Our Existence in Heaven

today on the John Ankerberg show what's so exciting about heaven if you've ever planned a trip to Disneyland skiing in Aspen or a trip to Europe you usually look at the brochures and websites to find out in advance what it'll be like such guidebooks excite us about going there but the guidebook to heaven is the Bible and it says we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth which God has promised but if heaven or as the verse calls it the new heaven and new earth will be your home someday what do you know about heaven what are you looking forward to doing to experiencing to seeing in the place you will spend for all eternity my guest today is best-selling author of heaven dr. randy alcorn he will describe the wonderful things God has promised Christians will enjoy in our future home in heaven join us for the special edition of the John Ankerberg show welcome to our program we're talking with dr. randy Alcorn we're talking about heaven what will life be like in heaven how old will you be when you arrive in heaven we each have our own mansion what where are we going to live in heaven will we travel in heaven what are we going to wear in heaven these kinds of questions are what we're going to ask Randy to talk to us about from the Word of God and Randy I want to start with a question we covered a little bit last week and that was a lot of Christians aren't really excited about heaven what do they think heaven is going to be if they're not excited about it well they often think it's going to be one long extremely boring church service not that all church services are boring but you know after a couple million years it starts to wear on you a little bit and that's what people are thinking they really there's there was a far side cartoon where guys sitting on a cloud and he's he's got his stereotypical halo and supposed angel's wings and he's gone to heaven now is just sitting on the cloud doing nothing nothing and the captain says I wish I brought a magazine and that's the way a lot of people think of it nothing to do no conversations to have no place to go yeah let's talk about this thing of what God says let me read it and put it on the table now let you kind of explain what we're talking about here revelation 21 2 gives us a glimpse of heaven and he says the Apostle John writes he's designed saw new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband I heard a loud voice from the throne saying look God's dwelling place is now among the people and he will dwell with them they will be his people and God Himself will be with them and be their God he will wipe every tear from their eyes there'll be no more death or mourning or crying or paying for the old order of things has passed away we talked last week a little bit about what this is and we've got present heaven and we've got future heaven and this is giving us a glimpse of future heaven but it's also giving us a little bit of a glimpse of present heaven define the difference because people say hey come on there's heavens going to change come on God doesn't change he's the same yesterday today and forever but heaven is a specific location God is omnipresent it means he dwells everywhere but he has a special dwelling place that he chooses and that's heaven that's where his throne is and we're told that God is going to move his special dwelling place from where heaven is now outside of our observation into the new heavens of the new earth and literally bring it down to earth and Ephesians 1 talks about how heaven and earth will be joined under one Christ and remember Christ's name Emmanuel that means God with us this is going to be God with us for all eternity so when we see the throne of God in the New Jerusalem and we see Jesus sitting on the throne and it talks about the father sitting on the throne as well then that means that God has relocated his central dwelling place so that it's like the New Jerusalem is the capital city of the new earth which is the capital planet of the new universe a recreated renewed universe alright let's start back at the beginning what happens the moment we die if we have a faith in Jesus Christ we go immediately into the presence of God we see with a rich man and Lazarus that where the rich man who did not know God where he went immediately when he died was to another place which we could call the present hell but the what we call the present hell will be thrown into the lake of fire similarly what we call the present heaven which is where Lazarus went when he died will ultimately be relocated to that new earth but right after we die we enter the presence of God Paul says it's better by far to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord there is immediate ongoing consciousness I know a family whose daughter was dying of a rare disease and her name is Emily and to help her understand this they said okay Emily here's what we're going to do we're going to wheel you in in the wheelchair into this room where you're going to be and then we're going to be here on the other side of the door and then one by one they walked into the room they said you're going to be the first one in our family that's going to enter the presence of God but then one by one we're going to follow you in here and of course to make the illustration perfect you would have had to have Jesus be there with her in that room you know and so she's never alone in that room she's going to be with him but the rest of the family that loves Jesus comes in I thought it was a beautiful illustration because it's a reminder that death constitutes a temporary separation but then there is reunion that follows it with those that love God let's talk about the new bodies that God is going to give to us all right Paul says this first Corinthians 15 the body that is sown is perishable the