Our new home was great. The smell of fresh paint was still in the air. There wasn’t a single stain on the carpet. The apartment was brand-new, and Stephanie and I (Sean) were eager to move in. We did move, and while I enjoyed our new home for its freshness, its beauty, and its newness, I still reached out for the familiar. Certain things just fit who I am and how I function, and even with all the excitement and glamour of a new home, I didn’t want those things to change. I wanted my desk placed in a similar position as in our last home. I liked the fact that our old, comfortable living room furniture was in our new place. I liked the newness, but I also loved and appreciated the familiar.
The home God has planned for you for all eternity will be a pristine, glorious new home, yet it will retain the comfortable familiarity you love. God is not creating a strange place for you that will require you to completely readjust your tastes and change who you are. Rather, he is restoring the old—getting rid of the scars, damage, and malfunctions inflicted by the fall. You will enjoy the restored beauty of the earth with its lush forests, majestic mountains, sparkling water, and an animal kingdom with the multitude of species no longer at odds with each other.
There will be no curse upon the New Earth, and the perfection God originally intended will emerge unsullied in all its wonder and glory. While everything will be fresh and new, you will see it as a place of complete familiarity. You will realize that this is where you were meant to be all along—in a place where you fit so perfectly that it’s clear it was designed expressly to your innermost tastes. In fact, this will be exactly what God has done (see Isaiah 65; Revelation 21–22).
But more than that, your future home will be a place where you will be with your loved ones, a place where the word family takes on a whole new meaning. Our earthly families and friends can be great. We talk together, play together, eat together; we are there for one another. But Uncle Joe can become irritating and Aunt Sarah can talk and talk and talk. We can tire at times of being with family and friends. Yet in our new home these relational imperfections will be removed along with the imperfections of the environment. People will relate to each other exactly as they should have related all along. Indeed, there will be nothing but bliss in every aspect of our lives because we will be entering into the pure joy of God himself.
Jesus gave an illustration of what it will be like to enter into the kingdom of heaven. He said that the Master would pay us the greatest of compliments by saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servants.” But there would be even more. He will go on to add, “You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23 NASB). Our entry into the kingdom of heaven is so much more than just a reward; it is our initiation into a whole new realm of meaning and significance for our lives.
Jesus told his followers to remain in his love, and then he said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11 NIV). In our new eternal home we will enter into God’s joy in a literal sense. What does this entering into God’s joy look like? We get a hint of it in our experiences with our own children.
Some time ago Stephanie and I (Sean) took our family to a gigantic water park. It had twisty slides, wave machines, multicolored water caverns—the works. And I have to tell you, the little kid inside me came out. Stephanie and I played with Scottie in the wave pool, and it was a huge thrill to see our little boy having such fun. But Scottie was reluctant to play on all the elaborate enhancements to this “swimming pool.” So I tried the twisty slide and the “shoot the rapids” slide first, and explored the multi-colored caverns on my own. Stephanie and Scottie watched me from the shallow side of this water world of joy.
Then I came up to Scottie and said, “Son, you’ve got to try this stuff—it’s so much fun. Let me show you what a blast this is.” He was still reluctant, but he saw something in my face and heard something in my voice that said, “Come on, do this with me, please.” He sensed I was saying, “Enter into the joy of your father.” And when he joined me on those slides, he had a blast—or should I say, a splash. As Scottie’s loving father, it really did thrill me that he had so much fun.
This is a small sample of what it must mean when God says to us, “Enter into the joy of your Master.” He is thrilled that we get to experience so much joy. Our first joy will be to see him face-to-face, which will be a thrill beyond imagining. The apostle John describes his own face-to-face encounter with the God-man in all his glory, saying, “His face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead” (Revelation 1:16-17). Of course, without a new and transformed body we couldn’t even look fully into the face of God and live (see Exodus 33:20; 1 Timothy 6:16). But with new glorified bodies we will be able to see God’s glorious face. And the first thing we will undoubtedly see is his expression of pure joy. To be in the presence of our God and Savior and to see him face-to-face will, in itself, be the greatest experience we will ever have.
