The

 New  Creation:  
Heaven  on  Earth  

David Feddes
 Inheriting  the  liberated  earth  
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth.” (Matt 5:5)
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt 6:10)
For the creation waits with eager longing for
the revealing of the sons of God…the creation
itself will be set free from its bondage to
corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory
of the children of God. (Romans 8:19-21)
 Reigning  on  the  earth  
God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but in order that
the world might be saved through him.
(John 3:17)
“…you were slain, and by your blood you
ransomed people for God from every tribe
and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and
priests to our God, and they shall reign on
the earth. (Rev 5:9-10)
 Creation  redeemed  
•  Our final home is on earth. Heaven
comes down to earth.
•  God’s original creation will not just be
wiped out and replaced. This world
(like our bodies) will die but then be
resurrected and transformed.
•  Eternal pleasures in the new creation
come from the Maker of all delights in
this world.
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven
and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away, and the sea
was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband. 3 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.”
4 “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.” 5 And he who was seated on the
throne said, “Behold, I am making all things
new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for
these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the
end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of
the water of life without payment. 7 The one
who conquers will have this heritage, and I will
be his God and he will be my son.”
8 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the
detestable, as for murderers, the sexually
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars,
their portion will be in the lake that burns with
fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had
the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues
and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show
you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And
he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high
mountain, and showed me the holy city
Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from
God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance
like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as
crystal.
12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates,
and at the gates twelve angels, and on the
gates the names of the twelve tribes of the
sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east
three gates, on the north three gates, on the
south three gates, and on the west three
gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve
foundations, and on them were the twelve
names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a
measuring rod of gold to measure the city and
its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare,
its length the same as its width. And he
measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.
Its length and width and height are equal. 17
He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by
human measurement, which is also an angel's
measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper,
while the city was pure gold, clear as glass.
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were
adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was
jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate,
the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth
carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth
beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase,
the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each
of the gates made of a single pearl, and the
street of the city was pure gold, transparent as
glass.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its
temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the
Lamb. 23 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. 24 By its
light will the nations walk, and the kings of
the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and
its gates will never be shut by day—and there
will be no night there.
26 They will bring into it the glory and the
honor of the nations. 27 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.
22:1 Then the angel showed me the river
of the water of life, bright as crystal,
flowing from the throne of God and of the
Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of
the city; also, on either side of the river, the
tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit,
yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of
the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be anything
accursed, but the throne of God and of
the Lamb will be in it, and his servants
will worship him. 4 They will see his face,
and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 And night will be no more. They will
need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord
God will be their light, and they will reign
forever and ever.
 Heaven  on  Earth  
1.  Bride: “I will show you the Bride, the wife of
the Lamb.” (21:9; see also 21:2)
2.  City: “I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem” (21:2).
3.  Temple: “Behold, the dwelling place
[tabernacle] of God is with man.” (21:3)
4.  Garden: “Then the angel showed me the
river of the water of life… also, on either
side of the river, the tree of life” (22:1-2).
 The  bride’s  delight  in  God  
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul
shall exult in my God, for he has clothed
me with the garments of salvation; he
has covered me with the robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom decks
himself like a priest with a beautiful
headdress, and as a bride adorns
herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)
 God’s  delight  in  his  bride  
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for
Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet… You
shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your
land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and
your land shall be married… as the
bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall
your God rejoice over you (Isaiah 62:1-5).
(Promises to Jerusalem and the land of Israel
reach completion not in a millennium before
eternity, but in the new creation)
 The  marriage  supper  
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the
glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has
come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
8 it was granted her to clothe herself with
fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen
is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And
the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are
those who are invited to the marriage supper
of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:7-9)
 Heaven  on  Earth  
1.  Bride: “I will show you the Bride, the wife of
the Lamb.” (21:9; see also 21:2)
2.  City: “I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem” (21:2).
3.  Temple: “Behold, the dwelling place
[tabernacle] of God is with man.” (21:3)
4.  Garden: “Then the angel showed me the
river of the water of life… also, on either
side of the river, the tree of life” (22:1-2).
 New Jerusalem Old Babylon
pure bride, the wife of the whore fornicating with
Lamb (21:2,9) earthly kings (17:1-2)
shines with God’s light for seduces and deceives
nations (21:4) nations (17:3, 19:2)
attracts kings (21:24) dominates kings (17:18)
values and preserves markets everything, even
cultural treasures (21:26) bodies & souls (18:11-13)
no sorcery, no filth, no sorcery, filth, falsehood
falsehood (21:8, 27) (17:4,5; 18:23)
water of life (21:6; 22:1) drunk with blood (17:6)
Enter its blessings (22:14) Get out now!(18:4)
stands strong forever “Fallen, fallen” (18:2)
 City:  New  Jerusalem  
•  United community: twelve angels at gates;
names of Israel’s twelve tribes on gates;
names of twelve apostles on foundations
•  Total security: massive walls, but never need
to shut the gates
•  Cultural beauty: attracts persons and
cultural splendors from all peoples
•  Delegated royalty: throne of God and Lamb
is central, and God’s people reign wisely over
creation, as we were originally created to do.
 OT  promises  to  
Jerusalem  fulfilled  
6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will
make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a
feast of well-aged wine… 7 And he will
swallow up on this mountain the covering
that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is
spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up
death forever; and the Lord God will wipe
away tears from all faces. (Isaiah 25:6-8)
 OT  promises  to    
Jerusalem  fulfilled  
17 For behold, I create new heavens and a
new earth, and the former things shall not be
remembered or come into mind. 18 But be
glad and rejoice forever in that which I
create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a
joy, and her people to be a gladness. 19 I will
rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my
people; no more shall be heard in it the
sound of weeping and the cry of distress.
(Isaiah 65:17-19)
 OT  promises  to    
Jerusalem  fulfilled  
20 No more shall there be in it an infant
who lives but a few days, or an old man who
does not fill out his days, for the young man
shall die a hundred years old, and the
sinner a hundred years old shall be
accursed. (Isaiah 65:20)
(In the full revelation, God goes beyond the
promise of long life and makes it much
longer: unending and eternal.)
 OT  promises  to    
Jerusalem  fulfilled  
23 They shall not labor in vain or bear
children for calamity, for they shall be the
offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and
their descendants with them. 24 Before they
call I will answer; while they are yet speaking
I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb shall
graze together; the lion shall eat straw like
the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy
mountain,” says the Lord. (Isaiah 65:23-25)
 OT  saints  desired    
a  better  country  
10 Abraham was looking forward to the city
that has foundations, whose designer and
builder is God… 15 If they had been
thinking of that land from which they had
gone out, they would have had opportunity
to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a
better country, that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called
their God, for he has prepared for them a
city. (Hebrews 11:10-16)
 Heaven  on  Earth  
1.  Bride: “I will show you the Bride, the wife of
the Lamb.” (21:9; see also 21:2)
2.  City: “I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem” (21:2).
3.  Temple: “Behold, the dwelling place
[tabernacle] of God is with man.” (21:3)
4.  Garden: “Then the angel showed me the
river of the water of life… also, on either
side of the river, the tree of life” (22:1-2).
 Temple  
•  New Jerusalem is cube-shaped, like the
Holy of Holies in tabernacle and temple.
It is one gigantic Holy of Holies!
•  City and streets are of gold, like the holy
things in the tabernacle and temple.
•  Twelve jewels correspond to those on the
high priest’s breastplate: all are now high
priests, forever in a huge Holy of Holies,
seeing God’s glory directly (shekinah).
 God’s  holiness  &  nearness  
And on that day there shall be inscribed
on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the
Lord.” And the pots in the house of the
Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar.
(Zechariah 14:20-21)
And the name of the city from that time on
shall be, The Lord Is There. (Ezekiel 48:35)
 Temple  and  ark  
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple
is the Lord God the Almighty and the
Lamb. (21:22)
... the ark of the covenant of the Lord of
hosts, who is enthroned on the cherubim.
(1 Sam 4:4; see 2 Sam 6:2; 1 Chron
13:6; Psalm 99:1; Isaiah 37:16)
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be
in it, and his servants will worship him.
(Rev 22:3)
 My  heart’s  deepest  desire  
They will see his face (Rev 22:4)
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all
the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of
the LORD and to seek him in his temple… My
heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face,
LORD, I will seek. (Psalm 27:4,8)
A heart haunted by heaven: desiring God
 Heaven  on  Earth  
1.  Bride: “I will show you the Bride, the wife of
the Lamb.” (21:9; see also 21:2)
2.  City: “I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem” (21:2).
3.  Temple: “Behold, the dwelling place
[tabernacle] of God is with man.” (21:3)
4.  Garden: “Then the angel showed me the
river of the water of life… also, on either
side of the river, the tree of life” (22:1-2).
 The  garden  of  Eden  
•  Tree of life (Genesis 2:8)
•  “A river flowed out of Eden to water the
garden” (Genesis 2:10).
•  Gold and precious stones (Genesis 2:12)
•  Precious stones “in Eden, the garden of
God” (Ezekiel 28:13)
 Paradise  regained  and  magnified  
•  God created light before he created sun or
moon. Paradise does not need sun or moon
to have plenty of light (Rev 21:23; 22:5)
•  In Eden, humans imaged God’s glory and
ruled creation on God’s behalf (Gen
1:26-28). In the new garden, “they will reign
forever and ever” (Rev 22:5).
•  No animals were to be killed or eaten in
Eden (Gen 1:29-30). In God’s new garden,
“Death shall be no more” (21:4).
Paradise  regained  and  magnified  
Then the Lord my God will come, and all the
holy ones with him… On that day living waters
shall flow out from Jerusalem (Zech 14:5,8).
And on the banks, on both sides of the river,
there will grow all kinds of trees for food.
Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail,
but they will bear fresh fruit every month,
because the water for them flows from the
sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and
their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:12)
 Eat  and  drink  freely  
•  Sin’s curse removed; no sword will block
us from the tree of life. We will eat of its
fruit, and drink freely of the water of life.
•  “To the one who conquers I will grant to
eat of the tree of life, which is in the
paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7)
•  “Let the one who desires take the water
of life without price.” (Rev 22:17)
 Heaven  on  Earth  
1.  Bride: “I will show you the Bride, the wife of
the Lamb.” (21:9; see also 21:2)
2.  City: “I saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem” (21:2).
3.  Temple: “Behold, the dwelling place
[tabernacle] of God is with man.” (21:3)
4.  Garden: “Then the angel showed me the
river of the water of life… also, on either
side of the river, the tree of life” (22:1-2).
Eternal  Pleasures  

