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eternal life

Devotionals

Hope in Heaven Today!

by Julie Barrier
written by Julie Barrier

Why should I hope in heaven instead of this dark world?

Remember that eternal life starts now. Jesus said in John 17:3: “Now this is eternal life; that they may know You, the only eternal God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Jesus’ presence will fill you full of joy and pleasure (Psalm 16:11). Quiet your heart, mute your cell phone and let His love wash over you today.

2.      Jesus will be glad to see you. Matthew 25:23 expresses God’s absolute delight in your celestial arrival. He says “Well done, good and faithful servant….Come share your Master’s happiness.” Have you spent your life trying to please God and others? You will find forgiveness, grace and rest in heaven. (Psalm 103:12, Hebrews 4:10). Picture God smiling at you, welcoming you with open arms instead of shaking His finger at you in reproof.

3.     Bored? You will have fulfilling work to do. The cream cheese commercial featuring “haloed” angels lying on cloud pillows and strumming harps is a myth. Revelation 7 and 22 states that we will not work riddled with fatigue and frustration (the result of the Fall), but will fulfill all of the potential God placed within you with unlimited resources and energy.

4.     Those you love and miss are watching. Hebrews 12:1 describes the crowd of witnesses cheering us on in our earthly struggles. Revelation 6:9 and Luke 16:19-30 give us an indication that our dear ones do see us but through an eternal lens. What joy to reunite with them! If “a thousand years is as a day, and a day is as a thousand years,” then your husband may die and you follow him ten years later. That’s about fifteen minutes in “heaven” time. He sees you and quips, “Hi, Honey! Late as usual…”

5.     The worship will be awesome!!! Revelation 4:1-11 depicts the glorious scene of unceasing worship before God’s Throne. All are singing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” I don’t care how much or little you enjoy worship now, sing, shout, thank and praise God during your day. God’s presence hangs around when you praise. (Read about the Ark of God and His smoky glory). That should get you going!

Hoping in heaven gives you a different perspective on life.

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Bible Studies

The Rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ

by Tony Evans
written by Tony Evans

People often think of desiring rewards as selfish, but believers know that heavenly rewards are given in recognition of a life lived according to God’s principles. Although these rewards are gained or lost based on our service to Christ, we never have to wonder if we have done enough to earn salvation. Our salvation is a free gift from God that we cannot earn (Ephesians 2:8-10). We can be completely secure in our salvation and in our place as an adopted child in the family of God. As children of God, we are His heirs (Romans 8:17). We are in God’s will to be rewarded. How do we earn rewards? Rewards are based on our level of commitment to Christ. Were we ashamed to be Christians or were we willing to be identified as visible and verbal followers of Christ? One reward will be the public approval of Christ. Other rewards will include levels of rulership and authority that will be granted based on our faithfulness to Christ. Special privileges will also be available to some Christians, but not all. How we live our earthly life will determine the rewards we experience in our eternal life.

We will be rewarded in spite of the challenges we had to overcome. Because of our commitment to Christ, we have the power to overcome sin, suffering, rejection and much more. Scripture tells us we face three enemies—the world, the flesh and the devil. These enemies cannot take away our salvation, but they can divert us from our purpose and calling. To defeat these enemies, we must depend on the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit and remain steadfast in our love for Christ. Even in the face of opposition and struggle, we have no reason to fear. Christ has already overcome the world and we can be overcomers through Him (John 16:33) and in Him are our rewards.

Getting Started

1. People often leave things of value to those they love. What are some things of value God has left His children in His will?

2. Why do people sometimes feel ashamed to be identified as a Christian?

Let’s Get Personal

1. What is your level of commitment to Christ currently? Why do you think your commitment is at that level?

2. Which enemy is the most difficult for you to overcome—the pressure of the world, your flesh and sinful desires, or the devil? Why is that enemy a struggle for you?

3. How has your thinking about rewards been biblical or unbiblical? How will you now incorporate the idea of rewards into your daily decision-making?

Take The Next Step

1. How can you begin to deepen your love for Christ and strengthen your commitment to Him?

2. What steps can you take through the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin, suffering, the devil, and the world?

3. Want to go deeper? Take time to look at the following passages: 2 Corinthians 5:9- 11; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15; Romans 14:10-12; 1 Peter 1:17; Matthew 12:36- 37; Matthew 10:42; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Mark 10:28-31; Romans 2:12; 1 Corinthians 4:2; Colossians 3:23-24; 2 Timothy 2:12; Matthew 16:27; Ephesians 2:8- 10; Revelation 21:4; Ephesians 6:8; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Luke 19:17; 1 John 2:28; 1 Corinthians 15:58; Matthew 19:29; John 12:26; 2 Timothy 4:8; Revelation 22:16; Hebrews 1:14; Hebrews 10:35-36; Hebrews 9:15; Romans 8:17.

Renew Your Mind

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” Colossians 3:23-24

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Articles

8 Myths about Heaven

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

Big books full of Scripture, theology, and quotations from people long dead don’t normally sell well. Yet to my surprise, and the publisher’s, over a million copies of my 2004 book Heaven have sold. Innumerable readers, including pastors, have told me their views of the afterlife have radically changed.

Why? In an age when people try to make doctrines more appealing by ignoring or twisting biblical truth, here’s the irony—the true biblical doctrine of Heaven is far more attractive than the dull, inhuman view of the afterlife that has long prevailed in evangelicalism.

That off-putting perspective still imprisons many believers. Based on countless interactions I’ve had with readers of the book and others over the past sixteen years, here are eight persistent misconceptions about Heaven.

1. “We will spend eternity in the clouds.”

After the final judgment, God will remake the universe itself and then relocate the present Heaven to the New Earth, where He will live with His people (Revelation 21:1–4). The promise of Heaven on earth shouldn’t surprise us, but it’s shocking and suspicious if we’ve always believed something else.

Many throughout history understood this biblical doctrine, including more recent Reformed theologians such as Herman Bavinck, Cornelius Venema, Anthony Hoekema, and Albert Wolters. Sadly, the great majority of evangelicals have not read their books. Even those who have don’t always grasp the implications.

At Bible college and seminary, my last New Testament classes ended with the final judgment in Revelation 20. In eschatology, we examined the pros and cons of a mid-trib rapture, and discussed the millennium, but we never talked about the New Earth, the central subject of Scripture’s last two chapters. So we paid zero attention to the place where we will live with Jesus and each other forever! Pastors who have read Heaven often contact me to share that their education was nearly identical.

As humans, we’re no more drawn to a vague angelic realm than we are to eating gravel. We need to recover the biblical doctrine of Heaven, culminating in the New Earth.

2. “The Bible says very little about Heaven.”

A Christian leader once visited my office, asking what I was researching. “A big book on Heaven,” I answered. He replied, “First Corinthians 2:9 says, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.’ So what will you write about?” I gave my usual response: “You didn’t complete the sentence: ‘but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.’”

When God reveals otherwise undiscoverable truths to us, we’d better pay attention. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (Deuteronomy 29:29). The Bible’s substantial information about the world to come belongs to us—and the Bible provides far more information than most realize (for example, Isaiah 60 is quoted twice in Revelation 22, suggesting it’s about the New Earth).

God wants us to anticipate what awaits us. That’s why Peter says, “According to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

3. “We can learn about Heaven from people’s claims of going there.”

A television network once called my office and asked, “Has Randy been to Heaven?” Our receptionist answered, “If he has, he’s never mentioned it. But he did do years of research in the Bible and church history.” The conversation ended abruptly: “We want to interview people who have actually been there.”

Too often, people view accounts of visiting Heaven as gospel. Obviously, God can show someone the afterlife if He so chooses. But “it is appointed for man to die once” (Hebrews 9:27). Since these stories are told by people who will “die twice,” it seems likely that they did not truly die the first time, even if vital signs weren’t measurable. A person’s memories under heavy sedation—and his or her ability to distinguish dreams from reality—aren’t reliable, but God’s word is (John 17:17).

The apostle Paul, who had been to Heaven, said, “This man was caught up into paradise . . . and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” (2 Corinthians 12:3–4). Many books, however, claim to divulge secrets that, sadly, some readers believe instead of Scripture.

4. “Heaven now will be Heaven later.”

When Christians die, they enter the present Heaven. “Grandma’s now in Heaven” refers to a temporary period between life on earth and the resurrection.

Though the present Heaven is wonderful, “far better” than earth under the curse (Philippians 1:23), it is not the place we’re made for. Our destiny is a resurrected life on a resurrected earth: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them’” (Revelation 21:1–3). Heaven is wherever God dwells and His throne is, and God’s dwelling place and throne will be on the New Earth (Revelation 22:3).

God’s ultimate plan is not to take us up to live with Him in His place (which happens at death). His plan is, rather, to come down after the resurrection to live with us forever in our place, the New Earth. As Jesus is God incarnate, so the New Earth will be Heaven incarnate.

5. “We’ll live forever without a body.”

Plato believed that material things, including bodies, are evil, while immaterial things, such as souls, are good. What I call “Christoplatonism” infects many churches, teaching that human spirits are better off without bodies, and Heaven is a disembodied realm.

Our inability to appreciate the physical nature of the resurrection robs believers of excitement for Heaven. God’s future plan of a renewed physical universe means we will live, eat and drink, laugh and play, rest and work, exercise our gifts as God’s image-bearers, and most importantly, be with, worship, and serve King Jesus.

Jesus spoke of the “renewal of all things” (Matthew 19:28 NIV). Peter preached that Christ will remain in Heaven “until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets” (Acts 3:21). Yet somehow, we’ve overlooked an entire biblical vocabulary. Reconcile. Redeem. Restore. Recover. Return. Renew. Resurrect. God plans to physically restore His entire creation, including us, earth, and animals (Isaiah 11:6–9; 65:17, 25; Romans 8:19–23).

6. “Heaven will be boring.”

Believing that eternal life consists of endless harp strumming furthers Satan’s strategy “to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling” (Revelation 13:6).