one that dies it's perishable it is raised imperishable it is sown in dishonor if you've ever seen anybody die it's not a pretty sight but it is raised in glory it is sown in weakness we can already feel as we're growing older the fact is we're getting weaker when you get to death you can hardly do anything you can hardly breathe but it's raised in power it is sown a natural body Paul says it can be raised a spiritual body if there is a natural body there is also a spiritual body and he uses Jesus resurrected body as our model explain what this new body is going to be like well we can look at Jesus body because he's called the firstfruits from the dead we're told that we will be like him when we see him as he is and what that means is that we can look at Jesus resurrection body and determine from it some things about our resurrection bodies he made a point of saying to his disciples touch me I got this physical body I am NOT a ghost a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I have what do we learn from that well the resurrection body has flesh and bones now it will not be a body subject to sin and death and suffering and all the things that came from the curse in revelation 22 we're told there will be no more curse so Jesus defeats death he defeats the curse he reverses the curse and in our resurrection bodies we will experience life as as we've never known it because we can imagine what the resurrected life will be like on our very best day when you felt your best and you looked your best and you had lots of energy and you thought this was the peak of my life and we tend to look back and think I passed my peak well guess what in the resurrection our peak still awaits all of us and we will never pass that peak well we have supernatural abilities like Jesus I mean Jesus could just float right up into the sky I mean how far does this new body go we don't know for sure on that was that unique to Jesus as the god man that he did that but we do know that certainly these bodies will be at maximum capacity and they'll be in a better form than they ever have been so there won't be sickness we do know for instance that there are streets in the New Jerusalem and there are gates the end of the city well normally that would indicate streets you walk on and gates you enter through so probably not everybody flying around all the time and roads that could be vehicles it could be horse and carriage it could be all kinds of things there's certainly no reason to believe there won't be technology but certainly our bodies will experience what our bodies experience now but without the curse without sin in the world we won't be angels though will we know a lot of people have this misconception when you die you become an angel and my friend or my mother my child who died is now kind of watching over me as my guardian angel now human beings are human beings created in the image of God angels are angels the two are completely different all right we're gonna take a break when we come back I'm going to ask them the question at all you want to know how old are we going to be when we appear in heaven if you're 95 are you be 33 gonna be 10 what would each are you going to be what age would you like to be if your child is 4 what about him what age will he appear stick with us we'll be right back if you would like to have all of the information in our new series what's so exciting about heaven with best-selling author dr. randy Alcorn the three television programs in this series are available on DVD for a gift of $39 and you may order these programs now by calling us at all right back we're talking with the leading authority on heaven doctor randy alcorn and we're going to ask them this question Randy how old are we going to be when we arrive in heaven you have a five year old dies a person 92 dies what age will they be when they arrive in heaven well we look back at Adam and Eve we see that there was a parent age of course they've just been created but they appeared to be a certain age what age was that we don't know for sure but we just assumed that it would be at the peak of their development so probably post-adolescent but in the resurrection where will we be well actually a lot of ink was spilled over this in the Middle Ages Peter Lombard st. Thomas Aquinas prominent theologians of the Middle Ages fought a lot and wrote a lot about this and Thomas Aquinas said we will all be thirty-three years old the age of our Lord Jesus Christ when he died well yeah it's a good thought but there's no specific basis for that but certainly the idea probably B would be something like in our 20s or whatever the peak of our development might be now as far as somebody you know dying when they're older you know they're not going to be resurrected and an old looking and feeling body because that was under the curse that the deterioration of age was taking place and there will be no more curse so we know for sure that won't happen as for little children if the child does die at four years old a lot of parents wonder well then will will they just kind of fast forward and will they be at the peak of their development and everybody look alike to everybody else and I think that it's very possible that on the new earth in the resurrection on the new earth it could be that God may allow the child who was four years old to be resurrected at four and then grow to their place of maturity if that's true whether that would be in millennium or on the new earth what if that's true then what a basis for hope for parents who feel like they were robbed of those years in their child's life where their child would have been growing up it's possible that they may actually see their child grow up on the new earth and if that's the case they would feel privileged because they would be able to watch their child grow up without