David Feddes
 Pleasures  forevermore  
•  You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures
forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)
•  Everlasting joy will crown their heads.
(Isaiah 35:10)
•  Be glad and rejoice forever in what I will
create. (Isaiah 65:18).
 Biblical  hints  
Banquet: best meats, finest wines
Music: harps, trumpets, singing
Country: river, fruit trees, animals
City: gold streets, pearl gates, gems
How would you
describe the taste of
ice cream to someone
who has never eaten
anything but oatmeal?
How would you describe
the Eiffel Tower to
someone who has never
seen anything grander
than a hut?
 How  could  new-­‐creation  
pleasures  be  less  than  this  world?  
•  Who invented all pleasures? Who
created sight, sound, touch, taste,
smell, and touch?
•  Pleasures now are just appetizers.
✫ These appetizers have been dropped
in the dirt and are decaying.
✫ The main course will be clean and
unspoiled.
Eternal  pleasures  
1.  A place to rest.
2.  A place to play.
3.  A place to discover.
4.  A place to succeed.
 A  place  to  rest  
“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord…
they will rest from their labor. (Rev 14:13)
“In my Father’s house are many mansions… I
go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).
•  Safer than a castle fortress
•  Plusher than a luxury hotel
•  Cozier than your family room
 A  place  to  rest:  Israel’s  foretaste  
•  Rest from slavery, wandering, and warfare
•  God promised, “My Presence will go with you,
and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)
•  Solomon said, “The Lord my God has given
me rest on every side, and there is no
adversary or disaster.” (1 Kings 5:4)
•  This Golden Age of rest involved building,
researching, reveling: “eating and drinking,
and making merry.” (1 Kings 4:20)
Restful,  refreshing  busyness  
• Some people retire from a stressful daily
grind of work, yet they are more active
than ever. They pursue hobbies, games,
books, travel, and volunteer work.
• Picture an eternal active retirement, not
slowed by poor health, but free to do the
things you love most, without financial
concerns.
• Restful activity with no need to sleep.
There will be no night there. (Rev 21:25)
 A  place  to  play  
•  The nursing child shall play over the hole of
the cobra, and the weaned child shall put
his hand on the adder's den. (Isaiah 11:8)
•  The city streets will be filled with boys and
girls playing there. (Zechariah 8:5)
•  Jesus often said the Kingdom is like a feast.
•  Jesus was called a party animal. (Luke 7:34)
•  Don’t equate grumpiness with godliness
•  What if eternal robes are party clothes?
 A  place  to  play  
•  What if harps and other instruments are for
dance music?
•  You will take up your tambourines and go
out to dance with the joyful. (Jer 31:4).
•  Spiritual and relational pleasures will
surpass physical pleasures.
•  Still, we will be bodily beings and enjoy
bodily delights. As we delight in the Giver, he
will keep flooding us with delightful gifts.
•  Eternity will be seriously fun!
Eternal  pleasures  
1.  A place to rest.
2.  A place to play.
3.  A place to discover.
4.  A place to succeed.
 A  place  to  discover  
•  Not boring classes but first-hand exploration
« Volcanoes, dolphins, mammoths, dinosaurs
« Meet heroes for real, not just in books
« Learn about God and angels in direct
encounter, not just sermons and scholars.
•  Not slack or slow students but great
learners.
« You will have the curiosity of preschooler.
« You will have the intellect of a genius.
•  Guided tours of glory
The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the
Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)
“Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).
 A  place  to  succeed  
•  No frustrations or failures: no missing tools or
lost keys or computer crashes or ruined hopes
•  The curse on work will be removed.
•  All goals we work toward will be achieved.
•  We will enjoy the fruit of our labor: “They will
build houses and dwell in them; they will plant
vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will
they build houses and others live in them, or
plant and others eat… My chosen ones will
long enjoy the works of their hands. They will
not toil in vain” (Isaiah 65:21-23).
Our  main  work  
Rule God’s creation
and bring out the
best in everything.
The wilderness will
rejoice and blossom.
(Isaiah 35:1).
New wine will drip
from the mountains
and flow from all the
hills. (Amos 9:13).
 Eternal  pleasures  
1.  A place to rest.
2.  A place to play.
3.  A place to discover.
4.  A place to succeed.
Jesus said, “I have come that they
might have life, and that they might
have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Eternal Pleasures
By David Feddes

When you think about where you’ll spend eternity, what comes to mind? Most people
believe in an existence after this life but aren’t very excited about it. If you fear that you might
go to hell instead of heaven, you’re obviously not eager for eternity. But even if you believe
you’ll go to heaven, the thought might still bore you more than it excites you.
You might picture heaven as an endless church service, and you’re not eager for sermons and
songs that go on forever. Or you might imagine floating on a cloud, and you’d rather keep your
feet on the ground. Or you might think of being flooded with white light, and you’d rather enjoy
things in living color.
But the final destiny of those who trust Jesus is not white light or fluffy clouds or an
everlasting church service. The new creation is literally heaven on earth: heaven comes down to
earth, and earth becomes the paradise it’s meant to be. When our bodies are resurrected in a
better form, the physical world will also be resurrected in a better form. Nothing good will be
lost, only improved.
We won’t trade color for white light; colors will be more colorful than ever. We won’t float
on clouds (except if we want to fly a while); we’ll enjoy solid, lovely homes set in a splendid city
or a beautiful countryside. We won’t sit in church forever; there won’t even be a temple or
church building in heaven because direct contact with God will replace all sermons, sacraments,
and special places of worship (Revelation 21:22).
Heaven on earth will be physical, and it will be fun. A lot of us, if asked what we expect to
do in heaven, draw a blank. Nothing much comes to mind. But there will be lots of exciting
things to do. God doesn’t promise everlasting boredom. He promises, “Everlasting joy will
crown their heads.” He says, “Be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create” (Isaiah 35:10;
65:18). You have a future of unending pleasures waiting for you if you trust in God and receive
his salvation. In Psalm 16:11 King David says to God, “You will show me the path of life; In
your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” God promises
eternal pleasures, not unending boredom.

