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With our study of Revelation coming to a close in the next two weeks, we have now come to the Apostle John’s vision of Heaven in the final two chapters. Though not the only description of Heaven in the Bible, it is certainly the most forthright. As John uses language and descriptors that are fantastic and beyond comprehension, we get the sense that human words cannot accurately communicate all that God is preparing for those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. While there are many false assumptions regarding what Heaven will actually be like and just how we will spend all eternity glorifying God, the Bible provides keen insight to these questions so that we might be properly prepared for our home with Christ in eternity.
While we are provided a glimpse of what we will do in Heaven, by default, we are also informed of what we will not be doing. If fact, there are at least three things that we cannot do in Heaven to which the Lord commands that we must do during our days on this earth. Just what are these things?
1. Sharing the gospel.
As Revelation 21:27 makes abundantly clear, everyone will not go to Heaven. Jesus is right now preparing Heaven for those who come to Him by faith in His sacrificial death, redemptive resurrection, and sure promise. Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. In Heaven, there will be no one to share the gospel with. Everyone there will be fully surrendered to it.
However, this is not so on this earth. Most people in this world, even in our own community, do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. At best, most are uncertain of what will happen when they die. This is precisely why Jesus’ last words to His disciples while on this earth were all focused upon His Great Commission. Jesus commands us to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). It is just because our lifetime on earth is so fleeting, eternity is so long, and the gospel is so powerful that we must share it now! Any excuse not to share the gospel becomes rather pathetic in the face of Christ’s clear command and mission for His Church.
2. Maintaining the purity of the Church.
As Revelation 19:7-8 reveals, the redeemed in Christ will be perfectly and gloriously adorned with the righteousness of Christ in Heaven. While the cross has broken sin’s penalty, and the Holy Spirit in us is breaking sin’s power, Heaven will forever banish sin’s presence from us. While we may struggle with personal holiness in this lifetime, that struggle will be removed in the presence of Christ.
However, just like sharing the gospel is Christ’s charge to us now, so is maintaining spiritual purity and integrity. In fact, this command is intricately linked with the previous. Most unbelievers do not find the claims of the gospel ridiculous. Rather, they find the claims of supposed believers ridiculous as their faith is often proven a façade. Jesus’ strong words on this subject say enough: “Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away” (Luke 14:34-35).
3. Staying the course.
Revelation 20:4 clearly instructs that those in Heaven have stayed the course of faith in Jesus. Like Paul, they have “fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith” and have now received the “crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). One day, our struggle to keep the faith will be no more. Temptations will be cast aside forever as we will worship and serve God with glorified bodies for all eternity.
But for now, we must “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and…run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Many who once claimed Christ as Lord have since shipwrecked their faith. We must endure to the end because only those who stay the course of faith in Christ will be saved (Matthew 24:13). We put our hope in Christ’s faithfulness to present us blameless before Him (1 Thessalonian 5:23-24).
We must do what can only be done now so that we might enjoy all that God is preparing for us then!
Jason