Several months ago I read the highly debated book, Love Wins by Rob Bell. It really made me question what I believe about salvation, hell, eternity, etc. My Sunday school class has also been going through an intense study of the book of Revelation which covers many of the same topics. I was getting pretty sick of the topic of "hell" and was really happy when we got to the topic of heaven.
So here's what I've come up with: What will we do in heaven? Will we just sit around and sing "Holy Holy Holy" for the rest of eternity? I hope there is more to it than that. Isaiah 65:17-25 gives a bit more detail. I especially like verse 21, "They will build houses and dwell in them, they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit." I take this to mean we will have jobs or responsibilities of some sort. In my imagination it goes something like this: God knows us. He created us with specific personalities, abilities, etc. In heaven we'll have jobs that match us, jobs that were made for us. In heaven we will be the best versions of ourselves, so we'll be working with other people who are the best versions of themselves. And our boss will be God. He'll know what projects we're working on, and how our work influences others and how it all works together in His big picture. And guess what? This part is my favorite, We can say, "Hey God, I've been trying to do this project this way, but it could probably be done better. Would you please help?" And He knows us and knows how we think and He can show us the RIGHT way to do something. And He won't be demeaning or confusing when He explains. And since it is heaven, there won't be those rotten Monday mornings where you wake up and think, "Ugh. Do I really have to start another week of this? I wonder how much vacation time I have." My image of heaven isn't a Biblical Truth, it is just my imagination. But I do know that God really does know the inner workings of me, and when I get to heaven it will be intense to be with the One who knows me like that.
I think this quote says it quite nicely, "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now." -Jewel the Unicorn in C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle
