13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
A better translation of the first line may be, “Gird up the loins of your mind,” which meant in those days to gather up one’s robes in order to run without hinderances, here applying to one’s thoughts, to keep our thoughts uncluttered or unhindered by the world. To “keep sober in spirit” means to be self-controlled and clear-minded, not given over to worldly and impure thoughts.
As for our hope, I think a better translation here is, “hope to the end, or “to keep your hope on.” The word “completely” I think is confusing. Hence, we are to fix our hope on the grace that will be brought to us when we see Jesus. The idea here is that we are to look more to the future, looking for His coming. Instead of always getting bogged down with all our earthly things, we ought to be keeping our mind on heavenly things.
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
In our living hope we have confidence in God that we will receive a great inheritance in heaven, which is imperishable (will not decay; it will last forever) and undefiled (will not be corrupted by evil) and will not fade away (like flowers that wither).
This inheritance is everything that belongs to our new life of glory—all the things that make us like Christ. We have some of those things now, like all the fruits of the Spirit. In heaven those things will be much more pronounced and free of corruption. We will also have a body that is perfect and will not age. And we will have great companionship with God and Christ and all the saints. And our rewards, of course, will be delightful.
Here are three things, in regard to our new bodies, that will be different in heaven.
There will be no marriage. There is only one Scripture passage that addresses marriage in heaven; it is in Matthew 22:30. There Jesus addresses the Sadducees, telling them that in the resurrection we will not marry, because we will be like the angels. Angels, as we know, do not die and do not propagate. Therefore, they have no need for marriage. This then will also be true of us. And if you are thinking that there are other reasons for marriage; yes, that is true. But in heaven we will all have perfect relationships, even better than our marriage relationship now. We will all love and encourage each other with a perfect fellowship. I guess we will just have to trust God on that.
As for our gender, the gender we have now is part of who we are—it is in our DNA, and so it will be transferred into our new body. We will remain that way. Also, if you remember all the occurrences of Jesus after His resurrection, we know that He remained as a male. When Mary saw Him shortly after He arose and supposed that He was the gardener—a man’s occupation—she spoke to Him as “Sir” (Jn. 2 0:15). Also, the two men who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus did not see Him as not being male (Lu. 24:13-27), nor did Peter see Him any differently (Jn. 21:15-23).
We will have perfect knowledge. In 1 Corinthians 13:12 Paul writes, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
The Greek word here for knowledge, epiginosko, is used several times in the New Testament; but I think here in 1Corinthians 13:12, we really get the feel of what this full knowledge in heaven will be like. It will be perfect, or full. There will be no more confusion or ignorance about our understanding of things. When God speaks to us about something, we will understand Him. In fact, I will hear and understand Him (what He says to me) just as He understands me.
And I think we will also have this kind of knowledge/communication with angels. What great conversations we will have together. I have always been a slow reader. How great it will be to not only speed read with comprehension, but to very quickly hear and understand everything.
But we will never have absolute knowledge (omniscience) as God has. Yet it will be as complete as we need it to be or ever desire it to be for eternity.
We will have supernatural powers. I think the best way to look at this is to look at what Jesus did after His resurrection, because we will have the same kind of body and the same supernatural powers. So, I looked at three of the gospels, Mark, Luke, and John for this information. In Mark 16:12 it is recorded that “He appeared in a different form to two men walking.” I take it that they were going to a village named Emmaus, as Like 24:13 records. I also noticed that in Luke’s gospel it says that “their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.” So, we have a bit of a difference in the way Mark and Luke heard of the occurrence. Either way, they were prevented from seeing who He was.
I’m not sure that we would have any occasion to have this kind of power in heaven, but maybe we will during the Millennial kingdom—if we didn’t want a mortal person to know who we were. This particular power may suggest that we will be much like the angels; for we know that they occasionally have appeared in a different form as mere men (Heb. 13:2). We will see.
