Our sense organs 45

Jesus prays to His Father in John 17:24, “Father,
I want those you have given me to be with me
where I am.” This prayer is fulfilled in heaven. We
will be with Him for all eternity. When faith is
fully revealed it will be replaced by wonder. When
the queen of Sheba arrived at the court of
Solomon she cried in surprise, “Indeed, not even
half… was told me” (2 Chron 9:6). This expression
of surprise will be even more fitting when we
arrive in God’s kingdom. Here, on earth, there are
still many pressing questions, to which we seek
answers. There, with Jesus, everything will be
explained: “In that day you will no longer ask me
anything” (John 16:23).
“There will be no more night” in the presence of
God and Jesus (Rev 22:5). We will no longer need
sleep, therefore we will not need beds in heaven.
The sun will shine forever. Yet it is not a celestial
body which will provide the light. No created sun
will shine for eternity, but “the glory of God gives
it light, and the Lamb is its lamp [= Jesus]” (Rev
21:23). Isaiah saw the everlasting sun prophetically
in God’s kingdom: “The sun will no more be
your light by day, nor will the brightness of the
moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your
everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.
Your sun will never set again” (Is 60:19-20).
Thousands of people flock to overflowing beaches
in their holidays to soak in the glowing sun
most of them get nothing more than sunburn
and have to live with the danger of skin cancer,
worrying whether or not the SPF of their sunblock
lotions is high enough to screen out harmful
rays. However the everlasting sun of heaven
will be good for us and will never burn. It will not
be the scorching sun we know in the deserts of
this earth (Rev 7:16).
9 Heaven is where we become like Jesus
I hardly dare to say it, but it is written in 1 John
3:2: “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.”
What does that mean? Man was created in the
image of God, but this identity was lost in the
Fall. The Bible is referring to Jesus when it says
that, “the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and
the exact representation of his being” (Hebr 1:3).
If in heaven we become like Jesus, then we too
will be the radiance of God’s glory and the exact
representation of His being.
Individually, we will have our unique personalities,
but our qualitative physical traits (beauty,
glory, figure, physical perfection) will be that of
Jesus (Phil 3:21). That body will not be restricted
by time or space (John 20:19).
Here on earth, it is very rare that we meet someone
who shares our thoughts and beliefs. But
when this does happen, we cherish these conversations
and time seems to fly. That which is said
is stimulating and enriching, usually leading us
to new discoveries which we would not have
made but for the other person’s input.
In heaven, we will become one in thought with
Jesus. Communication with Him will be an integral
creative element. Even after all of our earthly
questions have been answered, there will still be
new and boundless things to contemplate. Just
like the way that those dear to us want to get to
know us as well as possible, we will want to get
to know the inexhaustible kingdom of God (Is
40:28) and Jesus (Col 2:3). Right after the creation
of man, God gave him the creative task of
naming the animals (Gen 2:19-20). Does it not
follow that the Lord in heaven will continue this
creative conversation? Communication in heaven
is not an exchange of knowledge with which we
could fill an encyclopedia, but a continually
enriching dialogue.
10 Heaven is something special to look
forward to
In looking at the content of Jesus’ words, one
aspect is impossible to ignore. He continually
invited us to heaven. He began his preaching with
the words, “the time has come. The kingdom of
God is near. Repent and believe the good news”
(Mark 1:15). Jesus tried to describe heaven to us
in many parables. “The kingdom of heaven is like
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