WHAT WILL HEAVEN BE LIKE?

Spirit_Quest wrote:Accoding to one's preferred religion of choice, I'd supposed it'd be your choice. I don't belong to any one particular religion. I believe God lives within me, and is always a part of me. That's just my opinion. My free will. It's different for everyone. I'd assume, so is
heaven. It stands to reason, that life is a school. We're here to learn, develop, and help others along the way. What we don't "excell" at, or are "weak in", will give us opportunity to try again in future lives, to succeed. I'd like to think, that whatever our interests are,
would be bountiless in the hereafter. Some religions don't believe in a hereafter. It's all
up to you. Is death it? If I had a choice, I'd certainly hope for more. JMHO.

I am a Christian but I do not belong to ant particular denomination. God is a spirit. It would stand to reason that He has a spiritual home. If that spiritual home is called "Heaven," then Heaven is a totally spiritual place. Based on that, I believe there is no physicality in Heaven at all. Some say they will see a certain loved one in Heaven. I do not believe that is true.

Accoding to one's preferred religion of choice, I'd supposed it'd be your choice. I don't belong to any one particular religion. I believe God lives within me, and is always a part of me. That's just my opinion. My free will. It's different for everyone. I'd assume, so is
heaven. It stands to reason, that life is a school. We're here to learn, develop, and help others along the way. What we don't "excell" at, or are "weak in", will give us opportunity to try again in future lives, to succeed. I'd like to think, that whatever our interests are,
would be bountiless in the hereafter. Some religions don't believe in a hereafter. It's all
up to you. Is death it? If I had a choice, I'd certainly hope for more. JMHO.

WHAT WILL HEAVEN BE LIKE?

Today we will be looking at: What will Heaven be like.
There are many questions about Heaven that we have.
Have you ever wondered some of these?

What will heaven be like?
What will we look like in heaven?
Will we eat in heaven?
What will we do in heaven?
Will we be happy in heaven?
Will there be animals in heaven?
What will we do in heaven?

So many questions that some we do not have answers too.
Let's look at some of these and address some.

1. What will heaven be like?

It will be a glorious place that is prepared for the saints of God
who have been faithful on earth.
"Rejoice and be extremely glad for great is your reward in heaven."
Matthew 5:12

The place that God has prepared for us will be glorious with streets
of gold. The new creation will be a place of awesome beauty and is
described in terms of precious jewels and metals.
The current heaven is of a different dimension and cannot be seen by
man unless God reveals it, which He has done on several occasions to
His prophets (Isaiah 6; Ezekiel 1; Daniel 7:9-10;
2 Corinthians 12:1-4; Revelation 1, 4-5).

God is on a throne in the current heaven, and the Bible states that
Jesus, the Lamb of God, is seated at the right hand of the Father on
that throne, until He returns to judge the earth and establish His
kingdom on earth.

What most people call "heaven" is actually an eternal city which the
Bible calls the "new Jerusalem" (Revelation 21:2). The New
Jerusalem is described as a 1,500 mile cube

This will be a new heaven, because the first heaven and the first
earth will have passed away (Revelation 21:1). The eternal city is
described like this:

"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. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no
more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of
things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am
making everything new!" (Revelation 21:3-5)

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the
glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Rev 21:23)

The new Jerusalem will be the eternal home of God's people. Of this
place, the Bible says that "nothing unclean and no one who practices
abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose
names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Revelation 21:27).

Creation tell us that it will be vastly different from what we are
used to on earth. Probably most noticeable difference will be the
lack of gravity. . Structures of this size would automatically
become a sphere in this universe, because of gravity. Therefore
gravity will either be absent or significantly reduced in the new
creation. There will be no Sun or moon. Without gravity, the new
creation would not be bound to its source of heat and light. The
lack of the Sun is not a problem for the new creation, since the
Bible tells is that the glory of God Himself will provide it. The
illumination provided by God is probably not the same kind of
electromagnetic radiation (photons) that we call light. With this
kind of light, there would be no need to visually see things, since
this would severely restrict our ability to "see" everything as God
sees them. There will be no oceans, which means that there will be
no water cycle. It would be difficult for a water cycle to operate
without gravity. There will be the river of the water of life, which
flows from the throne of God. We are not totally positive, however,
it seems likely that it may not be liquid water as we know it.

Science tells us that the universe as we see it now is temporary.
Our earth is believed to be able to exist only for approximately
another 5 million years and after that, most likely either explode,
fall off its axis or something dramatic along that nature.

It has a moment of creation, and without God's intervention, will
eventually expand to produce a collection of cold, lifeless matter.
Obviously, such a universe would not be acceptable for housing
eternal beings, such as those described in the new creation. As
discussed previously, the processes requiring heat flow seem to be
absent from the new creation. These include the
Sun, the sea and a water cycle, and growing old and dying.

2. What will we look like in heaven?

When we leave this earth and are taken to heaven, we shall be
changed. That which is imperfect about us will disappear. We wo't
have our imperfect character flaws any longer.

We will receive a new body and those who enter heaven will be given a
new name and will be incapable of committing sin. Therefore, all
the problems with have by being mean to each other will be gone. We
will be able to enjoy each other's company without the fear of being
hurt by anyone. What will people be like in heaven?
With physical laws being so different in heaven, it is apparent that
our current bodies would not be acceptable in such a place which is
why
we receive a new body. The Bible poses the question:
"But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind
of body
do they come?" (1 Corinthians 15:35).

