I. We will enjoy relationship with angels.
1. We will experience the joy of angels rejoicing over our glorification.
In Luke 15 we find three parables: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Lost Son.
In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, when the shepherd finds the wayward sheep, He lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (15:5-7). This is a picture of God’s yearning, passionate, searching heart for lost sinners and the joy in God’s heart when a sinner repents. Notice that the shepherd calls together his friends and his neighbors to rejoice with him.
Who are God’s friends and neighbors? Saints and angels and they rejoice over the salvation of sinners on earth.
In the same way, The Parable of the Lost Coin isn’t really about coins. It’s about the seeking heart of God. And when the lost coin was found, again we read, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (15:9,10).
In the Parable of the Prodigal Son (15:11-32), when the lost son was found, the father called his servants together and celebrated. So it is in heaven that when a sinner repents and turns to Christ, the servants of God in heaven rejoice with the Lord. But if the angels rejoiced over our salvation, how much greater will be their joy over our glorification — risen in perfection of body and soul, glorified in the likeness of Jesus.
In heaven we will interact with angels who rejoiced over our salvation and will even more greatly rejoice at the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose in our lives.
2 . We will join with angels in worship around the throne of God.
John says, Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads … and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind (Rev. 4:4,6).
The elders represent redeemed saints. The living creature are angelic beings — cherubim, who stand before the throne of God. The picture is of saints and angels worshipping before the throne.
Then we read, And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain … the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.’ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures were saying, ‘Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped (Rev. 5:6,8-14)
3. It may be that angels will serve us in heaven.
In Hebr. 1:14, in reference to angels, we read, Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Angels serve the saints on earth, usually in ways we do not see. But some commentators believe they will serve us in heaven as we fulfill our appointed tasks. I’m not so sure of that, but I do know they will rejoice over our salvation and we will rejoice with them before the throne of God.
II. We will enjoy relationship with those we knew on earth and with all the redeemed.
In I Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul discusses the resurrection and he says, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words (I Thes. 4:13-18).
Paul is speaking of the second coming of Jesus and he says that those who have fallen asleep in Jesus will return with Him. (Fallen asleep in Jesus does not refer to soul sleep — there is no such thing. It simply refers to those who died in faith). Believers who are alive on earth at that time will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord (4:17). We will be reunited in heaven with those we knew on earth who were redeemed. Therefore Paul says, Comfort one another with these words.
What great comfort it is to know that this brief separation, grievous though it is, is only temporary. And the reunion will be forever and ever.
In Genesis 25:8 we read, Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. When Abraham died, he was reunited with those of his family who were redeemed — he was gathered to his people. Notice that Abraham maintained his identity and so did those whom he had known who were redeemed. He was still Abraham and they were still recognizable as members of his family.
When the little baby born to David and Bathsheba died, David said, Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me (2 Samuel 12:23). David understood that he would see his child again and would know him. I would imagine that the baby would have grown, would have matured as a human being in the presence of God but David would still be able to know him.
We will know our loved ones and we will know David, Abraham, Moses, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Peter and Paul, James and John. But it will be a different kind of relationship. We will be perfected in body and soul; therefore, our relationships will be the expression of perfect beings. We will not need the love of others in order to be fulfilled. Rather, as perfectly fulfilled beings, we will love one another out of the fulness of hearts made holy and perfect in the love of God.
Remember from our last study, on Jesus’ final night with His disciples, we read, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end (John 13:1). The word end is telos — meaning perfection, completeness, fullness.
Jesus loved His disciples and loves us with the perfection, the infinite fulness of God’s capacity to love. In this world our experience of God’s love is interrupted, marred, diluted by our own incompleteness — shame, fear, guilt, anxiety and by the noise and depravity of the world around us. But in heaven, as we live in the tabernacle of God’s presence and perfected in mind and soul and body, we will experience, enjoy and celebrate the perfect fulness of God’s love.
The result is that in heaven our capacity to love God and others will be perfect in expression. Imagine this — we will not only know and recognize each other. We will also love one another as perfectly fulfilled beings, experiencing the perfection of God’s love and perfectly pouring that love back out on God and one another.
There will be no divisions, no animosity, no unforgiveness. We will see one another with perfect insight, perfect transparency and clarity — nothing to hide. Because old things will have passed away, there will be nothing to forgive in heaven from the past and because there will never again be a sin committed, there will never be anything to forgive in the future. All that we say and all we do will be done perfectly, with perfect wisdom and perfect love. We will love one another as perfected beings in a perfect environment.
There will be be nothing to interrupt the perfection of our fellowship, our relationships.
1. There will be no sadness:
And He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away (Rev. 21:4).
2. There will be no curse.
There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him (Rev. 22:3).
3. There will be no sickness.
Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:1,2). This does not mean that we will need healing. The word healing is a way of expressing the complete absence of disease, anguish, distress and need. The tree of life represents fulness of life, abundant, everlasting life enjoyed in a state of perfect wholeness and happiness without want. It is sharing the life of God.
4. There will be no death.
Death entered the universe when humanity first sinned but in heaven there is no sin. Therefore Paul said, But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory’ (I Cor. 15:54). There will be no death because there will be nothing that could cause death.
5. There will be no pride — no one will lord it over anyone nor will anyone feel inferior. Rather, we will bow before the majestic Lordship of Jesus. And although there will be degrees of reward in heaven based on service on earth, we will rejoice in the service that our brothers and sister rendered to the Lord on earth because this glorified the Lord whom we worship. We will rejoice in the reward of our brothers and sisters because our love for them is perfect.
We will know one another in heaven but there will be a fulness to our knowing so far beyond what we have experienced here on earth. In Revelation 3:5 Jesus says of the overcomer (that’s us), I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. You will always have a name, an identity and those who know you now will know you then. But there will be a fulness to their name, their identity and a fulness to your name, your identity greater than what we now experience.
Jesus said to the overcomers in the church at Pergamum (that’s the redeemed), I will give him … a new name … which no one knows but he who receives it (Rev. 2:17). This new name speaks of our unique journey with Christ and our conformity to His righteous character. We not only carry His name — Christian — but we will have become like Him. But this new name also reflects the perfection, the fulfillment of the person we were each designed by God to be.
I will still be me and you will still be you, we will maintain our identity but our new name reflects the perfected fulfillment of the man or woman which God purposed. I will be me, you will be you but bearing the fulness of God’s eternal and unique design for our life.
In Revelation 3:12, Jesus says of the overcomer (that’s us), I will write on him the name of My God. That represents the character of God inscribed in our being. We will know one another and love one another but in the fulness of our identity in Christ.
We will exercise the giftings and talents that we now exercise but with perfected fulness, possibly exercising new giftings. And some gifts, which people did not have the opportunity to exercise in this life, will be enjoyed and employed with perfect fulness in heaven.
Though we will each experience and enjoy the uniqueness of our own being, we will exercise all our God-given capacities together, with one another. We will enjoy the infinite, eternal blessings of heaven personally and corporately. We will worship the Lord in the solitude of our own being and we will worship the Lord together, with all the saints and angels.
We will know and love one another in the perfection of our redeemed humanity. We will enjoy everlasting fellowship without the fear of separation, without pain or sadness or curse or death. We will live and work and worship together with saints and angels forever and ever.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ And He said, ‘Write, for these words are faithful and true. Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end’ (Rev. 21:1-6).
Study Questions:
1. In what way will we enjoy relationship with angels?
2. How can you characterize our relationship with one another in heaven?