In Luke’s gospel (Lu. 24:31), after the two men invited Jesus to their home, as they were about to eat, and after Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and passed it to them, they suddenly recognized Him and He vanished right before their eyes. So, this was the second power we see.
The third power is in John 20:19 and 26. On two different occasions, the disciples were in a room together with the door having been shut, and Jesus appeared to them and stood in their midst. Apparently, locked doors could not keep Him out. He simply walked right through the walls, or He just appeared! Hence, like Jesus we will be able to move through solid matter as if we were just a spirit—yet with a visible and supernatural body. And like in the earlier story, we will be able to also disappear at will.
In John MacArthur’s book, The Glory of Heaven, he brings up the fact that our home in the heavenly city will be 1500 miles cubed and we won’t be using an elevator to get to our residence—if it happens to be on the top floor. He said that we will either have the ability to fly or to simply be transported in an instant at will.2
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to explore the heavens. I wonder if it will be anything like our solar system today. I just wonder if we will actually be able to travel through the heavens by the speed of thought, millions of miles in a second. And what will we see?
2 John MacArthur, The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1996), pp. 133-134.
Just as the former things (of this world) will not be remembered or come to mind (Isa. 65:17), we won’t be affected in any way by the existence of hell. I don’t think the suffering of those in hell will even come to our mind. John MacArthur indicates in his book, The Glory of Heaven, according to Isaiah 66:22-24, “The destruction of the wicked will ultimately be something for which we will worship God.”1
Yes, I can’t believe we will suffer in the least over those in hell. God will shield our mind and emotions from any suffering. And He has said to us through David in Psalms 16:11,
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Hence, if we are full of the joy of His presence and of the pleasure He gives us, how can we at the same time think about and suffer for sinners in hell. It seems to me that God will separate believers from any contact with unbelievers. In Revelation 21:8 and in 22:15, God tells us that those who have chosen an unbelievers life (with all the sins they commit), they will have a special place separated from believers. It is a place that God has designed for them with Satan and all his demons. And we should not be sorry for them or think that God is unjust. He gives them what they deserve. And we all deserve it; but God reached down to all of us and gave His Son to die for us and save us. All we had at do was believe in Him. We who believe have eternal life. But those who chose not to believe and obey Him will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on them (Jn. 3:36).
1 John MacArthur, The Glory of Heaven (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1996), p. 98.
Our rest is written about in Revelation 14:13, where John says,
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
From this verse we may affirm that the souls of all those who die in the Lord (and also, all those who are raptured) will be at rest from all labor and strife of being in an ungodly world and of the sins of the world. But, in contrast (from verse 11), all those who are not believers will have no rest day and night for eternity. Here, in the context, it speaks of those unbelievers during the Tribulation who receive the mark of the beast; but it will be the same for all unbelievers—they all will have no rest, only torment and strife. Therefore, this rest we speak of here (in verse 13) is a serenity of the soul, a peacefulness of a life made perfect in holiness by the blood of our Savior. And it is even that way now when we confess our sins and resolve to obey Him. He lets us rest in Him and we are at peace; thus, for all of eternity in heaven we will have that same rest—and an even greater rest.
I suppose, when we arrive in heaven in our new bodies, the first thing we will notice with great joy and thankfulness is that everything is new and different. All the old things of the flesh and of the old world will be gone—or will we even give it a thought? There will be no more sadness, only joy. There will be no more death, only life. There will be no more mourning, only joy and rejoicing. There will be no more crying, only laughing and praising God. There will be no more pain, only peace and pleasure.
I think it will be worthwhile to go through all of these five points (from Revelation 21:4) and try to get a better grasp of the changes.
No more sadness. All through one’s life there is always some degree of sadness. Some people seem to be sad all the time for one thing or another. Others appear to be happy most of the time; but perhaps they have found ways to hide their deep-down sadness. Nonetheless, when we see Jesus and we are instantly made like Him, all our tears will disappear. He will wipe them all away. And then we will say with Paul, “He has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). And we will know that He has accomplished it by His own suffering and death on the cross. As the prophet Isaiah has written, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore. And our sorrows He carried…and by His scourging we are healed” (Isa. 53:4-5).
