TOPIC 46 OF 47
Heaven and Eternal Life
Resurrection life with the Triune God in his renewed creation.
THE MAIN TRUTH
God will consummate his eternal purpose when those united to Christ by faith through Baptism are brought into the ecstatic experience of unending life, peace, and joy in communion with the Triune God—the heavenly marriage of God and humanity.
The teaching
From the book · pages 140–142
God will consummate his eternal purpose when those united to Christ by faith through Baptism are brought into the ecstatic experience of unending life, peace, and joy in communion with the Triune God—the heavenly marriage of God and humanity. Our spirits will be reunited with resurrected and glorified bodies, and we will see the beauty of God’s glory in Jesus face to face.
Heaven will be our eternal enjoyment, together in Christ Jesus, of the Father’s life-giving love by the Spirit. We will live in him, and he will live in us as his perfected New Jerusalem. Within the temple of his heavenly presence, all creation will be transformed and renewed after the old creation passes away, like a butterfly emerging from a caterpillar. God will create a new heaven and a new earth.
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived the glory of the eternal life to come. Yet the Spirit has revealed this blessed hope to us. We will be God’s sons and daughters, sharing in the glory of his reign and forever reflecting his image. God will be all in all.
Scripture foundations
All Scripture excerpts from this topic are presented below in the book’s order. Ellipses and bracketed explanations follow the manuscript. Select a reference to read the surrounding passage in the EHV.
Reading these passages together
The passages portray eternal life as communion with God, bodily resurrection, and a renewed creation. Their images invite confident hope while acknowledging glory beyond our present comprehension.
13 Scripture excerpt groups
SCRIPTURE 01
Ephesians 1:9-10,13-14; Colossians 1:5 ↗
“. . . [God’s] good purpose . . . to bring all things together in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth . . . when you also believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance . . .” “. . . stored up for you in heaven.”
Book page 141
SCRIPTURE 02
1 Corinthians 15:52, 44 ↗
“For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” “It is sown as a natural body; it is raised as a spiritual body.”
Book page 141
SCRIPTURE 03
1 Corinthians 13:12-13,8 ↗
“Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I was fully known. So now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” “Love never comes to an end.”
Book page 141
SCRIPTURE 04
Isaiah 35:10; 9:7 ↗
“They will enter Zion with a joyful shout, and everlasting joy will crown their heads. Happiness and joy will overtake them . . .” “There will be . . . no end to the peace he brings.”
Book page 141
SCRIPTURE 05
Matthew 5:12; Psalm 16:11 ↗
“. . . great is your reward in heaven.” “. . . fullness of joy in [God’s] presence, pleasures at [his] right hand forever.”
Book page 141
SCRIPTURE 06
1 John 3:2 ↗
“. . . what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed we will be like him, and we will see him as he really is.”
Book page 141
SCRIPTURE 08
Revelation 21:2-3,10-11, 22; 22:4-5 ↗
“And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband . . . ‘Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God’ . . . the Holy City . . . has the glory of God . . . I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple . . . They will see his face . . . and they will reign forever and ever.”
Book page 142
SCRIPTURE 09
Romans 8:19,22; 1 Corinthians 15:37 ↗
“In fact, creation is waiting with eager longing for the sons of God to be revealed . . . all of creation is groaning with birth pains . . .” “And what you sow is not the body that will be . . . ”
Book page 142
SCRIPTURE 10
2 Peter 3:11,13; Romans 8:21 ↗
“. . . all these things will be destroyed . . . But according to his promise we look forward to new heavens and a new earth . . .” “. . . creation itself will be set free from slavery to corruption, in order to share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
Book page 142
SCRIPTURE 11
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 ↗
“What no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no human mind has conceived—that is what God has prepared for those who love him. But God revealed it to us through his Spirit.”
Book page 142
SCRIPTURE 12
1 Peter 1:3-4 ↗
“By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance…kept in heaven for you.”
Book page 142
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages are from the Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV), copyright 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission, as noted in the manuscript.
PERSONAL REFLECTION OR GROUP DISCUSSION
Reflect and pray
How does the Bible’s hope differ from imagining eternal life as disembodied existence?
What promises most comfort you about life in God’s presence?
How can this future hope shape love and endurance in the present?
A prayer
Father, thank you for the hope of life in your presence. Sustain us through present troubles and bring us with all your people into the joy of the resurrection. Amen.