any worries about what's going to happen to this child yeah how many old people have you heard that have said you know I look old but I don't feel old and so you almost have a glimpse of where God's going with this thing is that that feeling of youth and young youngness and in vibrancy you just don't have the ability but what if you had the ability the desire is already there and God's going to enhance that and let's talk a little bit about the fact that that God's going to do more than we think or even imagine at this spot with these bodies talk about how strong kind of compare them to Adam and Eve you had one interesting chapter if you could if we could see Adam and Eve now and compare them with human beings now I think we would really be amazed what are you talking about well I don't think we realize how much we have deteriorated I think if we saw Adam and Eve in paradise in the garden we would be stunned at their beauty their strength their capacity because what happened in Genesis 3 sin comes into the world immediately the curse falls upon us and in the day you eat thereof you shall surely die but then we say but they didn't die I mean they went on to live like 900 years or something right and then the lifespan shortened after that so that the curse and the effects and consequences of the curse got more and more severe but I think if we could imagine what they were like humanity at its very best the way God intended that would be a great picture of the resurrection but in the resurrection even beyond because what we have to remember is God is not just going to restore Eden and restore original bodies he's going to make it all better and this is where the atoning work of Christ on the cross is so spectacular because it doesn't simply apply to us as human beings but to the whole creation that went down under the fall that's going to be entirely resurrected and renewed yeah I I think you know Einstein was supposed to have an IQ of 160 I'm wondering if God would boost our IQs to a thousand all right so we could understand more and the same thing in terms of our physical abilities and being able to smell and to see and to feel things where where you talk about God's got so many dimensions and so many colors and so many things that are out there that we're not picking up on right now because we just don't have the capability of doing that but if God opens us up to all of that with these new bodies it's going to be spectacular beyond anything that we can really imagine but he gives us glimpses of these things let's talk about the place we're going to stay when we get to heaven what kind of house are we going to have where are we going to live we're going to be comfortable in this house Jesus said in John 14 in my father's house are many dwelling places King James says mansions I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also and people want to know what's this dwelling place what kind of house are we going to have and it will it be crowded in heaven answer those questions well first we know that it's a physical element well in place is tapas from which we get topography it's an actual place and remember we'll have resurrection bodies and bodies need a place and the most important thing about heaven of course will be that will be with Jesus but some of the translations of John 14 have the idea one huge estate and then rooms in there and then others have the idea more of many separate dwelling places on this larger estate it could be either but in Luke 16 were actually told to use wealth that belongs to God in such a way in this life that we invest it in other people and then we're told that in the kingdom in heaven they will welcome us into their dwelling places so that indicates individualized dwelling places where you could actually be taken in as you're traveling about the new earth so it's it's it's a great idea so the best and most important thing is that we're with Jesus but we're also with each other and we also have that individualized place that will be our very own what kind of clothes are we going to wear what are we going to wear well all we know is that the martyrs who've died that gone to heaven and others are described as wearing robes so a lot of people say well so that means we'll all wear robes in heaven but robes were just the regular daily garb that they had in those days so I think in a sense we could say that well we'll wear normal clothes so I fully expect that people of different cultures might dress very much as they did on the old earth while we're walking around the new earth are we going to have feelings are we going to have parties are we going to have family gatherings well certainly we're made in God's image and as a result of that we have emotions we have feelings we care about other people we like to be with other people we love to party and you know for a lot of people they associate partying in this world with doing bad things when in fact in biblical times partying is where you got together and just celebrate it think of all the feasts think of all the special occasions in Israel's history where they would gather and they would eat and their meals would go on for hours and when you sit around a table and we're told in God's kingdom we will sit around a table and we'll eat together and think of the storytelling that comes with that think of the the relating to each other what happened today here's what I discovered today as I looked up at the stars as I took a walk in the mountains as I was making something for Jesus today here's what I did and here's what I discovered we'll hear each other stories and I think we'll reflect back at the time we had on earth with the perspective of being able to see how God was at work in ways that right now we might not even realize how can a person know for sure they're going to go to this