{"id":51371,"date":"2017-09-13T21:33:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-14T02:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=51371"},"modified":"2024-03-04T17:07:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T23:07:44","slug":"what-will-it-be-like-in-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-will-it-be-like-in-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"What Will It be Like in Heaven?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t<meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/2017Fall6WhatWillItBeLikeInHeaven.mp3\" \/><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-51371-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/2017Fall6WhatWillItBeLikeInHeaven.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/2017Fall6WhatWillItBeLikeInHeaven.mp3\">https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/2017Fall6WhatWillItBeLikeInHeaven.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\t<p>by Christopher Scott Wyatt<\/p>\n<p>Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 15:50-57<\/p>\n<p>In tonight&#8217;s lesson, we take a look at Heaven, the final destination of the faithful. The place everyone in this room wants to go! Our eternal home, the very Kingdom of GOD!<\/p>\n<p>To a Christian, Heaven must be as important as the Super Bowl is to a football player, the World Series is to a baseball player, or the Metropolitan Opera or Broadway is to a singer!<\/p>\n<p>It is and must be the ultimate goal, the pinnacle, the climax, the dream of every faithful Christian to one day be in the very presence of God and to hear Him say those words: &#8220;Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master&#8221; (Matthew 25:23).<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of dreams and goals, it&#8217;s important for a person to envision the final outcome of their dreams.<\/p>\n<p>How often have you heard highly successful people say: &#8220;You have to have goals!&#8221; You have to see yourself winning that gold medal, being that distinguished MVP, winning that Grammy Award.<\/p>\n<p>As a Christian, you must see yourself being escorted by angels into Paradise, and after Jesus&#8217; second coming, the Kingdom of Heaven! You need to see yourself being crowned by Jesus with that eternal crown of life! (James 1:12). Can you see it? Can you picture it in your mind?<\/p>\n<p>Even more than that, it&#8217;s a very healthy thing (spiritually speaking) to educate ourselves about all the information the Bible reveals regarding what Heaven will be like. You see the clearer the picture we have of this mysterious and marvelous place the more we&#8217;ll yearn to be there and do whatever it takes to make our entrance and election sure! (II Peter 1:10).<\/p>\n<h2>So, What Will Heaven Be Like? Do We Really Know?<\/h2>\n<p>The answer to that question is some things yes, and some no. Part of the problem in discerning what exactly Heaven will be like is the fact that we&#8217;re trying to understand a world that is completely spiritual from a completely physical world! The Apostle Paul alluded to this fact in I Corinthians 2:9, &#8220;<em>What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived- the things God has prepared for those who love Him.<\/em>&#8221; Now that sounds pretty mysterious, but in the very next verse (I Corinthians 2:10), Paul says, these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit (apostles, inspired teachers (I Cor. 12:8)\u00a0 and through mature and\/or learned Christians (I Corinthians 2:6).<\/p>\n<p>Now, in modern times, since the distribution of God&#8217;s inspired Word in its entirety (the Bible),\u00a0 Anybody who thoroughly studies God&#8217;s Word and practices His ways can be counted among the mature and knowledgeable (I Corinthians 2:6). thereby knowing quite a lot about Heaven from the New Testament, far more than those who lived under the Old Law.<\/p>\n<p>So, with the help of the Scriptures (with the help of the Holy Spirit&#8217;s interpreting the spiritual into the physical for us, which is what we get in the Bible. We definitely are given a good look at what we have to look forward to in Heaven, should we remain faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10).<\/p>\n<p>For the next few moments, in an attempt to inspire you to walk a little, if not a lot, closer to God, I&#8217;d like to give you a glimpse of &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>What Heaven Will Be Like According to the Bible<\/p>\n<p>What are the most common questions people ask about Heaven? How about: What will it be like there? What will it look like there?<\/p>\n<p>Revelation 4:1-11 &#8211; We see that Heaven will be a place of &#8220;shock and awe!&#8221; I am certain that when we first behold its glory, like John, we too will be blown away! (A feast for the senses!)<\/p>\n<p>Revelation 21:1-5 &#8211; We see a picture of us, at last, living with God in a place where the sorrowful aspects of past physical lives no longer exist. There will be no more pain, no more tears, no mourning the loss of loved ones because there is no more death. Some people might ask the question, &#8220;Well, won&#8217;t I be sad in Heaven if I&#8217;m separated from friends and relatives who aren&#8217;t there? According to Revelation 21:4, the answer is &#8220;no.&#8221; Someone might also ask about marriage (Matthew 22:30).<\/p>\n<p>Revelation 22:1-5 &#8211; Visually, from our heavenly eyes, we will behold a place of tremendous peace and tranquility, as we walk alongside both the river and the Tree of Life. It will be a place of meditation and ongoing worship. Always being in the presence of the One who made this possible. (Imagine your gratitude toward Jesus.)<\/p>\n<p>Revelation 21:21-25 &#8211; From this passage of Scripture and the last, we gather that Heaven is a place of stunning beauty. Now I remind you that John is &#8220;in the spirit&#8221; (Revelation 4:2) as he is describing or comparing what he sees in the &#8220;spirit&#8221; to what is most similar to our earthly understanding. (Expound on gold.)