No more death. The impending death of a loved one and news of our own death is always grievous. We can do nothing about it. We may delay it for a while, but soon it will come. But Christ has abolished that enemy forever. By His death and resurrection, He has established victory over death—for Himself and for all who believe in Him. Now we may say with Paul, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YUR STING” (1 Cor. 15:54-55)?
This victory will be absolutely confirmed for us in heaven. We will forever not feel the doom or the pain of it. It is no more.
No more mourning. Mourning is a deep-down brokenness over our own sin and failure. Because we are all sinners, we all go through mourning. But mourning is particularly prevalent with those that want to be closer to God, with those who regularly humble themselves when
they feel pride creeping up in themselves. Hence, in their obedient humility they will be miserable and mourn over their sin (Ja. 4:8-9).
Though mourning is something we ought to do now because of our condition, in heaven we won’t have to mourn since we will have no sin. In fact, the absence of mourning will be a constant reminder that God has removed our sins from us, having forever cleansed us of all sin and put us on the wonderful path of light and joy forever.
No more crying. Crying is not necessarily bad for us. It is a very natural way a baby expresses his or her needs when feeling hungry, tired or feeling discomfort—since they can’t communicate any other way. For an adult, it isn’t a matter of communication, but more of an outlet of strong emotions in times of sadness or feelings of rejection or pain—but sometimes even of happiness.
I don’t know if there will be absolutely no crying in heaven. We may cry out of extreme happiness or thankfulness to God. But never out of sadness or pain or discomfort. All that will be gone. Christ will have taken care of that on the cross. It will have all been paid for. We will be free from it all. All our emotions then will be only of joy, and laughter, etc.
No more pain. Certainly, Christ bore much pain on the cross for us. He bore all the pain in payment for our sins. We still have pain now since we still sin. But when we see Jesus and He turns our body into glory, our pain will vanish. Where sin is present there is pain. But when sin goes away, so does pain. It will be forever gone.
These are the five things that are listed in Revelation 21:4 as being “no longer.” But I wonder if maybe there are other things that would be included. Yes, I’m sure that in addition to these five things that are at the top of the list, there are many things that are from the flesh, from sin, and from the devil that will be no more. And we won’t ever have to worry about them popping up into our minds ever again; for as the prophet Isaiah has written (in Isaiah 65:17), “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.”
In the last post we looked at verses fromMatthew 5:8, John 14:1-4, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, Hebrews 11:13-16, 1 Peter 1:3-4, and Revelation 21:1-8. Today we will look at verses from Revelation 21:9-22:5.
Revelation 21:9-22:5. This section depicts all that God reveals to us about the holy city, the New Jerusalem—that place that will be our eternal dwelling with God. We won’t go over every point in any great detail; we will cover just the high points to stir our imagination of what our future home will be like.
Ch. 21:10-11.This great city, which John saw coming down out of heaven from God, sparkled with the glory of God. Its brilliance was like that of a crystal-clear jasper. Some commentators say that it will be more like a clear diamond.
Ch. 21:12-14.This great and marvelous city will have a very high wall around it with twelve gates, three on each of its four sides; and the gates will have written on them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. These gates with the names inscribed on each one will be an eternal reminder of Israel and also of the millennial temple that will be set up in the same way (Ezek. 48:30-35).
Ch. 21:15-16.The city will be 1,500 miles square and 1,500 miles high, in the shape of a cube. So, it will have over two-million square miles of ground space and plenty of space above for several levels. I imagine that each of our dwellings will be very large! With very high ceilings! What do you think?
Ch. 21:17-20.The thickness of the clear diamond walls will be seventy-two yards; that’s almost three quarters the length of a football field. That’s pretty thick, but it has to be to support all the weight of a 1,500-mile-high city. Also, the rest of the inside of the city; its streets (v. 21), and I suppose other interior walls, will be of pure gold, gold like pure glass. I’ve never seen transparent gold. I can’t imagine it, nor can I imagine clear diamond walls. Now the foundation of the city—all around the bottom part of the walls—will be composed of twelve kinds of very expensive precious stones, again it will represent and bring honor to the Jewish people.
