Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth… And 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. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4 ESV
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb… and there will be no night there. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 21:22-27 ESV
Heaven: Beauty, Music, and Work
Imagine living in a perfectly beautiful environment. Every flower at full bloom, none of them fading. No weeds anywhere. No bugs damaging the plants, no disease, no decay. Everything living in complete harmony with everything else.
It almost sounds too perfect, doesn’t it? Like it might feel fake or boring. It won’t.
The colors and the music
Think about the colors. There will likely be colors in heaven that don’t even exist here. We are so limited on earth in ways we don’t even realize. In heaven those limitations will be gone — not replaced with emptiness, but with more. More beauty, more dimension, more of everything good.
The music too. There will probably be notes and sounds that don’t exist in our realm at all. No wrong notes, no flat singing, no sitting through a concert that grates on you. Every kind of music you love, done perfectly, all of it glorifying God. No vile lyrics, no discord. Just beauty in every direction.
What will we do there?
There will probably be creative work for each of us — something like what existed in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. The misery of work will be gone, but the delight and fulfillment of it will remain. What that looks like, we can only wonder.
Will we be exploring corners of the universe we never got to see? Visiting cities we missed the first time around? Discovering new animals in new landscapes? I have no idea — and I find that wonderful.
My nursing career will almost certainly be obsolete. No sick people, no need for nurses! But I love quilting, working with color, creating things. I suspect I will find out what those gifts look like when they are fully redeemed and glorified. And gardening — in a place with no weeds to pull and no back that gives out. I can hardly wait.
A new heaven and a new earth
We know from Scripture that after Christ returns there will be a new heavens and a new earth. The lion and the lamb lying down together. A world even more beautiful than Eden.
Something to think about this week
What are you expecting in heaven? Is there a Biblical reason to believe it will be there? Sit with that question for a bit. It is a good one to carry around.
