What are some of the misconceptions about Heaven?

Where do we get these misconceptions about Heaven?

"The devil labors to give people an inaccurate view of heaven. Some of Satan's favorite lies are about heaven. Revelation 13:6 tells us the satanic beast 'opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven.'  Paul warned us to be aware of the devil's schemes and put on God's armor to stand against them. According to Revelation, one of Satan's favorite tactics is slandering God's dwelling place, Heaven, feeding us a distorted view of it. He knows this will rob us of joy in anticipating being with our bridegroom. It will make us fall in love with this world, as if it were our home. It will take away our motivation to tell others about Jesus. Why tell someone about how to go to heaven when you think it's going to be a boring and tedious place to live? For this reason we should pray for God to enlighten our minds and break through the devil's lies as we look at what God's Word says about heaven.

Is Heaven a real place, a tangible reality?

What is Heaven like?

"Heaven is both a country and a city. A country is typically a large territory of various geographies, with citizens of diverse cultures and vocations, sometimes even languages, under one government that provides a common identity. A city is a place of many residences in near proximity. A city's inhabitants are subject to the common government. Cities usually have varied and bustling activity, community events, education, arts, and visitors.

"Heaven is a place of great beauty, both natural created beauty and architecture, including streets of gold and buildings of pearls and emeralds and precious stones. Heaven will have the advantages we associate with earthly cities, without the disadvantages (e.g. crime, pollution, corruption). Heaven's gates are always open. People will travel in and out, some bringing treasures into the city. Travel outside the city shows that the city is not the whole of heaven, but merely its center. The great city is the capital of an endless empire, called a heavenly country. There's a universe outside the city's gates, to which its citizens have free access."

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.

   FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.

   This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Will we actually see God?

Think about the person you would most want to spend time with. Who would that person be? Your favorite singer, author, or athlete? Your best friend who moved away? A family member who's already died?

Many Christians would say they'd want to spend time with Jesus. They'd want to see the Savior who created them, died for them, and made their life in Heaven possible—the one who loves them more than anyone else.

During his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God" (Matthew 5:8). So that means, yes, we'll see God. But Jesus also said, "God is Spirit" (John 4:24). By this he meant that God the Father doesn't have a body. But Jesus, God's Son, does. And because Jesus is God himself, to see Jesus will be to see God.

Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet, had a vision of God. "He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple" (Isaiah 6:1). Isaiah knew that the great and awesome God was seated on a throne. He didn't have to be told, "Hey, that's God."

Seeing God made Isaiah afraid—just like Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver "went all trembly" when they saw Aslan.

We can't blame Isaiah for his fear, any more than the children in Narnia, because people usually don't see God. Even the sight of an angel will terrify people. (See Daniel 10:7-10.) Perhaps Isaiah thought of God's words to Moses, "You may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live" (Exodus 33:20). But God allowed Isaiah to see him. In Heaven, we also will be allowed to see God (Revelation 22:3-4).

The more time we spend with God, the better we'll know him. He's by far the most fascinating person in the universe. (After all, he's the one that made all the interesting people we've ever known or read about.) Think of the questions we'll be able to ask God. Are you getting your list ready? I sure am!

When you get to know Jesus better, he'll be at the very top of your list of people you'd want to spend your day with. Sport and movie celebrities might be fun to meet, but they would get boring pretty soon. Jesus will never bore us. And the great thing is, you don't have to wait to be with him. You can spend time with him right now. You do this by reading his Word, the Bible, praying to him, and thanking him for being with you all day long.

Excerpted from Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven for Kids (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers), 2006, pp. 42-44.

Will there be animals in Heaven?

Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot pulled by horses (2 Kings 2:11). We're told there are horses in heaven (Revelation 6:2-8; 19:11). In fact, there are lots of horses, enough for the vast armies of heaven to ride (Revelation 19:11; 2 Kings 6:17).

Other animals aren't mentioned in the Revelation passages, presumably because they don't play a role in Christ's second coming (an army bringing deliverance rides horses, not Dalmatians or hedgehogs). But isn't it likely that since there are innumerable horses in heaven there are all kinds of other animals too? Why wouldn't there be? Why would we expect horses to be the only animals? If there were no other animals, there wouldn't be horses.

In Isaiah 65:17 God refers to creating a New Heavens and a New Earth. In subsequent verses the text seems to move back and forth from the millennial kingdom to the New Earth. God makes clear he will have animals living there-either in the millennium or the New Earth or both (Isaiah 65:25).

Some also argue for animals being in heaven based on Ecclesiastes 3:19-21, which says "Man's fate is like that of the animals...all go to the same place." However, in the larger context of Ecclesiastes Solomon is simply talking about the outward appearance of death. Men and animals both die and we can't see where they go. Scripture tells us elsewhere, however, that man has an eternal soul. It tells us he goes one of two places at death. Animals are not said to have eternal souls. They are not said to relocate when they die. The presumption would be that at death they cease to exist.

However, this doesn't mean beloved animals won't be in heaven. I once read Billy Graham's response to a little girl's question, "Will my dog who died this week be in heaven?" Graham replied, "If it would make you any happier, then yes, he will be." Animals aren't nearly as valuable as people, but God is their maker and has touched many people's lives through them. It would be simple for Him to recreate a pet in heaven. I see no reason to believe he wouldn't if it would bring his children pleasure.

Romans 8:18-22 says that the whole creation was subject to suffering and futility because of human sin. The creation groans in longing for the liberation that will come to humans, and thereby to all creation itself. Creation is under man's dominion and will share the rewards of his redemption just as it shared the punishment for his sin. Animals are a central part of that creation, next to man himself the most significant part. After all, besides his wife, Adam was called upon to give names only to one other part of the creation-the animals (Genesis 2:19-20). He worked the garden, but he wasn't invited to name the vegetation. Clearly, the animals had certain qualities that set them above other creation. They were to be special to man, and his naming them makes his connection with them personal.

If the New Earth is all the best of the old earth and more, then we should expect it to contain animals. If animals weren't part of the New Earth, this would seem an obvious oversight. Eden was ruined through sin and will be restored through Christ's reign of righteousness. All that was part of Eden, and then made wrong through the sin of the first Adam, we would expect to be part of the New Earth, made right through the virtue of the Second Adam.

Would God take away from us in heaven what he gave, for delight and companionship and help, to Adam and Eve in Eden? Would he revoke his earlier decision to put animals with man, and under man's care? If he remakes the New Earth with new men (who look very much like the old men, only perfect), wouldn't we expect him also to make new animals (who will presumably look like the old animals, only perfect)?

Will time no longer exist in Heaven?

