What Will and Won’t Exist in Eternity

It’s interesting to think about what will and won’t be in the new heavens and the new earth.

What Will Exist?

I like good Indian food. Scratch that. I like all Indian food, as well as Korean, Thai, Malaysian…I could go on.

I used to think that cultures, including food and languages, would disappear on the new earth.

Scripture doesn't appear to support this. In fact, Revelation 21:26 says that people will bring the best of each culture to God.

The resurrected Jesus ate food (John 21:9). We can expect to eat food on the new earth too. And there’ll be lots of culture to enjoy. “On the new earth we will see the real earth, which includes the good things not only of God’s natural creation but also of mankind’s creative expression to God’s glory. On the New Earth, no good thing will be destroyed,” writes Randy Alcorn.

We can throw out our bucket lists because we’ll have forever to enjoy not just God’s blessings but the best of human culture. We’ll get to eat amazing food and take in some cultures we’ve never had time to experience in this short life.

Want to learn a new language? You’ll have the time.

That amazing meal I ate at the Indian restaurant a couple of months ago? It doesn’t compare with the food and culture we’ll get to experience on the new earth.

Best of all, God will be there, and he will surpass any other blessing we experience for eternity.

What Won’t Exist

The Bible gives us a list of things that won’t be in Heaven (or the new earth). There won’t be any sea (Revelation 21:1). In the Bible, the sea represents danger and chaos (e.g. Genesis 6-7; Psalm 30:1; 69:1-3; etc.). We won’t have to worry about dangerous things that threaten us or our wives and kids. We’ll finally be safe from danger.

There won't be a temple for meeting God, as we'll have direct access to Him. God will be the light, eliminating the need for the sun or moon (Revelation 21:22-23). God’s glory will outshine the sun and the moon.

There won’t be mourning, crying, or pain. As guys, we don’t always know how to express our pain, but it won’t matter then because there won’t be any pain to express.

There also won’t be any evildoers (Revelation 21:27). The only ones in Heaven will be those who’ve trusted Christ and are clothed with His righteousness. Everyone else will experience judgment away from the presence of His glory (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).

Everything bad in this life will be completely banished when God remakes this world.

Our future doesn’t need to be fuzzy. In fact, it’s glorious. We will live in resurrected bodies on a renewed earth. Everything that’s wrong with this world will be banished. Everything that’s right will be perfected.

Best of all, we’ll live in the presence of God Himself. We’ll discover that the greatest joy of eternity will be the presence of God, which will deeply satisfy our souls.

I can’t wait for that day.

Adapted from a set of devotionals I wrote for Impactus (What’s in Heaven?, What Won’t Be in Heaven, and Longing for Jesus to Return)