Thinking that Heaven will be boring betrays a heresy—that God is boring. Nonsense! God made our taste buds, adrenaline, the nerve endings that convey pleasure to our brains, our imaginations, and our capacity for happiness and excitement.

“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:3 NIV). Servants have things to do, places to go, people to see. Our most common everyday activities will be worship, punctuated by the joy of joining the multitudes to praise Him.

First Corinthians 10:31 will apply just as much in eternity as it does now: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We can worship God now by working, painting, playing, reading, writing, and enjoying every other innocent activity. How much more on a New Earth where righteousness reigns?

7. “We won’t be us anymore or remember our former lives.”

The idea that we’ll lose our identities in Heaven is Hindu, not Christian. Resurrection will forever reestablish us as glorified human individuals.

Christ’s resurrection is our prototype. He proclaimed, “It is I myself” (Luke 24:39). When Thomas said, “My Lord and my God,” he knew he was speaking to the same Jesus he’d lived with for years. Job said, “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself” (Job 19:26–27).

You will be you in Heaven. Who else would you be? Since we’ll give an account of our lives on earth, we must remain us, and our memories will have to be better, not worse. Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe causing us not to recognize family and friends. In fact, if we wouldn’t know our loved ones, the comfort of an afterlife reunion, taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18, would be no comfort at all.

8. “Heaven will be a spiritual realm with no human culture.”

A Bible college professor took offense at my suggestion that culture—including inventions, concerts, drama, and sports—will likely be part of the New Earth. But if we will be God’s resurrected image-bearers living on a resurrected earth, why wouldn’t they be?

We’re told Heaven is a city (Hebrews 11:10; 13:14). Cities have buildings, art, music, commerce, science, and technology. And of course, cities have people engaged in gatherings, conversations, work, and play. Heaven is also a country (Hebrews 11:16). Countries have land, animals, rulers, and citizens who are both diverse and unified. We’re told “the kings of the earth will bring their glory into” the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24).

Culture is the natural, God-intended product of His calling for mankind to rule over creation. If we believe Scripture’s teaching that mankind and earth will exist in physical form, as the entire doctrine of resurrection dictates, then culture must continue. How could it not?

Best Is Yet to Come

Since the resurrection awaits God’s children, we haven’t passed our peak happiness and never will. There’s no need for bucket lists, because our new universe adventures will far exceed this life’s. We really will live happily ever after. That’s not wishful thinking. It’s the blood-bought promise of Jesus.

We should daily look forward to a world without evil, suffering, or death, where God will live with us and wipe away our tears forever (Revelation 21:4). Anticipating the glorious realities of the resurrected earth has breathtaking implications for our present happiness and our sense of the far-reaching scope of the gospel message.

Let’s live upon Heaven’s joys now, jettisoning unbiblical and unworthy views of Heaven, and believing that the best truly is yet to come.

Browse more resources on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy’s related books, including Heaven.
 

Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of fifty-some books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries.

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Articles

Our Most Dangerous Misconceptions about Heaven

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

Of all the misconceptions we have about Heaven, which is the most destructive? That’s a difficult and important question to tackle.

Once, while preaching about the New Earth, I cited passages about feasting together in our resurrection bodies. Afterward, a veteran Bible student asked if I really believed we would eat and drink in the afterlife. I told him yes, since Jesus said so. Visibly shaken, he replied, “Engaging in physical activities in heaven sounds terribly unspiritual.” Standing there with a body God promised to raise, he was repulsed by the thought of living forever as a physical being in a material world.

And he’s not alone. Many Bible-believing Christians would die before denying the doctrine of the resurrection—and yet they don’t fully believe it.

I’ve dialogued with lifelong evangelicals who don’t understand what resurrection means. They really believe they will spend eternity as disembodied spirits. God’s revelation concerning the resurrection and the New Earth—our forever home—eludes them. A Christian university professor wrote, “I was floored and dismayed to discover the vast majority of my students don’t believe in the bodily resurrection.” Some evangelicals even believe we become angels when we die.

If I could eliminate one belief about Heaven, it would be the heresy that the physical world is an enemy of God’s redemptive plan rather than a central part of it.

Dangers of Christoplatonism

I coined the term “Christoplatonism” to capture how Plato’s notion of a good spirit realm and an evil material world hijacked the church’s understanding of heaven. From a Christoplatonic perspective, our souls occupy our bodies like a hermit crab inhabits a seashell.

Plato’s statement Soma sema, “a body, a tomb,” reflected his belief that the spirit’s ideal state is freedom from the body. The first-century Jewish philosopher Philo tried to integrate Plato’s view with Judaism. In the second and third centuries, some church fathers—including Clement and Origen—followed Philo and reinterpreted Scripture.

But the Bible contradicts Christoplatonism from beginning (Genesis 1, God created the heavens and earth) to end (Revelation 21, God will remake the heavens and earth). The gospel itself centers on the resurrected Jesus who, as part of His redemptive work, will resurrect His people and the world He made for them.

Genesis 2:7 says, “The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Adam became alive when God joined his body and spirit together. Your body doesn’t merely house you; in concert with your spirit, it is you.

Jesus redeems our whole person. When believers die, our spirits go to the present Heaven while our bodies go to the grave, awaiting resurrection. We will never be all God intended until body and spirit are reunited in Heaven. And just as our new bodies won’t be non-bodies, but real bodies, so the New Earth will be a real earth, not a non-earth.

Disembodied Gospel

If we believe, even subconsciously, that the material world is inherently unspiritual, we will ignore or spiritualize the resurrection. Some speak of spiritual resurrection, but as the sunrise requires a sun, resurrection requires a physical body. That’s what resurrection means.

The risen Jesus reassured His disciples, “Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have” (Luke 24:39 CSB). Yet some evangelicals imagine an afterlife in which we become ghosts—the very thing Jesus reassured His followers He wasn’t.

Satan wants us to believe eternal life will be unearthly and boring. Then people focus on bucket lists, thinking here and now is their only chance at real human life. Who wants to be a ghost? Why invite others to spend eternity in a heaven we don’t look forward to ourselves? Our joy, hope, and motivation to evangelize diminish. Trying to develop an appetite for an eternity of disembodied existence is like trying to develop an appetite for gravel.

The only good news about this view of Heaven is that it’s absolutely false.

The Bible’s actual teaching should thrill us. Eternity in a redeemed body living in a Jesus-centered culture on a New Earth, capital planet of the new universe? That’s incredibly good news.

What About the Present Heaven?

God never changes, but Heaven will change. The Bible indicates that after our resurrection, God will relocate His central dwelling place to the New Earth:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . . I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Revelation 21:1–3)

We’re told “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it [the New Earth], and his servants will worship him” (Revelation 22:3). Heaven is where God’s throne is, where He dwells with His people. Hence, the New Earth will be Heaven on earth. When Christians die, we go to live with God in His place. That’s the present Heaven. But after the resurrection, God will come down to live with us in our place. The future Heaven, on the New Earth, will not be “us with God” but “God with us.”

We err when we confuse the present pre-resurrection Heaven with the future post-resurrection Heaven that God will bring down to the New Earth. The present Heaven is “far better” (Philippians 1:23) than our lives under the curse of sin and suffering. Upon death, we will be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). But my point is, wonderful though it will be, we shouldn’t think of the present Heaven as if it were our ultimate home. The best is yet to come—eternal and delightful life worshiping and serving the forever-incarnate Jesus on the New Earth.

World Worth Anticipating

Spirits without bodies fit Platonism and Eastern mysticism. They do not fit Christianity. Paul says if there’s no resurrection, we should “be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

New bodies and the New Earth aren’t our inventions; they’re God’s. He created us to live on and rule the earth, and Jesus became man to redeem His creation (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). God’s people should look forward to living forever in a redeemed cosmos (2 Peter 3:13). That is a life-changing perspective.

The present earth, even under sin and curse, teems with clues about the New Earth: mountains, water, trees, people, and cities. Along with other passages, Revelation 21–22 depicts life on the New Earth in familiar ways. We will eat, drink, work, play, worship, discover, invent, and travel in a sinless world like —yet even better than—the one God made for Adam and Eve. The word nations suggests resurrected civilizations, cultures with distinctive ethnic traits (Revelation 21:24, 26). Multiple New Earth passages mention animals (Isaiah 11:6–9; 65:25). What can the rest of “the whole creation” in Romans 8:19–22 be but animals, which along with humans groan and await the resurrection when the earth that fell on our coattails will rise on them?

Settling for Less Than a Redeemed Earth

Jesus promised his disciples a “renewal of all things” (Matthew 19:28 NIV), which the ESV renders “the new world.” Peter preached that Christ won’t return “until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets” (Acts 3:21). With the Lord we love, believers will embark on the ultimate adventure. A magnificent New Earth awaits our exploration and governance, to God’s glory. Jesus will be the cosmic center; joy will be the air we breathe.

Christians are vulnerable to attractive false teachings. Ironically, the true biblical teachings about the new body and New Earth are far more robust and appealing than the false Christoplatonic view of Heaven. Let’s teach our children and our churches what is absolutely true and profoundly attractive.

Does the thought of experiencing a resurrected world appeal to you? Does it ignite your imagination to realize we will live happily ever after on a planet without sin and suffering? Is this part of the good news you share with others? Let’s never settle for less than the full breadth of God’s promised salvation—eternal life with God’s people on a redeemed earth governed by the King of kings, whom we will joyfully worship and serve forever.

epm.org.

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Articles

A New Earth: List Your Forevermore and No More Promises

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

What will we experience on the New Earth?

(Make your own list. This is just a portion of mine.)