Whether or not heaven operates outside the scope of earth's time sequence, clearly the inhabitants of heaven track with events happening in time (Rev. 2-3). It is a hymn, not the Bible, which says "and time shall be no more." Revelation 8:1 speaks of "silence in heaven for about half an hour." Even the presence of music in heaven implies some sort of time duration, since meter, tempo and rests, which are intrinsic to music, are all time-related. (What is a half note or a quarter note without time?)

2 Peter 3:8 says, "With the Lord [it does not say "with believers in heaven"] a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." This is rooted in the fact of God's infinity—He exists outside of time and space, but there is no indication his creatures do.

Whether there is time in heaven or not, heaven clearly enters into the sequences on earth, right down to inhabitants rejoicing over conversions on earth (Luke 15:7) and martyrs looking for and anticipating judgments on earth (Rev. 6:9-11). The book of Revelation shows a continuous interaction of heaven with sequential events happening on earth. (This contradicts the notion that those in heaven are disconnected from or disinterested in what happens on earth.)

Will There Be Space and Time in the Eternal Heaven?

The following material is excerpted from Randy Alcorn's book Heaven (Tyndale House, 2004):

A number of books suggest that our existence in Heaven will be without space or time. One book describes Heaven as "a mode of existence where space and time are meaningless concepts."[¹] Is that true?

[The following section, from chapter 5 in the book Heaven, provides some background for understanding chapter 26 which directly answers the question, and is included after this portion]

Distinguishing the Present and Future Heavens (from chapter 5 of "Heaven")

The questions, What is Heaven like? and, What will Heaven be like? have two different answers. The present, intermediate Heaven is in the angelic realm, distinctly separate from Earth (though as we'll see, likely having more physical qualities than we might assume). By contrast, the future Heaven will be in the human realm, on Earth. The dwelling place of God will be the dwelling place of humanity, in a resurrected universe: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . . And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God'" (Revelation 21:1-3). Heaven, God's dwelling place, will one day be on the New Earth.

Notice that the New Jerusalem, which was in Heaven, will come down out of Heaven from God. Where does it go? To the New Earth. From that time on, "the dwelling of God" will be with redeemed mankind on Earth.

Some would argue that the New Earth shouldn't be called Heaven. But it seems clear to me that if God's special dwelling place is by definition Heaven, and we're told that "the dwelling of God" will be with mankind on Earth, then Heaven and the New Earth will be essentially the same place. We're told that "the throne of God and of the Lamb" is in the New Jerusalem, which is brought down to the New Earth (Revelation 22:1). Again, it seems clear that wherever God dwells with his people and sits on his throne would be called Heaven.

I concur with theologian Anthony Hoekema, who writes, "The 'new Jerusalem' . . . does not remain in a 'heaven' far off in space, but it comes down to the renewed earth; there the redeemed will spend eternity in resurrection bodies. So heaven and earth, now separated, will then be merged: the new earth will also be heaven, since God will dwell there with his people. Glorified believers, in other words, will continue to be in heaven while they are inhabiting the new earth."[²]

That God would come down to the New Earth to live with us fits perfectly with his original plan. God could have taken Adam and Eve up to Heaven to visit with him in his world. Instead, he came down to walk with them in their world (Genesis 3:8). Jesus says of anyone who would be his disciple, "My father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23). This is a picture of God's ultimate plan—not to take us up to live in a realm made for him, but to come down and live with us in the realm he made for us.

Most views of Heaven are anti-incarnational. They fail to grasp that Heaven will be God dwelling with us—resurrected people—on the resurrected Earth. The Incarnation is about God inhabiting space and time as a human being—the new heavens and New Earth are about God making space and time his eternal home. As Jesus is God incarnate, so the New Earth will be Heaven incarnate. Think of what Revelation 21:3 tells us—God will relocate his people and come down from Heaven to the New Earth to live with them: "God himself will be with them." Rather than our going up to live in God's home forever, God will come down to live in our home forever.

Several books on Heaven state that the New Jerusalem will not descend to Earth but will remain "suspended over the earth."[³] But Revelation 21:2 doesn't say this. When John watches the city "coming down" from Heaven, there's no reason to believe it stops before reaching the New Earth. The assumption that it remains suspended over the earth arises from the notion that Heaven and Earth must always be separate. But Scripture indicates they will be joined. Their present incompatibility is due to a temporary aberration—Earth is under sin and the Curse. Once that aberration is fixed, Heaven and Earth will be fully compatible again (Ephesians 1:10).

Utopian idealists who dream of mankind creating "Heaven on Earth" are destined for disappointment. But though they are wrong in believing that humans can achieve a utopian existence apart from God, the reality of Heaven on Earth—God dwelling with mankind in the world he made for us—will in fact be realized. It is God's dream. It is God's plan. He—not we—will accomplish it.

What Will the New Celestial Heavens Be Like? (from chapter 26 of Heaven)

What does the Bible mean by the term New Heavens? Let's look at a few passages.

The Old Testament uses no single word for universe or cosmos. When Genesis 1:1 speaks of God's creating "the heavens and the earth," the words are synonymous with what we mean by universe. Heavens refers to the realms above the earth: atmosphere, sun, moon, and stars, and all that's in outer space. Then in Isaiah, God says, "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth" (Isaiah 65:17). This corresponds to Genesis 1:1 Genesis 1:1, indicating a complete renewal of the same physical universe God first created.

Revelation 21:1-2 says, "I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away. . . . I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." Because "new heaven" (singular) is used here, some think it's God's dwelling place that passes away and is renewed. But the present Heaven is described as unshakable in ways the physical universe isn't (Hebrews 12:26-28). The "new heaven" in Revelation 21:1 apparently refers to exactly the same atmospheric and celestial heavens as "heavens" does in Genesis 1:1. It also corresponds to the "new heaven(s)" of Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22, and 2 Peter 3:13. In Revelation 21:2 we see God's dwelling place isn't replaced but relocated when the New Jerusalem is brought down to the New Earth.

The new heavens will surely be superior to the old heavens, which themselves are filled with untold billions of stars and perhaps trillions of planets. God's light casts the shadows we know as stars, the lesser lights that point to God's substance. As the source is greater than the tributary, God, the Light, is infinitely greater than those little light-bearers we know as stars.

The Bible's final two chapters make clear that every aspect of the new creation will be greater than the old. Just as the present Jerusalem isn't nearly as great as the New Jerusalem, no part of the present creation—including the earth and the celestial heavens—is as great as it will be in the new creation.

