Rest from our labors on earth (Revelation 14:13).
We will enjoy relaxation and leisure, freedom from the frustrations of tedious and burdensome labor.
Experience satisfying, God-honoring work (Revelation 22:3).
Because work began before sin and the Curse, and because God, who is without sin, is a worker, we should assume human beings will work on the New Earth. We’ll have satisfying and enriching work that we can’t wait to get back to, work that’ll never be drudgery.
Rule the earth to God's glory (Revelation 22:5, Matthew 25:23, Daniel 7:27).
God created Adam and Eve to be king and queen over the earth. Their job was to rule the earth in righteousness, to the glory of God. They failed. Jesus Christ is the second and last Adam, and the church is his bride, the second Eve. Christ is king, the church is his queen. Christ will exercise dominion over all nations of the earth. As the new head of the human race, Christ—with his beloved people as his bride and corulers—will at last accomplish what was entrusted to Adam and Eve. God’s saints will fulfill on the New Earth the role God first assigned to Adam and Eve on the old Earth.
The New Earth isn’t a blissful realm that we’ll merely visit, as vacationers go to a theme park. Rather, it’s a realm we’ll joyfully rule with Jesus, exercising dominion as God’s image bearers and producing Christ-exalting culture.
Eat and drink and celebrate at the table with Christ and the redeemed saints from earth, communicating and fellowshipping and storytelling and rejoicing with them (Matthew 8:11; Luke 22:29, 30; Revelation 19:9).
Communication, dialogue, corporate worship, and other relationship-building interactions all take place in heaven (Revelation 1-22). Saints and angels and God himself will interact together, building and deepening their relationships. “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines” (Isaiah 25:6). How good will that meal be?
Worship God (Revelation 5:13-14; 7:9-12).
Multitudes of God’s people, of every nation, tribe, people, and language, will gather to sing praise to God for his greatness, wisdom, power, grace, and mighty work of redemption. Will we always be on our faces at Christ’s feet, worshiping Him? No, because Scripture says we’ll be doing many other things—living in dwelling places, eating and drinking, reigning with Christ, and working for Him. Scripture depicts people standing, walking, traveling in and out of the city, and gathering at feasts. When doing these things, we won’t be on our faces before Christ. Nevertheless, all that we do will be an act of worship. We’ll enjoy full and unbroken fellowship with Christ. At times this will crescendo into greater heights of praise as we assemble with the multitudes who are also worshiping Him.
Learn (Ephesians 2:6-7).
When we enter Heaven, we’ll presumably begin with the knowledge we had at the time of our death. God may enhance our knowledge and will likely correct countless wrong perceptions. I imagine he’ll reveal many new things to us, then set us on a course of continual learning, paralleling Adam and Eve’s. We won’t ever know everything, and even what we will know, we won’t know all at once.
For more information on this subject, see Randy Alcorn's book Heaven.
Photo by Kayla Farmer on Unsplash