Partial Previews
What will those pleasures be like? We won’t know fully till heaven comes to earth, but the
Bible gives us glimpses or tastes of God’s new creation, and even those partial previews are
enough to stagger our minds and ravish our hearts.
Among the great joys of the new creation is what won’t be there. Satan and his cronies won’t
be there, and good riddance! We have no idea how much trouble and pain Satan and his demons
are causing here on earth, but when heaven comes to earth, we’ll know for the first time what it’s
like to experience a world without evil. Satan and all who reject Jesus won’t be there, and all
who love Jesus will no longer have any sin clinging to us. There will be no fighting, no murder,
no rape, no robbery, no divorce, no abuse, no drugs. There will be no guns or bombs or lie
detectors, no abortion clinics or hospitals or cancer wards, no prisons or morgues or funeral
parlors. Revelation 21:4 says that God “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.” One
great blessing of the new earth is simply what won’t be there.
But what will be there? Scripture often pictures eternal life in terms of things we enjoy here
on earth. Do you love the beauty of the countryside? The Bible paints country scenes of rivers

1
and fruit trees and animals of various kinds in a peaceful paradise. Do you love great cities and
splendid architecture? The Bible offers city scenes of mansions and magnificent walls and streets
of gold and jewels sparkling almost everywhere you look. Do you love music? The Bible speaks
of harps and singing. Do you love good food? The Bible talks about banquets. From the sound of
it, heaven on earth includes much of what we find most lovely and enjoyable on earth now.
It’s hard to know how literally to take some of this. After all, the only way to describe the
future is in terms of things we experience now. If you had to describe the taste of ice cream to
someone who had never eaten anything but oatmeal, how could you do it? You could compare it
to the best-tasting oatmeal they’d ever eaten, but no oatmeal comparison could prepare them for
the delicious flavor of ice cream. You might try to explain further and say that ice cream is sort
of like oatmeal, but it’s cold and you scoop it in globs. Cold globs of oatmeal—sounds yummy,
doesn’t it? Trying to explain ice cream to an oatmeal eater is hard to do. You can offer hints, but
the only way oatmeal eaters will really know ice cream is to taste it for themselves.
Or suppose you were from Paris and you had to describe the Eiffel Tower to people who had
never seen any building grander than a mud hut. What would you say? Well, you might compare
it to the biggest, most beautiful mud hut of their most important chief, and that might impress
them. But it still wouldn’t capture the grandeur of the Eiffel Tower.
Now, describing ice cream in terms of oatmeal, or the Eiffel Tower in terms of a mud hut, is
still easier than describing eternal pleasures in terms of things we experience now. You and I
have never seen or tasted anything quite like the pleasures of God’s new creation. When the
Bible talks about scrumptious foods and lovely countryside and fabulous buildings and glorious
music, maybe God is saying, “Take the most delicious flavor you’ve ever tasted, the most lovely
country scene you ever gazed at, the most magnificent city you can possibly imagine, the
sweetest music you’ve ever heard, then add it all together, and you still have barely a hint of
what eternity in the new creation is really like.”
Some of the Bible’s pictures are most likely pointers to even better things. But let’s not be
too quick to say that these hints about heaven on earth are only symbols and not literal at all.
Who says that in the new creation we won’t have delicious food and taste buds to enjoy it? Who
says there won’t be animals and trees? Who says there can’t be real gold and jewels? Who says
there won’t be music? You might say, “Those things don’t sound very spiritual.” Well, don’t try
to be more spiritual than God. Who do you think designed the physical world and all its
pleasures? God did. And since the Designer of this creation is also the Designer of the new
creation, why shouldn’t he use some of the same materials the second time around? The spiritual
pleasures of heaven on earth will be greater than the physical, but the greater doesn’t exclude the
lesser. The God who saves our souls will also raise our bodies, and he’s preparing physical
delights as well as spiritual delights for us. In some cases we may find out when the new creation
arrives that a biblical picture was a symbol, but in such cases it will only be because the heavenly
reality is so great that the symbol was the nearest hint we could grasp in this life.
No description of eternal pleasures can do justice to the reality. Only when we arrive will we
truly grasp what the Bible was hinting at. Still, God encourages us to set our minds on the future
he is preparing for us. In thinking about eternal pleasures, let’s focus on four things: heaven on
earth will be a place to rest, a place to play, a place to discover, and a place to succeed.

A Place to Rest
Heaven on earth will be a place to rest. Revelation 14:13 says, “Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord… they will rest from their labor.” Many Bible passages speak of rest, and an old

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classic about heaven is titled The Saints’ Everlasting Rest. The promise of rest gladdens people
who are enslaved and overworked or face constant attack and feel worn down.
To some of us, though, everlasting rest might sound boring. We don’t want to lounge around
forever with nothing to do. But don’t worry—heaven on earth will be rest not in the sense of
inactivity or snoozing but in the sense that we’ll feel relaxed, refreshed, and energized. We’ll
never feel pressured, weary, or in danger. We’ll feel comfortable, secure, and at home.
Jesus promises, “In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you”
(John 14:2 KJV). If you belong to Jesus, he is preparing a home for you stronger and safer than
any castle, more beautiful and pleasurable than any luxury hotel, more cozy and comfortable
than the family room of your own house. In heaven on earth, you’ll feel at home, at rest, and
you’ll be able to relax and rejoice.
Back in the time of Moses, the Israelites were first slaves, then nomads on the move with no
land of their own. They needed rest; they needed a place to call home. God told Moses, “My
Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:14). Later, when Israel had
gained a homeland and enjoyed a golden age of security and prosperity, King Solomon said,
“The Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster” (1
Kings 5:4). Was Israel’s rest a boring time of doing nothing? No, the people built beautiful
buildings, pursued exploration and research, and enjoyed plenty of feasting and fun—”eating and
drinking, and making merry” 1 Kings 4:20).
Israel’s golden age was a hint of eternal rest. In this life we often feel enslaved or restless, but
when heaven comes to earth, our slavery and wandering will be over; we’ll have a place to call
home forever. Never again will we face enemy attacks. Never again will sickness or shortages
threaten us. We will be able to say even more truly than Solomon, “The Lord our God has given
us rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster.” In that everlasting rest, we’ll surpass
Israel’s golden age in achieving, exploring, and “making merry.”
For God’s people to “rest from their labors” in heaven is a bit like a happy, healthy
retirement. Retiring from a tough job doesn’t mean that from then on you sit around doing
nothing. It means freedom from deadlines and demands, and it means freedom to do the things
you love to do. I know retired people in good health who say, “Now that we’re retired, we’re
busier than ever.” They travel to places they’ve always wanted to see; they pursue hobbies
they’ve always loved; they even take up games they never had time to play when they were
working full time. They read new books and explore new interests they didn’t have time to
explore in their working and childbearing years. They often work as volunteers because they
enjoy helping others.
Heavenly rest is like that. Call it “active retirement” or “restful busyness,” but whatever we
call it, all will be pleasure; nothing will be pressure. Everlasting rest will free us to play, to
discover, and to succeed in ways that are exciting and satisfying beyond our best dreams.

A Place to Play
Now let’s focus on heaven on earth as a place to play. Isaiah 11:8 pictures babies playing
with cobras and other poisonous snakes. If a baby wants a rattle, it can play with the nearest
rattlesnake! Even if the vision of little ones playing with snakes is more symbolic than literal,
one thing is clear: heaven on earth will be free of dangers and full of delightful playing. Jesus
said the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven is to become like little children (Matthew
18:3), so maybe all believers will laugh and play like happy children. When God talks about the
future Jerusalem, he says: “The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there”

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(Zechariah 8:5). Is it unholy to speak of fun and games in the holy city? Well, God obviously
doesn’t think so. He’s the one who said it!
Is it unspiritual to speak of eternity with God as a matter of playing and partying? Jesus
obviously doesn’t think so. He often compared the kingdom of heaven to a party. Jesus pictured
God’s welcome of a repentant sinner as a huge feast with music and dancing (Luke 15:23-25).
Jesus’ first miracle was changing water into wine so that a party could keep going instead of
shutting down early (John 2:1-11). The Bible often speaks of a future feast, a marvelous meal
prepared by God himself. “The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich foods for all peoples, a
banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines” (Isaiah 25:6). “Blessed are
those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).
Have you ever thought of eternity as a party? Well, if you haven’t, you’d better start, because
it’s going to be the best party ever. You see, God himself is the host, and God is the inventor of
pleasure. Think about it: When God decided how our bodies would be nourished, did he create
tasteless nutrition tablets? No, he made all sorts of delicious foods, and he gave us taste buds to
enjoy them. When he decided how babies would be conceived, was it by mail order catalog or
the stork? No, God created sex. Contrary to popular opinion, God isn’t against pleasure. He
invented it! He’s against the misuse of pleasure. We’ve managed to misuse sex and food and
other pleasures God invented, but the fact remains that he did invent them, and he’s preparing
even greater pleasures for the new creation, pleasures that we won’t mess up.
The things we enjoy right now aren’t meant to satisfy us or take our attention away from
eternity. They’re designed to whet our appetites. The main feast is still to come! If you ever think
the new creation couldn’t be as enjoyable as this one, remember: this world is an appetizer; the
world to come is the main course; and the same divine Chef made both. At times you may think
the appetizer is so delicious you can hardly bear to let it go, but keep in mind that it’s only an
appetizer. And remember, too, that even though parts of it are delicious, this world that tastes so
good to you is actually going rotten. If a sin-soiled, rotting appetizer can still taste so good at
times, just imagine what the main meal will taste like. What will it be like to feast on the main
course, fresh and clean, at the table of the greatest chef in the universe? What will it be like to
drink from the very fountain of joy, to feast on perfect pleasure?
Heaven on earth will be a place to party and play. When the Bible talks about heavenly harps
(Revelation 5:8; 14:2; 15:2), you might think of solemn, stately music. But what if the harps and
other instruments are for playing dance music? When the Bible speaks of wearing white robes
(Revelation 7:9; 22:14), you might think of choir robes or other formal clothing. But what if the
robes are party clothes? Jesus taught that we need the right clothing for heaven, not stiff, starchy
uniforms or pajamas for sleep, but clothes provided by the king to fit in at his royal party
(Matthew 22:12).
Don’t get me wrong—there will be majesty and reverence in heaven. We will be more
awestruck by God than ever before. But we will also be more glad and playful than ever. We
sometimes think seriousness and fun are opposites. But the very best things are serious and fun at
the same time. Think of a good wedding. A good wedding is a serious occasion where everybody
dresses just right and does things in a stately manner. But a good wedding also has a lot of
celebrating, laughter, feasting, and fun. Heaven is the ultimate wedding celebration (Revelation
19:9), and the Lord who turned water to wine for a wedding celebration will make sure the
ultimate celebration never ends.
Some churches send the wrong signal; they seem allergic to fun. They act like grumpiness is
next to godliness. But God is not so uptight. God turns “mourning into dancing” (Psalm 30:11).

