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And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: For the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:3, 4)
After this horrible final judgment, God will wipe away all tears from our eyes and the remembrance of those who were cast into the lake of fire. From that day forward it will be as if they never existed. How do I know this? “The former things are passed away” and that includes crying, pain, sorrow and death. Remembering lost loved one’s would only serve to bring back all those emotions that God has expelled from our lives.
Heaven will be our new eternal home, and the Lord will be our provider and source of everything that we need. A question I get frequently from many of my readers is “What will we do in heaven?” Actually the Bible isn’t that specific as to what duties we will do in heaven other then that we will rule and reign with Christ, and serve Him forever (Revelation 22:3-5). But I do know this, our greatest desire will be to praise, worship and adore the Lord without end. When I tell that to someone they usually give me a perplexed look. They’re looking for me to list activities such as golf or going to a ballgame or just relaxing on the white sands of a tropical beach. That does sound nice, but I can assure you that the activities of the world will not be the activities of heaven. For all those things will pass away (I Corinthians 7:29-31), and in fact, won’t even be a thought in our mind. For our thinking will change dramatically and the Lord Jesus will now be the center of our world. Our love affair with Him will be all encompassing and will totally consume our every thought. It will be like being totally and madly in love for the first time every day for an eternity, and it will never end! Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say about our heavenly activity.
After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: And the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: And upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: And they rest not day and night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:1-4)
This scripture passage begins with John the apostle being taken up to heaven to see things that must come to pass in the future. While in heaven, standing before the throne, he saw the Lord in all His brilliance, and round about His throne were twenty-four thrones and they that sat on them. Those who sat on the thrones are the representatives of the New Testament church or Christians like you and me. The Bible says that “the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” This is a picture of the normal activity in heaven and our greatest pleasure. These twenty-four men of God, who had earthly desires like us, are bowing before the throne, and giving praise and worship to the one who saved them. They have no other desire, and in that day, neither will we. For we will long to be in His presence, to do His will, and worship Him forever and ever.