Heaven: an Eternal Grace to Unworthy but Grateful Children

We now come to Section 7 of Randy Alcorn’s book If God Is Good. This section only has two chapters. The title of section 7 is The Two Eternal Solutions to The Problem of Evil: Heaven and Hell. Chapter 28 focuses on Heaven: an eternal grace to unworthy but grateful children.

You can find posts of previous chapters under the heading Bible Studies in the menu above. Unless otherwise noted, the Scriptures Alcorn uses are from the NIV Bible.

Heaven: Great is Your Reward

Jesus said that when his followers hunger, weep, are hated, and insulted, we should rejoice. Why? “Because great is your reward in Heaven” (Luke 6:23).

In contrast, he added 3 “woes” (Luke 6:24-25).

  1. “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”
  2. “Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.”
  3. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.”

His listeners would have immediately understood that he was addressing a fundamental problem of human existence, the same one that If God Is Good is all about. What was Christ’s point? God has an eternal two-part solution to the problem of the righteous presently suffering and the wicked presently prospering. Heaven and Hell.

The life to come flows out of this one; hence the believer’s present suffering comprises only a tiny part of our total life experience, which will continue forever. Paul wrote,

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”-  Romans 8:18

C. S. Lewis commented on this verse:

“If this is so, a book on suffering which says nothing of Heaven, is leaving out almost the whole of one side of the account. Scripture and tradition habitually put the joys of Heaven into the scale against the sufferings of earth, and no solution of the problem of pain which does not do so can be called a Christian one.”[1]    

Heaven: Beforelife vs Afterlife

Many people believe this life is all there is: “You only go around once on this earth, so grab for whatever you can.” However, if you’re a child of God, then you do not just “go around once”; you’ll inhabit the New Earth forever!

It’s those in Hell who go around only once on Earth.

Here, we have bodies, and we work, rest, play, and relate to one another. We call this life. Yet many have mistakenly redefined eternal life to mean an off-Earth disembodied existence stripped of human life’s defining properties.

In fact, eternal life will mean enjoying forever, as resurrected (which means embodied) beings, what life on Earth at its finest offered for us.

We could more accurately call our present existence the beforelife rather than calling Heaven the afterlife.

Dinesh D’Souza writes:

“The only way for us to really triumph over evil and suffering is to live forever in a place where these things do not exist. It is the claim of Christianity that there is such a place and that it is available to all who seek it. No one can deny that, if this claim is true, then evil and suffering are exposed as temporary hardships and injustices. They are as transient as our brief, mortal lives. In that case God has shown us a way to prevail over evil and suffering, which are finally overcome in the life to come.”[2]

Eternal Perspective

The resurrection means that the best parts of this world will carry over to the next, with none of the bad; hence, what we forgo here will prove no great loss.

Without this eternal perspective we assume that people who die young, who have handicaps, who suffer poor health, who don’t get married or have children, or who don’t do this or that will miss out on the best life has to offer.

But the theology underlying these assumptions has a fatal flaw. It presumes that our present Earth, bodies, culture, relationships, and lives are all there is. Or that they will somehow overshadow or negate those of the New Earth.

Randy Alcorn asks, “What are we thinking?”

The stronger our concept of God and Heaven, the more we understand how Heaven resolves the problem of evil and suffering. The weaker our concept of God and Heaven, the stronger our doubt that Heaven will more than compensate for our present sufferings.


You may also enjoy reading the book titled Heaven by Randy Alcorn.

Heaven

Randy Alcorn is a writer whose work on the subject of heaven is certainly extensive. The founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries has spent significant effort to point Christians toward the reality and importance of eternity. The book is divided into three parts: “A Theology of Heaven” (5-228), “Questions and Answers about Heaven” (229-436), and “Living in Light of Heaven” (437-458). 


Heaven: Happily, Ever After

If Heaven did not exist, we could never solve the problem of evil and suffering. We would never receive any lasting compensation for it.

God originally planned that human beings live unswervingly happy, fulfilled, righteous, and God-centered lives on Earth. If our current lives present the only opportunities for that, then God’s plan has failed. But if we know the God revealed in Scripture, we realize his plans do not fail. His promises to redirect both us and the Earth itself guarantee his plan will forever succeed.

Make no mistake, the promise of God is that all his children, who know Jesus, will live happily ever after.

WATCH: Sermon from Pastor Charles Hinckley from Genesis 12. We can be confident that whatever trials and difficulties we face, we can stand unwavering on the Word that God has given us BECAUSE with God FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!

One of my favorite sermons from Grace Fellowship in Radcliff KY.

Many Churches Fail

To share Christ’s glory forever on the New Earth, we must share his sufferings temporarily on the fallen Earth. When the New Testament discusses suffering it repeatedly puts Heaven before the eyes of believers. Sadly, many churches fail to follow this example.