While some passages suggest that the universe will wear out and the stars will be destroyed, others indicate that the stars will exist forever (Psalm 148:3-6). Is this a contradiction? No. We too will be destroyed by death, yet we will last forever. The earth will be destroyed in God's judgment, yet it will last forever. In exactly the same way, the stars will be destroyed, yet they will last forever. Based on the redemptive work of Christ, God will resurrect them.

Earth is the first domain of mankind's stewardship, but it is not the only domain. Because the whole universe fell under mankind's sin, we can conclude that the whole universe was intended to be under mankind's dominion. If so, then the entire new universe will be ours to travel to, inhabit, and rule—to God's glory.

Do I seriously believe the new heavens will include new galaxies, planets, moons, white dwarf stars, neutron stars, black holes, and quasars? Yes. The fact that they are part of the first universe and that God called them "very good" means they will be part of the resurrected universe. When I look at the Horsehead Nebula and ask myself what it's like there, I think that one day I'll know. Just as I believe this "self-same body" —as the Westminster Confession put it—will be raised and the "self-same" Earth will be raised, I believe the "self-same" Horsehead Nebula will be raised. Why? Because as part of the present heavens, it will be raised as part of the new heavens.

Will the new planets be mere ornaments, or does God intend for us to reach them one day? Even under the Curse, we've been able to explore the moon, and we have the technology to land on Mars. What will we be able to accomplish for God's glory when we have resurrected minds, unlimited resources, complete scientific cooperation, and no more death? Will the far reaches of our galaxy be within reach? And what about other galaxies, which are plentiful as blades of grass in a meadow? We will expand the borders of righteous mankind's Christ-centered dominion, not as conquerors who seize what belongs to others, but as faithful stewards who will occupy and manage the full extent of God's physical creation.

Will We Live in a Spatial World?

The doctrine of resurrection is an emphatic statement that we will forever occupy space. We'll be physical human beings living in a physical universe. The resurrected Christ said, "Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). He walked on Earth; we will walk on Earth. He occupied space; we will occupy space.

We are finite physical creatures, and that means we must live in space and time. Where else would we live? Eden was in space and time, and the New Earth will be in space and time. We will be delivered from all evil, but space isn't evil. It's good. God made it. It's Christoplatonism that tries to persuade us something's wrong with space and time.

One writer says of Heaven, "It is certainly justifiable to abandon the scheme of time and space and to put in its place a divine simultaneity."[⁴] This has a high-sounding resonance, but what does it mean? That we can be a thousand places at once, doing ten thousand different things? Those are the Creator's attributes, not the creature's. There's no evidence that we could be several places at once. The promise of Heaven is not that we will become infinite—that would be to become inhuman. It's that we'll be far better finite humans than we have ever been. Even if we're able to move rapidly from one place to another or to pass our resurrected molecules through solid objects, as the risen Jesus did, we'll still be finite. (As I said before, I'm not certain we'll have that power, though it's possible.)

If we plan to get together with friends, the question is, "Where and when?" Where is space; when is time. The three gates on the west side of the New Jerusalem are a minimum of fourteen hundred miles from the gates on the east side. If I wait for you at a gate on the west side, you won't see me if you show up at a gate on the east side. When we walk outside the city gate, we won't remain inside. People, even resurrected people, can be in only one place at one time. There's no suggestion that even the resurrected Jesus was in two places at once.

British pastor Peter Toon says, "Time and space will not be the same as known here on earth, and relationships will be of a different order. This being so, it is clear that the life of the new humanity in their resurrection bodies of glory can be described only in symbolic terms."[⁵] But what's the biblical evidence for this claim? The biblical texts speak of time and space in the New Earth similarly to how they speak of them here and now. By reducing resurrected life to symbols, don't we undermine the meaning of humanity, Earth, and resurrection?

Jesus spoke of the uttermost parts or farthest ends of Heaven (Mark 13:27, nkjv). Even the intermediate Heaven appears to occupy space. But certainly the new heavens and the New Earth will. Resurrection doesn't eliminate space and time; it redeems them.

In the heavenly realms, even angels, whom we think of as disembodied spirits, can be hindered in space and time due to combat with fallen angels (Daniel 10:13). In other words, they can be delayed (time) from arriving at a particular destination (space).

People imagine they're making Heaven sound wondrous when they say there's no space and time there. (If it doesn't have space, it's not even a "there.") In fact, they make Heaven sound utterly alien and unappealing. We don't want to live in a realm—in fact, it couldn't even be a realm—that's devoid of space and time any more than a fish wants to live in a realm without water. If fish could think, try telling one, "When you die, you'll go to fish Heaven and—isn't this great?—there will be no water! You won't have fins, and you won't swim. And you won't eat because you won't need food. I'll bet you can't wait to get there!" After hearing our christoplatonic statements about Heaven, stripped of the meaning of resurrection, no wonder we and our children don't get excited about Heaven.

Sir Isaac Newton said of God, "He is eternal and infinite, omnipotent and omniscient; that is, his duration reaches from eternity to eternity; his presence from infinity to infinity."[⁶] God is the one "who inhabits eternity" (Isaiah 57:15, nkjv). Creatures inhabit time. Jesus, as the God-man, inhabits both. By being with him on the New Earth, we will share space and time with God.

Will We Experience Time in Heaven?

Scripture says, "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" (2 Peter 3:8). Does this mean there will be no time in Heaven?

The natural understanding of a New Earth is that it would exist in space and time, with a future unfolding progressively, just as it does now. Yet people repeatedly say there will be "no time in Heaven." One theologian argues, "What a relief and what joy to know that in heaven there will be no more time."[⁷] Another writer says, "Heaven will be a place where time will stand still."[⁸]

Where do such ideas come from? A misleading translation in the King James Version of the Bible says that "there should be time no longer" (Revelation 10:6). This was the basis for theologians such as Abraham Kuyper to conclude there will be no time in Heaven. But other versions correctly translate this phrase "There will be no more delay!" (niv, rsv), which means not that time itself will cease but that there is no time left before God's judgment is executed.

Other people are confused because they remember the phrase "Time shall be no more" and think it's from the Bible. It's actually from a hymn. Ironically, the same hymn speaks of "When the morning breaks . . ." Both the words morning and when are references to time.

John Newton's hymn "Amazing Grace" describes a better grasp of time:

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
Than when we'd first begun.[⁹]

Scripture contains many other evidences of time in Heaven:

• Heaven's inhabitants track with events happening in time, right down to rejoicing the moment a sinner on Earth repents (Luke 15:7).
  
• Martyrs in Heaven are told to "wait a little longer" when they ask "how long" before Christ would judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge the martyrs' blood (Revelation 6:10-11). Those in Heaven couldn't ask "how long" or be told "wait a little longer" unless time passes in Heaven.
  
