Question About Heaven (3)

In Heaven, can we talk to God one-on-one?

            This is one of those questions we have that is not expressed in Scriptures, but we can make a pretty knowledgeable answer based on the Scriptures we do have.  Revelation 22:4-5 says, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”  Add to that 1 Corinthians 13:12 which says we will see God face to face.  The picture we get is YES, we will see God face-to-face and we will be with Him.  Don’t forget that God is omnipresent and can be talking with us face-to-face and on His throne.  In fact, He can be talking to each person who ever lived face-to-face and still be everywhere all at once.  God has always been like this and even Genesis 3:8 describes God interacting with Adam and Eve on a very personal level.

            On one other note, this will be actually face-to-face and one-on-one, not like what Moses experienced.  Deuteronomy 5:4 says about Moses, “The LORD spoke to you face to face out of the fire on the mountain.”  What Moses got was just a glimmer of what Heaven will be like. 

In Heaven, how do rewards work?  Will some people have better “mansions” or “robes” than others?  How does that work?

            This is one of the most difficult questions about Heaven (in my opinion).  The issue is that there seems to be Scriptures on both sides that mentions “reward” singular indicating that everyone will get the same thing and “rewards” which seem to indicate there are levels or different rewards give to different people.

REWARDS ARE ALL EQUAL	REWARDS ARE DIFFERENT
Matthew 20:1-15	Matthew 19:28-39
Matthew 5:11-12	Matthew 6:20
Matthew 6:1-6	Matthew 16:27
Matthew 6:16-18	Matthew 25:14-30
1 Corinthians 9:24-27	Romans 2:5-6
	Proverbs 24:12
	Revelation 4:9-11

There are undoubtedly more passages than this.  These were ones that I came across in my reading.  I can’t help but notice that in my surface reading of the issue, the passages for “rewards are different” outnumber the “rewards are equal.”  BUT, Matthew 20:1-15 does seem to answer this question directly stating that everyone gets the same reward no matter when they came to faith or perhaps even how well they worked.

            I suppose the answer for me is “I don’t know.”  What is the answer for you?

Will we have to worship all day in Heaven?  I like church, but not that much.

            I know where this thought and question comes from and it is a question I have often thought of.  It comes from passages like Revelation 5 which describe constant non-stop never changing praise of God.  Heaven is pictured like never ending praise choruses that we will sing 56x through… and then we start over. 

            First of all, the short answer to this question is I HAVE NO IDEA.  This is one that I could not even guess on because the Scriptures do not address it.  There are passages however, that describe Heaven as a feast or wedding banquet and those are not non-stop singing events… unless Heaven is more like a Disney Musical which has a song every 5 minutes.  Also, Heaven is described as a place where the Earth is totally restored.  Why do all that if all of us will be around the throne singing non-stop… seems like a waste.

            Second of all, there are a couple of issues even with the question which may help us direct our thoughts about heaven and help us when it comes to worship at church.  Worship is something that does not happen only in church.  Worship is “telling God how great He is” (worth-ship) which can happen any time, any place, and many ways.  Romans 12:1-2 tells us our whole lives CAN be worship.  I sorta think that in Heaven, our whole lives WILL be worship.

Troy Borst

Associate Minister

Questions about Heaven (2)

Are there animals in Heaven? Since Jesus will return on a white horse and The Earth is a copy of Heaven, it would seem to me there are.

There are three answers/thoughts when it comes to answering this question and they are all interesting and because there is no “Thus sayest the Lord” on this one, you will have to decide for yourself or decide that it is a question that simply does not have an answer for us on this side of eternity..

The first answer would be YES, there are animals in Heaven.  You are correct, there are horses pictured in Heaven (Revelation 6, Revelation 19), but also other animals in other passages are referenced (Isaiah 11:6, Ezekiel 1) and they don’t seem to be figurative or part of some kind of poetry.  In addition, you are right, Heaven is a redeemed perfect picture of Earth and there are certainly animals here… and in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2-3).  It makes logical sense that if Heaven is a new Eden and all things are made new that animals would be a part of this Heaven.  In fact, many people who answer this question “yes” also believe that specific animals are in Heaven such as pets we have come to know and love.

The second answer would be YES, BUT.  This answer says “yes” there are animals in Heaven, “but” not specific animals.  There will be animals in Heaven, but animals created to be in Heaven for our enjoyment.  

The third answer would be NO, there are not animals in Heaven.  This “no” answer comes from an understanding of Genesis 1:26 which clearly puts human beings alone as created in God’s image (not animals).  People have eternal souls, animals do not.  Animals certainly have a spirit which animates them, but not a soul.  John talked about the differences between soul and spirit in his first sermon this month (8/4).  Based on this fact about the nature of human beings and animals, when animals die, they are gone and cease to exist all together because they do not have an eternal soul which continues as people do.

This is one of those questions where the Bible does not have a definitive answer for us.  I personally am inclined to go with answer #3 (if I must choose) because animals are not created in the image of God.  However, #2 is also quite logical because animals are indeed part of Creation and do bring so much joy!  There are good solid respectable Christian folks who answer this question differently.  I do think that Heaven will be absolutely perfect and if God so chooses to have animals there that His will is done!

Also, does The Bible say anything about what you can talk about? Both John Meisenbach and I like baseball. If we saw Mickey Mantle, would it be okay to ask him about the 1956 World Series? 

As far as I am aware, the Bible does not have any restrictions about what saints in Heaven talk about.  This is not mentioned or even hinted about.  I would assume based on the nature of Heaven’s perfection and our perfection by God on what we do read in Scripture that there is no gossip or dirty jokes and things of that nature, but other than that, no restrictions.  The key to your particular question is if Mickey Mantle was a believer in Jesus Christ.  If he was not, then you would have to settle for another baseball great who was also a Christian.  And besides, everyone knows football is the game in Heaven.

Questions about Heaven (1)

HEAVEN FOLLOW-UP

I have a question regarding not being looked on from heaven.  Hebrews 12:1 says we are watched by a great cloud of people.  Isn’t that people in heaven?  Just wondering.  Also a question I have had for a long time.  Do babies stay babies or are they a grown up age and old people a younger age?  Sorry for hard questions.

The passage you are referring to in Hebrews 12:1 does talk about “such a great cloud of witnesses” which in the context of Hebrews refers directly back to Hebrews 11 (often called “the Faith Chapter”).  The “witnessing” that is talked about is not that the people are looking down on us, but rather as the whole chapter 11 says, their faith is witnessing to us that God is real, His promises are real, and that everything that God has planned in the future is True.  All the faithful people in history are witnesses for the truth of faith in God.  The passage most certainly could be seen as “people looking down on us from Heaven” except all of chapter 11 is about their historical real personal examples of faith strengthening our belief in God.

As to the baby question, there are absolutely no Scriptures that I am aware of even hint at an answer or even an educated guess.  This is a topic Scripture is silent on.  This is also a subject where you will find false teaching such as the Jehovah Witnesses, so you have to be careful when reading books, articles, websites, etc.  Unfortunately, there is no way to guess what will happen to infants who pass away in terms of their appearance, etc.  I do believe that God’s Grace covers them and they are in Heaven, but as to their aging process or development, there just isn’t any Scripture.  Where the Bible is silent, I guess I must give a hardy “I don’t know!”

Troy Borst

Associate Minister