heaven we're told in first John 5 these things are written that you may know that you have eternal life written to who to those who believe in the name of the Son of God it is through a relationship with Jesus Christ that comes through placing our faith in Him and that's how you become a child of God bow your need repent give your life to Jesus ask his forgiveness because our default destination is not heaven it's actually hell because we're under sin but Jesus took our sins upon himself on the cross so that by placing our faith in Him accepting the blood of his atonement that we could be made righteous before God and in heaven and live with him for all eternity alright folks you won't want to miss next week we're going to talk about will there be animals in heaven will you be reunited with your pet in heaven will we eat and drink in heaven will we sleep in heaven what about the relationships that we're going to have will there be marriage in heaven all of these questions and more next week you won't want to miss it stay tuned for scenes from next week's program as we close today if you would like to have all the information in our new series what's so exciting about heaven with dr. randy alcorn it's available now on DVD you know many Christians seem to have the idea that heaven is one long church service after another it doesn't sound like good news to them rather it sounds like eternal boredom but the Bible assures us that heaven is a real place just like New York London or Rio de Janeiro how does the Bible describe heaven now and in the future what will heaven be like when God brings the city of New Jerusalem down from the invisible realms and places it on a perfectly renewed earth what will it be like for us to live in real resurrected bodies and eternally enjoy the friendship of people we love in a beautiful world filled with breathtaking gardens and rivers and mountains and much more what kind of home will we live in will we actually see God the three programs in this series are available on DVD for a gift of $39 then we taped a second series with dr. randy Alcorn entitled heaven what will it be like in this series he describes what the great city of New Jerusalem looks like how the city will be at the center of heaven on earth you'll learn that the city is 1,400 miles in length width and height this means the ground level of New Jerusalem is nearly 2 million square miles how big is it that's 40 times bigger than England 15 thousand times bigger than London it's ten times as big as France or Germany and is far larger than India and that's just the ground level if the city consists of different levels and each story is 12 feet high the city could have over 600 thousand stories but most amazing of all God says he will live in the city with us on and his presence will be its greatest feature what will we do in heaven will we be able to travel and how can you biblically answer the questions your children our grandchildren ask you about heaven why is it that no one will get into heaven without Jesus and those who put their trust in Christ he promises to bring to heaven when they die but those who do not know Christ their places in hell the three programs in this fascinating series are also available on DVD for a gift of $39 then third we're making available two new study guides with extensive notes that parallel our two television series and therefore your personal study our Bible study group each study guide is available for a gift of $8 or for five or more copies for $5 each and fourth how to know with absolute certainty that you are going to heaven this is a 182 page book that dr. John Weldon and I co-authored we believe there's no more important topic than this and our book is available for a gift of $10 and then finally if you would like to have all of these materials together that is the two television series what's so exciting about heaven plus heaven what will it be like plus the two study guides on heaven plus our book how to know with absolute certainty that you are going to heaven all five of these items are available together in a special package for only $99 and you may order the special package now by calling us at now in the days to come what are some of the programs that you will see only here on the John Ankerberg show well in the next few weeks we'll be talking about heaven then this February I've invited two former Muslims doctors Emir and Ergun caner to tell us what is in store for Christians living in countries in the Middle East that have turned into Islamic states and they have made Sharia law the law of the land what will our fellow Christians be allowed to do what will they be forbidden to do what are the penalties that they'll face then what is it like for the 800 million women who are living in Islamic countries under Sharia law and then third this spring I've invited dr. Erwin Lutzer pastor of moody Memorial Church in Chicago Illinois to address the question what if the America we have known in the past is slipping away forever how can we as Christians find hope encouragement and strength to live for God in a society where we are witnessing the breakdown of the family the decline of morality and the deterioration of our economy well I invite you to join me each week right here on the John Ankerberg show to hear these important topics now here are some scenes from next week's program we are promised we shall see God now to some people that's a very scary thing because in the Old Testament it says no man can see God at any time no man could see God and live

Channel: John Ankerberg Show

Views: 59,626

Rating: 4.8333335 out of 5

Keywords: Randy Alcorn (Author), John Ankerberg (Author), Christianity (Religion), Jesus Christ (Deity), God (Deity), Heaven (Idea)

Id: pwf1yA_A6cY

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 03 2014