• Paul spoke of Heaven in terms of "the coming ages" (Ephesians 2:7). He speaks not just of a future age but of ages (plural).
  
• God's people in Heaven "serve him day and night in his temple" (Revelation 7:15).
  
• The tree of life on the New Earth will be "yielding its fruit every month" (Revelation 22:2). There are days and months both in the intermediate and eternal Heaven.
  
• God says, "the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me. . . . From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me" (Isaiah 66:22-23). New Moons and Sabbaths require moon, sun, and time.
  
• God said, "Summer and winter, day and night will never cease" (Genesis 8:22). This wasn't the result of the Curse; it was God's original design.
  
• We're told that "there was silence in heaven for about half an hour" (Revelation 8:1).
  
• The book of Revelation shows the intermediate Heaven's inhabitants operating within time. The descriptions of worship include successive actions, such as falling down at God's throne and casting crowns before him (Revelation 4:10). There's a sequence of events; things occur one after another, not all at once.
  
• The inhabitants of Heaven sing (Revelation 5:9-12). Music in Heaven requires time. Meter, tempo, and rests are all essential components of music, and each is time related. Certain notes are held longer than others. Songs have a beginning, middle, and end. That means they take place in time.

How can Scripture be any more clear about time in Heaven? (Right down to silence in Heaven for half an hour.) To say we'll exist outside of time is like saying we'll know everything. It confuses eternity with infinity. We'll live for eternity as finite beings. God can accommodate to us by putting himself into time, but we can't accommodate to him by becoming timeless. It's not in us to do so because we're not God. Writers frequently distinguish between the Greek words kronos and kairos, viewing the former as "human time" or "quantity of time" and the latter as "God's time" or "quality of time." It's suggested that in eternity we'll live no longer in kronos but in kairos. However, it's unclear what this means. Will we still live in chronological sequence, where one word, step, or event follows the previous and is followed by the next? The Bible's answer is yes.

Is Time Bad or Good?

One writer maintains, "The end of the world is the end of time. Time will cease to exist. Time is a mark of the fallen state of the world."[¹⁰] But this would be true only if Adam and Eve existed outside of time. But they didn't. The sun rose and set in their perfect world. The sixth day of creation was followed by a day of rest. Time was not a mark of the world's fallen state.

God knows and can access past and future as readily as present. We can remember the past and anticipate the future, but we can live only in the present. Time is our environment.

Another author says, "Over everything on earth hangs the dark shadow of time."[¹¹] But the shadow is not time. The shadow is death, which is a loss of resources and opportunity. People imagine time is an enemy because the clock seems to move so slowly when we're having a root canal and so quickly when we're doing what we love. But time isn't the problem, the Curse is. Time isn't the enemy, death is (1 Corinthians 15:26). Time predated sin and the Curse. When the Curse is lifted, time will remain. Without the Curse, time will never work against us. We won't run out of it. Time will bring gain, not loss. The passing of time will no longer threaten us. It will bring new adventures without a sense of loss, of what must end.

We'll live with time, no longer under its pressure. When we see God face-to-face, time will pass, but we'll be lost in him. We'll be busy exploring his universe, working on projects, fellowshiping with him and each other, listening to and telling great stories. We'll delight in time because it's part of what God calls "very good." It's a dimension in which we'll enjoy God.

When we say good-bye in Heaven, we'll know people won't die before we see them next. Time will no longer be an hourglass in which the sands of time go from a limited past to a limited future. Our future will be unlimited. We'll no longer have to "number our days" (Psalm 90:12) or redeem the time, for time won't be a diminishing resource about to end.

Theologian Henry Berkhof predicts that time itself will be resurrected to what God created it to be:

Time is the mould of our created human existence. Sin led to the fact that we have no time, and that we spend a hurried existence between past and future. But the consummation as the glorification of existence will not mean that we are taken out of time and delivered from time, but that time as the form of our glorified existence will also be fulfilled and glorified. Consummation means to live again in the succession of past, present, and future, but in such a way that the past moves along with us as a blessing and the future radiates through the present so that we strive without restlessness and rest without idleness, and so that, though always progressing, we are always at our destination.[¹²]

Buddhism, which knows no resurrection, teaches that time will be extinguished. Christianity, solidly based on a resurrection of cosmic dimensions, teaches time will go on forever. For too long we've allowed an unbiblical assumption ("there will be no time in Heaven") to obscure overwhelming biblical revelation to the contrary. This has served Satan's purposes of dehumanizing Heaven and divorcing it from the existence we know. Since we cannot desire what we can't imagine, this misunderstanding has robbed us of desire for Heaven.

Why do we have a wrong view of Heaven?

Satan labors to give people an inaccurate view of heaven. Jesus said of the devil, "When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Some of Satan's favorite lies are about heaven. Revelation 13:6 tells us the satanic beast "opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven." Our enemy slanders three things: God's person, God's people, and God's place—heaven. Satan accomplishes his purposes not only by attacking God and us, but by attacking our view of heaven. The forces of darkness have vested interests in conveying false and unbiblical concepts of what heaven is.

After being forcibly evicted from heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14), the devil is bitter not only toward God, but toward us and the place that's no longer his. (It must be maddening for him to realize we're now entitled to the home he was kicked out of.) What better way for demons to attack than to whisper lies about the very place God tells us to set our hearts and minds on (Colossians 3:1-2)?

Paul warned us to be aware of the devil's schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11) and put on God's armor to stand against them (Ephesians 6:11). One of Satan's favorite tactics is feeding us a distorted view of heaven. He knows this will rob us of joy in anticipating being with our bridegroom. It will make us fall in love with this world, as if it were our home—while Scripture commands us not to love the world and what's in it (1 John 2:15-17). A distorted view of heaven will take away our motivation to tell others about Jesus. (Why tell someone a message about how to go to heaven when you think it's going to be a dull and tedious place to be?)

For this reason it's good to pray for God to enlighten our minds and break through the devil's lies as we look at what his Word says about heaven.

"But we're promised there won't be crying or pain in heaven. How could we be aware of bad things on earth?
Surely it couldn't be heaven for us if we knew these things."

