When We All Get to Heaven

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the first fruits—we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 
– Romans 8.22-23

There is a hunger with all creation and even among us who have God’s Spirit within us. It’s a yearning and an anticipation for the coming day of ultimate redemption. The redemption process unleashed at Calvary isn’t finished. God won’t be finished until all creation is redeemed and we yearn for that day. The decaying world around us will be replaced at the end of time by the new heaven and the new earth and the city of New Jerusalem. That’s what we truly crave.
He created us with a space in our souls that can’t be satisfied by anything except things of everlasting duration. We need permanence. We need transcendence. We try to cram temporal things in the empty space with us, but they don’t assuage our spiritual appetite. 
 
When we get to heaven, that ache is going to vanish. When we get to heaven, everything we do will bring us perfect satisfaction and lasting reward. When we get to heaven, we will never again engage in anything that will leave us feeling empty. When we get to heaven, everything we do will bring joy. We will finally be home. 
 
We will finally receive true rest 
 
Revelation 7:17:  “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”  
 
John sees the glory of heaven, the presence of Jesus, the glory of the new creation, but then like a drumbeat you have this repeated statement of what will not be there: No death; no mourning. No sins to confess; no temptations to overcome. No sickness to suffer; no pain to endure. No crosses to carry; no fears to face. 
 
All your questions will be answered. All your doubts will be resolved. These people have been crushed but look at them now! Their longings are fulfilled. Their needs are met. Their joy is complete. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. If you have been washed in the blood of Christ, it will not be long before you are there too. 
 
In heaven, you will serve God as you always wished you could. 
 
“For this reason, they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple...” (Revelation 7:15)
 
Every Christian serves Christ, but none of us serves the Lord as we would like to serve Him. All who love Christ worship Him, but none of us worships as we would like to worship. Don’t you find yourself at times asking, “Why is my heart so sluggish? Why is my response to the grace of God so restrained, so calculating?” 
 
Every Christian wants to serve Christ, but we find ourselves in conflict: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). We throw ourselves into serving Christ and into living for Christ, and then we get tired, or we become discouraged. But it will not always be so. In heaven, you will serve God as you always wished you could. “Day and night” they serve Him! 
Here, we go through seasons of feeling distant from God, and we want to have a new and fresh experience of God. But in heaven, you will be before His throne. You will be with Him, and you will enjoy Him forever! 
 
Serving Christ will be your great delight in heaven, so find joy by serving Him now. Following Christ will lead you to springs of living water in heaven, so find life by following Christ now. Christ will wipe every tear from your eye in heaven, so find comfort by drawing near to Him now.

– Kody Pritt