that's true for all of us. Our father is a worker. And he didn't create us to sit around doing nothing. He created us to work as well. Now, that also underscores what is wrong with this idea that we have in America of retirement. You know, we get this idea that we're just to beat our brains out for 30 or 40 years, working as hard as we can, neglecting our family, accumulating a big pile of money so we can spend the last 20 or 30 years of our life doing nothing but entertaining ourselves.

That has never been God's plan. There's never a period of time of decades where you're not supposed to be doing anything except entertaining yourself. God created us all to be workers. Now, that doesn't mean you have to stay at the same job forever and ever. It doesn't mean you might not retire from a profession you've been in, but you need to replace that time with doing something productive, working in the church, furthering the kingdom of God, doing something that makes sense.

By the way, you know, a lot of reasons people don't give like they ought to. To God's work is they think, well, I've got to save all this money up so I can spend my time doing nothing later on. That is not God's plan. We're to all be involved in doing something productive. It's going to be that way in heaven. If God wants us to be workers on earth, he wants us to be workers in heaven as well. And it's true, you know, some of us are going to be out of work and find another job, policemen are, lawyers are, doctors are, preachers are going to be out of work. All the earth is going to be filled with the knowledge of God, so there's nothing left for us to do, so we'll try to find something else to do. But don't be surprised, the majority of you, if your work in heaven isn't an extension, an expansion somehow, of your work right here on earth, that you're saying, wait a minute, pastor, working for an eternity, that sounds more like hell than heaven to me. I want you to think about your job right now.

What is it that makes it unpleasant? The reason our work is hard is because we live in a sin-infected world. But in Revelation 22, 3, it says in the new heaven and new earth, the curse of sin will be removed. In heaven, we'll be able to perform our work in bodies that never grow tired. We'll never have strained relationships. We'll have perfect relationships. We won't be overburdened with regulations.

We won't be fighting against an uncooperative environment. All of those things will be removed, and we'll experience the work that God intended us for us to enjoy. What is it that we'll be doing? What will our work entail?

Two words I want you to write down. First of all, our work of cultivating. That is, taking what God has created and making it even better. For example, cherries are good.

Cherry pie is very good. We all like avocados, but we really like guacamole salad, don't we? I mean, that's part of cultivating, taking what God is giving and improving upon it. But there will also be a work of creating.

That is, as human beings, God has given us the ability to create something out of nothing. For example, God said to Adam in the garden, I've made these animals. I want you to come up with the names for them.

I want you to think of imaginative names for these animals. And so Adam uses creativity to name the animals. Today we see man's God-given creativity at work. The invention of the automobile, the jet airplane, the iPhone are all testimonies to a God-given creativity.

Why do we think in heaven that won't be present as well in our lives? We'll use the gifts God has given us. Some people will write books. Other people may produce music.

Other people may produce movies. There's no telling how God will use our creativity in heaven. Now, I said that our work in heaven will be an extension, possibly, of our work here on earth. How do you know what your life work should be, both on earth and in heaven?

My friend Bob Deal has a great question you ought to ask and answer for yourself sometime. Bob says, if money and education were not a factor and you could do anything in the world you wanted to do, knowing you wouldn't fail, what would you do? There's so much more we need to cover in today's topic, answering the question, what will we do in heaven? And in just a moment, David will explain how you can receive the complete collection of unedited CDs and DVDs for this series so that you can listen at your own pace or watch these presentations with friends and family, maybe even your small group Bible study. But first, I want to say a little more about the book I've written for you called A Place Called Heaven, Ten Surprising Truths About Your Eternal Home. The greatest hope we have is the promise of heaven. But so many of us know so little about what awaits us after this life is over.

And what we do know is often influenced far more by Hollywood than the truth of God's word. In my bestselling book, you'll see what the Bible says about heaven. And I'll answer common questions like, will we know our loved ones in heaven?

And are people in heaven aware of what's happening on earth? Let me send you a copy of my book, A Place Called Heaven. A copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. In fact, when you respond today, I'll also include an exclusive brochure called What Seven World Religions Teach About Heaven.

This is an excellent at-a-glance resource that will help you know the truth and share it with others, especially an unsaved friend. Thanks for giving generously to Pathway to Victory. What you and I accomplished together through this partnership reverberates in the halls of heaven forever. God is using your gifts to bring men and women all over the world into His eternal family. David?

Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. You can request your very own copy of the bestselling book, A Place Called Heaven, along with the brochure, What Seven World Religions Teach About Heaven, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Call us toll free at 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. And when your gift is $75 or more, we'll also send you all 12 messages from this month's teaching series, A Place Called Heaven, on CD and DVD, along with a beautiful book that would make a thoughtful gift.

It's called Encouragement from a Place Called Heaven, Words of Hope About Your Eternal Home. To request this very special package of resources, call 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. Now, if you'd prefer to write, here's that mailing address, PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. Again, that's PO Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. Join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress continues to answer the question, What Will We Do in Heaven? That's Tuesday here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Picture yourself relaxing aboard a luxury cruise ship as you sail the Mediterranean Sea on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. This 11-day journey will take you to unforgettable destinations in Italy, Turkey, and Greece.

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