I believe this argument is invalid for the following reasons:

1. It's heaven for God and he knows exactly what's happening on earth.

2. It's heaven for the angels and they know what's happening on earth.

3. Angels in heaven see the torment of hell, but it does not minimize heaven (Rev. 14:10).

4. Abraham and Lazarus saw the rich man's agonies in hell, but it did not cause heaven to cease to be heaven (Luke 16:23-26). If one can see people in hell without ruining heaven, surely nothing he could see on earth could ruin it. This passage shows a chasm those in heaven and hell can't cross, but they can still see what is happening in the other place (Luke 16:23-26). If this is true of heaven and hell, is the same true of heaven and earth? (And hell and earth?) Is there a chasm separating them and preventing direct intervention, yet an ability to see what's happening in the other world? (Note: Luke 16 is in the intermediate state, before the end of the world and the resurrection. It does not therefore prove those in the New Heavens and Earth will be able to see into the eternal lake of fire. It seems likely they will not. However, it suggests those currently in heaven may be able to see into hell—at very least they are fully aware of its existence.)

5. The promise of no more tears or crying is after the end of the world, after the Great White Throne judgment, after "the old order of things has passed away" and there's no more suffering on earth (Rev. 21:1-4). This passage is not a valid argument for tearlessness in the present heaven, but only in the New Heaven and Earth. This doesn't mean those presently in heaven must be unaware of what's happening on earth. Certainly those in heaven are not frail beings whose joy can be maintained only by sheer ignorance of what is going on in the universe. In fact, even if our knowledge did produce some sadness in heaven (we don't know for sure it would), the old order hasn't yet passed away. Heaven is not in its final state. We should not begin by defining heaven as "no sorrow, no concern, no knowledge of suffering" and then dismiss any scriptural indications that undermine that assumption.

Christ grieved for people on earth (Matt. 23:37-39; John 11:33-36). Does he no longer do so because he's in heaven? Or does he still hurt for his people when they suffer? Acts 9:4-5 gives a clear answer. Jesus asked, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" When Saul asked who he was, he replied, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Doesn't being persecuted with them suggest he's currently hurting for his people? If Jesus can hurt for them, couldn't those in heaven do so also? It's one thing to no longer cry because there's nothing left to cry about. It's something else to no longer cry when there's ongoing suffering on earth. Going into the presence of Christ surely does not make us less compassionate, but more. Hence, it is possible that even with the predominant joy presently in heaven, in light of the fact there is still so much evil and pain in the universe, there could be periodic expressions of sadness in heaven until the evil and pain are permanently gone in Revelation 21.

6. Since God is continuously at work on earth, observing saints would have a great deal to praise him for, including people's spiritual transformations (Luke 15:7,10). If there is rejoicing in heaven about what happens on earth, aren't the redeemed allowed to participate in the rejoicing? How could they participate unless aware of the cause for celebration?

Conclusion: Happiness in heaven is based not on ignorance, but on perspective. We will be with Christ, see accurately, and live in a sinless environment. Heavenly happiness cannot be based on a fundamental ignorance of what is happening on earth or even in hell.

Will There Be Awareness in Heaven of Events on Earth?
Note: Before reading this article, please
Click Here and Read "Rethinking Our Beliefs About Heaven"
which lays the foundation for it.

Given the substantial evidence of Scripture to the contrary, the burden of proof is on those who argue people in heaven are unconcerned with and unaware of what is happening on earth. Does Scripture really teach this? Where?

Or is the belief that those in heaven are unaware of what happens on earth merely an assumption, one that over decades or centuries has been elevated by some into a doctrine, one not based on Scripture? I believe it is no more than a deduction based on a faulty premise, namely that for heaven to be happy, people in heaven can't know what's happening on earth. That argument is therefore worth taking a closer look at.

Argument: "It wouldn't be heaven if we knew of bad things happening on earth. We're promised there will be no more crying or pain in heaven."

Answers:

1. It's heaven for God and he knows exactly what's happening on earth.

2. It's heaven for the angels and they know what's happening on earth.

3. Angels in heaven see the torment of hell, but it does not minimize heaven (Rev. 14:10).

4. Abraham and Lazarus saw the rich man's agonies in hell, but it did not cause heaven to cease to be heaven (Luke 16:23-26). If one can see people in hell without ruining heaven, surely nothing he could see on earth could ruin it.

(Note: Luke 16 is in the intermediate state, before the end of the world and the resurrection. It does not therefore necessarily indicate those in the new heavens and earth can see into the eternal lake of fire. However, it suggests those currently in heaven may be able to see into hell, or at the very least be fully aware of its existence.)

5. There is a chasm that those in heaven and hell can't cross, but they can see what was happening in the other place (Luke 16:23-26). If this is true of heaven and hell, is the same true of heaven and earth? A chasm separating them and preventing direct intervention, yet an ability to see what's happening in the other world?

6. The promise of no more tears or crying is after the end of the world, after the Great White Throne judgment, after "the old order of things has passed away" and there is no more suffering on earth (Rev. 21:1-4). This passage is not a valid argument for tearlessness in the present heaven, but only in the new heaven and earth. This doesn't mean those presently in heaven must be unaware of what's happening on earth.

Certainly those in heaven are not frail beings whose joy can be maintained only by sheer ignorance of what is going on in the universe. In fact, even if our knowledge did produce some sadness in heaven (we don't know for sure it would), the old order hasn't yet passed away. Heaven is not in its final state. We should not begin by defining heaven as "no sorrow, no concern, no knowledge of suffering" and then dismiss any scriptural indications that undermine that assumption.

Christ grieved for people on earth (Mt. 23:37-39; John 11:33-36). Is he no longer capable of doing so because he is in heaven? Or does he still hurt for his people when they suffer? If he can hurt for them, could not we? It is one thing to no longer cry because there is nothing left to cry about. It is something else to no longer cry when there is ongoing suffering on earth.

Going into the presence of Christ surely does not make us less compassionate, but more. Hence, it is possible that even with the predominant joy presently in heaven, in light of the fact there is still so much evil and pain in the universe, there could be periodic expressions of sadness in heaven until the evil and pain is permanently gone.

7. Since God is continuously at work on earth, observing saints would have a great deal to praise him for, including people's spiritual transformations (Luke 15:7,10). If there is rejoicing in heaven about what happens on earth, aren't the redeemed allowed to participate in the rejoicing? How could they participate unless aware of the cause for celebration?

Conclusion: Happiness in heaven is based on being with Christ, gaining accurate perspective, and living in a sinless environment. It is not based on a fundamental ignorance of what is happening on earth or even in hell.

Problem: Isaiah 65:17 says in heaven "the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind."

First, Isaiah 65:17 must be weighed against the dozens of other passages of Scripture previously cited in this article and the earlier one. If they clearly teach some things from earth will be remembered in the eternal state, then properly understood this verse does not contradict them.

Furthermore, whatever this verse means, it specifically comes after the new heavens and new earth, not before. Hence, it has no bearing at all on the question of whether saints presently in heaven can witness events happening on earth.

