Randy Alcorn's Blog

The movie Slumdog Millionaire, despite the controversies surrounding it, won eight 2009 Academy Awards and gained popular acclaim. The story’s poverty, violence, crime, and child exploitation provide a backdrop for a young man’s pure, unwavering love for a girl he met in the slums. The pair is tragically separated for years, and after they see each other briefly, she’s taken from him again. Yet he never stops trying to find her.

Against impossible odds, the boy and girl finally reunite. He pulls back her dupatta, revealing a long, captor-inflicted scar that disfigures her face. As she looks down in shame, the young man, his eyes full of tears, holds up her face and kisses her scar. Not first her lips, but her scar. It’s as if the scar itself is at last redeemed, somehow made beautiful.

The extraordinary power of the story lies in the depth of their love, forged in a context of years of injustice, evil, suffering, and separation. That climactic, love-filled moment could not have happened without the story’s disturbing setting. He could not have kissed her scar if she had no scar.

Likewise, the climax of Revelation 21:4, when God wipes away all tears from every eye, could not happen without the billions of tears shed because of the evil and suffering we’ve endured (and inflicted). It could not happen had Jesus not borne it on the cross for us.

David asked God, “Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll—are they not in your record?” (Psalm 56:8). David believed his suffering mattered, that God counted it as precious, so precious that the Lord kept an account of every tear.

This gives special meaning to the promise that God will wipe away every tear from His children’s eyes. Our tears are all recorded in Heaven’s books. God is keeping track of the pain behind each and will deal with them one by one.

When Jesus wipes away all our tears with His gentle, omnipotent hand, I believe our eyes will fall on the scars that made our suffering His, so that His eternal joy could become ours. “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 25:8).

Hasn’t God in Christ kissed our scars? And when we look at the scars on the hands and feet of Jesus, might we not, with tear-filled eyes, wish to kiss them?

Put a diamond only in light, and you will see some of its wonders; but set it against something dark then shine a light on it, and you will see what otherwise would have remained invisible.

I fell in love with astronomy years before I fell in love with the Lord of the cosmos. Night after night I observed the marvels of planets, stars, nebulae, and galaxies. As every backyard astronomer knows, streetlights and bright moonlight obscure the wonders of the night sky. In order to see the full glory of the stars, I learned that you must stay out for hours in the cold darkness. I did this night after night because what I discovered was worth it.

As the Heavens declare God’s glory in the absence of other light, so God shows Himself against the backdrop of evil and suffering—if only we are willing to look... and to discover that seeing Him is worth even the cold darkness.

90 Days of God's Goodness

If God Is Good (Paperback)

The Goodness of God

On the first day of a vacation, I received a phone call that marked the worst publishing experience of my life. The book I’d worked so hard to write had been changed for the worse, and I was told I had no recourse. For the first and only time, I felt the published book would be inferior to the manuscript I submitted. Though I’d faced far more difficult circumstances, it was the low point in my professional life. I was disappointed not only by what had happened but also by how deeply it affected me. If you’ve ever been disappointed about your own disappointment, you understand.

We were at our friends’ house on Maui. Despite the beautiful surroundings, I stewed over this writing project, even though I realized I’d eventually gain perspective. (I did, but not until after the vacation; I just wanted to fast-forward to when I knew I’d feel better!) Meanwhile, I snorkeled for hours a day. That was the only time when the cloud dramatically lifted. Floating among the beautiful fish, turtles, eels, and sharks, and even enjoying that unforgettable ninety minutes of swimming with Molly the monk seal, I lost myself in these creatures and the God who made them. I forgot about myself, my shortcomings, others’ failings, and my disappointments. I left my troubled self on the shore. As long as my face was underwater, I was free and happy. It was only when I got out of the water and came back to “Randy’s world” that my happiness vaporized.

Sometimes I have that same experience of losing myself during quiet times with God. Sometimes I have it when laughing with my family and my friends. Other times it’s when I’m riding a bike or listening to music or a great audiobook.

Over the years, I’ve learned not simply to think less of myself but to think about myself less. When I’m thinking most about Jesus, not me, I’m most happy.

An article about unhappy writers says, “The common theory for why writers are often depressed is rather basic: writers think a lot and people who think a lot tend to be unhappy.” This is a half-truth. People who think a lot about themselves and their plans for wealth and success—e.g., writing a bestselling novel and being mentioned in the same sentence with Hemingway—do tend to be unhappy. But people who think a lot about Christ and His grace, the great doctrines of the faith, and how to love and serve others tend to be happy people. So it’s not thinking that’s the problem; it’s who or what we think about, and how we choose to think about them.

When I contemplate Christ—when I meditate on His unfathomable love and grace—I lose myself in Him—and paradoxically, I find myself. When He’s the center of my thinking, before I know it, I’m happy.

Tim Keller writes,

Don’t you want to be the kind of person who, when they see themselves in a mirror or reflected in a shop window, does not admire what they see but does not cringe either? . . . Wouldn’t you like to be the skater who wins the silver, and yet is thrilled about those three triple jumps that the gold medal winner did? To love it the way you love a sunrise? Just to love the fact that it was done? You are as happy that they did it as if you had done it yourself. . . . This is gospel-humility, blessed self-forgetfulness.