  • When we say nothing, or
  • put our hope in a health and wealth gospel, or
  • hope only in medical advances,
    • we rob God’s people of an eternal perspective.

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” – Romans 8:17

Paul says we will become Christ’s heirs and share in his glory if we share in his sufferings. No suffering no glory.

Reveal Not Create

As Romans 8:18 emphasizes, our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the future glory that God and we and others we’ll see in us. However, God’s promise of glory doesn’t minimize our suffering, of course.

Paul affirms we will experience great suffering (see Romans 8). Only an immeasurably greater glory can eclipse our present suffering, which is exactly what will happen. Romans 8:18 says God will not create that glory but will reveal it. It’s already there just not yet manifested.

The treasures we’ll enjoy won’t lie out only outside us, but, Paul says, “in us.” God uses suffering to achieve the glorious transformation of our characters to prepare us for service and joy in the next life.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

God will not simply wait for our deaths and then snap his fingers to make us what he wants us to be. He begins that process here and now, using our suffering to help us grow in Christlikeness.

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) renders Romans 8:19 “…Whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us. The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own…”

Read the post: The Kingdom of Heaven

Heaven Brings Rejoicing

We can rejoice now because Christ promised that in Heaven, he would replace our weeping with laughter; our poverty with wealth; our hunger with satisfaction; and hatred, insults, and rejection with eternal reward. Luke a physician tells of many who came to Jesus.

He [Jesus] went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him because power was coming from him and healing them all.” – Luke 6:17-19

Christ knew that even those he healed would one day grow weak again and die, leaving their families wailing over their graves. What could Jesus say to offer them hope not just for the short term but for the long term? Luke tells us:

  • “Blessed are you who:
    • are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
    • hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
    • weep now, for you will laugh.
  • Blessed are you when:
    • people hate you,
    • they exclude you and insult you and
    • reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.” – Luke 6:20-23

Many people think of Heaven as an otherworldly place, very unlike Earth. However, in a parallel passage to Luke 6 Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth” – Matthew 5:5

We will inherit an Earth where righteousness dwells (see 2 Peter 3:13). On that New Earth God will reverse life injustices and tragedies and all the blessings Jesus promised will become ours.

We Will Remember the Past

To appreciate our eternal future, we will remember the sufferings of the past. When Christ sets up his eternal kingdom, he will banish evil and suffering. Yet we will remember both in a way that won’t cause us pain but will prompt our gratitude and worship.

God told the Israelites to remember their bondage in Egypt, long after he had freed them, as they celebrated Passover each year (see Exodus 12:14). Likewise, Alcorn is convinced that in Heaven we will remember evil and suffering to provide the backdrop to better see God’s holiness and grace.

Personality requires memory. “For the sins which so often made us tremble are washed away in the blood of Jesus, and are, therefore, no longer a source of trouble. The remembrance of them rather intensifies our love for the God of mercy, and therefore increases our happiness.”[3]

Isaiah 65:17

Isaiah 65:17 is often cited as proof that in eternity we won’t remember our present lives.

See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.”

However, we should view this in context. In the previous verse God says, “The past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes” (parallel to God’s saying in Jeremiah 31:34, “I will… remember their sins no more”).

Remember, Is a Covenant Word

Remember is a covenant word that includes acting upon what comes to mind. To not remember doesn’t mean to forget. It means that though God could recall our past sins, he will never hold them against us because he sees that we are covered by Christ’s blood and made righteous in him.

God doesn’t have a mental lapse; He chooses not to bring up our sins. Likewise, Isaiah 65:17 suggests that our former sins and sorrows will not preoccupy or distract us in eternity. In other words, the evil and suffering we remember will have no hold on us (just as the martyrs of Revelation 6:9-11 remember they were killed for Christ, yet that memory in no way diminishes their experience in Heaven but enhances it).

Even though God will wipe away the tears attached to this world he will not erase from our minds human history and Christ’s intervention. We’ll never forget that our sins nailed Jesus to the cross, for Christ’s resurrection body has nail-scarred hands and feet (see John 20:24-29). But rather than causing us eternal grief, this will prompt us to eternal joy and worship of God for his grace.

The Defeat of Evil Spirits

Heaven’s happiness won’t be dependent on our ignorance of what happened on Earth, it will be enhanced by our changed perspective on it. We will enjoy the magnificence of our God and his Heaven not merely despite all we’ve suffered here. We will enjoy it all the more because of everything we suffered here.

God promises he will destroy death and forever remove the Curse upon the Earth and upon us. Christ guaranteed his final defeat of the evil spirits.