Isaiah 65:17 is linked to the previous verse: "For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My eyes." This does not suggest literal lack of memory, as if the omniscient God couldn't recall the past. God knows everything. Rather, it is like God saying I will remember their sins no more" (Jer. 31:34). It means he will not choose to call to mind or to hold against us our past sins.

In eternity, past sins will not plague us or God, nor interfere with God's acceptance of us. Likewise, both God and we will be capable of choosing not to recall our past troubles and sorrows and sins in a way that would diminish the wonders of heaven. However, it seems likely that recalling the reality of such troubles and sorrows and sins would set a sharp contrast to the glories of heaven, as darkness does to light, as hell does to heaven. This contrast would be lost if the sense of what sorrow is was entirely forgotten. (If we ever forget we were desperate sinners, how could we appreciate the depth and meaning of Christ's glorious work for us?) It is even possible that an awareness of the perfect justice of hell will enhance the depth of gratitude to God of those in heaven.

Even in the new heavens and earth there are memorials to the twelve tribes and the apostles (Rev. 21:12-14). Christ's nail scared hands and feet in his eternal resurrection body (John 20:24-29) prove his suffering and redemption-and the fact it was necessitated by our sins-will not be forgotten! Hence, these passages clearly preclude the "we'll remember nothing on earth" understanding of Isaiah 65:17.

Every believer's crowns and rewards will continuously remind us of acts of faithfulness to God done in that window of opportunity on earth.

While God will wipe away the tears and sorrow attached to this world, the drama of God's work in human history will not be erased from our minds. Heaven's happiness will not be dependent on our ignorance of what really happened on earth. Rather, it will be greatly enhanced by our informed appreciation of God's glorious grace and justice in what really happened on earth.

Earth's not our home...or is it?

The Bible teaches that our eternal home will be a place we've already been—earth. It will be a New Earth, a transformed earth. But just as I will be able to remember my friend Steve, who will be a resurrected Steve, so I will be able to remember my home world earth, which will be a resurrected earth. So, as Steve will be a person I already know, earth will be a place I already know. Then—and only then—does it make sense to think of Heaven as my true home, realizing that Heaven will ultimately be on the New Earth.

The New Earth

What we usually think of when we hear "Heaven" is the intermediate state. That's where we go when we die. It's the place we'll live until the resurrection. But it's not the place we'll live forever. That place, where God will come down to dwell with his people, is called The New Earth (Revelation 21:1-3).

Can We Know We Won’t Sin In Heaven?

Christ promises on the New Earth, “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Since “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), the promise of no more death is a promise of no more sin. Those who will never die can never sin, since sinners always die. Sin causes mourning, crying, and pain. If those will never occur again, then sin can never occur again.

Consider the last part of Revelation 21:4: “For the old order of things has passed away.” What follows the word for explains Heaven’s lack of death, mourning, crying, and pain. These are part of an old order of things that will forever be behind us. The sin that caused them will be no longer. We need not fear a second Fall.

Scripture emphasizes that Christ died once to deal with sin and will never again need to die (Hebrews 9:26-28; 10:10; 1 Peter 3:18). We’ll have the very righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). We won’t sin in Heaven for the same reason God doesn’t: He cannot sin. Our eternal inability to sin has been purchased by Christ’s blood.

For by a single offering [himself] he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14, ESV). On the cross, validated by his resurrection, our Savior purchased our perfection for all time.

“Nothing impure will ever enter it [the New Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27). The passage doesn’t say: “If someone becomes impure or shameful or deceitful, that person will be evicted.” There’s an absolute contrast between sinners and the righteous. That Satan and evildoers are cast forever into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10 and 21:8) shows an eternal separation of evil from the New Earth. Heaven will be completely devoid of evil, with no threat of becoming tainted. Three times in the final two chapters of Scripture, we’re told that those still in their sins have no access to Heaven, and never will (Revelation 21:8, 27; 22:15).

That evil will have no footing in Heaven and no leverage to affect us is further indicated by Jesus when he says, “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace. . . . Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:40-43, emphasis added)

Hebrews 9:26 says with an air of finality that Christ sacrificed himself “to put away sin” (NASB) or “to do away with sin” (NIV). Sin will be a thing of the past.

We’ll be raised “incorruptible” (1 Corinthians 15:52, NKJV). Incorruptible is a stronger word than uncorrupted. Our risen bodies, and by implication our new beings, will be immune to corruption. Since the wages of sin is death, if we cannot die, then we cannot sin.

“Anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:7). Christ will not allow us to be vulnerable to the very thing he died to deliver us from. Since our righteousness is rooted in Christ, who is eternally righteous, we can never lose it.

Will We Have Free Will in Heaven?

Some people believe that if we have free will in Heaven, we’ll have to be free to sin, as were the first humans. But Adam and Eve’s situation was different. They were innocent but had not been made righteous by Christ. We, on the other hand, become righteous through Christ’s atonement: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). To suggest we could have Christ’s righteousness yet sin is to say Christ could sin. God completely delivers us from sin—including vulnerability to sin.

Even now we may “participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4). In Heaven there will be no evil desires, and no corruption, and we will fully participate in the sinless perfection of God.

What does this mean in terms of human freedom? Some people suggest our free choice is a temporary condition for the present life and won’t characterize us in Heaven. But it seems to me that the capacity to choose is part of what makes us human. It’s hard to believe God would be pleased by our worship if we had no choice but to offer it. It’s one thing for him to enable us to worship. It’s another for him to force us to do so or to make it automatic and involuntary. Christ woos his bride; he doesn’t “fix” her so she has no choice but to love him.

Imagine a husband who desires his wife’s love, and to insure that love, he injects her with a chemical to remove her free will, to make her love him. This is not love; it is coercion. Once we become what the sovereign God has made us to be in Christ and once we see him as he is, then we’ll see all things—including sin—for what they are. God won’t need to restrain us from it. Sin will have absolutely no appeal. It will be, literally, unthinkable.

The inability to sin doesn’t inherently violate free will. My inability to be God, an angel, a rabbit, or a flower is not a violation of my free will. It’s the simple reality of my nature. The new nature that’ll be ours in Heaven—the righteousness of Christ—is a nature that cannot sin, any more than a diamond can be soft or blue can be red. God cannot sin, yet no being has greater free choice than God does.

Theologian Paul Helm says, “The freedom of heaven, then, is the freedom from sin; not that the believer just happens to be free from sin, but that he is so constituted or reconstituted that he cannot sin. He doesn’t want to sin, and he does not want to want to sin.”

Will We Ever Be Tempted?

Will we be tempted to turn our backs on Christ? No. What would tempt us? Innocence is the absence of something (sin), while righteousness is the presence of something (God’s holiness). God will never withdraw from us his holiness; therefore we cannot sin.

