What Will We Do In Heaven?
On the way home the other day I heard a preacher on the radio talking about what heaven would be like. He said something along the lines of “in heaven it will be like one big worship service.” Then he said, “You may think that sounds boring, but it won’t be. Some people think worship services are boring, but I’ve never seen a worship service that was boring when Jesus was in the center of it.” He then went on to talk about heaven being a continual state of worship.
Is that what heaven will be like? I realize that we’ll see things differently than we do now, so some of the things we think will be boring may be things we will enjoy there, much like many of the things adults enjoy children find boring. Even if that is true, I find it hard to believe that heaven if going to be one continual worship service. If we carry the child example a little farther, don’t we adults still enjoy some of the same things that children do? I enjoy a good worship service as much as anybody, but an eternal worship service doesn’t sound very appealing at all. And don’t you think it odd that a God who would make people with such diverse interests would turn us into worship robots?
Maybe we can look at what the Bible has to say about heaven and figure out a little more about what we’ll be doing. Granted, in much of what we see in the Bible, heaven does look like a great big worship service. We read Revelation and we see so much that takes place before the throne of God and it looks like a worship service. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he saw him “high and lifted up” and the seraphims cried, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Again, it looks much like a worship service.
While I’m sure the throne room of God will always look like a great worship service, the Bible does tell us more about heaven than just what happens in the throne room of God. Consider the holy city. The length, width and height of it is 1,500 miles. To put that in perspective, that is approximately half the width of the United States. That’s an awfully big space for pews.
We know we’ll be eating in heaven. There’s tree there that has twelve kinds of fruit for us to eat.
But there’s more than just the holy city, as big as it is. The gates of that city will always be open and the Bible says that the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. While we don’t fully understand how things will operate, the holy city will be on earth and earth will have nations and kings. At least, that’s the way it looks. But these kings won’t make war against each other, because Jesus will be the king of kings. I’m sure we’ll spend part of our time in front of God’s throne and we’ll be glad to do it, but I think we’ll leave there and inhabit a world that looks much like our current world, only better. There will be work for us to do and people for us to see. It won’t be the same kind of work we must do now, but I think heaven will be a busy place with something new for us to learn with each passing minute.
Is that what heaven will be like? I realize that we’ll see things differently than we do now, so some of the things we think will be boring may be things we will enjoy there, much like many of the things adults enjoy children find boring. Even if that is true, I find it hard to believe that heaven if going to be one continual worship service. If we carry the child example a little farther, don’t we adults still enjoy some of the same things that children do? I enjoy a good worship service as much as anybody, but an eternal worship service doesn’t sound very appealing at all. And don’t you think it odd that a God who would make people with such diverse interests would turn us into worship robots?
Maybe we can look at what the Bible has to say about heaven and figure out a little more about what we’ll be doing. Granted, in much of what we see in the Bible, heaven does look like a great big worship service. We read Revelation and we see so much that takes place before the throne of God and it looks like a worship service. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he saw him “high and lifted up” and the seraphims cried, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Again, it looks much like a worship service.
While I’m sure the throne room of God will always look like a great worship service, the Bible does tell us more about heaven than just what happens in the throne room of God. Consider the holy city. The length, width and height of it is 1,500 miles. To put that in perspective, that is approximately half the width of the United States. That’s an awfully big space for pews.
We know we’ll be eating in heaven. There’s tree there that has twelve kinds of fruit for us to eat.
But there’s more than just the holy city, as big as it is. The gates of that city will always be open and the Bible says that the nations of those who are saved will walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. While we don’t fully understand how things will operate, the holy city will be on earth and earth will have nations and kings. At least, that’s the way it looks. But these kings won’t make war against each other, because Jesus will be the king of kings. I’m sure we’ll spend part of our time in front of God’s throne and we’ll be glad to do it, but I think we’ll leave there and inhabit a world that looks much like our current world, only better. There will be work for us to do and people for us to see. It won’t be the same kind of work we must do now, but I think heaven will be a busy place with something new for us to learn with each passing minute.
Comments
He tells me that Heaven is a wonderful state of being, a union with the Creator, but there's no reason why we can't experience Heaven right here, right now. All we have to do is love unconditionally and stop killing each other.
To love unconditionally and stop killing each other is certainly good advice. Unfortunately, the Bible tells us that there is a lot more killing ahead of us and we are not yet free from these sinful bodies. The day will come when Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, will bring peace to the world and will give those who are his sinless bodies. Only then will we see Heaven on Earth.