Forever more:

  • Closeness to God greater than we’ve ever known
  • The companionship of Jesus
  • Wonderful, loving relationships with people
  • Reunions with family and old friends
  • Making new friends
  • Getting to know angels
  • Seeing how God truly did work all things together for our good
  • Meeting and talking to Christians who impacted us through their writings and lives
  • Happiness
  • Delight
  • Comfort
  • Righteous desires and emotions
  • Perfectly healthy, strong bodies
  • Eating and drinking (redeemed food and taste buds—you may yet discover your favorite food and beverage!)
  • Story-telling around tables and fires
  • Laughter
  • Humor—not degrading and mocking, but enriching
  • Fun that’s worshipful
  • Animals—our favorites kinds, with loving relationships, no harm, no fear
  • Adventures
  • Travel (there are streets, people come in and out of the New Jerusalem, there’s a world to see while serving Jesus)
  • Learning
  • Art—drawing, painting, sculpting, ______
  • Reading literature (poetry, drama, story, nonfiction…)
  • Music
  • Play (hiking, climbing, boating, sports—maybe your favorite sport will be is one you haven’t played yet!)
  • Exploration of a fantastic planet and likely of other redeemed planets and galaxies
  • Astronomy
  • Fulfillment of lost opportunities and dreams
  • Work God has for us that’s fulfilling, engaging, fun, and fascinating
  • Rest
  • Leisure time with God and His people
  • More great things to do than ever
  • Time to do everything!
  • Heartfelt worship with people from every tribe, language, and nation
  • Delightful and engaging service of Jesus

What will we NOT experience on the New Earth because of “No more Curse”?

With the absence of the negatives, ponder the presence of the positives. We’ll have the good that’s the opposite of all the bad—the blessings that correspond to the absence of the curses.

No more:

  • Sin
  • Suffering
  • Death (of children, parents, spouses, siblings, friends)
  • Satan or demons
  • Weeping (out of sorrow or pain)

No more:

  • Sexual immorality
  • Adultery
  • Pornography
  • Lust
  • Sex trafficking
  • Cruelty to people or animals
  • Gender confusion
  • Racism
  • False worldviews

No more:

  • Starvation
  • Polluted drinking water
  • Cancer
  • Blindness or deafness
  • Futility
  • Insanity
  • Dementia
  • Drug abuse

No more:

  • Crime
  • Rape
  • Holocausts
  • Drowning
  • Terrorism
  • Persecution
  • Child abuse (or elder abuse or any abuse)
  • Abortion
  • Murder
  • Slavery
  • School shootings
  • Poverty
  • Homelessness
  • Car accidents
  • Prisons
  • Physician assisted suicide

No more:

  • Lying and deceit
  • Peer pressure
  • Mockery and contempt
  • Tyranny
  • Bullying
  • Jealousy
  • Hatred
  • Self-obsession, self-promotion, self-congratulation, or self-exaltation (No more self? No! A redeemed, Christ-like self!)

No more:

  • Grief
  • Shame
  • Hurt feelings
  • Pandemics, no more COVID
  • Fights about COVID or politics
  • Berating people for their beliefs about the masks or social distancing or vaccination
  • Corrupt and confusing politics
  • Cutting, biting words (tongues finally tamed by righteousness)
  • Snarky, berating, insulting social media posts (You are dishonoring Jesus and pushing people away from Him—please don’t post these and say you are a Christian. Jesus says in Matthew 12:36-37: “On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, or by your words you will be condemned.”)

No more:

  • Blasphemy
  • Questioning God’s goodness and mercy
  • Arrogance
  • Greed
  • Divorce
  • Blame
  • Insecurity
  • Self-pity
  • Hating the way we look, or the things we do
  • Fear
  • Worry
  • Depression
  • Suicide
  • Loneliness
  • Broken relationships

No more:

  • Enemies
  • Torture
  • Tragedies
  • Home invasions
  • Forest fires or homes burned to the ground
  • Natural disasters
  • Sweat shops
  • Witchcraft

No more:

  • Division
  • Alienation
  • Amputations
  • Gossip
  • Phobias
  • Slander
  • Betrayals
  • Broken friendships
  • Rebellion
  • Idolatry

No more:

  • Funerals or hospitals or rest homes
  • Putting to sleep a beloved pet
  • Broken hearts
  • Locking doors
  • Exploitation or neglect of the poor and needy and elderly
  • Poor and needy and elderly!
  • Beatings
  • Exploitation of children
  • Giving up on or demeaning the sick and disabled
  • Big and powerful people deciding small and weak people have no rights

No more:

  • Provoking each other to anger
  • Disobedience
  • Unreasonable expectations
  • False advertising
  • Kidnappings
  • Plane crashes
  • Identity theft
  • Catastrophic business failures
  • Arson

No more:

  • Doubting or distrusting God
  • Sleepless nights
  • Embarrassment
  • Self-consciousness
  • Humiliation
  • Abandonment
  • Regrets
  • Misunderstandings
  • Hurting others’ feelings
  • Trying to figure out whether someone trying to hurt us

No more:

  • Food poisoning
  • Dysentery
  • Tape worms or intestinal parasites
  • Deadly viruses
  • Neuropathy
  • No more ADHD
  • Asthma
  • Autism
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Epilepsy
  • Fetal Alcohol Disorder
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Kidney Disease
  • Meningitis
  • Strokes
  • Agoraphobia
  • Claustrophobia
  • Phobias of any kind

No more:

  • Getting fired
  • Hostility
  • Indifference or apathy about others
  • Grudges
  • Corrupt governments
  • Cursing of God
  • Sense of entitlement
  • Defensiveness
  • Denying Jesus
  • Defrauding others
  • Vanity
  • Bragging
  • Whining and complaining
  • Victims
  • Perceived victimization

No more:

  • Gluttony
  • Prostitution
  • Flattery
  • Rage
  • Revenge
  • False Christs
  • Favoritism
  • Hard hearts
  • Doublemindedness
  • Evil desires
  • Temptation toward sin
  • False worship
  • Demonic influences
  • Assault
  • Being deceived
  • False teaching
  • Laziness
  • Narcissism

No more:

  • Eating disorders
  • Broken bones
  • Back pain
  • Paraplegia
  • Quadriplegia
  • Heart attacks
  • Flu
  • Headaches
  • Stomachaches
  • Acid reflux
  • Neuropathy
  • MS
  • Measles or mumps or chickenpox
  • Shingles
  • Down Syndrome
  • Trisomy 13 or 18
  • Lyme disease
  • Birth defects
  • Arthritis
  • Rheumatism
  • Allergies
  • Loss of limbs

No more:

  • False promises
  • Broken promises
  • Broken marriages
  • Sickness of any kind
  • Weakness
  • Getting weaker as we age
  • Petty hurtful arguments
  • Media bias
  • False accusations
  • Separation from our spiritual family
  • Boredom
  • Alcoholism
  • Addictions
  • Violence
  • Contradictory studies “proving” that opposite positions are true (regarding COVID, masks, vaccination, etc.)
  • Choosing to believe only the “facts” stated by people who think like we do
  • Ridicule

No more:

  • Judgmentalism
  • Self-righteousness
  • Being proud of what we should be ashamed of
  • Abuse—sexual or verbal or any other kind
  • Condemnation
  • Self-justification
  • Putting people “in their place”
  • Chauvinism
  • Pain about past injustices
  • Assuming that someone is a racist or chauvinist

No more:

  • Plots
  • Anarchy
  • Riots
  • Oppression
  • Taking verses out of context
  • Envy
  • Bitterness, resentment, and grudges
  • Getting fired or going out of business
  • Insurance and taxes
  • Feeling superior
  • Feeling unworthy
  • Stubbornness
  • Assuming we know what we don’t
  • Self-harm
  • Grudges
  • Ingratitude
  • False religion

No more:

  • Assuming the worst
  • Stealing
  • Suspicion
  • Disillusionment
  • Despair
  • Death of dreams
  • Wrong or misguided dreams
  • Unqualified or incompetent leaders
  • Moral compromise
  • Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl and other minor irritations
  • www.epm.org
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Articles

Walking with Jesus Through Loss

by Jan Shrader
written by Jan Shrader

Losing a spouse is heart-wrenching. Loving a spouse through a terminal illness is even worse. Many of us have walked paths of deep sorrow in these uncertain days. But a few faith-filled men and women seem to shine in the midst of trials and face the pain head-on. Jan Shrader, long-time pastor’s wife and pastor’s daughter, is one of those “shining saints.” Here’s her testimony:

 

“I hate to exercise.  So, if I dislike it why do I continue to exercise?  It’s because the benefits it brings into my life are worth the discomfort.  If I regularly work out I don’t have to watch my diet so closely.  And, I like the endorphins my body makes when I exercise.  These ever-important hormones help me keep my emotions on a more even keel and help make me more resilient.  So, I exercise even though I seriously dislike it.

 

I have tried numerous times to trick my mind into not realizing I was actually working out.  When I was younger I would ride a stationary bike or walk on a treadmill while I was engrossed in reading a heart-stopping mystery novel.  When my parents became ill I started running because I desperately needed the benefits of exercise and I didn’t have a lot of time.  But, after seven years I never learned to love running.  I am a talker, so I have found walking and talking with a friend helps me to ignore that my body is sweating.  Eventually though, I found a job full of physical labor at a cactus nursery where I marched over ten acres helping my customers find precious treasures.  My all-time favorite exercise plan was working at the cactus nursery because it felt like I was getting paid to go to the gym.

 

In May 2019, I learned my husband Gary had a brain tumor called glioblastoma. They were able to successfully remove his tumor that very week.  But, suddenly I wanted to leave my job and spend as much time as I could with him.  I didn’t know what the future held, but I knew I wanted to put Gary first.  Unfortunately, as soon as I quit trekking across ten acres I started gaining weight.

 

And then, in March 2020 Covid-19 hit us all and it felt like the entire world had moved into the “Limbo Land” I had entered back in May of 2019.  All of us were, so frustrated together.  Like everyone else in this time of social distancing, I have found it hard to get off the couch and stay active.