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The new creation will be full of dancing. Jeremiah 31:4 says, “You will take up your
tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.” The Lord himself will lead the music: “he will
rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Many of heaven’s pleasures will be relational and spiritual, but many will also be physical.
Playing and dancing are physical, and the new creation will overflow with physical fun. Our eyes
will drink in fabulous colors and sights. Our ears will thrill to music and other fantastic sounds.
Our taste buds will savor delicious food and drink. Our noses will breathe in delightful aromas.
Our skin will feel warm embraces, cool water, fresh breezes. If you love playing, partying,
dancing, running, jumping, swimming, skating, skiing, skydiving, or flying, just imagine the fun
of your new, improved body playing in a new, improved world. Heaven on earth will have more
games and recreation than any resort, better food than any restaurant, more thrilling drama than
any theatre.
If you love such pleasures more than you love God, you’ve got a problem. You could miss
out on heaven unless you change. But if you love God and trust Jesus as Savior, you may be sure
that the Lord who invented all pleasure is not grumpy or stingy. He loves to see his children
playing and partying in his honor.
I remember my parents’ fiftieth anniversary. The whole family—all six children, plus
spouses and a crowd of grandkids—wanted to celebrate. Did we all get together in a room to say
over and over what fine parents and grandparents they’ve been? No, the whole lot of us went to a
resort. We stayed in beautiful mountain chalets, ate great food, splashed on waterslides, golfed,
played board games, gobbled candy, told stories, and almost laughed our heads off. Did the fun
and games dishonor my parents or distract from their fiftieth anniversary? No, Dad and Mom had
a ball with the rest of us. They enjoyed seeing their whole clan having fun together.
We did more than play and joke, of course. We congratulated Dad and Mom and thanked
them for all they’ve done for us. We praised God for them and did some hugging and shed some
tender tears. On the last evening of celebrating, a glorious double rainbow appeared over the
mountains. We had our serious, awe-inspiring moments of deeper joy, but that didn’t rule out
having fun. It was all part of a grand, delightful celebration.
That was a little taste of heaven. Our deepest joy will be God and his love. Our hearts will
overflow with respect and love and praise for him. But we’ll do more than just sit in God’s
throne room saying how wonderful he is. Worship doesn’t rule out fun; worship will be the main
fun and the fountain for all the other fun. Our pleasure and laughter will be acts of worship. As
the Bible says, “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures
forevermore” (Psalm 16:11 KJV).

A Place to Discover
Heavenly happiness includes rest and play, but the new creation will also be a place to
discover. If I call it a place to learn, to gain knowledge, to grow wise, that might sound too much
like school, and some of us haven’t found school very exciting. Not everybody loves school—
but everybody loves to discover. In the new creation we’ll be more like explorers discovering
new frontiers than like students stuck at a desk.
Would you rather read about volcanoes, or actually step into a volcano without getting hurt?
Would you rather take a test about dolphins or swim with dolphins to learn their ways? Would
you rather study fossils of dinosaurs and woolly mammoths or look at live ones in the new
creation? Would you rather hear a history lecture about history or talk with history’s heroes?
Would you rather listen to a sermon about angels or deal with angels firsthand? Would you

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rather attend a debate about why God allows certain things or hear God himself reveal his
purposes?
The new earth won’t have any boring lectures; we’ll be able to learn from exciting angels,
from brilliant humans, and from the Lord himself. And we won’t just have super teachers; we’ll
be super learners. If school is boring right now for some of us, we might blame dry teachers or
subject material, but it might also be our own problem. We might lack the brain power to grasp a
subject, or we might just lack interest in things that would be fascinating if we weren’t so
deadheaded. In heaven on earth, we’ll have no such failings. We’ll have the curiosity of
preschoolers, the minds of geniuses, the boldness of explorers.
I love reading biblical visions of the new Jerusalem, where prophets such as Ezekiel and John
are shown around the city and the surrounding countryside by angels. I’m looking forward to
getting my own tour. The new creation will be an exciting place. I’ve always loved waterfalls,
and I’d like to visit every waterfall on earth—maybe even go over them unharmed, just for the
fun of it. Who knows—we might even be able to check out God’s wonders in other worlds and
galaxies. We’ll never run out of new places to explore and new things to discover.
The best discoveries of all will be found in God himself. Scripture says the earth will be as
full of knowledge of the Lord as the sea is full of water (Isaiah 11:9). Even if we had nothing in
the new creation but God, the discoveries would never end. God is infinitely interesting, full of
secret splendors for us to enjoy as he lets us discover more of himself.
As we find out more and more secrets of God’s awesome being, we’ll also explore his
wondrous world and know things far better than we do now. As the Bible says, “Now I know in
part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We will not be
all-knowing; only God can know everything. But what we do discover will be known more
directly, clearly, and fully than we can imagine with the minds we have now. And we will
forever be discovering fresh wonders. What a thrill!

A Place to Succeed
Now let’s think about a fourth part of heavenly happiness: heaven on earth will be a place to
succeed. Mingled with rest, play, and discovery will be successful, satisfying work. If you hate
your present job, you might think work and happiness don’t mix. But work can be wonderful if
you’re doing something you love, if it’s achieving something significant, if it fits your abilities
perfectly, if nothing goes wrong, if your efforts pay off and your work is a big success.
In the new creation, work will have no frustrations. You’ll be able to get anywhere you need
to go without long commutes or traffic jams. You’ll never have equipment breakdowns or
computer malfunctions. You’ll never have to look for lost keys or misplaced tools. You’ll
cooperate with others in perfect teamwork, without any misunderstanding or quarreling. There
will be no wars or natural disasters to destroy your achievements, no crooks to rob you, no death
to strike you down before you can enjoy the full fruit of your work. God says of his people in the
new earth, “They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their
fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat… My
chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain” (Isaiah 65:21-
23).
What sort of work will we do? When God first created humanity, he designed us for the great
work of subduing the earth, developing his creation and bringing out the best in it. The Lord
assigned Adam and Eve to care for the Garden of Eden and to rule God’s creatures on his behalf.
Their job was a joy.

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 Then our first parents sinned and messed things up. Work became hard instead of happy. As
a result, our work involves much struggle and frequent failure. We sometimes do more harm
than good to the creation around us. And even when we achieve something, the fruit of our
efforts can be snatched away. But in the new creation, Jesus will again make us the rulers we’re
meant to be. The Book of Revelation says that Jesus bought with his blood people of every
nation, “and they will reign on the earth” (5:10). Jesus will make us worthy to rule with him, to
succeed in everything, to bring out all the best in other creatures, and to enjoy the results.
When Jesus equips us to handle the responsibilities of ruling, all other created things will be
in harmony with us and flourish. “The wilderness will rejoice and blossom” (Isaiah 35:1). “New
wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills” (Amos 9:13). We will be so full of
God’s life-giving Spirit that everything we touch will prosper, everything we do will succeed.
Not only will we govern earthly creatures, but the Bible seems to indicate that we will even have
authority over angels and direct them in some way.
All things in the new earth will be perfectly obedient to us. Right now, my mind controls
only a little bit of matter: the matter in my own body. I can make my hand or foot move at a
command from my mind, but I can’t make a mountain move or a desert bloom. But in the future,
says philosopher Peter Kreeft, “Our heavenly power over nature will be as great as our present
power over our own bodies, because nature will then be our greater body.” In our sinful state, we
can’t be entrusted with such powers. “Our present powers over nature have been severely
limited,” writes Kreeft. “We are spoiled children whose Father has taken away their dangerous
toys. Imagine the chaos the world would be if it were inhabited by a billion evil magicians, each
trying to be its own God… God will let nature obey our authority only when we obey His as
perfectly as the Son obeys the Father.” In short, when we become perfectly responsive to God,
all of God’s creation will become perfectly responsive to us. Everything we do will succeed, for
we will be doing exactly what God wants, and our wish will be creation’s command.
Can you imagine how much fun it will be to literally succeed at everything you try? Maybe
you’ve had at least a taste of that feeling, a day now and then when everything clicked at work.
Your mind was sharp, you came up with great ideas, your energy was high, and you achieved
more than you expected. It feels great, doesn’t it, when everything goes your way? Days like that
are rare in this fallen world, but heavenly work will be like that all the time—and even better!
God will give each of his children great responsibilities and enormous talents, and we will
never run out of time to achieve the goals God sets for us. God might not give all of us the talent
to be skilled at everything; some may specialize in one thing, others in another. But we will
delight in each other’s abilities and savor working together.
As we work together to bring out the full potential of the new earth, the results will be
magnificent. Heaven on earth will have the best of nature and the best of culture, the best of the
country and the best of the city, the best of science and the best of art. The Bible pictures the
wealth and achievements of all cultures being gathered in the capital city of a splendidly
developed civilization (Revelation 21:24,26).
Whether we’re tending plants, caring for animals, creating music, governing cities, or
whatever, our work of ruling creation with Christ will be glorious. It will be so energizing that it
seems like rest, so fun that it seems like play, so fresh and creative that it seems like discovery.
Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”
(John 10:10). In the full abundance of eternal life, we’re going to find out that resting and
playing and discovering and succeding can’t really be separated. Relaxing, partying, exploring,
and achieving will all blend together in glory to God and gladness for us.

