There will be no marriage in heaven (Matt. 22:30), but we will still be male and female, because that is how God created us and it was good. The gift of marriage was given to point to something greater that God has in store for all who love Him.

Marriage, at its best, is a pointer to the joy that we will find in Jesus Christ and that Christ will find in His people in the new heaven and new earth. Even if you have an unhappy marriage, you have some sense of what marriage should be.

Christ is the bridegroom, and He brings His people into union with Himself. This shared life will be with God Himself, and the joy will go on increasing. The joys you experience in life remain in your memory so that you continue to derive happiness from them.

Jonathan Edwards says that it will be the same in eternity. Think about what that will be like when you have been in heaven for a million, million ages…. “Your knowledge will increase to eternity; and if your knowledge, your holiness; for as you increase in the knowledge of God, you will see more of his excellency (beauty), and the more you see of his excellency, the more you will love him, and the more you love God, the more delight and happiness you will have in him.”

All your experiences of joy in this life point to the ever-increasing joy that will be yours in Christ for all eternity. This is an “Amen!” moment.

Precisely when God is telling us about the new heaven and new earth, He also tells us that He will separate all that is evil from His people and from His creation—the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars.

All these are descriptions of character. This does not mean that all who have been guilty of these sins will be excluded from heaven. But there are men and women who do not turn to God in repentance. They do not look to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and cleansing. They do not see a need for a Saviour, and so they die in their sins.

Bishop Ryle says, “Most men hope to go to heaven when they die; but few, it may be feared, take the trouble to consider whether they would enjoy heaven if they got there.”

Here is the tragedy of sin: The sinner could not be happy in heaven and, at the same time, cannot be happy in hell. Sin is a complete dead end. It leaves you with no place to go. Sinners will want to be out of hell, but they will not want to be in heaven.

The new heaven and the new earth will be the home of righteousness: “Nothing unclean will ever enter it” (21:27). If it is the home of righteousness, and nothing unclean will ever enter, how could we be there? Only through the cleansing that comes from Jesus Christ.

Do you see your need for a Saviour?

If these things are passing away, then your eternity in the new heaven and new earth will not be spent doing any of the following three things.

1. You will not spend eternity grieving over your past sins and missed opportunities. We will never forget that we were sinners because we will always be finding joy in the Lamb who was slain, the Son of God who redeemed us by the shedding of His blood. We will know ourselves to be redeemed sinners—not in a way that will bring pain or regret, but in a way that will cause us to magnify and glorify Christ for all that He is and for all that He has done.

2. You will not spend eternity carrying baggage from difficult relationships. Even at our best, Christians are so far from what we will be that it is sometimes hard for us to imagine broken relationships completely restored and deep wounds completely healed. But God is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.

3. You will not spend eternity nursing any grudges. In heaven, every Christian will be made perfect in repentance and in humility. There will be, in all of us, complete ownership of all sin that is ours and complete repentance from the heart. At the same time, every Christian will be perfect in forgiveness—no grudges. There will be a giving and a receiving of forgiveness among God’s people that will position all of us for a life of harmony in the new heaven on earth.

What a happy day it will be when we no longer grieve the heart of God and no longer bring pain or disappointment to our brothers and sisters.

What are some past sins, regrets, or painful baggage you would like to be free from?

Notice what will be gone, subtracted, taken away in heaven. All these things—death, mourning, and pain—are passing away. You will not find or experience them in the new heaven and new earth. Let’s consider them one at a time.

Death: Nobody in the new heaven and new earth will ever die. No one will grow old. No one will become sick or ill. There will be no need for hospitals or for emergency services. You will never attend a funeral there.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25), and “Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (11:26). Because there is no more dying, there will be no more mourning, no more saying goodbye.

Mourning: Nothing in your future life will bring you sorrow, fear, sadness, or disappointment. When you share this life of joy, nothing will ever happen that would cause you to cry. What about tears from the past? There are tears on earth that even those who love us most cannot wipe away. But God will wipe every tear from our eyes.

