Will we be ourselves? Will we retain our unique identity?
Many religious beliefs tell us that we will all become part of some cosmic power when we die, that we will all sort of blend together in oneness. I don't know about you but that idea doesn't appeal to me at all. What's the point of going to heaven if I won't really be aware of myself anymore? The truth is Scripture does give us an indication that we will be unique individuals in the afterlife. In Luke 15, Jesus relays multiple parables: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and (my personal favorite) The Prodigal son. Each story is about how valuable we are as individuals to God and the depths to which He would go to bring us home. Think about it. God is a God of diversity. He didn't even create two snowflakes alike, let alone people. Psalm 139 tells us that God formed us in our mother's womb. God did. He tenderly made us just the way we are, unique for His unique purpose. Now, why would our uniqueness go away when we get to Heaven? Doesn't make sense. On the Mt. of Transfiguration (Matt 17) where Jesus stood with Moses and Elijah, the disciples recognized both the ancient prophets and Jesus spoke to the as individuals. So, I not only think we will be unique individuals in Heaven (or New Earth) but we will be the same unique individuals as we are now.
What will we do in the New Earth?
When God created Adam and Eve in the garden, He didn't tell them to just sit around and do nothing. He told them to rule the Earth, to be fruitful and muliply. They were to manage the garden. They had jobs. In other words, God created work. It wasn't meant to be a four letter word like it is today. The Curse or fall of man made work menial, hard and frustrating. The good news is that on the new Earth, with the curse removed, work will once again be something we look forward to doing. In addition to our jobs ruling the new Earth (see last session), I believe we'll be given other jobs according to our individual talents and abilities. In other words, they'll be things that we enjoy doing, things that we were created to do. Our work will bring us joy and fulfillment and purpose and bring glory to God. Perhaps, you've always had a desire to paint, to write music, to dance, to cook, to write a book! But in this fallen world, you never had the chance to realize your dreams. The new Earth is a place where Dreams come True! It is the ulimate Disney World.
Questions to be answered in 2 weeks (I'll be out of town next week)
1. What will our bodies be like? age, male/female, size, senses, super abilities, emotions?
2. Will we be capable of sin?
I remember when I was a little girl and my mom would tel me how when we go to heaven we get new bodies. I always had this vision of us floating up to heaven and there were all these bodies floating around with us and we could choose which one we wanted. :D
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea we would have jobs in Heaven. That sounds really fun!
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