C. S. Lewis said of the humble person, “He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.”

Keller, inspired by Lewis, says, “Gospel-humility is not needing to think about myself. . . . I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings.”

Why would we want to think about ourselves, the lesser, when we can think about Jesus, the infinitely greater? This happens directly, when we worship and serve Him, and also indirectly, when we love and serve others for His glory.

When we lose ourselves in God and His Kingdom, as Jesus says, we find ourselves—and, in doing so, we find happiness.

60 Days of Happiness

Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

Happiness (softcover)

God gave us our imaginations, and when He says, “we are looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13), He indicates this should be normal for believers. It is impossible to look forward to something if you do not envision it. People study in advance for trips, preparing themselves for seeing the great barrier reef in Australia or the Alps in Switzerland, or even for visiting Disney World. It is impossible to anticipate the new heavens and New Earth unless you use your sanctified imagination to envision what likely awaits us. Of course, you should never imagine anything that contradicts God’s revealed word. But you should take what He has given us in Scripture and let it fan into flames your imagination.

I use my imagination in my book Heaven. That imagination is not based on nothing; rather, it is based on clear, biblical passages. One of many examples is animals on the New Earth (see Isaiah 11 and 65). The traditional view of Heaven as largely a disembodied state with nothing for us to do and nowhere for us to go will lead to a false theology of Heaven that sees it as a better destination than hell, yet incompatible with human life and happiness because it is unearthly. But God made us to live on the Earth, and He designed us to live forever on a New Earth, which will be the capital planet of the new universe! No one can possibly get excited about that unless they allow the Holy Spirit to turn on the ignition of their imagination.

That imagination should be firmly restrained by any fences that Scripture gives us, but we should never reduce Heaven to some pitiful disembodied existence that is completely contradicted by the resurrection of Jesus and the promise that we will become like Him in our resurrection. Still, some may say, “We can’t imagine what the New Earth would be like.” I disagree. When God speaks of us having “new bodies” do we shrug our shoulders and say, “I can’t imagine what a new body would be”? Of course we can imagine it. We know what a body is—we’ve had one all our lives! Look in the mirror—you can see what a body is, and you can remember when it looked better. You can imagine a new body.

Likewise, we can imagine a New Earth, because we’ve lived on Earth. So look out a window. Take a walk. Talk with your friend. Use your God-given skills to paint or draw or build a shed or write a book. But imagine it—all of it—in its original condition. The happy dog with the wagging tail, not the snarling beast, beaten and starved. The flowers unwilted, the grass undying, the blue sky without pollution. People smiling and joyful, not angry, depressed, and empty. If you’re not in a particularly beautiful place, close your eyes and envision the most beautiful place you’ve ever been—complete with palm trees, raging rivers, jagged mountains, waterfalls, or snow drifts.

Think of friends or family members who loved Jesus and are with Him now. Picture them with you, walking together in this place. All of you have powerful bodies, stronger than those of an Olympic decathlete. You are laughing, playing, talking, and reminiscing. You reach up to a tree to pick an apple or orange. You take a bite. It’s so sweet that it’s startling. You’ve never tasted anything so good. Now you see someone coming toward you. It’s Jesus, with a big smile on His face. You fall to your knees in worship. He pulls you up and embraces you.

At last, you’re with the person you were made for, in the place you were made to be. Everywhere you go there will be new people and places to enjoy, new things to discover. What’s that you smell? A feast. A party’s ahead. And you’re invited. There’s exploration and work to be done—and you can’t wait to get started!

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Heaven

Heaven

Tell Me About Heaven

Having been raised with no knowledge of God, part of what drew me to Christ is how the Gospel accounts seemed so contrary to typical human reasoning. Yet I found them completely credible. No human would make up such a story! It had the ring of truth to me…and still has.

In the Old Testament, we read how God kept reaching down to His people: “The Lord…sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people…But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).

The prophets foretold the coming of Messiah. Yet centuries of oppression and suffering passed, and many lost hope. In every generation there were people like Simeon and Anna who longed for and prayed for Messiah’s coming. And finally, when the Redeemer’s absence became unbearable, He came: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4).

Jesus came to us in humility. He didn’t have the honor of being born to the house of a king. He wasn’t born in Rome, the world’s political capital, or Athens, the philosophical capital, or Alexandria, the intellectual capital, or even Jerusalem, the religious capital. He was born in tiny Bethlehem, which means simply “House of Bread.”

Jesus came in humiliation. Everyone who could count thought He was conceived out of wedlock, a shameful thing in that time and place. He grew up in a town of ill repute, where a Roman military outpost accounted for moral corruption: “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46).

Jesus worked as a humble carpenter, lived in relative poverty, and endured many indignities as He spent three years teaching and healing and speaking the good news of God’s Kingdom. And then, the eternal and infinitely holy Son of God chose to endure the most shameful death—crucifixion with its excruciating suffering—to take our sins on Himself. Not some, but all of them.

