IS HEAVEN BORING?

And there will no longer be any curse…and His slaves will serve Him. Revelation 22:3b

Meaningful work, in-and-of-itself, is NOT the substance of the Curse (Genesis 3:17-19). Rather, it is the oppressive pain, difficulty, weariness, and frustration that is commonly associated with our labors. In his pre-Fallen state, however, man was granted creation-dominion (Genesis 1:26-28)—and thus given important things to DO (Genesis 2:15, 19-20); the original Paradise did not entail Adam shiftlessly lying about in a hammock!!! God Himself is Workman—and man, created in His Image, cannot experience genuine satisfaction without creative purpose and significance.

Some view Heaven from a humanistic filter, importing their present weary-self (with its sin nature and associated limitations) along with its assorted hang-ups and priorities into the afterlife—and thus hope that their eternal rest will essentially be an eternal snooze fest. “I’ve worked hard all my life—give me a soft cloud and a few zillion years of Z’s!”

Others have viewed Heaven, frankly, with DREAD! British PM Lloyd-George once confessed that as a boy, he feared the idea of a never-ending heavenly “church service” more than he feared Hell! Others, troubled by the fact that their unsaved loved ones won’t be there, have concocted the notion of “heavenly amnesia”—we simply won’t remember their existence. But will our minds be LESS in Heaven than what they are today, and will God deceptively create false memories of our former lives? NO (Titus 1:2)!

The Bible does not provide all the particulars that our present curiosity may crave—but what has been revealed is sufficient. Eternity for God’s Elect won’t disappoint; it will perfectly satisfy and be infinitely better and more thrilling than anything this present broken world can afford (Revelation 21:3-4)! And WE shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 John 3:2)!

Terry L. Reese