 

In scripture God often describes our relationship with him as a walk.  God reminded me of this truth while I was trying to find the motivation to keep exercising.  Look at Micah 6:8

 

“He has told you, O man what is good: and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? ”  ESV

 

Gary’s doctors didn’t offer us hope for his future.  They said they could only prolong his days, but they couldn’t cure him.  Thankfully, God is always in control, but their words started me thinking about loss.  What would it be like if I walked with Jesus through this season where I was living daily with the unknown?  Meditating on this concept has brought me great comfort.  All of us will suffer one kind of loss or another in life.  In Luke 24 there is a famous walk with Jesus that has given me fresh revelation about what it means to keep in step with God.  Look at Luke 24:13-36.

 

            “That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?”  And they stood still, looking sad.  Then one of them named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not   know the things that have happened there in these days?”  And he said to them, “What things?”  And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.  But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.  Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.  Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.  They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.  Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”  And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all    the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

 

            So they drew near to the village to which they were going.  He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now spent.”  So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at table with them, he took the bread and      blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  And their eye were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.  They said to each other.”Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”  And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.  And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”  Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. 

 

            As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”  ESV            

 

When we walk through our loss with Jesus, we will sense His presence.

The phrase “That very day…” at the beginning of verse 13 refers to the first day of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Remember that on Good Friday Jesus’ followers had experienced a staggering bereavement.  The one they thought would be crowned the King of Israel had savagely been put to death on a cross by their own religious leaders.  The Christ who had healed the blind, raised the dead and confronted religious hypocrisy at every level was now dead.  The one they thought was the long ago promised Messiah, had died tragically without saving himself.  In their grief they some how missed that Jesus was standing right in front of them.

 

Everyone experiences loss in life.  But in our sorrow can we still recognize Jesus’ presence, His comfort, His love?  Grief is not a lack of faith.  The scriptures don’t exactly spell out what blinded these poor disciples, but their sorrow was immense.  Sadness is a normal reaction to suffering, but notice Jesus’ desire to be with them while they grieved.  God is with us in sorrow even before we call out his name.  This is His promise.  In Psalm 34:18-19 the Psalmist wrote,

 

           “The Lord is near the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.  Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him, out of them all.”  ESV

 

My mom and dad were very sick for four years before they died.  One day I found myself following the ambulance that was taking my mom to the hospital with tears running down my face.  In great pain I cried out to God and prayed, “Lord I can’t take this.”

 

And, then with gentleness I heard him say, “I am not going to take your mother in calamity.”

 

My peace returned with those words.  I had to remind myself of this promise many times over the next couple of years, but God was right.  Both my Mom and my Dad died peacefully in their sleep with no calamity.

 

In our affliction we need to invite God to meet us in our sorrows, allow His presence to comfort us, and hold us in the midst of our tragedy.  We walk with Jesus through our loss not to avoid pain, but to process our pain.  None of us can control when or how trouble comes to us, but we can control our openness to God.  Jesus has risen and experiencing his loving presence will change everything.

 

How could experiencing Jesus’ presence in the midst of a loss transform us?

 

When we walk through our loss with Jesus, He will help us interpret our circumstances.

I believe the road to Emmaus is a metaphor for walking with Jesus through a loss.  Unfortunately, these new believers were trying to interpret their circumstances without listening for God’s revelation.  And, things were not as they seemed.

 

Like these early believers, we need to learn to let Jesus show us what is happening and not jump to our own conclusions.  The worst thing these Christ followers could imagine had happened.  Jesus had died!  But, God had also planned a glorious resurrection.  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was going to make all things possible, all things new.

 

We are great recorders of our trauma, but lousy interpreters.  We remember the pain in living technicolor, but we are deaf and blind to God’s purposes and presence in the midst of our sorrow.  Resurrection is never experienced without a death.  The death of a dream, a marriage, a loved one or a desire, a desire so strong it has kept us from seeing the bigger picture.  This is the power of the Resurrection.  After we have walked with Jesus through our sorrow not only will we be ok, things will actually look different to us.

 

I have wanted God to miraculously heal Gary and I have prayed for this.  But, whether God heals him or not eventually God will make Gary whole.  The truth is if Gary dies he will go to his reward and hear those precious words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”  My Gary is more than ready to meet his loving Savior Jesus.

 

It is hard for me to imagine today, but because of the richness of God’s mercy I will also be made whole.  I can say this today, because my faith is not in myself or my abilities.  Jesus will not leave me alone in my grief.  This doesn’t mean I won’t suffer.  Remember what Psalm 34:19 said, Many are the afflictions of the righteous.  Grief is hard work.  But, God promises to walk with me through both my rough and smooth paths, through my hills and my valleys.  He will comfort me and He will sustain me.  He will never abandon me.

 

The truth is that unless Jesus returns soon, none of us are going to get off of this planet alive.  What we do with our pain does make a difference.  It is emotionally exhausting for us to try and decipher what is truly happening.  Only Jesus can make sense of our losses.

 

What might change if we stayed open to God’s interpretation of our circumstances?

  

When we walk through our loss with Jesus, He will help us apply the scriptures.

These poor disciples wanted Jesus to be a Messiah who would deliver them from Roman oppression.  But, these strong personal desires eventually made them unable to see a greater deliverance.  We can also practice this foolishness.  Review Jesus’ words from the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:25-27.

 

            “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not  necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things             concerning himself.”  ESV

 

Sadly, these early Christ followers were ignoring the very Old Testament passages which would have given them hope. Scriptures like Isaiah 52:13-53:12 expressed the suffering Messiah so vividly.

 

Unfortunately, we can make the same mistakes.  Our strong wills can cause us to avoid certain passages or never even open our Bibles.  Only God’s Holy Spirit living inside of us can teach us how to understand God’s precious Word.

 

If God taught us how his Word applied to our suffering who might benefit from this knowledge?

 

Since Gary has been sick I have often awakened in the night unable to fall back asleep.  Some people like to sing worship songs in their head when this happens, but songs have always created “ear worms” in my head.  Singing silently even a praise chorus does not help me fall back asleep.

 

Instead, I have learned that reciting scripture helps me capture my thoughts during spells of insomnia and I fall asleep meditating on a truth found in the passage I have been repeating.  Recently, I decided to memorize Psalm 23 in a new translation. As a child I had memorized it in the King James Version, but now I needed a more modern version to combat my sleepless moments.

 

Ironically, there is one phrase in Psalm 23 I keep forgetting. “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”  I believe the reason why this phrase alludes me is because I want to pick my own acts of righteousness. I want to choose what I do for Jesus, and I want to selfishly pick actions that make me look good.  But, that is not God’s way.  Jesus wants to walk with me down paths where only He gets the glory.  In Ephesians 2:10 Paul seems to agree with the Psalmist David.  Listen to his words.

 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared  beforehand that we should walk in them.”  ESV

 

Again this Ephesian verse contains that mighty word “WALK”, which God loves to use to describes our relationship with Him.  Jesus will make all things new, even our suffering and our losses.  How will you process your losses?  Will you walk alone or will you walk with God?”

 

 

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Devotionals

The Eternal Perspective: Living in the Light of Eternity

by Tony Evans
written by Tony Evans

“But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells” 2 Peter 3:13

In our Scripture text, the Apostle Peter warns believers that they will face mockers who scoff at their anticipation of the end times. He assures them, that in God’s perfect timing, judgment will make way for a new heaven and a new earth. The believer’s responsibility in light of this assurance is to live life in such a way that demonstrates your expectance of eternity. Having an eternal focus means we must live in light of God’s perspective. God does not look at time in the same way that we do. His timetable is not our timetable. While He is patient with us, God works on His own clock .We do ourselves a disservice when we evaluate things by our clock and calendar rather than by His. This is why the believers in 2 Peter 3:1-14 were to be encouraged in light of the scoffers, although it seemed that God’s timing was slow from a human perspective, God’s timing supersedes our understanding. We must be willing to trust His wisdom by adjusting our lives according to the timetable that He sets in place. We must also live in light of God’s Word. This means that we live according to God’s will in all things with anticipation of His final reign. We are to reject the tendency to live like those who have no desire to allow the Word of God to bring change to their lives. Scoffers question God’s Word because they do not want it to interfere with their lifestyles and choices. We who hold to the truth of God’s Word must take it seriously. If we intend to live in light of God’s perspective and His Word we must also consider His priorities. Living in light of God’s priorities means that the eternal is weighed more heavily than the temporal. When we learn to distinguish and choose rightly between the temporal and the eternal, we will begin to live in light of the new world that is to come and it will be a driving force in what we say and do. An eternal focus leads us to live righteously, with holiness and godliness, not allowing those who question the Word of God to lessen our focus on eternity. The culture today is in desperate need of Christians who will unapologetically shift their lives to reflect an eternal focus and openly oppose that which slights the Word of God. We need to be Christians who live in anticipation of God’s promise of a new heaven and new earth in which righteousness dwells.

1. In what ways are we tempted to adapt our lives to the culture? What makes maintaining an eternal focus challenging for believers?

2. Share an example of when you or someone you know benefited from living life with an eternal focus among a morally decaying culture.

3. Imagine a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells and there is no sin. Considering what has been promised, what thoughts or feelings are evoked concerning the life you live today?

4. What is one area of your life that would benefit from a greater eternal focus?

5. Since some of what God determines to do is based on what we choose to do or not do, what do you need to begin doing or stop doing in order to see God work in your life?

6. Who is influencing you to move away from God? Who are you influencing to move towards God?

 

 

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Devotionals

Why is Jesus So Powerful?

by Francis Chan
written by Francis Chan

Easter is the time when we celebrate Christ’s power. We celebrate this verse in Revelation, when He says “I was dead, and now I am alive forever.” I hold the keys to Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18) That’s what we celebrate-a Jesus of power. If we see Jesus as weak, it causes us to be weak as His followers.

People hated Jesus. Why do you think they nailed Him to a cross? Was it because He was kind and compassionate all the time? No, because He went against the culture of the day. He opposed the authorities of the day. It’s not a popular message. Why do you think He was crucified?