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Forever Young
By David Feddes

How would you like to live to be 150 years old? How about living to 1,200 or even
2,000? Well, you and I will probably die before it becomes possible for humans to get that old.
But some scientists believe that in the future, human life spans will get longer and longer, and
some researchers envision a future when a person’s life could go on for centuries or even
millennia.
One thing is certain: we humans are already living longer than people used to live. In the
past thousand years, life expectancy for the average person increased by fifty years. In the past
century alone, average life expectancy in the United States increased by about thirty years. Some
experts predict that within the next fifty years, average life expectancy will be close to 100.
Does that sound unrealistic? Well, if you had told someone back in 1900 (when average
life expectancy was 47) that only a century later, people would be living an average of thirty
years longer, few would have believed you. In 1928, a demographer predicted that average life
expectancy in the United States would never exceed 65 years. Today’s actual average is 77.
A big part of the increased average comes from dramatic decreases of infant mortality
and childhood epidemics. Improved social and economic conditions, better sanitation and
nutrition, vaccines, antibiotics, and other medical advances have made a big difference. Also, old
people get better care and live longer. Life expectancy will probably keep increasing little by
little as we discover cures for more diseases and learn more about healthy lifestyles.
The person who lived longest in our time, Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, died in 1997 at
the age of 122. She ate chocolate every day and smoked cigarettes until she decided to quit at age
117, so don’t take her as a role model of how to add years to your life. Madame Calment was
still riding her bike at age 100, but she spent her last years in a nursing home, and she was
virtually blind and deaf before she died. That’s the oldest documented lifespan in the modern
era—122 years.
Any huge jump in life expectancy would depend on finding out how to deal with the
aging process itself. The first longevity revolution has brought many victories over hunger and
disease, extending the average life by several decades. The next longevity revolution aims to
delay the onset of old age. Jay Olshansky of the University of Chicago authored a book titled The
Quest for Immortality. He says, "Scientists are on the verge of discovering major secrets of
aging." The aim is not to help frail, elderly people to survive a few years longer but to preserve
youthfulness as long as possible. Olshansky says, “We don’t want to make ourselves older
longer, we want to make ourselves younger longer.”
How much longer? That’s anybody’s guess. Olshansky doesn’t think anyone will be able
to reach 150 in good health. Gregory Stock of UCLA Medical School says, "We'll double human
life spans." Others think the limit may go much higher—or that there may be no limit at all.
California biologist Michael Rose declares, “Aging is in no sense any basic feature of cell
biochemistry… It is something you can change and control.” When asked, “Is there any limit to
the human life span?” he replies, “No. Not at all… the limit of the human lifespan is the limit of
human technology.” Rose says that if we could gain for the elderly the health of those between
ages ten and fifteen, most would have a life expectancy of 1,200 years, and some would live
2,000 years. Even that may not be the limit. Rose says of his research, “I am now working on
immortality.”

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The Oldest Humans
Immortality isn’t in the scientists’ grasp just yet, but before we completely dismiss the
possibility of people living to 150 or even living close to 1,000 years, we should note that it’s
already happened before.
If we go back in history, we find some people who lived very long indeed. Moses, the
great leader of Israel, lived to be 120. His body stayed strong and his eyesight remained sharp till
the day he died. Moses didn’t age much; he simply died when his time came. If we go further
back in history, we find that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ancestors of the Israelites, all lived
longer than anyone lives today. Abraham made it to 175, Isaac lived to be 180, and Jacob was
147 years old when he died.
Even Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had short lives compared to some who lived before
them. According to the Bible, the first man, Adam, lived to be 930, and it was common in those
earliest times of humanity to live over 900 years. Methuselah, the oldest man who ever lived,
died at age 969.
Does that sound impossible? When the Bible tells of past humans who lived such a long
time, some people think it’s just a myth. But when a scientist predicts that future humans may
someday top 1,000 years of age, many of these same people suddenly believe it could happen. If
God says something in the Bible, it’s hard to believe, but if a scientist says it in a journal, it’s
gospel. Humans freshly made by God couldn’t top 900, but there’s no limit to humans remade by
science. Is it smart to take ourselves more seriously than we take God?
The fact is that we don't know all there is to know about aging. We don't know how
healthy and hardy those early humans may have been or how their bodies and their rate of aging
may have differed from ours. God designed the original human bodies to live forever. After
Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their bodies became subject to aging, disease, and death, but their
bodies were still healthier and more durable than human bodies today. Also, these people with
such long lives were on earth before the Flood, the catastrophe that changed everything. We
don't know how the world before the Flood may have differed from the world as we find it today.
We don’t know how the aftereffects of this judgment from God altered human bodies and the
aging process. We do know what the Bible tells us: most pre-flood patriarchs lived over 900
years, and after the flood, lifespans became shorter and shorter. Rather than doubt the Bible and
challenge how Adam and Methuselah could live such a long time, we might better ask why we
live such a short time.

The Methuselah Pill

At any rate, if scientists have their way, human life expectancy won’t remain so short. It
will again become longer, first matching the 120 vigorous years of Moses and perhaps eventually
matching Methuselah and beyond. Science journalist Ronald Bailey gave an overview of current
scientific research in an article for Reason magazine titled, “Forever Young.”
The effort to live longer goes beyond eating vitamins, restricting calories, or exercising.
Some use hormone therapy to maintain muscle and bone mass and keep people younger longer.
However, some hormone treatments appear to increase the risk of serious diseases and may
actually shorten life.
Other researchers pin their hopes on regenerative medicine, using cloning and stem cells.
As Ronald Bailey describes it, “If you need a new heart or liver, it might be possible to grow a
new perfect transplant using your own cells.” In the cloning process, one of your cells would
fertilize an egg from which the nucleus had been removed. Rather than allow that new, cloned

2
human life to grow into a new version of yourself, it would be destroyed after it reached a certain
stage. “Stem cells would be harvested,” says Bailey, “and transformed into the desired tissues for
transplant.” Because the tissue came from your own clone, your body would not reject the
transplant. Basically, this amounts to making your life last longer by trading in old organs for
new ones. But having upgraded organs won’t do much good if the brain is deteriorating. The
solution? Maybe new neurons can be injected and take over from the older cells.
Other approaches aim directly at putting an end to the very process of aging. Many
scientists blame aging on free radicals. With every bite of food we eat, the body releases more
free radicals, unstable molecules that damage cells and weaken the system over time. Colorado
researcher Thomas Johnson altered a gene in roundworms to make a “super antioxidant gene.”
This gene produces a chemical that locates and destroys free radicals, doubling the worms’
lifespan. The hope is that making a similar change in a human gene could double the human
lifespan.
Besides developing a “super antioxidant gene,” researchers hope to identify and enhance
longevity genes. They theorize that different species each have genes which set a basic biological
clock which limits the length of life. In fact, research finds that in some species, this is controlled
by just a few genes. If those same genes are identified on the human genome, there may be ways
to reset the biological clock. A Harvard researcher hopes to identify the longevity gene and then
produce what he would label “a Methuselah pill” that mimics the activity of the proteins made by
the longevity gene. If they ever succeed, can you imagine the market demand for Methuselah
pills?
Another area of research to prolong human life is nanotechnology. A research scientist
says, "Nanotechnology will let us build fleets of computer-controlled molecular tools much
smaller than a human cell and with the accuracy and precision of drug molecules.” These micro-
machines could keep blood vessels clear, kill cancer cells, and perhaps remove the effects of
aging. This would enable people to live much longer.
Some of this may sound pretty far-fetched. None of these approaches has yet achieved its
goal. As one authority on aging research says, "There is no intervention that has been proven to
slow, stop, or reverse aging. Period." But will that still be the case in the future? Some of our
best minds, backed by government grants and vast investments from giant corporations, are
aiming to figure out the causes of aging and defeat the aging process. The payoff would be
enormous. If a person or corporation could market something to help humans stay younger and
live longer, they would make unimaginable amounts of money. There’s doubt whether anti-aging
research will succeed, but no doubt that if they did succeed, demand would be huge.

