Eternity Puts Everything in Perspective
Ask the Pastor with J.D. Greear
Audio By Carbonatix
By J.D. Greear, Crosswalk.com
A lot of us have a secret fear about heaven—namely, that we’re afraid it’s going to be kinda lame. We imagine an eternal choir practice, a weird “floaty state” where we meander about in diapers, playing harps, shooting each other with Nerf arrows and sipping on non-alcoholic Piña Coladas. And you’re like, “Look, I love a good church service as much as the next guy, but it just feels like it’s gonna be kind of … boring.”
The good news is, if that’s your view of heaven, you should be happy to know that it’s nothing like the biblical depiction. Revelation 21–22 gives us the right view. Heaven is a place of renewal, where all of the broken parts of our world are set right again, where injustice is finally done away with and justice reigns. It’s a place of reunion, where we will finally be with the God who created us and loves us. It’s a place of realization, where we will see history (and our own lives) from God’s perspective, understanding all that he was doing here on earth. And it’s a place where we will reign, not sitting around with nothing to do, but exercising our abilities and skills in fruitful and meaningful work.
(You’ll notice that all four of those start with “R,” which proves they are from the Holy Spirit.)
But what difference does that future vision mean for us today? I’m so glad you asked. Because of heaven, you can …
1. Put up Your Bucket Lists
Bucket lists are those things you want to do before you kick the bucket. Why? Because you assume you’ll never have a chance to do them again. As I always ask, “Is a bucket list ever really appropriate for a Christian?” I mean, in Revelation, Jesus promises us not just a “renewed heaven” but also a “renewed earth,” and in 21:5, he said he was “making all things new.” Wouldn’t all there include the mountains, stars, rivers, oceans, planets, animals, culture, arts, music, architecture, and extreme sports that you never got to experience? Does your Bible have an asterisk next to “all” with a list of things in fine print that are not included in that word? All means all, church.
That means that whatever we think we’re missing out on in this life, in Christ, we really aren’t. If you miss out on marriage in this life, God promises you’ll have a better family in the next. If you aren’t able to have children, God promises fruitfulness and legacy. If you don’t have money, God promises eternal riches. If your body is racked with pain, God promises strength and vitality. Whatever you lack, whatever you miss, whatever you wish was different … in heaven, God will make all of those things new!
Revelation 21:26 even says that, “They will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations,” which means the best of culture will be there. Just think of it! The best Italian food. The best of Arabian and Colonial architecture (which are my favorites). Renaissance paintings. The best of Mardi Gras (all the beignets and Po’boy sandwiches without all the drugs and debauchery and hangovers).
Does it make sense to have a bucket list? No! Because YOLO (you only live once) is not true. The reality is YALF (you actually live forever).
Whatever you don’t get to here, you’ll have more than ample opportunity to do there, except for one thing. There is one thing you can’t do there that you can only do here: tell your loved ones about Jesus. So put that on your bucket list. Plan to spend your retirement years investing in that, not going on some second-rate golf vacation, because I promise you that compared to what’s waiting for you up there, playing Pebble Beach will seem like one of those cheap putt-putt courses at Myrtle Beach. Spend your retirement years winning people to Jesus, serving the church, and laying up treasures there.
2. Cease Your Raging Against Aging
Listen, I feel it. I hate aging. I used to drink two liters of Mountain Dew and eat a sleeve of Oreos right before bed, and I gained no weight and slept through the night like a baby. Now? Well, now I’ve got charts that describe how much of what kind of foods I can eat and which minute in the day is the last possible one I can drink caffeine.
The other morning, my wife noticed I was limping, and she said, “What did you do?” To which I replied, “I don’t know. I was fine when I went to bed; I must’ve turned my ankle when I was sleeping.” That’s my current age, in case you’re curious: I-get-hurt-sleeping years old. Some of you know what I’m talking about. You’re the age where your back goes out more than you do.
If you’re in your 20s and reading this, you might find it funny. Well, laugh it up. It’s coming for you, too. I once heard a guy say, “As you get older, three things happen. The first is your memory goes … and I can’t remember the other two.”
The temptation, as we feel our bodies slowly rebel against us, is to fight so hard to hold onto our youth. To nip, tuck, color, tighten, fill, inject … whatever. Or to double down on our diet and exercise regimens. But it’s ultimately all headed in the same direction, and it’s foolish to think otherwise.
I’m not saying that keeping yourself fit as you get older is wrong; it is actually good stewardship to take care of your body. But I’m just saying that for many people, their obsession with staying fit, looking fit, being thin, feeling young … it’s driven by despair. You feel like every year that goes by means you’re losing life, so you’re trying to hold onto something you can’t hold onto. If this life were all there was, that kind of despair might make sense. But it’s not. You’ve got a better life (and a better body!) coming.
There is a river, John says, with constantly renewing power, and it’s better than 10,000 shots of Botox. (And it won’t make you look nearly as weird.) In the new heavens and new earth, as the river of life flows through them, they become newer and newer, brighter and brighter, more vivid, more coherent, more whole, and more beautiful every second, on and on forever.
So don’t fight your body getting old now! Quit your raging against aging! Because the new heavens and new earth are just around the corner.
J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He hosts Summit Life, a 30-minute daily radio broadcast and weekly TV program as well as the Ask the Pastor podcast. Pastor J.D. Greear has authored many books, most notably Gospel, Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, and Gaining by Losing.
Pastor J.D. completed his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Chick-fil-A, serves as a Council member for The Gospel Coalition, and recently served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor J.D. and his wife Veronica are raising four awesome kids.
"Editor's Note: Pastor JD Greear's "Ask the Pastor" column regularly appears at Christianity.com, providing biblical, relatable, and reliable answers to your everyday questions about faith and life. Email him your questions at [email protected]."