Ch 21:21.The twelve gates all around the city will be made of pearl; that is, each gate will be made of a single pearl. That is very hard to imagine since the gates will be very large; at least seventy-two yards thick and who knows how high.
Ch. 21:22. There will be no temple anywhere in heaven, for the presence of God will fill the new heaven and earth and He will be the new temple.
Ch. 21:23-24.Whether there will be a sun or moon anywhere in heaven, I’m not sure; but in the city there will be no need for their light, for the glory of God will light up the city and also the new earth. All people on the earth will see by the light of the glory of God coming from the city.
Ch. 21:25-27.There will be no night in the city; it will be light all the time and the gates will never be closed, inviting anyone to come and go in and out of the city. And it appears that God will be pleased with people coming into the city; their personalities will be honoring to God and others; that is, every person that comes into the city will make it more glorious and honoring to God. Think of it, my presence there will bring an added joy to all. But nothing unclean or evil will be allowed in the city.
Ch. 22:1-5. In this passage John records things that are especially enjoyable and beneficial to the soul for eternity. John sees a river flowing from the throne of God coursing down the center of main street. This river is unique in that it is crystal clear and eternally nourishing. That is, it holds all the qualities in it that keeps us living and thriving for eternity. Hence, it is more than H2o; it contains all the living qualities of God’s holy life. I believe it is the very water that Jesus spoke of to the woman at the well (Jn. 4:14). It is water that if anyone drinks of it will never thirst again. Hence, in heaven we will be eternally satisfied. Moreover, on either side of the river there will be a tree of life bearing twelve crops of fruit—one crop every month; and the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the people.
Now I don’t think this description of the river and the fruit trees are entirely literal. I’m not sure what we can expect to see, but I think the main point of this picture is to tell us that we will be eternally nourished and satisfied with God and the Lord Jesus. I think there may be several living rivers and multiple fruit trees wherever we go—to delight us.
Verses three through five seem to clump many things together—important things that John needs to say before he concludes.
That there will no longer be any curse. All that from the old earth is over.
That God’s throne and of the Lamb will be present somewhere in the city. I imagine it will be in a central location.
That His bond-servants (you and me) will serve Him.
That we will see His face; finally, we being sinless will be able to see God’s face.
And God’s name will be on our foreheads—to symbolize that we are His and He forever will protect us (Rev. 7:3).
And there will no longer be night; and we will no longer need the light of the sun because God’s glory will give us all the light we need.
And we will reign with God and the Lord Jesus forever and ever.
There is no better way to keep our focus on heaven than to read and meditate on heaven from Scripture. Here are a few good passages I picked out, followed by my commentary.
1 Peter 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
Because God gave us a new birth into a new life in Christ we now have the promise of a wonderful inheritance in heaven. It is waiting in heaven for us. It is a gift that will remain as it is: imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.
Revelation 4:1-11
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
5 Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 7 The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”
9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Here is the first vision the apostle John saw of heaven. As he looked into the open door of heaven he saw these things: a throne and One sitting on the throne; twenty-four thrones surrounding the central throne, and twenty-four elders sitting on those thrones; and four living creatures—probably cherubim angels, who were guardians of the throne of God. And John heard and saw them all fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne, no doubt the Almighty God.
We don’t know how much of this vision is realistic or more for our learning. It is certainly meant to persuade us of the glory and majesty of heaven.
From Revelation 21:1 to 22:5. (I will not record all these verses, but I invite you to read them from your bible.)
In chapter 21:1-8 John is given a vision of a new heaven (new universe) including a new earth. And he also saw a new Jerusalem—a very large, holy city that came down out of heaven from God (the third heaven). This is where you and me and all the saints will live with God (although I am convinced that we my venture out of it if we desire). And God will wipe all our tears away. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. And He spoke and said, “I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life.”