Wanting More
Some of these endeavors raise ethical problems, but let’s not get into those here. Instead
let’s focus on the simple fact that we humans want life to be longer and better. We want more.
We’re not satisfied with our quality of life or its quantity. We’re like the old joke about a
customer who complained about a restaurant: “The food was lousy, and the portion was too
small.” It might seem logical that if you don’t like the restaurant’s food, you won’t want a larger
portion. But many of us regard life the way that customer regarded his meal. We’re not really
happy with our life, yet we want more of it. We don’t want to die. We would be delighted if
scientists could find a way to make us live longer. We want to be immortal, forever young.
In each of us there is a craving for life to be more than it is, for something to fill up
what’s missing in our lives and for something to make us live forever. Jesus addresses that

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craving for life when he says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John
8:51). Jesus gives fullness of life in quality and quantity. In quality Jesus gives a kind of life that
is really worth living. In quantity Jesus gives a kind of life that never stops. If you’re looking for
more, Jesus has it. Jesus has life unlimited, and it can be yours.
Jesus often speaks of life unlimited as “eternal life.” It is eternal or unlimited in two
senses. First, this life is eternal, unlimited, because it comes from the divine, eternal being of
God and you can experience something of that unlimited Jesus-life right now. Second, this life is
eternal, unlimited, in the sense that it never comes to an end. It goes far beyond anything
scientists can come up with. It lasts forever.
God gave some hints of eternal life already in Old Testament times. He originally
designed people with bodies that could live forever, and even after humanity fell into sin and
became vulnerable to death, some lived over 900 years. What’s more, there were some who
never died at all. One man in that era of extremely long life, named Enoch, lived on earth 365
years. Enoch's father, Jared, was the second oldest man ever, living 962 years. Enoch's son,
Methuselah, was the oldest man in history, living 969 years. Enoch made it to 365, but then
something happened: he vanished from earth without dying at all. The Bible says, “Enoch lived
365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” (5:21-
24).
The Bible mentions one other man who bypassed death and went directly to heaven: the
prophet Elijah. Scripture says of Elijah that "a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared ... and
Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind" (2 Kings 2:11-12).
Enoch and Elijah are the only people from the past who never died, but in the future there
will be a large group of people who never die. The Bible says that when Jesus returns to earth,
"the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17). In other words, all who belong to Jesus and are alive at his
return will not die at all. They will follow the path of Enoch and Elijah. Their bodies will be
transformed and transported to meet the Lord and be at home with him forever. If Jesus returns
in our lifetime, many people now living will never die.
Even if Jesus doesn't return that soon, even if we get old and die before the Lord comes
back, it's encouraging to know what happened to Enoch and Elijah and what will happen to
Jesus' followers who are alive at his coming. The fact that not everyone dies means that the
pattern of death can be broken. If a few people in the past and many more in the future will not
die at all, then death is not unbeatable.
Our strongest hope, though, comes not from knowing about the people who never died,
such as Enoch and Elijah, but from knowing someone who did die but then arose to life again—
the Lord Jesus Christ. Even if it turns out that we must die, all who belong to the living Lord
Jesus can take heart that something more lies beyond death. The God who provides a detour
around death for some can take others through the valley of the shadow of death and bring them
out safe, sound and resurrected.
One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Timothy 1:10, which says, “Our Savior, Christ
Jesus, has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Life
and immortality! Life right now connected to God and his joy, and immortality that defeats
disease, deterioration, and death.

4
Life Worth Living
Jesus is the only one who can make life worth living right now. The Bible says, “In him
was life, and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Are you alive, really alive? Or are you
just breathing and moving around? If you’re not connected with God, you may have a pulse, but
you’re not alive. You chase one pleasure after another, but are you really satisfied and happy?
Are you truly alive? The Bible says that those who live only for pleasure are dead even while
they live (1 Timothy 5:6). The main point of human existence is to know God and enjoy him.
Existence without Christ is pointless and lifeless.
What if scientists really could find a way to help you stay young longer and go on living
for centuries? I know I’d be pleased if more diseases could be cured and more pain could be
relieved, and I would welcome methods of lengthening life as long as those methods were
ethical. But making life longer isn’t good enough unless life is also made better—better not just
in the sense of more vigorous and youthful, but better in the sense of more loving, more
worthwhile, more in touch with God.
Think back to the time when people actually lived more than 900 years. Many were
super-healthy and super-strong, what the Bible calls “heroes of old.” But almost all of these
“heroes” were horrible heroes. With their super-strength, they became super sinners. With their
super health and ultra-long life, they got deeper into sin than is possible in a short lifetime. The
Bible says, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every
inclination of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on
the earth, and his heart was filled with pain” (Genesis 6:5-6). That’s when God sent the great
Flood that wiped out everybody except Noah and his family. After that, God promised never
again to send such a sweeping judgment—and at the same time God began to shorten people’s
lifespans, limiting their evil. God decided never again to wipe out almost everybody at once, but
he also decided to no longer let individuals live almost a millennium. People who live a short
time can get pretty bad, but people who live a really long time can get really bad.
We don’t just need years added to our life; we need life added to our years. Apart from
Jesus, we are dead even while we live. But Jesus can take us out of that deadness and make us
truly alive. “I tell you the truth,” says Jesus, “whoever hears my words and believes him who
sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John
5:44). Jesus takes you from the deadness of self-centered existence to the life of thriving in God.
Scripture says, “When you were dead in your sins… God made you alive with Christ”
(Colossians 2:13). “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life
and peace” (Romans 8:6).
Scientists may study body parts and cells and DNA, but they will never find the deepest
cause of deterioration and death, and they will never find the cure that truly gives life. The cause
of death is sin against God, and the only cure for death is the Spirit of God. Jesus says, “The
Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they
are life” (John 6:63). The moment you believe in Jesus, you leave the realm of death, and the
Holy Spirit gives you life. You come alive to God, and once the Christ-life is lit within you, it
can never be snuffed out. It is life unlimited, both in quality and quantity.

Immortality
Jesus brings life and immortality to light through the gospel. The gospel is the good news
that life can be different when we live each day under the kingship of God, forgiven of our sins
for Jesus’ sake and brought into living fellowship with God. The gospel is also the good news

5
that Jesus defeats death. He not only makes life worth living, he makes it last forever. He not
only makes the spirit alive, but he raises the body. Jesus own body triumphed over death. After
Jesus was tortured and killed, he rose from the dead in an immortal, glorious body. Jesus
destroyed death and revealed immortality.
No scientist will ever be able to do anything like this, but some people have their hopes
up. Some people have their bodies frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen, in the hope that cryonic
freezing will keep their bodies intact until a time when science has discovered a way to reverse
aging and restore frozen bodies to life and health.
I don’t need anyone to freeze my body to know that my body will someday live again.
I’m not counting on science. I’m counting on the Lord. Jesus “will transform our lowly bodies so
that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).
Meanwhile, if we have life in Jesus right now, we don’t need to fear death. “I tell you the
truth,” says Jesus, “if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death” (John 8:51). When you
trust Jesus’ word of promise and follow his word of guidance, when you are alive in his Holy
Spirit, you won’t even see death. When your time on this earth ends, your spirit will pass
instantly into life in heaven with the Lord, and your body will be raised, transformed, and
reunited with your spirit when Jesus comes again and brings heaven to earth. “For my Father’s
will,” says Jesus, “is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).
There’s something healthy about our longing to be forever young, and there’s something
sick about thinking we can make it happen through our own human efforts. It’s healthy to want
immortality because God himself wants us to have immortality, but it’s sick to think we can have
it without God. Resurrection is his gift, not our achievement.
Most religions have some ideas about immortality, but only Jesus has actually made it
happen. What other religious leader came back to life and showed himself to more than 500
people, as Jesus did. None. Jesus is the one who brought life and immortality to light.
Life and immortality are no secret. You don’t have to wait for a scientific discovery. You
don’t have to wait for a new religious revelation or the appearance of a future Messiah.
Resurrection has already become reality in the person of Jesus, and he promises life unlimited to
all who trust him.