Jesus began His ministry with powerful words. In Matthew 5:20, when He launched His public ministry, Christ went straight to the religious leaders, the people that everyone respected and followed. They had so much status, and Jesus goes right after them and declared, “…unless your righteousness exceeds the scribes and the Pharisees, you’ll never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Do you realize what a bold statement that is? He basically saying that the religious leaders are going to hell. The disciples talked about the religious leaders, worried of their disapproval. Jesus said in Matthew 15:14, “Leave them alone. They are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

Jesus castigated the wealthy. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus cries, “You can’t serve two masters. Either you’ll hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other.” “You cannot serve God and money.” He’s giving the people an ultimatum. You can’t have both. The very next chapter, Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus taught about judgment day. “On that day, many are going to say, ‘Lord, Lord. Didn’t I prophesy, didn’t I do all these things in your name?” He says “On that day, I am going to say to some people, ‘get away from me. I never knew you.” This is Jesus, starting His ministry, getting warmed up here. Matthew 7:28 says  “…the crowd was astonished at His teaching. For He was teaching them as One who had authority.”

Jesus stilled the storm. Matthew 8:23-27 describes Jesus stilling the wind and the waves, controlling the weather by His power. The disciples, terrified, query “What manner of man is this that the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus cast out demons. Chapter 8:28-33 reports the story of Jesus casting out demons in the Gadarene demoniac. The people of Gadara begged Him to leave. Why? Because He rocked their world. Matthew writes in Matthew 9:1-8 of the healed paralytic man who stood up and walked and freaked out the crowds who were in awe that God had given such authority to men. Jesus was no ordinary man. He was God Almighty.

Jesus holds the keys to death and hell. Christ speaks very plainly in verse 32. “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I’ll acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I’ll deny you before my Father who is in heaven. Whoever loves father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake and the sake of the gospel will find it.”

Every chapter in Matthew describes the mighty Jesus. Jesus was very direct. You love your sin, you love your stuff, then don’t even bother following me. I’m a great God. Take up your cross. Follow me. This Jesus, this powerful Jesus, turning over the Temple tables, brutally crucified and raised from the dead. This is the Jesus we worship.

Revelation 1:17-18:

“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

 

 

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Articles

What is the Tree of Life in Heaven?

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

In Revelation, after the apostle John describes the river of life, he mentions another striking feature: “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).

The tree of life is mentioned three times in Genesis 2, in Eden, and again four times in Revelation, three of those in the final chapter. These instances seem to refer to Eden’s literal tree of life. We’re told the tree of life is presently in Paradise, the intermediate Heaven (Revelation 2:7). The New Jerusalem itself, also in the present Heaven, will be brought down, tree of life and all, and placed on the New Earth (Revelation 21:2). Just as the tree was apparently relocated from Eden to the present Heaven, it will be relocated again to the New Earth.

In Eden, the tree appears to have been a source of ongoing physical life. The presence of the tree of life suggests a supernatural provision of life as Adam and Eve ate the fruit their Creator provided. Adam and Eve were designed to live forever, but to do so they likely needed to eat from the tree of life. Once they sinned, they were banned from the Garden, separated from the tree, and subject to physical death, just as they had experienced spiritual death. Since Eden, death has reigned throughout history. But on the New Earth, our access to the tree of life is forever restored. (Notice that there’s no mention of a tree of the knowledge of good and evil to test us. The redeemed have already known sin and its devastation; they will desire it no more.)

In the New Earth, we will freely eat the fruit of the same tree that nourished Adam and Eve: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). Once more human beings will draw their strength and vitality from this tree. The tree will produce not one crop but twelve. The newness and freshness of Heaven is demonstrated in the monthly yield of fruit. The fruit is not merely to be admired but consumed.

The description of the tree of life in Revelation 22 mirrors precisely what’s prophesied in the Old Testament: “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing” (Ezekiel 47:12).

Commentator William Hendriksen suggests:

“The term ‘tree of life’ is collective, just like ‘avenue’ and ‘river.’ The idea is not that there is just one single tree. No, there is an entire park: whole rows of trees alongside the river; hence, between the river and the avenue. And this is true with respect to all the avenues of the city. Hence, the city is just full of parks, cf. Rev. 2:7. Observe, therefore, this wonderful truth: the city is full of rivers of life. It is also full of parks containing trees of life. These trees, moreover, are full of fruit.”[1]

This broader view of the tree of life would account for the fact that the tree grows on both sides of a great river at once and yields twelve different kinds of fruit. (Of course, even if Hendriksen is wrong in supposing that the tree of life is collective, it is reasonable that just as there were other trees in Eden, there will be other trees on the New Earth.)

John also tells us that “the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2). For the third time in Revelation 21–22, the inhabitants of the New Earth are referred to as nations. Nations will not be eliminated but healed. But since we won’t experience pain or disease in Heaven, what’s the point of leaves for healing? Perhaps they, like the tree’s fruit, will have life-sustaining or life-enhancing properties that will help people maintain health and energy. Our physical life and health, even our healing, comes not from our intrinsic immortal nature but from partaking of God’s gracious provision in the fruit and leaves of the tree of life. Hence, our well-being is not granted once for all but will be forever sustained and renewed as we depend on Him and draw from His provision.

Browse more resources on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy’s related books, including Heaven.

[1] William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors: An Interpretation of the Book of Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1961), 249.

www.epm.org. Used by permission.

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Ask Roger

Why Should We Work for Crowns in Heaven?

by Roger Barrier
written by Roger Barrier

Dear Roger,
I have a question about what has been termed to be “earning my crown.” My husband and I want to hear your explanation of what earning “jewels in the crown” means. My parents have told me that by doing good works on earth they are earning jewels in their crowns and they will receive a greater reward in heaven. It seems to us that when we go to some kind of a “system” to be rewarded in heaven, that’s defeating the purpose, and is almost Pharisaical. If we choose to do things saying we are doing that act to glorify God in order to get a reward…to me it smacks of religion, rather than relationship with the Lord. Can you enlighten us?
–Kathi

Dear Kathi,

Should a Christian Work for Rewards?

A resounding “yes!”

Please look up and digest 2 Corinthians 3:10-15 where Paul describes Jesus’ process for determining how well or how poorly we spent our lives on earth. The more profitable our lives, the more rewards we earn, the greater will be the position that we will have in heaven. Some Christians will be disappointed.

The Soul Winner’s Crown of Evangelism

“For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19)

A person’s greatest glory lies in those whom he/she has helped on the path to Christ.

Jim Tosh was the first person I helped on the path to Christ. I was seven years old and very excited about my faith. He was in the fourth grade and I was in the second. We were on the playground at school when I told him about the little lost lamb that Jesus talked about that needed a Savior. I told Jim that he was a lost sheep who needed to be found. He became a Christian right then and there.

We were baptized together three weeks later. Nine years after that he rounded a curve too fast and his “new” first car was totaled. His head hit the rear-view mirror and instantly he transitioned into Heaven’s glory. We were good friends, but I wished that he’d stayed around a little longer. I’m so glad that I talked to him about Jesus.

By the way, many surveys taken over the years declare that 98% of all Christians have never experienced the joy of leading a single person to Christ.

“Will there be any stars in my crown?” is an old hymn that has transcended generations. The melody has changed often. The idea is that we receive the soul-winners crown when we first lead somebody to Christ as Lord and Savior. Every time we lead another person to Christ, a star is attached to our crown!

The Pastor’s Crown of Glory

“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away” (1 Peter 5:4)

Remember that Jesus called his disciples to be “fishers of men.” But don’t forget that when Jesus restored Peter to fellowship in John 21, he made it quite clear that while Peter was still to fish for fish; Peter was to shepherd Jesus’ lambs and sheep.

We follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He was the chief Shepherd. We are shepherds, too.

Any Christian who has led someone to know Christ, knows what a thrill it is to point to some person who has done well, and be able to say, “That was one of my boys/girls.”

John wrote, “I have no greater joy to hear than that my children walk in truth” (3 John 4).

This crown is reserved for those who care for, mentor, and help mature Christ’s spiritual children and into spiritual mothers and fathers.

You don’t have to be a pastor to earn this crown. Any Bible study leader or teacher is qualified to receive this crown.

The Eternal Crown of Self-Discipline

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Corinthians 9:25)

The righteous live lives that are holy and pure. In every issue of life they want to do what is right.

Paul insists that Christians who wanted to take the easy way would never get anywhere without the sternest of self-discipline. Paul was always fascinated by the picture of the athlete. An athlete must train with intensity to win his contest. Self-discipline is training to win a crown of laurel leaves that wither and die within days. How much more should the Christian be self-disciplined to win the crown that is eternal life!

I recall driving one day and seeing a man playing golf. It just so happened that I passed that way again next week. Rain was pounding down in horizontal sheets. However, there he was, still playing golf in the raging rain.

That is dedicated self-discipline. May God grant us the self-control to be much more dedicated to Christ than he was to golf.

The Crown of Rejoicing: the Loving Anticipation of the Second Coming

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8)

I can hardly wait for the second coming of Jesus. My wife and I argue about just when that might occur. She says that Jesus will come before the seven years of tribulation on earth. I say that he will come right at the middle of the tribulation when Jesus opens the seven seals, the angels blow seven trumpets, and God pours out his seven bowls of wrath upon the earth.

I finally decided to pray for the second coming her way. Jesus will come at the beginning of the seven-year tribulation so that we could hold hands heading up to heaven at the rapture.

Remember, live as if Jesus were coming in the next 10 minutes. But plan as if He were not coming for another 100 years.

Victor’s Crown of Righteousness

“Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules” (2 Timothy 2:5)

Paul says in Ephesians 6:10-17 that not only will Jesus give us the victor’s crown because of our godly living on earth, he gives us the crown of righteousness to use as protection from the attacks of the devil.

It is important to pray daily that every decision we make will be right. One of our church businessmen said to his employees, “If we get half of our decisions correct, we’ve done well.” I think that we all can do better than that. We have the Holy Spirit within to guide us.