  • But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” – Matthew 12:28
  • I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” –  Luke 10:18-19
  • Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.”  –John 12:31
  • He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,Colossians 1:13
  • Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” – Colossians 2:15
  •  “The reason the son of god appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” – 1 John 3:8

On the New Earth, “No longer will there be any curse” (Revelation 22:3). Christ’s victory over the curse will be total, not partial. Death won’t limp away wounded. The king will annihilate it!

  • Isaiah 25:7-8 – “On this mountain, he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.”
  • Revelation 20:14 – “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
  • Revelation 21:4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Read the post: 33 Quotes of Jesus Concerning Eternal Life

The Assurance of Heaven

The assurance of Heaven’s compensation for our present life should give us an eternal perspective.

Failing to grasp God’s promises concerning the world to come sets us up for both discouragement and sin. We tell ourselves lies such as if I:

  • don’t experience an intimate friendship now I never will or
  • can’t afford to travel to that beautiful place now I never will

We feel desperate to get what we think we want so we’re tempted toward fornication, indebtedness, or theft.

Negative and Positive Truth

If we understand both the negative truth that God will judge all sin and the positive truth that we will actually live in a new universe full of new opportunities, then we can forgo certain pleasures and experiences now knowing we can enjoy far greater ones later.

Jesus sees nothing wrong in looking forward to rewards. He assures those caring for the poor “You will be repaid at the resurrection” (see Luke 14:12-14).

But we should look for that reward from God in the next life rather than from people in this one. Jesus said we will enjoy forever in Heaven the treasures we lay up now.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” –  Matthew 6: 19-20

Heaven: We do not Become Disembodied Spirits

Deep in our hearts, we don’t desire a disembodied existence in a spiritual realm; We desire an embodied life on righteous Earth. This is exactly what God promises.

Jesus said to his fearful disciples after his resurrection “A ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have,” (Luke 24:39) yet countless Christians imagine themselves as ghosts, disembodied spirits, in the eternal Heaven. The magnificent, cosmos-shaking victory of Christ’s resurrection by definition a physical triumph over physical death in a physical world’ somehow escapes them.

When Jesus lived in his resurrection body, he demonstrated in the most normal ways walking, eating, drinking, and talking. How we would live as resurrected human beings. He also demonstrated where we would live; on Earth where he lived for 40 days after he rose.

Philippians 3:20-21 – “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

1 Thessalonians 4:14 – “For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”

1 John 3:2 – “We are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

Revelation 21:1-3 – “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

On the cross, Christ paid the qualitatively eternal punishment for our sins. Because he, due to his redemptive work, is forever scared in his resurrection body (see John 20:25-29) we will forever be without scars in ours.

Read the post: BREAKING NEWS: Sky Splits Open, Jesus Christ Returns!

Resurrection Upgrade

You may not feel satisfied with your current body or mind, but your resurrection upgrade will never disappoint you. We’re not past our peaks; The best is yet to come. The last years of our lives, before we die, are, in fact, not the end of our lives.

A moment after we die physically a dramatic upward movement will take us immediately to Christ. We’ll go right on living, just in another place. And one day in the resurrection we will live again on Earth, a life so rich and joyful as to make this life seem utterly impoverished. Millions of years from now will still look, feel, and be young. Our knowledge and skills and life experiences will apparently continue to develop. We will never pass our peak.

Redemptive Continuity

The New Earth will be an everlasting righteous Kingdom that will compensate for all the evils of fallen kingdoms preceding it.

To resolve the problem of evil humans must enjoy full continuity of their personal identities. Despite the radical changes that occur through salvation, death, and resurrection, we remain the unique beings whom God created. We will have the same history, appearance, memory, interests, and skills because of something we might call “redemptive continuity.”

If we don’t grasp the principle of redemptive continuity, we cannot understand the nature of resurrection.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:53 says: “For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.”
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

The empty tomb provides definitive proof that Christ’s resurrection body was the same one that died on the cross. If resurrection means the creation of a previously nonexistent body, then Christ’s original body would have remained in the tomb. When Jesus said to his disciples after his resurrection, “It is I myself!” (Luke 24:39) he emphasized that he was the same person in spirit and body whom they had accompanied the past three years. His disciples saw the marks of his crucifixion, unmistakable evidence that he had the same body.

God does not merely promise that evil and suffering will disappear. He promises that his same children who endured evil and suffering will live in eternal joy. Heaven will fulfill our greatest dreams and surpass our highest expectations.

Maranatha! Until next time, I am Passionately Loving Jesus, the Anchor of my Soul.


  • [1] C. S. Louis, The Problem of Pain (New York: Macmillan, 1962 ), 144.
  • [2] Dinesh D’Souza, What’s So Great About Christianity (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2007 ), 291.
  • [3] Father Boudreau, quoted in Randy Alcorn, 50 Days of Heaven (Carol Stream, IL: Tindale, 2006), 189-90.

Your respectful thoughts and opinions are welcomed.