Pain: There will be no more aching bones. The resurrection body is made of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39), but the flesh will not wrinkle and the bones will not ache. Instead of diminishing, your resurrected body will be rejuvenated with new strength and new capabilities.

Soak in these promises until they restore your hope.

Life in the new heaven and new earth will not be less than the life you have now. It will be more!

The word “new” can be used in two ways. The first is to say, “I’m moving to a new house.” You are in a different place, and there is no continuity between your old house and your new house. The second is to renovate your house. It is an old house and everything in it needs to be redone. So, you do a total refurb, and when you are done you say, “Everything is new!” And that is exactly what God says: “I am making all things new” (21:5).

Here is the great promise: When God has removed sin and all its effects from His people, He will then remove all the effects of sin from His creation so that the new earth will become a fit place for God’s children to share a life of unclouded joy.

Think about the joys of life in this fallen world—the joys of music, sports, the arts, science, technology, travel, food, and friendship. None of that will be less. All of it will be more, as you enjoy life in the resurrection body on the new earth. All that God has made is good, and when He redeems it, He will make it better than it was before.

God is going to remake the heavens and the earth. He will merge heaven and earth into a perfect place that will be our home forever. This is the reason why we can speak of heaven when we talk about the new heaven and new earth, because heaven will fill the earth.

How does the promise of a “new” heaven and “new” earth affect the way you think about the world around you?

Satan’s master strategy is to have people think that what lies ahead will be far less than what we have now. He wants you to believe that your life would be less if it were in God’s hands.

If you believe that the life you have now is better than the future life you could have in the presence of God, it will be like trying to hold onto sand as it slips through your fingers.

People sometimes talk about “living your best life now.” But living your best life now is only possible for a person who is going to hell. For the person who is going to hell, this life is as good as it is ever going to be. But if you are headed for life in the new heaven and the new earth, how could you possibly live your best life now? Your best life lies ahead of you.

When a couple plans a wedding reception, they go for a tasting. They taste the meal that will be served on the great day. But the tasting is only a sample. It is preparation for the great event toward which the bride and groom are counting the days. All that you enjoy in this life, and all that you have in Christ in this world, is just a foretaste of the joys that are to come.

Have you been living your life as if the best is now, or as if the best is yet to come?

Will we see our believing loved ones in heaven? Yes. But here’s the bigger question: Will Jesus see His believing loved ones in heaven? Yes!

When Jesus was preparing to go to the cross, He prayed this prayer: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (17:24). In other words, Jesus was saying, “I want them with me, and I want them to see my glory!”

Christian believer, the greatest assurance you can have of heaven is that Jesus wants you there! He went to the cross to get you there. He lives at the right hand of the Father to bring you there. And one day, when you arrive in heaven, His prayer will be answered—you will see His glory.

The apostle John says, “We shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). We will see Jesus Christ risen, triumphant, and victorious. That is why we will say with all the redeemed: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:10).

What is your reaction as you consider this prayer that Jesus prayed?

Seven witnesses from the Bible point to our knowing one another in heaven, and here are our sixth and seventh witnesses.

Witness #6 – Paul and the Thessalonians: “What is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” (1 Thess. 2:19).

Paul says that believers whom he loved and served on earth will be his joy and crown in heaven. So, the special relationship forged between Paul and these believers on earth will continue in heaven. He is saying, “You have been my joy on earth, and you will be a joy to me in heaven.”

Jonathan Edwards takes up this theme: “The special affection that the saints have in this world toward other saints, who are their friends, will in some respect remain in another world.” Christians who knew and loved each other on earth will know and love each other in heaven.

Witness #7 – The reunion of believing loved ones: “The Lord himself will descend from heaven… And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (4:16-18).

Paul is writing to believers who are grieving over their own friends and family members who have died. Their grief isn’t about death in general, but about the death of their loved ones in particular. He offers them this comfort in their sorrow: We will be “caught up together with them” to meet the Lord (4:17). The whole point is that Christian believers have the comfort of knowing that they will see their loved ones again. Christians never say goodbye!

As you remember those who have died in the Lord, look ahead in hope to being reunited with them in heaven.