We’ll never forget the ugliness of sin. People who’ve experienced severe burns aren’t tempted to walk into a bonfire. Having known death and life, we who will experience life will never want to go back to death. We’ll never be deceived into thinking God is withholding something good from us or that sin is in our best interests.

Satan won’t have any access to us. But even if he did, we wouldn’t be tempted. We’ll know not only what righteousness is but also what sin is—or was. We’ll always know sin’s costs. Every time we see the scarred hands of King Jesus, we’ll remember. We’ll see sin as God does. It will be stripped of its illusions and will be utterly unappealing.

Because our hearts will be pure and we’ll see people as they truly are, every relationship in Heaven will be pure. We’ll all be faithful to the love of our life: King Jesus. We couldn’t do anything behind his back even if we wanted to. But we’ll never want to.

We’ll love everyone, men and women, but we’ll be in love only with Jesus. We’ll never be tempted to degrade, use, or idolize each other. We’ll never believe the outrageous lie that our deepest needs can be met in any person but Jesus.

Often we act as if the universe revolves around us. We have to remind ourselves it’s all about Christ, not us. In Heaven we’ll see reality as it is and will, therefore, never have to correct our thinking. This will be Heaven’s Copernican revolution—a paradigm shift in which we’ll never again see ourselves as our center of gravity. Jesus Christ will be our undisputed center, and we won’t want it any other way.

Will We Really Be Perfect?

Someone e-mailed me this question: “In Heaven, will some people still be annoying? After all, eternity’s a long time!” Annoyance is sometimes caused by others’ sin, our own, or both. Since sin will be eliminated, so will annoyance. That doesn’t mean people won’t have idiosyncrasies, only that they won’t be rooted in sin, and none of us will degrade or dismiss others.

Jonathan Edwards said, “Even the very best of men, are, on earth, imperfect. But it is not so in heaven. There shall be no pollution or deformity or offensive defect of any kind, seen in any person or thing; but every one shall be perfectly pure, and perfectly lovely in heaven.”

In Heaven we’ll be perfectly human. Adam and Eve were perfectly human until they bent themselves into sinners. Then they lost something that was an original part of their humanity—moral perfection. Since then, under sin’s curse, we’ve been human but never perfectly human.

We can’t remember a time when we weren’t sinners. We’ve always carried sin’s baggage. What relief it will be not to have to guard our eyes and our minds. We will not need to defend against pride and lust because there will be none.

In Heaven we won’t just be better than we are now—we’ll be better than Adam and Eve were before they fell. Our resurrection bodies may be very much like their bodies were before the Fall, but we’ll be a redeemed humanity with knowledge of God, including his grace, far exceeding theirs.

Of course, Adam and Eve will be with us too, in their resurrection bodies. No one will know better than they what we’ve missed. They will have lived on the original Earth, the fallen Earth, and the New Earth. (That’s why they rank high on my list of people I want to talk with.)

In Heaven we’ll be perfectly human, but we’ll still be finite. Our bodies will be perfect in that they won’t be diseased or crippled. But that doesn’t mean they won’t have limits.

The term perfect is often misused when it describes our state in Heaven. I’ve heard it said, for instance, “We’ll communicate perfectly, so we’ll never be at a loss for words.” I disagree. I expect we’ll sometimes grasp for words to describe the wondrous things we’ll experience. I expect I’ll stand in speechless wonder at the glory of God. I’ll be morally perfect, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be capable of doing anything and everything. (Adam and Eve were morally perfect, but that didn’t mean they could automatically invent nuclear submarines or defy gravity. They were perfect yet finite, just as we will be.)

Someone asked me, “If we’re sinless, will we still be human?” Although sin is part of us now, it’s not essential to our humanity—in fact, it’s foreign to it. It’s what twists us and keeps us from being what we once were—and one day will be.

Our greatest deliverance in Heaven will be from ourselves. Our deceit, corruption, self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, hypocrisy—all will be forever gone.

Theologian and novelist Frederick Buechner anticipates the new “us” on the New Earth: “Everything is gone that ever made Jerusalem, like all cities, torn apart, dangerous, heartbreaking, seamy. You walk the streets in peace now. Small children play unattended in the parks. No stranger goes by whom you can’t imagine a fast friend. The city has become what those who loved it always dreamed and what in their dreams she always was. The new Jerusalem. That seems to be the secret of Heaven. The new Chicago, Leningrad, Hiroshima, Beirut. The new bus driver, hot-dog man, seamstress, hairdresser. The new you, me, everybody.”

What Is Our Hope of Living without Sin?

What’s the hope we should live for? It’s more than freedom from suffering. It’s deliverance from sin, freeing us to be fully human. Paul says, “In this hope we were saved” (Romans 8:24). What hope? The words of the previous verse tell us: “the redemption of our bodies” (v. 23). That’s the final resurrection, when death will be swallowed up and sin will be reversed, never again to touch us. This is what we should long for and live for. Resurrection will mean many things— including no more sin.

Is resurrected living in a resurrected world with the resurrected Christ and his resurrected people your daily longing and hope? Is it part of the gospel you share with others? Paul says that the resurrection of the dead is the hope in which we were saved. It will be the glorious climax of God’s saving work that began at our regeneration. It will mark the final end of any and all sin that separates us from God. In liberating us from sin and all its consequences, the resurrection will free us to live with God, gaze on him, and enjoy his uninterrupted fellowship forever, with no threat that anything will ever again come between us and him.

May God preserve us from embracing lesser hopes. May we rejoice as we anticipate the height, depth, length, and breadth of our redemption.

If when we die we are judged and go immediately to the intermediate Heaven as Randy states, how can Revelation 20:5 be true?
This verse is talking about the transition period between the intermediate and the Eternal Heaven.  Verse 5 is pre-eternal Heaven.

There are several scriptures that point to the fact that when a believer dies he is immediately in the presence of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 says "to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." In Philippians 1:23, Paul talks about his "desire to depart and be with Christ." Jesus told the thief on the cross, "today you will be with me in Paradise."

"The rest of the dead" (Revelation 20:5) refers to unbelievers who will not be judged until the Great White Throne (the first resurrection—the resurrection of condemnation for unbelievers).

How can you say there will be oceans in Heaven
When Rev. 21:1 says something different?

One of the most confusing—and to many people disappointing—statements of Scripture is that on the New Earth "there was no longer any sea" (Revelation 21:1).

When we read that, we think this: no more warm inviting waters, no more surfing, tide pools, snorkeling and fun on the beach, and no more wonderful sea creatures. That's bad news.

