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newton3003
Guest
What is there to see and do in Heaven? What would we have?
The Bible tell us that Heaven is a reward for the righteous, and it implores us to strive for righteousness if we wish to enjoy the fruits and our treasures that wait for us there. But like a traveler who wishes to know all they can about a place before they decide to go there, many of us wonder just what it is we can look forward to.
The Bible gives indications of what to find there, and it is only by those indications that we may have an idea of our existential reality there. Man, being in the image of God, is always striving, no matter the place. And man strives to stretch out his realm as he keeps moving. So first, what can we expect in Heaven?
Jesus in John 14:2 says, “In my Father's house are many rooms [or mansions, depending on which version of the Bible]. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” So, each person in Heaven will have a room or mansion, depending on the Bible’s translation. The Bible doesn’t mention having to pay for it once you are there. It doesn’t mention leases or mortgages in connection with these abodes, so it appears that once we get to Heaven these are free. We have paid for these, however, from our wages of righteousness while we were on earth. In that regard, we built up spiritual nest egg to offer to the Lord when we stand before Him.
What would be outside our rooms or mansions?
Revelation 22:1-2 says, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
So, our rooms or mansions will be in a city with a river and a great tree. We can look out our windows and admire the view. I am presuming that these rooms or mansions will have windows, since that’s where windows are usually found. Perhaps wile admiring the view for the moment, we can contemplate our wonder in having become worthy of being in Heaven. And it wouldn’t be a stretch to have visits from neighbors who have their own rooms or mansions, or that we would visit them. Man, in God’s image after all, is a social being.
What else would we see, if we step outside? Revelation 7:9 says, “…I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands…” Would we join them in standing before the Throne of God, with lambs scattered around? What would we do at that point?
Revelation 7:13-17 says that an elder would have approached us as we notice that many standing before God are elders, and the elder would say, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
So, perhaps, we will eventually be expected to serve God. Does the Bible say how we would serve Him? What would God expect of us? I guess we won’t know until we get there, but in the meantime, we have our rooms and mansions, and the view of the city, and elders to talk to and lambs to pet, in a place that never gets dark. Is that all there is?
I believe that that’s not all. Just as on earth, man being in God’s image makes do with what is available, so man will find something to do in Heaven, in addition to serving God in whatever manner is expected of us once we get there.
The Bible tell us that Heaven is a reward for the righteous, and it implores us to strive for righteousness if we wish to enjoy the fruits and our treasures that wait for us there. But like a traveler who wishes to know all they can about a place before they decide to go there, many of us wonder just what it is we can look forward to.
The Bible gives indications of what to find there, and it is only by those indications that we may have an idea of our existential reality there. Man, being in the image of God, is always striving, no matter the place. And man strives to stretch out his realm as he keeps moving. So first, what can we expect in Heaven?
Jesus in John 14:2 says, “In my Father's house are many rooms [or mansions, depending on which version of the Bible]. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” So, each person in Heaven will have a room or mansion, depending on the Bible’s translation. The Bible doesn’t mention having to pay for it once you are there. It doesn’t mention leases or mortgages in connection with these abodes, so it appears that once we get to Heaven these are free. We have paid for these, however, from our wages of righteousness while we were on earth. In that regard, we built up spiritual nest egg to offer to the Lord when we stand before Him.
What would be outside our rooms or mansions?
Revelation 22:1-2 says, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
So, our rooms or mansions will be in a city with a river and a great tree. We can look out our windows and admire the view. I am presuming that these rooms or mansions will have windows, since that’s where windows are usually found. Perhaps wile admiring the view for the moment, we can contemplate our wonder in having become worthy of being in Heaven. And it wouldn’t be a stretch to have visits from neighbors who have their own rooms or mansions, or that we would visit them. Man, in God’s image after all, is a social being.
What else would we see, if we step outside? Revelation 7:9 says, “…I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands…” Would we join them in standing before the Throne of God, with lambs scattered around? What would we do at that point?
Revelation 7:13-17 says that an elder would have approached us as we notice that many standing before God are elders, and the elder would say, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
So, perhaps, we will eventually be expected to serve God. Does the Bible say how we would serve Him? What would God expect of us? I guess we won’t know until we get there, but in the meantime, we have our rooms and mansions, and the view of the city, and elders to talk to and lambs to pet, in a place that never gets dark. Is that all there is?
I believe that that’s not all. Just as on earth, man being in God’s image makes do with what is available, so man will find something to do in Heaven, in addition to serving God in whatever manner is expected of us once we get there.
