Will I Be Bored in Heaven? (i)

Do you ever worry that Heaven might be a bit boring? You’d probably never say it out loud, but you’ve thought it. Life on Earth as a Christian seems so real, so fulfilling, so good, but what will Heaven be like? And eternity seems like a long time to be sitting on a cloud, or in a church service, or whatever. Can we be sure that we’ll enjoy Heaven?

The simple answer according to the Bible, and according to these eight verses, is a resounding and loud, yes! Yes! We can be sure that we’ll enjoy Heaven forever. In fact, we can be sure that the longer we’re in Heaven the more we will enjoy it. Revelation 21:1-8 promises us that we can look forward to a new Heaven and a new earth, where we will experience God’s mercy, where we’ll be satisfied by the pleasure of His presence, and where we’ll be delighted by fellowship with Him forever. Revelation 21:1-8 breaks up into two parts, in verses 1-4 we see that the former things have passed away, and in verses 5-8 we hear Jesus saying that He is making all things new.

Remember, the last two chapters of Revelation tell the story of the rest of time. The rebellion is over, the devil, the beast and the false prophet are gone forever, sin is gone forever with them and now we can live forever in peace with God. As The Lord promised to Abraham, He will be our God and we will be His people.

So let’s look at verses 1-4 together. Verses 1 and 4 both tell us that things have ‘passed away,’ those statements bookend this paragraph and let us know that this is it’s main thrust. Something has changed forever, never to go back. The old has gone, the new has come. We learn about the new Heaven, new Earth and the new Jerusalem in verses 1 and 2. These verses represt a fulfillment of God’s promise in Isaiah 65:13 where He promises to make a new Heavens and new Earth. Well here they are. Verse 1 gives us the wide angle of the whole new creation. No sea, no sin, no groaning, no corruption, then verse 2 narrows in on the new Jerusalem, which comes out of Heaven and to Earth. Maybe we should stop thinking about us going to Heaven, and start thinking about Heaven coming here. The city is ‘prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.’ She’s pure, she’s holy, she’s beautiful, she’s ready. You and I have all been hurt by sin, by corruption, but Jesus promises us a world where none of these things exist. The new city isn’t a girlfriend who is going to break your heart, she’s your wife who will love you forever. Will we enjoy Heaven? Yes! We’ll enjoy the purity, the trust and the joy that comes from a world without sin. We can’t even imagine how good it will be there!

We can trust that these things are true because of who will be in the holy city. Look at verse 3 and 4 with me. Isn’t that the most astonishing promise. We’ll no longer be separated from God, in fact, we’ll be with Him. And where God is there is nothing to fear, nothing to ruin enjoyment. The presence of God is the greatest joy, the greatest reward the Bible knows how to offer, it’s what we were made for and we’ll enjoy it forever in Heaven! Every tear will be wiped away. Every sorrow forgotten. Every day will feel like the best day ever, because we will live with Jesus. No crying or prain. These things belong to the old order. These things, like sin, belong to a world influenced by the devil and his followers. These things belong to a world stained by sin. That world has passed away, gone forever. Jesus has made all things new.