In 21:9-21 an angel describes the New Jerusalem in all her brilliance and glory, and even gives its measurements and describes all the costly materials.
In 21:22-27 there is a description of how the glory of God illumines the city and how all the nations (the people) of the earth will walk by its light.
In 22:1-5 there is a description of a river of the water of life coming from the throne of God; and there is also a description of the tree of life. Life in heaven will be abundant and satisfying.
There is no better way to keep our focus on heaven than to read and meditate on heaven from Scripture. Here are a few good passages I picked out, followed by my commentary.
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
If we maintain a pure life now we will see God though our faith “in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). And we will also see Him in His full glory in heaven.
John 14:1-4
Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
We ought not to be troubled with our various problems in this life. If we believe in God and in His Son, we know that He (Christ) is preparing a wonderful place for us in the Father’s house in heaven. And He will very soon come to take us there.
Philippians 3:20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory…
Because He has made us citizens of heaven we are eagerly waiting for Him to take us to heaven and to change our earthly bodies into bodies of glory just like His own.
Colossians 3:1-3
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
If we are believers in Christ and have our citizenship in heaven, we are not to be bogged down and worried over things of this world. Instead, we are to keep thinking about and have our mind set on heavenly things (things that matter to God). For our old life is gone and our new life is now in Christ. He will protect us from all our spiritual enemies that are always out to destroy us.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Here is probably the best, or most descriptive, passage on the Rapture of the church. It tells us plainly that when the Lord comes to take us to heaven, He will first take up (and transform) those believers who had died. I believe this includes the Old Testament as well as the New Testament believers, for they all died in Christ. Then, after the dead are risen, all those who are alive will be taken up (and transformed) with the first group; and they all will meet the Lord “in the air.” We don’t know exactly where in the air they will be, but from that point they will all be transported to heaven to the Father’s house. Now we don’t know where we will be when He comes, but we can be sure of this: we will either be one of the dead ones that are raised, or one of the living ones who are raptured alive. I hope that comforts you.
Hebrews 11:13-16
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country — a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
NIV
The people of faith spoken of in Hebrews 11 did not receive the promise of heaven before they died, but all their lives they remained strong in faith. For they were always looking for a better county than they left. They longed for the promised heavenly country that they knew God was preparing for them. If we want to remain faithful to God until the end, we must also as these did regard ourselves as strangers on earth—not really belonging to this world, rather having our citizenship in heaven.
Though we aren’t in heaven yet, God will send us small tastes of heaven. The more you connect yourself with God through His Spirit by prayer and meditation on His word, and by your personal holiness and obedience, the more you will be blessed and will taste of all of the spiritual blessings He has given us (Eph. 1:3).
I love what Paul says in Colossians 3:1-3.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Let me go through this passage and comment briefly. In verse one Paul instructs the believer to “keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” He is talking about heaven isn’t he? We are to “keep seeking” those things in heaven.
What does he mean by this? How are we to do it? Well, verse two gives us his answer. We are to set our mind on the things above (on heaven where Christ is) instead of on all the things down here on this earth.
In verse three Paul continues with this thought. He is giving us the reason why we are not to set our mind on things of this earth: it is because we have died to our old life and have been raised up with Christ to a new life with Him. Our real life now is in Christ in God. That is to say, everything that gives us real meaning in life is in the Christ life. Our real home now is with Christ in heaven.
So how do we actually taste of heaven? I would say anything that brings the life of Christ into us is how we taste of heaven—because heaven is really enjoying the life of Christ. Here are five ways that we can taste of heaven:
Obey Christ in everything. Remember that obeying Him is loving Him.
Pursue holiness. The more we stop sinning the more we will see God (Matt. 5:8).
Stay in prayer. Prayer is our connection to God.
Fellowship with other believers. The more we love and encourage them in the Lord the more He will bless us—satisfy us with His love.
Worship together. Praise to God is most blessed and satisfying when we do it together.
Stephen Nielsen 