<\/p>\n<p>How about these questions: Will I be me in Heaven? And will I recognize other people for who they were on Earth?<\/p>\n<p>Luke 9:28-34 &#8211; Peter, James and John recognized Moses (1400 B.C.) and Elijah (863 B.C.) here both of whom had been dead for hundreds of years prior to this moment.<\/p>\n<p>How about this one:<\/p>\n<p>Matthew 8: 11 &#8211; Jesus speaks here of godly people coming from both ends of\u00a0the earth to Heaven one day and having the opportunity to sit down with\u00a0Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all referred to by name. More than that, these three godly men are referenced again by\u00a0Jesus in Matthew 22:31-32. So, yes, you will be you and you will recognize others for who they are even those you&#8217;ve never met before!<\/p>\n<p>So, in considering everything we&#8217;ve talked about so far,\u00a0 does Heaven sound like a pretty cool place to live? I think there&#8217;s only one more really important question left to answer and that is &#8230;.<\/p>\n<h2>How Do I Get There?<\/h2>\n<p>I Corinthians 15:57<\/p>\n<p>John 14:6<\/p>\n<p>What does that mean? (Expound: No atheists, no Jews, no Muslims, etc.)<\/p>\n<p>Matthew 7:21-23<\/p>\n<p>Revelation 22:18-19<\/p>\n<p>(Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32)<\/p>\n<p>What are these Scriptures teaching? (Expound: No fraudulent or false.) So in being warned by Matthew 7 and Revelation 22, what is the &#8220;will of the Father?&#8221; and not man so that we may do God&#8217;s will and go to Heaven?<\/p>\n<p>The plan of salvation is this:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Hear (Romans 10: 17)<\/li>\n<li>Believe (John 8:24)<\/li>\n<li>Repent (Luke 13:3)<\/li>\n<li>Confess (Matthew 10:32)<\/li>\n<li>Be Baptized (Mark 16:16)<\/li>\n<li>Remain Faithful (Revelation 2:10)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Invitation<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/praise-to-our-god-2017-fall-meeting\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPraise to Our God\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Christopher Scott Wyatt Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 15:50-57 In tonight&#8217;s lesson, we take a look at Heaven, the final destination of the faithful. The place everyone in this room wants to go! Our eternal home, the very Kingdom of GOD! To a Christian, Heaven must be as important as the Super Bowl is to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-51371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","tag-heaven"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53988,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-if-im-not-good-enough-for-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":51371,"position":0},"title":"What if I&#8217;m not good enough for God?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read something on your website about a statement made that says that if a person could not be trusted with things on earth, then why would God trust him with things in heaven? Does this mean if somebody is a complete failure, they have no hope of even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-be-saved-and-in-a-denomination\/","url_meta":{"origin":51371,"position":1},"title":"Can you be saved and in a denomination?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I understand that the word \"church,\" as used in scripture, has two meanings: (1) the universal church - consisting of all redeemed souls that have obeyed the authorized steps of hearing the Word of God, believing (that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior), repenting (change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-amen-and-the-beginning\/","url_meta":{"origin":51371,"position":2},"title":"Jesus, the Amen and the Beginning","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God\" (Revelation 3:14). The Amen Jesus is the Amen, the One who validates us. When we say \"amen\" at the end of a prayer, we are validating our support for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51363,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/must-an-elders-wife-be-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":51371,"position":3},"title":"Must an elder&#8217;s wife be a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need some advice, sir. Can a man, who meets all qualifications to be an elder, serve as an elder if his wife isn't a Christian? If you don't care, please explain your thoughts and the biblical standpoint. Any advice would be appreciated. Answer: In looking for qualified men\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19690,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-christians-in-all-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":51371,"position":4},"title":"Are there Christians in all churches?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a friend that is a member of a denominational church. I am a member of Christ's church. We had a discussion about Christians. I told her that she is not a Christian because she has not been added to the Lord's one and only church of Christ.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61150,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-being-faithful\/","url_meta":{"origin":51371,"position":5},"title":"On Being Faithful","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 4:1-5 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you were a boss, what kind of person would you want working for you? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You probably would want someone who performed his duties well, skilled in the particular task that you needed done. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But one thing that I think most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}