As when a father receives a prodigal son back home from a life on a pig farm, you will experience the thrilling ecstasy of hearing God say, “Enter into the joy of your Master.”
But some readers may wonder why simply gazing into the face of God would be such a magnificent experience. We know we cannot fully explain why this will be such a joy, but it’s such an important aspect of our life in God’s restored kingdom that we must give it a shot.
No doubt every male reader of this book has seen the face of a beautiful woman that stopped him in his tracks. And every female has seen the face of a man who almost made her swoon. We recognize this awe in the presence of extreme beauty by using the term “stunning” to describe such faces. Now, add to this experience the factor of relationship—of love. Have you ever been in the presence of that special person—say, gazing across the table at him or her during a candlelight dinner—and thought you had never seen anything so glorious? Your breath came deeper and your heart beat faster, just to think you actually had a relationship with such a glorious creature.
Now take these experiences one step further. Think for a moment about the look of a young bride in all her radiant glory, waiting in the foyer of the church for the first chords of the “Wedding March” as she anticipates meeting her lover at the altar. She can hardly wait. Consider the gaze of a bridegroom, standing nervously with his best man as he expectantly looks down the aisle toward that door where she will soon appear. Then imagine his knees weakening with unbearable ecstasy as the music begins and that radiant face appears and approaches, filled with love and joy meant only for him. He is enraptured, transported, lifted into a realm of joy he has never imagined. This beautiful creature loves him so much that she has chosen to spend her entire life devoted to him. It is the experience one never forgets, an experience that shapes one’s entire life.
The beauty of the most beautiful woman or the most handsome man in the world is merely a shadow of the beauty of the face of God, who is the source of all beauty. The love in the face of the most devoted bride or groom is merely a shadow of the love of God, who is the source and perfection of all love. To go far beyond the images of beauty and love that so overwhelm us even in this fallen world and behold the face that is the fountain of all beauty and love will simply be the greatest single moment we will ever experience. It’s an experience we can presently imagine only by comparison to the weaker manifestations of love and beauty we experience on this sin-damaged earth.
The inexpressible joy you will see on God’s face at your arrival home has partly to do with his sense of completion. When God created a perfect world, he “saw that it was good.” But of course it was ruined by sin. So after thousands of years of watching his beloved creation endure pain and suffering, he will soon experience the joy of seeing you as one of his redeemed children entering into what he originally designed—a paradise without sin where you will enjoy him and he will enjoy you forever. As when a father receives a prodigal son back home from life on a pig farm, you will experience the thrilling ecstasy of hearing God say, “Enter into the joy of your Master.”
Experiencing God’s Relational Joy
When God invites you to enter into his joy, he is allowing you to share a relational experience that has previously been beyond your emotional ability to comprehend. Just as I knew Scottie would thrill at the giant waterslide, God knows full well what his infinite love in perfect relationship will mean to you, even though you cannot presently comprehend it. Adam and Eve got a taste of it for but a fleeting moment. After Christ’s return God will lead you into a relational glory and goodness with him that mere mortal minds and emotions cannot comprehend. But with a new body and a full eternity at your disposal, you will have all of forever to absorb it.
Just what is this relational joy of God? It is being invited to participate in the Source of love who fills the universe. The Father has eternally loved the Son. The Son has eternally loved the Father. The Holy Spirit has eternally loved the Father and the Son. The Triune Godhead has been in perfect relationship with each other for all eternity. Yet God is inviting us into their perfect circle of relationship. The simplicity and purity of enjoying a growing love relationship with God is at this point incomprehensible to our mortal minds. But let’s try to imagine it.