6
A New Focus
By David Feddes

Let’s pretend you’ve been investing your money. I know, that’s a stretch for some of
you—you can barely pay the bills, let alone invest anything—but let’s pretend you’re an
investor.
Back when you didn’t know any better, you followed a tip and put your money into
Acme Blimp Corporation, also known as ABC. Before long, however, you got a different tip that
no, blimps were not the wave of the future. So you pulled your money out of ABC and took a
loss on your investment. Then you took what little money you had left and invested it in DEF,
Diversified Equity Fund. DEF isn’t at all like ABC. DEF, Diversified Equity Fund, is run by a
brilliant fund manager and has holdings in a variety of the best companies around. Your
investment keeps growing and growing. Now you’re rich, and you’re getting richer all the time.
Here’s the question: When you check financial reports, where do you look first—at ABC
or DEF? Which do you care about more? Where’s your focus? I suspect your thoughts and your
hopes are with DEF, not ABC. Acme Blimp Company is a lost cause; you don’t have anything
invested in ABC anymore, so it’s a dead issue for you. DEF, on the other hand, is vibrant and
alive; Diversified Equity Fund is the key to your financial wellbeing, so you’re excited about it
and focus on it. If you ever think of ABC at all, it’s only to remind yourself what a relief it is not
to be tangled up in it any longer. Why focus on a failed past when you’re now invested in
something with a great future? The only people who focus on a failing company are the people
who are still invested in that company.

New Investment
When you have a new investment, you have a new focus. This is true in the financial
realm, and it’s true in the spiritual realm. If your future is invested in this dying world and in
your ability to succeed in it, then that’s where your focus will be. If your future is invested in the
reign of Jesus Christ and your relationship to him, then your focus will be on Jesus. Whatever
you invest in, that’s what you focus on. As Jesus put it, “Where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also” (Matthew 6:21). If your future treasure is tied to Jesus’ death and resurrection, you
will focus your interest and energy on your new life in Christ. In Colossians 3:1-4, the Bible
says,
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly
things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is
your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
According to the Bible, what happened to Jesus happens also to his people. The death and
resurrection of Christ involve more than just one man. An individual named Jesus died on the
cross of Calvary, but with him was crucified an entire group of people, an entire way of life, an
entire world system. An individual named Jesus rose to life on Easter, and with him rose an
entire group of people, an entire way of life, an entirely new and glorious world (see Romans
6:3-4). Resurrection is the wave of the future.
Some folks just don’t get it. They continue to invest themselves in earthly things that are
as doomed as the Acme Blimp Company. They’re blind to life in Christ. Maybe you’re that way.
You’re caught up in the world of clothes, cars, careers, sex, sports, and status. The supernatural

1
realm seems unreal and unimportant. God is a just a vague power, Jesus’ resurrection is just a
nice story, and heaven is just a strange dream. If that’s the way you think, then you’re out of
touch with reality. The world that means so much to you is fading away, while Jesus is very
much alive. You need to stop investing in a bankrupt enterprise. You need to know what’s
available to you in Christ. You can have new investments and a new focus.
Meanwhile, what about the rest of us who already believe that Jesus rose from the dead
and trust that we have a personal share in his victory? We don’t reject Jesus. We say that our old
life died with Jesus on the cross and that now our life is invested with Christ and hidden with
him in God. We say all this, and yet many of us still give a great deal of attention and energy to
our old investments, to things that are bankrupt.
It’s weird—it’s downright crazy—but it happens: we have a new, heavenly nature in the
risen Christ, but we don’t want to let go of our sinful earthly nature. We have a new, heavenly
future in the risen Christ, and we keep clinging to our old earthly past. The Holy Spirit connects
us to Christ by faith, so that we die to sin and come alive to God, and yet we’re still focus on our
dead past instead of our living future.
It’s like getting out of Acme Blimp Corporation and into Diversified Equity Fund in the
nick of time, and then, after all that, focusing more on ABC than on DEF. Instead of focusing on
things above where Christ is, we keep going back to check on our former, failed investment in
things that are merely earthly. We may even start investing in it afresh.
That’s why we need the Bible’s call to a new focus. If you’re not connected to Jesus, you
need to know who you can be in him. And if you are connected to Jesus by faith and baptism,
you need to know who you are now and what your situation is: You have been crucified and
raised with Christ. Christ is your life. You don’t belong to the worldly system anymore; you
belong to the realm of things above, where Christ reigns. Now you need to think that way, and
act that way. Know who you are. Be what you are.
If you’re an older child and you still throw tantrums or suck your thumb, your parents
might say, “Act your age! You’re not a baby anymore.” If you join the army, a drill sergeant
might say, “I’m not your momma! You’re in the army now. You’re a soldier. Now act like it!” If
you immigrate and become a citizen of a new country, you can’t pretend nothing has changed.
You’ve got a new status and a new set of loyalties. And when you’re connected to Jesus, you
can’t just focus on this old world and go on with your old ways. You need to realize who you are
in Christ, and how much your situation has changed. You need a new focus. “Set your minds on
things above, not on earthly things.”

Earthly Things
The Bible offers hints and visions of heaven, the perfect city and kingdom of God, and
God tells us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. What does this mean?
Let’s look at what the Bible means by “earthly things,” by what Scripture often calls “the
world.” Sometimes the Bible speaks of “the world” simply as the universe which God brought
into being and which he populated with living things and with people made in his image. In this
sense, the world is something that God made and upholds and loves, and it is something for
which we can all be grateful.
But sometimes the Bible speaks of the world in another sense: as a sinful system and
realm that stands opposed to God. “Do not love the world or anything in the world,” writes the
apostle John. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in

2
the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and
does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but
the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17). The apostle James says,
“Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
The world in this sense—the world of sin and evil desires and pride and rebellion against
God—is something that we must utterly reject and leave behind. God somehow transferred the
world’s sin onto Jesus and crucified it on the cross of Christ, and now he tells those of us who
are connected to Christ to become who we are, and to do what has already been done in Christ:
to put sin to death and live the new resurrection life. Colossians 3:5-10 says,
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual impurity,
impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Rid yourself of... anger, rage,
malice, slander, and filthy language... Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off
the old self with its practices and have put on the new self.
We must crucify the behavior of the world, and to do that, we need to crucify the mindset of the
world. We need to realize that sin is bankrupt, a dead end. We need to see that it is an investment
in disaster. At one time the sinful self took a lot of our attention and energy, but it’s been nailed
to the cross and we should shun it in favor of better things. We need to turn our minds away from
the things of this sinful world, from its principles and procedures, and fix our minds on things
above where Christ is. We need a new focus.
But turning our minds from earthly things to things above means more than just shunning
earthly evil. It also means that our main focus and interest must be higher than this world—even
when we think of the world in the good sense. I said earlier that the notion of “the world” or of
“earthly things” can sometimes refer simply to the universe God has made. The Bible encourages
us to enjoy whatever gifts God gives us and to give him thanks. But all of God’s earthly gifts are
appetizers; they’re not the main course. Even as we enjoy earthly things, our minds should still
be turning to things above, to the good God who blesses us in this life, and to the greater
blessings that still await us.
Many earthly things aren’t evil as such, but even when they’re good, they are intended
not simply for their own sake but to point us to something better. The Bible says that created
things point to God’s eternal power and divine nature (Romans 1:20). Our trouble is that we too
often look only at the pointer and ignore where it’s pointing.
British author C.S. Lewis says that in his experience most dogs can’t understand pointing.
If you point to a piece of food on the floor, the dog will sniff at your finger instead going after
the food. A finger is a finger to him; it is all fact and no meaning. In a similar way, some people
take a doglike approach to the world: all fact and no meaning. We need the spiritual good sense
to look beyond earthly things to see where they are pointing, to God and to the things of Christ.

Things Above
That brings us to another problem. How do we know what this earthly creation is
pointing us to? How do we fix our minds on things above? Those things are invisible. The
question becomes even harder when we realize that when the Bible does talk about things above,
it often speaks in terms that sound rather earthly. Scripture speaks of the heavenly realm in terms
of juicy meat and rich wine and fine clothing and lovely music and splendid homes and fabulous
wealth and streets of gold. If thinking about things above means thinking about food and wine

3
and clothes and music and homes and wealth anyway, why wait for heaven? Why not make these
things our exclusive focus right now?
We need to understand that the Bible uses things we’re familiar with to give us a hint of
realities that go far beyond anything we’re familiar with. We misunderstand Scripture if we think
that heaven consists only of the various things we enjoy now. No earthly thing we encounter
with our senses can give us the full knowledge of the new creation. The Bible says, “No eye has
seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”
(1 Corinthians 2:9). Scripture also says that “what we will be has not yet been made known” (1
John 3:2). What we have now is only the seed; heaven is the plant in full bloom. What we see on
earth is at best a pencil drawing; heaven is the living, colorful reality. C.S. Lewis says,
Let us picture a woman thrown into a dungeon. There she bears and rears a son. He
grows up seeing nothing but the dungeon walls, the straw on the floor, and a little patch
of the sky seen through the grating, which is too high to show anything except sky. This
unfortunate woman was an artist, and when they imprisoned her she managed to bring
with her a drawing pad and a box of pencils. As she never loses the hope of deliverance,
she is constantly teaching her son about that outer world which he has never seen. She
does it very largely by drawing him pictures. With her pencil she attempts to show him
what fields, rivers, mountains, cities, and waves on a beach are like. He is a dutiful boy
and he does his best to believe her when she tells him that the outer world is far more
interesting and glorious than anything in the dungeon.
Then one day the boy says something that his mother can’t quite figure out. Finally it
dawns on her what he is thinking. She gasps and says, “You didn’t think that the real world was
full of lines drawn in lead pencil?”
“What?” says the boy. “No pencil marks there?” And instantly his whole notion of the
outer world becomes a blank. He has seen many of his mother’s sketches, but what can they
mean if the world she’s been drawing for him isn’t made up of pencil marks?
He can’t imagine a world of waving treetops, light dancing on a lake, colored
three-dimensional realities which aren’t black and white and which aren’t enclosed by lines but
define their own shapes in a way that no drawing could ever show. Once the boy’s mother
explains that the world outside the dungeon isn’t made up of pencil lines, the child may get the
idea that the outside world is less real than his mother’s pictures. But that world lacks pencil
lines only because it is far more real.
We don’t know exactly what life will be like in heaven. But we do know that it will be
more, not less, than earthly life, and we know Jesus is there. The Bible says, “Dear friends, now
we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that
when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). The full reality
of who we are in Christ remains hidden for now, but we may be sure that it is much more real
than anything we can see, and it will be fully revealed in due time. As Colossians 3 puts it, “Your
life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory.”