But when Scripture says "There was no longer any sea," the core meaning is that there will be no more of the cold treacherous waters that separate nations, destroy ships and drown our loved ones, no more creatures swallowing up seafarers, and no more poisoned salt waters. That's good news.

Steven Lawson elaborates: "To the ancient peoples, the sea was frightful and fearsome, an awesome monster, a watery grave. They had no compass to guide them in the open sea. On a cloudy day, their ships were absolutely lost without the stars or the sun to guide them. Their frail ships were at the mercy of the tempestuous ocean's fearsome, angry storms. The loss of human life in the sea was beyond calculation. So the sea represented a vast barrier for nations, continents, and people groups."ⁱ

Hence, the prospect of "no more sea" was very positive for the passage's original readers.

Lawson also wonders if there will no longer be seas because the seas as we know them weren't God's original creation, but a result of his judgment through the Flood. "Many scientists who are Christians believe that before the great flood of Noah's day, there was no sea. But in the flood, the bottoms of the deep were opened up, allowing the release of great bodies of water, and the world was flooded. The oceans were then formed between the overturned land masses and the seas became a barrier separating what we now know to be continents, further dividing the human race. On the new earth, it appears there will be no sea because the earth will be restored to its original splendor."ⁱⁱ

A case can be made that given the fallen state of nature, the salt seas function as a great antiseptic to cleanse the earth and make life possible here. The salt seas purge, cleanse, and preserve the earth. They absorb and cleanse the pollution and filth poured into them.ⁱⁱⁱ On the New Earth such cleansing will no longer be necessary.

Even if this passage means "no more ocean," this wouldn't require the absence of large bodies of water. Revelation tells us a great river flows right through the capital city (22:1-2). How much more water will there be outside it? Flowing rivers go somewhere. We would expect lakes. Some of the world's lakes are huge, sea-like. The New Earth could have even larger lakes, especially if they have no oceans to flow into. Huge lakes could in effect be fresh water oceans.

Another reason I think that the New Earth will have large bodies of water is that, as I argued in chapters 24 and 25, the same animals that inhabit our current planet will inhabit the New Earth. Most animal species live underwater, not on land, and most of those live in the ocean, not in fresh water. So, since animals were created to manifest God's glory, it seems inconceivable that on the New Earth he would eliminate most living things that glorify him. The Bible gives no indication that sea creatures perished in the Flood. They still exist, so God preserved them. Since God rescued them from the earth's destruction by flood, shouldn't we expect him to rescue them from—or revive them after—the earth's destruction by fire? If God desires to, he could make every sea creature he ever created capable of living in fresh water. In fact, that might be the environment he originally created for them. No matter how large, a body of water without salt might not be considered a sea, and that may be the primary meaning of "no more sea."

In a passage that definitely contains references to the New Earth, portions of which are cited in Revelation 21-22, Isaiah 60 says of the renewed Jerusalem, "the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come" (v. 5). The passage goes on to speak of inhabited islands and their ships traveling the sea: "Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God" (v. 9). Somehow the "no more sea" of Revelation 21 and the "wealth of the seas" and the great ships traveling them in Isaiah 60 are compatible.

As someone who loves to snorkel, explore ocean waters for hours at a time, and marvel at multicolored fish, great sea turtles, squid, rays, and eels, I sympathize with people's instinctive resistance to the words "There was no longer any sea." I've seen hundreds of different kinds of fish, some of them more spectacular than any land creature. I've done enough diving to know it's exhilarating, even worshipful, to be immersed in a God-made world normally beyond our reach. I remember one time snorkeling with one of my daughters, a friend, and his son. Suddenly we heard the melodic sounds of whales calling to each other. The sounds were so loud we expected whales to appear any moment. We floated, nearly motionless, just listening to musical beauty and power that defies words. I felt closer to God during that twenty minutes than at nearly any other time in my life.

I predict the New Earth will include large bodies of water where we'll dive, perhaps without tanks or masks. Can you imagine effortlessly holding your breath for hours? Imagine fresh water we can freely drink of, water in which we can open wide our eyes and play with God's creatures of the deep. Instead of salt water, it will be pure, refreshing, life-giving "sweet" water, just like the ocean water the noble mouse Reepicheep found in the waves near Aslan's country.^iv

You say in your book that people in Heaven can witness events happening on earth.
But what about Isaiah 65:17, which says in heaven "the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind"?

First, Isaiah 65:17 must be weighed against the dozens of other passages of Scripture previously cited in this article and the earlier one. If they clearly teach some things from earth will be remembered in the eternal state, then properly understood this verse does not contradict them.

Furthermore, whatever this verse means, it specifically comes after the New Heavens and New Earth, not before. Hence, it has no bearing at all on the question of whether saints presently in heaven can witness events happening on earth.

Isaiah 65:17 is linked to the previous verse: "For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from My eyes." This does not suggest literal lack of memory, as if the omniscient God couldn't recall the past. God knows everything. Rather, it is like God saying, "I will remember their sins no more" (Jer. 31:34). It means he will choose not to call to mind or to hold against us our past sins.

In eternity, past sins will not plague us or God, nor interfere with God's acceptance of us. Likewise, both God and we will be capable of choosing not to recall our past troubles and sorrows and sins in a way that would diminish the wonders of heaven. However, it seems likely that recalling the reality of such troubles and sorrows and sins would set a sharp contrast to the glories of heaven, as darkness does to light, as hell does to heaven. This contrast would be lost if the sense of what sorrow is was entirely forgotten. (If we ever forget we were desperate sinners, how could we appreciate the depth and meaning of Christ's glorious work for us?) It is even possible that an awareness of the perfect justice of hell will enhance the depth of gratitude to God of those in heaven.

Even in the New Heavens and Earth there are memorials to the twelve tribes and the apostles (Rev. 21:12-14). Christ's nail-scarred hands and feet in his eternal resurrection body (John 20:24-29) prove his suffering and redemption—and the fact it was necessitated by our sins—will not be forgotten! Hence, these passages clearly preclude the "we'll remember nothing on earth" understanding of Isaiah 65:17.

Every believer's crowns and rewards will continuously remind us of acts of faithfulness to God done in that window of opportunity on earth.

While God will wipe away the tears and sorrow attached to this world, the drama of God's work in human history will not be erased from our minds. Heaven's happiness will not be dependent on our ignorance of what really happened on earth. Rather, it will be greatly enhanced by our informed appreciation of God's glorious grace and justice in what really happened on earth.

By Randy Alcorn
Eternal Perspective Ministries
39085 Pioneer Blvd.   Suite 206
Sandy, OR 97055
(503) 668-5200
www.epm.org
www.randyalcorn.blogspot.com