When our church property ran out of parking spaces, I decided the church should buy the surrounding houses for more space. Many of the neighbors worked hard to stymie our attempt. We ended up before the city zoning commission and made our appeal. Many angry homeowners fought us and won. I was so humiliated, but rightly so.

One of the zoning commissioners said, “You’d think that a church could get along better with its neighbors, after all doesn’t the Bible say, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house?”

That was one of the worst decisions that I ever made.

The Martyr’s Crown

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” (Revelation 2:10)

The band “DC Talk” published a contemporary collection of Christian martyrs and persecutions around the world. More Christians are being persecuted and martyred today than at any other time in world history.

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, one Christian observed an act of martyrdom that she later repeated. From her cell window, she saw two young Christian women kneeling before their pastor. He was told to shoot both girls or he himself would be shot. He hesitated. One of the girls said, “It’s okay pastor. We know you are in a rough position. We understand if you shoot. After all, we will be going to heaven!

In a moment of great weakness their pastor pulled the trigger twice. Both girls slumped dead. But the ordeal was not finished. Once again the gun fired. The pastor was shot anyway.

The Victor’s Crown of Perseverance

“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Revelation 3:11)

Remember, the real test is not how we start, but how we finish.

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12)

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!” (Philippians 4:1)

Demas is mentioned three times in the New Testament:

“Demas and Luke, my fellow workers” (Philemon 1:24).

“Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings” (Colossians 4:14)

“For Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica” (2 Timothy 4:10)

Notice the downward flow: he is working closely with Paul; then, he is mentioned with no appellation. Finally, he has deserted Paul.

Three points on a graph describe his downward spiral away from Jesus! He started well, but ended poorly.

We find it easy to love this present age. We make fine beginnings, but then some comfortable corner of this present age invites us, and our Christian profession lapses, and our faith grows formal, and we do not amount to much in the end as Christians. If I should accuse some of us of being Judas, we would be indignant. But Demas – how many of us have been that!

Why did you do it, Demas? The answer: He loved this present age. Rome was so appealing. So many worthy activities he desired. Such power. Such opportunity. He couldn’t resist.

However, of all the surprises in history, can we think of anything more surprising, with Nero on his throne and Paul in his prison, that the gospel for which Paul stood would outlast the Roman Empire? The person who has faith in God expects that to happen. So, even if it takes a lifetime, he carries on.

So we name our dogs Nero and our children Paul.

Staying power is commonly associated with profound resources of interior strength that replenish our faith.

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne they lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11)

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (http://www.biblestudytools.com/search/?t=niv&q=php+2Philippians 2:9-11).

So why should we work to earn heavenly crowns? Because we will lay them at Jesus’ feet!

Kathi, I hope this helps to answer your question.

Love, Roger

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The Great White Throne Judgment of Christ

by Tommy Nelson
written by Tommy Nelson

“…on the day when according to my gospel God will judge the secrets of men through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 2:16)

“He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world through a man…” (Acts 17:31)

Jesus Christ is not only man’s savior but is also man’s judge.  He will either have taken man’s judgment on the cross or He will deliver God’s judgment at the Great White Throne.  Either way Christ will be the one who is the judge of all sin.

“For not even the Father judges anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father.” (John 5:22-23)

What is the Great White Throne Judgment?  It is that judgment of all lost men.  When a lost man dies now his soul goes to a place called Hades which is a “holding place” for the souls of lost men.  According to Luke 16:23-24 it is indeed not a pleasant place.  “Agony”, “flames” and “torment” are terms that describe Hades.  But in Revelation 20:11-15 it states that Hades will give up its dead to stand before the throne.  It states that their bodies come to life.  In other words all men shall be raised indestructible.  Some to endure heaven.  Others to endure hell.  The Bible attributes this resurrection to Christ.  In John 5:28-29, “…for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”  Christ is man’s final judge.

The bodies of those who have refused the salvation of God through His mercy will be raised.  John wrote that “even the sea gave up the dead.” (Rev. 20:13)  John wrote also that “heaven and earth fled away and no place was found for them.” (Rev. 20:11)  This is what Peter meant when he said, “the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Pet. 3:10)  It’s what Jesus meant when He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not pass away.” (Matt. 24:35)  It’s what Paul, Isaiah and Jesus meant when all three said, “the old things passed away.” (2 Cor. 5:17, Rev. 21:4, Is. 65:17)  There will be a terminus to history and the universe.

According to Rev. 20:13 men will be judged by what they have done.  “The books will be opened.” (Dan. 7:10)  Men will see their works and their sins.  And then the Lamb’s Book of Life will be opened.  It is a book that records no sins, only the names of those who are found in Christ.  Those whose names are not there shall be cast into the lake of fire.  Evil shall finally be punished.  Sin that began in Genesis 3 in the Garden of Eden, sin that was judged on Calvary, the sin that God was patient with as it refused God for now 20 plus centuries is finally dealt with.  How thick would your Bible be if you were God?

Jesus Christ will eliminate death as man will soon go into the Age of Eternity where he will look upon the Father face to face.  He will- as the last Adam- have brought everything under the rule and footstool of God.  “All things under His feet.”  This Genesis 1 and 2 verse spoken to Adam, lost through Adam’s sin, is now restored in Jesus Christ.

You know what’s wonderful?  His victory will be ours also!  Paul said, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your(the Christian’s) feet.” (Rom. 16:20)  We who are joint-heirs.

Indeed has God “put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as Head over all things unto the church, which is His body…” (Eph. 1:22-23)

“The last enemy shall be death” (1 Cor. 15:26) which shall be no more.

What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus

                What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord.

Our Incomparable Christ!

www.dentonbible.org/notes.

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Will Heaven Be Boring?

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov said, “I don’t believe in an 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.”

Sadly, even among Christians, it’s a prevalent myth that Heaven will be boring. Sometimes we can’t envision anything beyond strumming a harp and polishing streets of gold. We’ve succumbed to Satan’s strategies “to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place” (Revelation 13:6).

People sometimes say, “I’d rather be having a good time in Hell than be bored out of my mind in Heaven.” Many imagine Hell as a place where they’ll hang around and shoot pool and joke with friends. That could happen on the New Earth, but not in Hell.

Hell is a place of torment and isolation, where friendship and good times don’t exist. Hell will be deathly boring. Everything good, enjoyable, refreshing, fascinating, and interesting originates with God. Without God, there’s nothing interesting to do. David wrote, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, NKJV). Conversely, outside of God’s presence, there is no joy.

Our belief that Heaven will be boring betrays a heresy—that God is boring. There’s no greater nonsense. What’s true is that our desire for pleasure and the experience of joy come directly from God’s hand. God designed and gave us our taste buds, adrenaline, sex drives, and the nerve endings that convey pleasure to our brains. Likewise, our imaginations and our capacity for joy and exhilaration were made by the very God we accuse of being boring! Do we imagine that we ourselves came up with the idea of fun?

“Won’t it be boring to be good all the time?” Note the underlying assumption: Sin is exciting, righteousness is boring. We’ve fallen for the devil’s lie. His most basic strategy, the same one he employed with Adam and Eve, is to make us believe that sin brings fulfillment. But the opposite is true. Sin robs us of fulfillment. Sin doesn’t make life interesting; it makes life empty. Sin doesn’t create adventure; it blunts it. Sin doesn’t expand life; it shrinks it. Sin’s emptiness inevitably leads to boredom. When there’s fulfillment, when there’s beauty, when we see God as He truly is—an endless reservoir of fascination—boredom becomes impossible.

Those who believe there can’t be excitement without sin think with sin-poisoned minds. Drug addicts are convinced that without their drugs they can’t live happy lives. In fact—as everyone else can see—drugs make them miserable. Freedom from sin will mean freedom to be what God intended, freedom to find far greater joy in everything. In Heaven we’ll be filled, as Psalm 16:11 describes it, with joy and eternal pleasures.

Another reason why people assume Heaven is boring is that their Christian lives are boring. That’s not God’s fault. He calls us to follow Him in an adventure that should put us on life’s edge. If we’re experiencing the invigorating stirrings of God’s Spirit, trusting Him to fill our lives with divine appointments, and experiencing the childlike delights of His gracious daily kindnesses, then we’ll know that God is exciting and Heaven is exhilarating. What else could they be?

As for having nothing to do in Heaven, we’re going to help God run the universe (Luke 19:11-27). We’ll have an eternity full of things to do. The Bible’s picture of resurrected people at work in a vibrant society on a resurrected earth couldn’t be more compelling. (No wonder Satan works so hard to rob us of it.)

God will give us renewed minds and marvelously constructed bodies, full of energy and vision. James Campbell says, “The work on the other side, whatever be its character, will be adapted to each one’s special aptitude and powers. It will be the work he can do best; the work that will give the fullest play to all that is within him.”[i]

Even under the Curse, we catch glimpses of how work can be enriching, how it can build relationships, and how it can help us to improve ourselves and our world. Work stretches us in ways that make us smarter, wiser, and more fulfilled.

The God who created us to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) will not abandon this purpose when He resurrects us to inhabit the new universe.

We are told that we will serve God in Heaven (Revelation 7:15; 22:3). Service is active, not passive. It involves fulfilling responsibilities, in which we expend energy. Work in Heaven won’t be frustrating or fruitless; it will involve lasting accomplishments, unhindered by decay and fatigue, and enhanced by unlimited resources. We’ll approach our work in Heaven with the same enthusiasm we now bring to our favorite sports or hobbies.

In Heaven, we’ll reign with Christ, exercise leadership and authority, and make important decisions. This implies specific delegated responsibilities for those under our leadership, as well as specific responsibilities given to us by our leaders (Luke 19:17-19). We’ll set goals, devise plans, and share ideas. Our best workday on Earth—when everything turns out better than we planned, when we get everything done on time, when everyone on the team pulls together and enjoys each other—is just a small foretaste of the joy our work will bring us on the New Earth.