Living By Faith
When we set our minds on things above, we are focusing on something we can’t see, and
we are filling our imagination with something we can’t imagine. Strange as it may sound, that’s
what happens in the miracle of faith. “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).

4
 How does this happen? Well, the earthly things around us are at worst distractions and at
best pointers, so if we’re to have any sense of the greatness and reality of the things above, it has
to be revealed to us by God himself. It has to come through what we know of Jesus Christ and
through his Holy Spirit living in us. Right after the Bible says, “No eye has seen, no ear has
heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him,” it goes on to say,
“But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:10).
In order to aim higher and set our minds on things above, we need God’s Spirit to give us
a sense of these things and to connect us with the Person of Jesus crucified and risen. History can
tell us something about the earthly life of Christ, but only the Spirit of God can tell us that Christ
is our life, that our life is in him and that his life is in us.
The Bible uses images of food, wine, clothes, music, homes, wealth, and other earthly
things to show us the unseen but real world of life in Christ and the richness, glory, and the joy
that will be revealed. But living by faith means more than just waiting for unseen realities to be
revealed. It means that right now we live in Christ and in his power, and that right now we can
taste what it’s like to live on a higher level.
Colossians 3 says that since we’ve been raised with Christ, we must set our hearts on
things above, and then it shows how people with hearts set on things above will live their lives
here below. A new focus produces a new life. This new life means compassion, kindness,
gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love for others. In relation to God, the new life means a
growing sense of peace and thanks and knowledge and praise (v. 12-16). In fact, this new life
colors and transforms everything we do. Colossians 3:17 says, “Whatever you do, whether in
word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through
him.” When you set your mind on things above, it gives new meaning to your day-to-day life on
earth.
Everything we do on this earth, no matter how small, matters a great deal once we realize
that the Lord Jesus is our master, that an old era has ended and a new one is dawning, that Jesus
has gone to another realm to be crowned King and Lord, and that our activities here are
preparation for much greater things in the new world to come. Jesus tells a story that drives the
point home: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and
then to return.” The man called ten of his servants and passed out some money—one mina each,
ten minas total. A mina was about three months wages. It wasn’t just a few pennies, but it wasn’t
a fortune, either. Some time later, their master returned as the newly crowned king, and he called
his servants in to see what they had done with the money. One man reported, “Sir, your mina has
earned ten more.”
“Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been
trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.”
Another servant came and said, “Sir, your mina has earned five more.” His master
answered, “You take charge of five cities.”
Another servant, however, reported that he hadn’t done anything with his mina of
money. He didn’t trust his master. He figured that if he used the money to turn a profit,
the master would just take the money anyway, so he simply buried the mina he had been
given. The master got angry when he heard this. He took away that servant’s mina and
gave it to the man with the ten minas and the ten cities (Luke 19:11-27).
Now, what’s going on here? Did the master originally pass out the minas just to see how
much money he could make? No, he was going to rule an entire nation, so a bit of money here or

5
there didn’t much matter. His main concern wasn’t to see how much money he could make but to
see what kind of servants he had. Who was worthy to rule with him, and how much
responsibility should he entrust to each one? He wanted to see how they handled a “mina”
responsibility before giving them major responsibilities.
Our life and responsibilities in this world are minor compared to the major realities and
responsibilities of the life to come. There the new humanity will have a status even higher than
angels and reign with Christ over the universe. When we make this destiny our new focus and set
our hearts on this astounding reality, we will handle each moment and each opportunity of our
earthly life in a whole new way. Jesus says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be
trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So
if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true
riches?” (Luke 16:10-11).
Do you have a new focus? Set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God. There’s a new King in charge. He died to break your ties to the old realm, and
he rose again to raise you into a new realm. So leave behind your sinful ways. Forget your failed
investments. Let what is good on this earth point you to something higher and better. Use every
opportunity God gives you to advance his cause, to prove yourself a faithful servant of your
King, and to store up treasure in heaven. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Set
your heart on Christ, and focus on eternity.

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Why  Eternity  
Matters  Now  

David Feddes
Why  eternity  matters  now:  
 Ten  words  ending  in  Y  
1.  bravery 6.  dignity
2.  reality 7.  unity
3.  prosperity 8.  urgency
4.  generosity 9.  priority
5.  purity 10.  energy
 1.  Bravery  
•  What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought
with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not
raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die.” (1 Cor 15:32)
•  Some were tortured, refusing to accept release,
so that they might rise again to a better life.
(Heb 11:35)
•  Braving birth pangs for joy of child. (John 16:21)
•  “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot
keep to gain what he cannot lose.” (Jim Elliot)
 2.  Reality  
“Welcome to the real world.”

For this light momentary affliction is

preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
beyond all comparison, as we look not to the
things that are seen but to the things that
are unseen. For the things that are seen are
transient, but the things that are unseen are
eternal. (2 Cor 4:17-18)
 3.  Prosperity  
•  Treasure in heaven
•  Rich farmer plans early retirement

•  Rich man and Lazarus

•  “What does it profit a man if he gains
the whole world and loses his soul?”
 4.  Generosity  
When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not
invite your friends or your brothers or your
relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite
you in return and you be repaid. But when you
give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because
they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at
the resurrection of the just. (Luke 14:12-14)
Use worldly wealth to make friends for
yourselves, so that when it is gone, you may be
welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)
 5.  Purity  
•  When he appears we shall be like him,
because we shall see him as he is. And
everyone who thus hopes in him purifies
himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
•  You ought to live holy and godly lives as
you look forward to the day of God and
speed its coming… in keeping with his
promise we are looking forward to a new
heaven and a new earth, the home of
righteousness. (2 Peter 3:11-13)
 6.  Dignity  
•  Do you not know that the saints will judge
the world? … Do you not know that we are to
judge angels? How much more, then,
matters pertaining to this life! (1 Cor 6:1-3)
•  To him who overcomes, I will give the right to
sit with me on my throne (Rev 3:21).
•  You have made them a kingdom and priests
to our God, and they shall reign on the earth
(Rev. 5:10).
•  They will reign for ever and ever (Rev. 22:5).
 7.  Unity  
•  “To dwell above with saints in love—oh, that
will sure be glory. To dwell below with saints
we know—well, that’s another story.”
•  All races: “a great multitude that no one
could number, from every nation, from all
tribes and peoples and languages, standing
before the throne and before the Lamb,
clothed in white robes” (Rev 7:9).
•  All Christ-exalting, Bible-believing churches
 8.  Urgency  
•  Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God (1 Cor 15:50).
•  Eternal banquet (Matt 22:1-14)
Ø  accept invitation without delay or excuses
Ø  be sure to accept and put on the wedding
clothes Christ provides.
•  Urgent to trust the Savior yourself.
•  Urgent to help others meet the Savior.
 9.  Priority  
•  College students: studying or partying? Is
college the ultimate, or is it mainly preparation
for what comes after?
•  Athletes train in order to pursue the prize:
Everyone who competes in the games goes into
strict training. They do it to get a crown that will
not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last
forever. (1 Cor 9:25)
•  Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is
of some value, but godliness has value for all
things, holding promise for both the present life
and the life to come. (1 Tim 4:8)
 10.  Energy  
•  I press on toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenward
in Christ Jesus… Our citizenship is in
heaven (Phil 3:14,20).
•  They were longing for a better country—a
heavenly one (Heb 11:16).
•  We have a building from God, an eternal
house in heaven (2 Cor 5:1).
Why  eternity  matters  now:  
 Ten  words  ending  in  Y  
1.  bravery 6. dignity
2.  reality 7. unity
3.  prosperity 8. urgency
4.  generosity 9. priority
5.  purity 10. energy