Understandably, less has been written about heaven than about hell because less is known about heaven than hell. Scriptural teachings on heaven are a rarity (though Jesus has taught many parables about the Kingdom of God) and writers are the elite few who have weighed in with their conjecture. And that's all we really can do – conjecture about a topic consigned to the mind of Almighty God alone. I have my own conjecture as well.By now, many Christians must be aware that heaven is not a spot in the clouds where we spend eternity coaxing new tunes out of our gilded harps. Neither is heaven simply a condition or state of being that gives us a warm fuzzy feeling. I believe heaven is as real a place as earth but our eternity is going to be spent in a new earth that God will refurbish after the millennial reign of Jesus Christ and the Judgment of the Great White Throne, which are respectively the penultimate and ultimate events in God's prophetic calendar culminating in the conclusion of history.
Although the elect will spend eternity on the New Earth (Is. 65:17), Heaven will be close by - in fact, just a thought away. There'll be a nexus from heaven to earth which we can traverse at will (Rev. 21:2). We will go about our business every day – work, leisure, learning – and on one of those days we will worship God in the New Jerusalem which is at the centre of the New Earth. In fact, the goal of all our business will be our worship of God. (Although I use the word 'day', time in eternity will differ from earthly time.)
Yes, I believe we will work, but we will always see our labour produce fruit. Our responsibilities will correspond to the faithful use of our gifts and talents, of which we have proven ourselves trusty stewards while on the old earth. The just will be arbiters, the erudite teachers, the pedants chroniclers. We will have variegated positions of administration and rule the New Earth and the creatures therein, which will live peaceably in our midst. We will enjoy play, sport and leisure activities between work.
One of our favourite leisure activities will still be travel – we will travel near and faraway places but never feel fatigued or jet lagged. We will even explore space and other planets safely. All the exotic vistas we've only viewed vicariously through travel writers, because occluded by opportunity or wherewithal, will now be disposed to us and these places will be renewed as our Creator has promised in Revelation chapter 21.
In eternity, we will continue to create – art, music, poetry. We will plant flowers and tend our gardens but there will be no weeds and gratuitous toil. We will grow new species of plants and trees. We will continue exploration, which will be interminable, for God will keep regenerating avenues to explore beauty, knowledge, places and, perhaps, food. We will always be learning and every secret, mystery and cryptic idea that confounds us today will be revealed and made common knowledge. Grasping new knowledge will be facilitated by God who will give us perfect wisdom, cognition and perception. We will create food to remind ourselves of His bounty and the food we eat will be perfect – imagine biting into a slice of perfectly baked chocolate cheesecake from God's recipe book!
Scripture talks about our Father in heaven who is preparing mansions for His children (John 14:2). I'm not certain if these are material houses, but it is a possibility. We will rest in our mansions, not because we need rest per se but because even God rested from His creation. Therefore God may re-institute the Sabbath for our reflection and our worship of Him. If these are literal mansions and not an allegory for our bodies, then they will indeed approach manor size and their architectonic splendour will surpass that of the most beautiful dwelling ever featured in “NZ House and Garden”.
Ultimately eternity will be spent with God as our Source and Resource that never depletes, never imposes and never pollutes, and creating and exploring new things will never become exhausted, repetitive or pedestrian. It's being home with our Lord and God who knows how to fill us completely.