If you think that life in God’s new universe will be boring, you’re just not getting it. Imagine the flowers that botanists will study (and enjoy), the animals that zoologists will research (and play with). Gifted astronomers may go from star system to star system, galaxy to galaxy, studying the wonders of God’s creation. A disembodied existence would be boring, but our resurrection to bodily life on the New Earth will forever put boredom to death.

www.epm.org. Used by permission of the author.

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Bucket List? You Only Live Forever!

by Russell Moore
written by Russell Moore

Why would a Christian need a bucket list? We have all of eternity for joy, excitement and adventure. He writes,  

“I often cringe when I hear Christians talk about the lists of things they want to do before they die: “I really want to go sky-diving, at least once, before I die” or “I want to, just one time, climb Mount Kilimanjaro before I’m too old to do it” or “I want to see the pyramids, before I’m gone.” There’s nothing wrong, of course, with wanting to do these things, but often the hidden subtext is: “You only live once.”

The assumption behind this is deeply un-Christian, the idea that our span of life is merely the next ten or twenty or a hundred years. If we assume that what’s waiting for us beyond the grave is a postlude rather than a mission and an adventure, we will cling tenaciously to the status quo, or at least the parts of it we like. We will want to, just like the pagans, want to eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die. (Regardless of all this, you probably should see the pyramids, though, if you want to, since the Book of Exodus casts a little doubt as to whether Pharaoh’s monuments will make it to the new earth).

If Jesus is telling us the truth, however, our life planning ought to be about the next trillion years, and beyond. We as Christians need to recover a holistic vision of what the kingdom of Jesus is and what it means for us both now and later. Unless we do, will fundamentally misunderstand how this life relates to the next, and imagine that our earthly years are nothing more than a ferry to take us into eternity.

The Apostle Paul tells us that our citizenship is not here but in heaven (Phil. 3:18-20). But it is crucial to understand that Paul’s main point is not that heaven is away from earth, but that Jesus is in heaven. Of heaven, Paul wrote: “and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20b-21). That’s why Jesus taught on “seeking first the kingdom” in the context of worry about economic provision (Matt. 6). If we don’t see how the kingdom come informs this life now, we become frantic about the things of this life, wanting to make them ultimate. Or, we act as though justice and righteousness are irrelevant since, after all, what is really waiting for us is worship, so why should we be concerned about those who have no food or clothing, those whose lives are in jeopardy?

When we think this way, we become, either by frantic engagement or by disengagement with the communities around us, worldly (a word that isn’t used much nowadays). Being worldly means to be shaped and patterned by the world around us. Worldliness does not mean caring about what’s happening in the world; on the contrary, James simultaneously says for us to remain “unspotted from the world” and to care for widows and orphans in their distress (Jas. 1:27). Worldliness means that we acquiesce to the priorities and the agenda of the systems now governing the world, in many cases because we don’t even question them.

Jesus’ declaration of the kingdom was quite different. It was not from the world, that is, it didn’t emerge out of evolutionary progress. Jesus was interrupting the direction the world was going, starting with his rather disruptive conception (also a subject for gossip in Nazareth). But Jesus’ message was decidedly for the world. The prophetic oracle isn’t just about surviving biological death, but also about peace with God and with one another about a just society. Implicit in Jesus’ preaching in the synagogue was the message he would preach everywhere else later, to seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. Kingdom first does not mean kingdom only. Since the kingdom is a kingdom of justice and righteousness, seeking the kingdom means that we come to know what to care about in he first place.

If the kingdom is what Jesus announced it is, then what matters isn’t just what we neatly classify as “spiritual” things. The natural world around us isn’t just a temporary “environment,” but part of our future inheritance in Christ. Our jobs—whether preaching the gospel or loading docks or picking avocados or writing legislation or herding goats—aren’t accidental. Our lives now are shaping us and preparing us for a future rule, and that includes the honing of a conscience and a sense of wisdom and prudence and justice. God is teaching us, as he taught our Lord, to learn in little things how to be in charge of great things (Lk. 2; Matt. 25:14-23). Our lives now are an internship for the eschaton.

The moment you burst through the mud above your grave, you will begin an exciting new mission—one you couldn’t comprehend now if someone told you. And many of the things that seem important now—whether you’re attractive or famous or cancer-free—will seem irrelevant. But many of the things that matter little now will take on a cosmic new significance then.

In the kingdom of God, Jesus shows us the goal of the future—of our lives individually and congregationally, and of the galaxies and solar systems around us. Finding ourselves in his inheritance frees us from clamoring and fighting for our own glory or relevance. Seeing our lives now, and the universe around us, as precursors to the life to come, we’re freed from the ingratitude that turns away from God’s good gifts, from the apathy that ignores those God hears. We pour ourselves into loving, serving and working because these things are seeds of the tasks God has for us in the next phase. We don’t invest any of those things with infinite meaning. My life’s meaning is not found in the brief interval between birth and grave—in a happy marriage, a satisfying job, or the kind of “success” my in-laws would recognize at the Thanksgiving table.

At the same time, my sojourn in this interval is shaping and preparing me for what is ultimate, so I cannot shirk off the person I am becoming by the habits I am learning. The goal of the kingdom is the merger of heaven and earth—when the dwelling place of God transforms creation and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. We do not bring this about, which is why Jesus teaches every generation of the church to pray for the realization of God’s reign on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6).”

This article is adapted from my new book Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel.

www.russellmoore.com.

https://www.russellmoore.com/2015/11/03/should-pastors-stop-signing-marriage-licenses/

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Why Does the Bible Say our Bodies Will Shine in Heaven?

by Randy Carlson
written by Randy Carlson

Some people have asked me if our resurrected bodies will shine. They cite two passages: “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43) and “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3, NASB).

On the one hand, Jesus didn’t have a halo after His resurrection, and there’s no reason to believe we will either. Christ’s body appeared so earthly and normal that the disciples on the road to Emmaus didn’t notice He was the resurrected Lord (Luke 24:13-24). However, at this point He was not yet glorified.

During Christ’s transfiguration, His clothing “became as bright as a flash of lightning” (Luke 9:29). Since this portrays Christ as King, it makes sense to think He will literally shine in His kingdom on the New Earth. John says of the city, “the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 22:23). As noted earlier, John saw Christ in the present Heaven as a powerful shining being, not someone who would blend into a crowd (Revelation 1:12-18). Moses and Elijah, who joined Christ on the mountain, “appeared in glorious splendor” (Luke 9:31). After Moses received the Ten Commandments from God on the mountain, Moses’ face shone (Exodus 34:29-30).

Many believe these descriptors are figures of speech. Yet in some cases (including Moses’) it was clearly literal. Since God Himself is consistently portrayed as existing in brilliant light, it shouldn’t surprise us to think that in His presence we too will partake of His brightness. I believe that as resurrected beings, we will indeed bear this physical evidence of being God’s image bearers and living in God’s presence. To be glorified appears to mean that, among other things, we may literally shine.

If this seems hard to imagine, think of a person with drab, grayish, malnourished skin, and then imagine the same person as vibrant and healthy. Couldn’t you say the person shines? Have you heard it said of someone “she’s radiant”? I’ve met people so full of Jesus that they seem to have a physical brightness. If God Himself is bright, then it seems appropriate that we, His image-bearers, will reflect His brightness.

Now, moving beyond that weak analogy of our present condition, imagine people in the very presence of God, who are so righteous, so beautiful, so devoid of sin and darkness, so permeated by the very righteousness of God, that they have a literal physical radiance. That’s not so hard to imagine, is it?

Shining speaks of glory, the outward display of greatness and majesty. Gloryis a word associated with rulers. Kings had glory. We understandably hesitate to attribute glory to ourselves, but God doesn’t hesitate to ascribe glory to us. As God’s children we should bear His likeness. It’s He, not we, who declares that we are royalty—kings and queens who will reign with Christ.

A. B. Caneday reminds us, “God is the original; we are the organic image, the living copy. We do not rightly speak of God as King by projecting onto him regal imagery because we think it is fitting for God. Rather, bowing before God who has dominion is proper, for man as king over creation, is the image of kingship; God, the true king, is the reality that casts the image of the earthly king.” [1]

Hence, our glory as lesser kings and queens will serve to magnify His greater glory as the King of kings. We won’t absorb and keep the glory given us, but we will reflect it and emanate it toward its proper object: Christ Himself. This is evident in the fact that God’s worshiping children will “lay their crowns before the throne” (Revelation 4:10).

What prepares us to participate in God’s glory? Our current sufferings (Romans 8:17-18; 1 Peter 5:1-4). “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Provided we draw our strength from Christ, the greater our troubles now, the greater our glory then.

For more on the eternal life that awaits us, see Randy’s book Heaven. You can also browse additional books and resources on Heaven available from EPM.

[1] A. B. Caneday, “Veiled Glory,” in John Piper, Justin Taylor, and Paul Kjoss Helseth, Beyond the Bounds (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2003), 163.

 

 

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Who Will Be Our Friends in Heaven?

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

Augustine and Aquinas—two of history’s most influential theologians—imagined that in Heaven people would focus exclusively on God and that relationships between human beings would be minimal or insignificant.[i]

These great theologians were swayed by Christoplatonism. For the most part, they didn’t seem to grasp that the eternal Heaven will be on Earth, where people will live and work in a relational society, glorifying God not merely as individuals but as a family in rich relationship with each other.

Near the end of his life, however, Augustine significantly changed his view of Heaven. He said, “We have not lost our dear ones who have departed from this life, but have merely sent them ahead of us, so we also shall depart and shall come to that life where they will be more than ever dear as they will be better known to us, and where we shall love them without fear of parting.”[ii]He also said, “All of us who enjoy God are also enjoying each other in Him.”[iii]

Do you have a close friend who’s had a profound influence on you? Do you think it is a coincidence that she was in your dorm wing or became your roommate? Was it accidental that your desk was near his or that his family lived next door or that your father was transferred when you were in third grade so that you ended up in his neighborhood? God orchestrates our lives. “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” (Acts 17:26).