First, a blissful eternal life is all about knowing God. Jesus prayed to his Father and said, “This is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” (John 17:3). Our firsthand experience of knowing God will grow throughout eternity, and our love of him will expand to contain it. As we come to know God’s nature of unconditional acceptance, we will experience a secure love beyond measure. As we learn of his infinite grace, we will capture the strength and unity of his love. As we explore the humility and servanthood of God’s heart, we will come to understand his true greatness. As we come to know the true essence of the Triune God with all his infinite devotion, faithfulness, goodness, and holiness, our capacity to love and grow to be like God will produce an ever-increasing enjoyment of his infinite joy and satisfaction in our finite beings throughout the ages of eternity. It will be as if God says to each of us, “My infinite joy as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is now in you because you are in us, and your joy is being made complete throughout time without end.” That will become your reality when Christ returns and restores all things.
Experiencing God’s Creative Joy
My little Scottie saw the joy in my face when he agreed to go down the water-slide with me. But he also experienced the thrill of actually going down the waterslide. While we will experience God’s relational joy, we will also thrill at literally experiencing the New Earth God is preparing for us.
Imagine Jesus showing you around some of the sights of the new earth and saying, “Oh, you’ve got to try this fruit. This tastes so good I want you to enjoy it with me.” Or think of him saying, “I love this mountain view; come stand here with me and enjoy the magnificent splendor of this vista I’ve restored for you.” You have a God who is excited for you. He wants you to enjoy him and all that he has created for you.
It may be hard to grasp that God desires us to really enjoy our new home with him. But he does. Paul told Timothy to tell others not to put their hope in earthly wealth “but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17 NIV). He created this earth for our enjoyment, but sin ruined it all. In our new home sin will be eliminated, and we will enter into the joy of God’s restored creation forever.
But God’s invitation to enjoy his restored creation does not mean he intends us to be mere spectators. We will not be placed in an eternal rocking chair to passively enjoy the beauty of God’s handiwork. Remember that in Jesus’ illustration the Master said, “You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things” (Matthew 25:23 NASB). There will be things to do, projects we will be “in charge of.”
Randy Alcorn quotes theologian Dallas Willard, who comments on Matthew 25:23:
A place in God’s creation order has been reserved for each one of us from before the beginning of cosmic existence. His plan is for us to develop, as apprentices to Jesus, to the point where we can take our place in the ongoing creativity of the universe.
Alcorn then goes on to say:
God is grooming us for leadership. He’s watching to see how we demonstrate our faithfulness. He does that through his apprenticeship program, one that prepares us for Heaven. Christ is not simply preparing a place for us; he is preparing us for that place.1
After God created the original earth he told Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28 NIV). God had a responsibility in mind for his original created family of humans, and he has a responsibility for his future redeemed children. In his vision John saw those who were washed in the blood of the Lamb given a place at “the throne of God,” where they will “serve him day and night” (Revelation 7:15 NIV). So our present faithfulness to God is rewarded with future responsibilities in our new home. At first glance, this promise may not immediately appeal to you. You might think, I’m stressed out with all the responsibilities piled on me here. I was hoping that heaven would free me from all that.
Randy Alcorn answers this fear with an insightful perspective:
Service is a reward, not a punishment. This idea is foreign to people who dislike their work and only put up with it until retirement. We think that faithful work should be rewarded by a vacation for the rest of our lives. But God offers us something very different: more work, more responsibilities, increased opportunities, along with greater abilities, resources, wisdom, and empowerment. We will have sharp minds, strong bodies, clear purpose, and unabated joy. The more we serve Christ now, the greater our capacity will be to serve him in Heaven.2
There are many things we may not know about the new heaven and new earth. What exactly we can expect to be doing for all eternity is still veiled in mystery. It is a great secret yet to be revealed. But we do know this: whatever task he has planned for you will fit you exactly. When you receive your assignment, you will suddenly understand just what your particular talents were meant to accomplish. It will be your dream job—the path to fulfillment of all your deepest ambitions.
The place we live in now is only our temporary world, and God is preparing for us a new place that will be our “dream home” because we will enter into God’s relational and creative joy forever. John “heard a loud shout from the throne saying, ‘Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever’” (Revelation 21:3-4). Our future home will be everything we ever dreamed of and much more.