1 Corin. 15:42 - "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is
sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. "

In the same way our earthly bodies die and decay are different from
the bodies we shall have when we get to heaven, the new ones will
never die. We will recognize each other up there. How old will we
be? Will we all be the same age? It really doesn't matter after
all. These questions are not important, but will be answered for us
when we get there.

There are some things about our new bodies which will be like our
present ones. For instance, we will still have the same outward
appearance, we just won't have any of the imperfections.

Will we all be male? Female? Same? Again, questions which will be
answered when we get there.

3. Will we EAT in heaven?

While some theologians feel that there will NOT BE EATING in heaven,
some Christians believe that there WILL BE EATING in heaven. It
really is up for interpretation. Personally, I think we will, but
that is my personal opinion. I have no proof of my belief.

The ones who do believe there will be eating in heaven cite the
great wedding feast of the Lamb. Is this meant to be taken
literally? Of course, the most important part of the wedding is not
the feast, but the marriage. Are we going to be married in a literal
physical marriage to Jesus Christ? I think most males would feel
uncomfortable with this concept. We will be with our Savior and our
Father in heaven and see Him face to face. I believe that the Jewish
wedding was chosen to represent the celebration that will happen in
heaven, since it was a most joyous and lengthy event known to the
people for whom the message was given. One can be certain it will be
a great celebration, whether or not we actually eat.

Let's look at scripture.

St. Luke 24:41-43 - (vs. 41) "And whie they yet believed not for joy
and owndered He said unto them, have ye here any meat?"

(vs. 42) - "And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and of an
honeycomb".

(vs. 43) - "And He took it and did eat before them".
We see here that the Lord ATE after He resurrected and had His new
body. He ate fish with the disciples.

Is that proof? I don't know.

The best description we have of what our new body will look like is
to look at the new body of Jesus after His resurrection. He was
human-like. He walked and talked and ate with the disciples.

4. Will we be happy in heaven?

In His Presence is full ness of Joy. Psalm 16:11.
Well we will be in His Presence eternally.

Revelation 21:4 - "And God shall wipe away ALL TEARS from their eyes
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are
passed away".

5. Will there be animals in heaven?

This question has always been taught in my denomination that there
weren't because they are dualistic. However, there is belief that
there are animals in heaven. I have changed my view and now believe
there will be.

Not wanting to offend anyone whichever way they believe, let's look
at some scripture.

Isaiah 11:6 - "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the
leopard shall lie down with the kid and the cal f and the young lion
and the fatling together and in little child shall lead them".
Verse 9 says "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountains for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
and the wtaers cover the sea".

Isaiah 11:11 - "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord
shall set His Hand again the second time to receover the remnant of
his people which shall beleft from Assyria and from Egypt and from
Pathrose and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath
and from the isalnds of the sea".

This is really a tough question because there is no clear Biblical
teaching on this subject. The first thing to understand is that
animals do not have spirits like humans do. We are categorically
different. God only made humans with spirits. Animals don't have
spirits. They are totally physical.
So from this it is clear that animals are not "saved" and "lost" as
humans are. Also animals don't sin like humans do, therefore, there
is no need for them to be "saved".

Remember that "heaven" will be a physical place! In Revelation 21
God says the He will remake the heavens and the earth and that He
will come to live with His people on the new earth forever. This is
a bit different than the usual idea of "we go to be with God in
heaven forever." God created the physical universe. He likes it. He
created animals. He likes them. He will create a new earth for us to
dwell on forever. I would be of the opinion that if He filled this
earth with animals for us to enjoy, that He would do the same with
that one.

Accordingly there very well may be animals in heaven.
I used to say, no there won't be. I won't say that any longer.
But I won't say definitely there will be, but now have an open mind
at least. That should make one person in particular happy and she
knows who she is. (LOL). She's gaining ground because at least now I
don't have closed mine, but keeping an open mind as I do more
research.

6. What will I do in heaven?

In heaven we will rest, but not a rest of inactivity. WE will be
active. Some of the things we loved to do on earth, perhaps we will
be doing in heaven, such as playing instruments, maybe even
gardening, we don't know for sure. But some day we will know it all.
Whatever we do in heaven, it will be enjoyable, rewarding,
fulfilling and so we will not miss this earth or the life we had on
earth.

Of course, we definitely will be worshipping God. We will serve
God.

The assurance of heaven should bring us comfort and not concern.
God is in control. Down here we are mostly in control of our own
lives, make our own choices, do our own thing. But in heaven, God
is in control but, according to scripture, we will be very happy.
We may suffer now, but later will be very happy.

However..... ... "life" is a gift. We should use that gift until God
removes it and decides our life here is ended. It is not for us to
say we want to leave this earth now, so I think I will end my own
life. No, that is not for us. It is for God to say when our time on
earth is over.

Now all this said, I have a question for you. Do you have your
ticket to go there? Your ticket is Jesus Christ. He died and rose
again that we might have eternal life and the only way to get to
heaven and the appointed time that God sets, is if we know Jesus as
Lord and Savior. So I ask you now. Will you accept Jesus Christ as
your Lord and Savior and ask Him into your heart thereby setting
your future in heaven securely?
If you make that choice to accept him, please let the leadership of
this group know so that we might rejoice with the angels knowing a
new name is not blooted down in God's Book of Life, but is securely
printed on the appropriate page.
God bless you.
Hopefully to see you all when we get there.
COPYRIGHTED 2004 (Rev. Theresa Quinto Pavone, B.TH)
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