Since God determined the time and exact places you would live, it’s no accident which neighborhood you grew up in, who lived next door, who went to school with you, who was part of your church youth group, who was there to help you and pray for you. Our relationships were appointed by God, and there’s every reason to believe they’ll continue in Heaven.

God’s plan doesn’t stop on the New Earth; it continues. God doesn’t abandon His purposes; He extends and fulfills them. Friendships begun on Earth will continue in Heaven, getting richer than ever.

Will some friendships be closer than others? Augustine claimed, “In the city of Godthere will be no special friendships. . . . All special attachments will be absorbed into one comprehensive and undifferentiated community of love. . . . The universalized love of heaven permits no exclusive, restricted circles of friends.”[iv]

But how does this position stand up to Scripture?

Just because we’ll be sinless doesn’t mean we won’t be drawn to certain people more than others. We’ll like everyone, but we’ll be closer to some than others. Jesus was closer to John than to any of the other disciples. Jesus was closer to Peter, James, and John than to the rest of the Twelve, and closer to the Twelve than to the seventy, and closer to the seventy than to His other followers. He was close to Lazarus and Martha, and closer still to their sister Mary. He was so close to His mother that while He was dying on the cross, He instructed John to care for her after His death. Since Christ was closer to some people than to others, clearly there can’t be anything wrong with it.

In Heaven there won’t be cliques, exclusiveness, arrogance, posturing, belittling, or jealousy. But when friends particularly enjoy each other’s company, they are reflecting God’s design. If, as you walk about the New Jerusalem, you see Adam and Eve holding hands as they look at the tree of life, would you begrudge them their special friendship?

Perhaps you’re disappointed that you’ve never had the friendships you long for. In Heaven you’ll have much closer relationships with some people you now know, but it’s also true that you may never have met the closest friends you’ll ever have. Just as someone may be fifty years old before meeting her best friend, you may live on the New Earth enjoying many friendships before meeting someone who will become your dearest friend. Maybe your best friend will be someone sitting next to you at the first great feast. After all, the sovereign God who orchestrates friendships will be in charge of the seating arrangements.

On the New Earth we’ll experience the joy of familiarity in old relationships and the joy of discovery in new ones. As we get to know each other better, we’ll get to know God better. As we find joy in each other, we’ll find joy in Him. No human relationships will overshadow our relationship with God. All will serve to enhance it.

[i] Augustine, quoted in Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang, Heaven: A History (New York: Vintage Books, 1988), 58.

[ii] Ibid., 60.

[iii] Augustine, On the Christian Doctrine, 1:32–33.

[iv] Augustine, quoted in McDannell and Lang, Heaven: A History, 64–65.

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Focus on the Future New Earth

by Randy Alcorn
written by Randy Alcorn

Without an eternal perspective, without understanding the reality that the best is yet to come, we assume that people who die young, who are handicapped, who aren’t healthy, who don’t get married, or who don’t _____ [fill in the blank] will inevitably miss out on the best life has to offer. But the theology underlying those assumptions is fatally flawed. We’re presuming that our present Earth, bodies, culture, relationships, and lives are superior to those of the New Earth. What are we thinking?

I believe the New Earth will offer us opportunities we wished for but never had. God’s original plan was that human beings would live happy and fulfilling lives on Earth. If our current lives are our only chances at that, God’s plan has been thwarted. Consider the injustice—many honest, faithful people never got to live fulfilling lives, while some dishonest and unfaithful people seemed to fare much better.

But God is not unjust, and this is not our only chance at life on Earth. The doctrine of the New Earth clearly demonstrates that.

In Luke 6:20-23, Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.”

Jesus tells the hungry they’ll be satisfied. Those whose eyes are swollen with tears will laugh. Those persecuted should leap for joy now. Why? Because of their great reward in Heaven later.

Where will Heaven be? In the parallel passage Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:3-5). Earth is the setting for God’s ultimate comfort, for his reversal of life’s injustices and tragedies. We will live on what we inherit—the earth. All the blessings Jesus promised will be ours in the place we will live—the New Earth.

God promises to make up for the heartbreaks of this earth.

Are you living with the disappointment of unfulfilled dreams? In Heaven you’ll find their fulfillment! Did poverty, poor health, war, or lack of time prevent you from pursuing an adventure or dream? Did you never get to finish building that boat or painting that picture or writing that book—or reading that pile of books? Good news. On the New Earth you will have a second chance to do what you dreamed of doing—and far more besides.

Living under the Curse means we miss countless opportunities. The reversing of the Curse, and the resurrection of our bodies and our Earth, mean we’ll regain lost opportunities and inherit many more besides.

In this world, even under the Curse, human imagination and skill have produced some remarkable works. The statues of Easter Island. Stonehenge. Shakespeare’s plays. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The Golden Gate Bridge. Baseball. Heart transplants. Prenatal surgery. Microwave ovens. DVDs. The space shuttle. Chocolate ice cream. Pecan pie. Sports cars. It’s a list that never ends.

With the resources God will lavishly give us on the New Earth, what will we be able to accomplish together? When we think about this, we should be like children anticipating Christmas—sneaking out of bed to see what’s under the Christmas tree.

Without creativity, music would be a dull succession of sounds. Without creativity, books would be colorless and superficial. They wouldn’t engage our minds and hearts. Paintings would be lifeless or nonexistent. Our homes would be barracks, our buildings boxes. God’s preparing a place for us, and he’ll equip us to develop it to his glory.

I agree with Anthony Hoekema when he says, “The possibilities that now rise before us boggle the mind. Will there be ‘better Beethovens’ on the new earth? better Rembrandts, better Raphaels? Shall we read better poetry, better drama, and better prose? Will scientists continue to advance in technological achievement, will geologists continue to dig out the treasures of the earth, and will architects continue to build imposing and attractive structures? Will there be exciting new adventures in space travel? . . . Our culture will glorify God in ways that surpass our most fantastic dreams.”

On the New Earth, God’s gifts to us will never be lost to age, death, pettiness, insecurity, or laziness. Undistracted and undiminished by sin and the demands of survival, mankind will create and innovate at unprecedented levels, to God’s eternal glory.

epm.org. Used by permission.

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Articles

Middle-Schoolers Dating? Really?

by Marilyn Morris
written by Marilyn Morris

So it’s Saturday morning and your 7th grade daughter comes running in your room and says, “Mom/Dad, Brian just called and asked me to go to the show this afternoon. P-L-E-A-S-E! Can I go?”

You’re caught off guard and you pause momentarily to consider the question – to which your daughter interjects, “All my friends get to go to the show with their boyfriends. . . Oh P-L-E-A-S-E. I really want to go!” 

Lead Researcher, Pamela Orpinas, shared three interesting observations:

1. A likely explanation for the “worse educational performance” of early daters is that these adolescents start dating early as part of an overall pattern of high-risk behaviors.?

2. Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker. When the couple splits, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this scenario could be linked to depression and divert attention from studying.

Dating should not be considered a rite of passage in middle school.

Perhaps the findings from a recent study from the Journal of Research on Adolescence might help you find your answer. Researchers followed 624 students in 6th to 12th grade for seven years. Each year researchers noted the students’ dating habits, as well as changes in behavior and study skills. Following categories: had the worst study skills.

3. So in trying to figure out the answer to your middle schooler dating, here’s a helpful suggestion I provide in my book, ABCs of the Birds and Bees – For Parents of Toddlers to Teens regarding dating.

First, I encourage parents to determine their family values regarding dating. In other words, at what age will you be comfortable with your children dating? Then I encourage parents to plant those seeds early so their children grow-up knowing their family values. Here’s an illustration I give in the book:

Regarding dating, researchers found students tended to fall into one of the  following categories:

Never or hardly ever dated in middle school to high school. 

Rarely dated in middle school, but increased dating in high school.

Dated throughout 6th to 12th grade. 

According to the research, students who dated in middle school had significantly worse educational performance, were four times more likely to drop out of school and reported twice as much alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use.

Students with the lowest incidence of dating had the best study skills.

When guidelines for dating are established early, they help eliminate future problems. A mother shared with me that when her daughter was about six-years-old she brought up the subject of dating. She asked her little girl, “Do you know what your Daddy and I are going to let you do when you are about 16?”

With great excitement and curiosity and little girl replied, “No, Mommy! What?”

“Well,” her mother responded, “when you are about sixteen, and if you prove to us you can make very wise choices, your father and I are going to let you start dating.” The little girl’s eyes glistened with excitement as she thought of her Prince Charming coming to take her on this wonderful date.

Throughout the next few years, the mother and daughter talked about what a fun date might be. When they saw teenagers together, they would discuss which couples looked like they were having fun and had a healthy relationship and which ones didn’t look so healthy.

When the daughter was in the 8th grade, she came bouncing down the stairs all excited and announced that a young man had just invited her to go to a movie. The mother lovingly turned to her daughter and said, “I’ve been telling you for a long time that you would be able to date someday, but not before you were 16.”

She said her daughter was disappointed. She was even a little mad, but she was not surprised. Obviously, the path this wise mother began to pave when her daughter was six alleviated some of the frustration and pain for both mother and daughter.

Note: Middle School is not too late to plant those seeds. And as you set guidelines for dating, keep in mind it’s far easier to loosen the rules as you go along than tighten the reins once your child starts dating.

Resources:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12029/abstract

Morris, Marilyn, ABC’s of the Birds and Bees for Parents of Toddlers to Teens; 2010, pg. 44.

 

 

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Sermons

Heaven: Halos and Harps?

by Roger Barrier
written by Roger Barrier

The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus gives us a glimpse of heaven and hell. What’s heaven really like? Will we recognize our loved ones? Do they see us here on earth? What will we be doing? These and other questions are discussed from scripture. People always have many questions about heaven. Will we be bored? Do our loved ones see us on earth? Will we remember our earthly lives? Will we recognize our family and friends? What happens to babies who die early? Is there marriage in heaven? What will our bodies be like? These and other questions are addressed.

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