Jesus made bold claims about His identity, which religious leaders of His day considered blasphemy. He claimed to be God’s only Son, one with the Father, descended from Heaven and destined to rule the universe as King. And what response was He met with? “For this reason they tried all the more to kill him” (John 5:18).

Many today try to reduce Jesus to the role of a good teacher, one good moral example, maybe the best among many. But His own claims about Himself in Scripture make that impossible. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis famously pointed out,

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic…or else he would be the Devil of Hell…but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

The battle for human souls pivots on the issue of Christ’s identity. He’s the watershed, the dividing line between Hell and Heaven. Jesus made that clear when He asked his disciples about His divinity: “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’” (Matthew 16:15).

That question is the most important one we will ever answer. Our own eternity hangs in the balance. Who do you say Jesus is? Who do you believe, in your mind and deep in your heart, that He really is? Every person must give an answer—and whether our answer is right could not be more consequential.

Excerpted from Face to Face with Jesus: Seeing Him as He Really Is.

Face to Face with Jesus

I had a great two-part conversation with Dennis Rainey for his podcast “Inspiring Courageous Faith.” If you haven’t watched part one, you can do so here. We talked about Nanci’s cancer battle, and trusting Jesus when life is hard.

In part two, we talked about faith, Heaven, and the realities that shape courageous living:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iChVEQpjKY

Dennis likes to ask his guests, “What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?”

I think many of us struggle at times to be courageous and boldly follow Jesus—I know I do. But in my experience, when I have walked with the Lord step by step, He provides the strength and help I need, just when I need it.

For example, in the area of giving, it started with following Christ by giving a certain amount, and then giving more, and now giving even more. With advocating for unborn children, as I shared in the video, it started with Nanci and me opening our home to a pregnant young woman and helping place her child up for adoption. I served on the board of a crisis pregnancy center, and we gave substantially more of our income to support prolife work. We also participated in Life Chain (holding up signs that read “Abortion Kills Children”), went to abortion clinics, and did sidewalk counseling (at first not disobeying the law, then standing in front where we could be arrested). All of that was gradual.

So I would encourage anyone wanting to develop courage to follow the Lord wherever He is leading you, then depend upon Him to give you more courage to take the next step. Our lives are supposed to be what Eugene Peterson calls “a long obedience in the same direction.” God calls us to “stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13, NIV).

Following Christ requires taking up our cross daily, which means little sacrifices made repeatedly again and again and again. It means living in light of eternal realities. And one day you will wake up and realize (or if you are humble you may not realize) you have become a bolder, more courageous, and more heavenly-minded person. That should not be the exception, but the norm for the Christian life. And it’s all by His gracious empowerment!

For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 4-10, emphasis added).

Some further thoughts on courage:

“I would go to the deeps a hundred times to cheer a downcast spirit. It is good for me to have been afflicted, that I might know how to speak a word in season to one that is weary.” —Charles Spurgeon

“He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea.” —Thomas Fuller

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”—Joshua 1:9

50 Days of Heaven (Special Edition)

Heaven

The Promise of the New Earth

I’ve long appreciated Dennis Rainey, a great brother. Eternal Perspective Ministries considers it a privilege to support FamilyLife, which Dennis and his wife Barbara cofounded along with two other couples.  

Dennis has a new podcast called “Inspiring Courageous Faith.” He and I had a great conversation together, and in part one we talked about my wife Nanci’s cancer, my grief since she went to be with Jesus, and God’s sovereignty over it all. Dennis shared about a tragedy their family has walked through, and how they’ve trusted God through it, which was touching:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHIax6dqbHY

On the topic of courage and trusting Jesus through suffering, here’s something Nanci wrote during her cancer battle:

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!  Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13-14, ESV).

To “look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” does not mean all of us will live as long as we want or that all will go according to our wishes and desired diagnoses in this life. The LORD’s goodness toward us is what He knows to be the best good, for now and forever, not what we think to be the best good for us.

His good may not always feel pleasant, or even fair in my limited perspective, but the truth is: His good is always perfectly designed for me. The LORD’s good carries His plans for my life; and His plans are better than I can imagine.

God often blesses us by revealing some of His good purposes in our lives. These are times when it is easier to continue walking the path He has chosen for us. He sometimes withholds the reasons for His choice of goodness in our lives until we see Him face to face. This too is part of His goodness toward us.

He desires that we trust in His character rather than our circumstances. For me to believe with all my heart in the goodness of God—under all circumstances—blesses my Father, my Savior, and my Comforter. That is to say: it causes God to rejoice in me. What could possibly be better?!

Dennis mentioned my booklet Grieving with Hope. If you’re dealing with loss and grief, my prayer is that it’s an encouragement to you, and a reminder that God is with you in your suffering.

Some further thoughts on trust:

We cannot always trace God’s hand, but we can always trust God’s heart.” —Charles Spurgeon

I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain.”  —John Henry Newman

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.” —Psalm 9:10

50 Days of Heaven (Special Edition)

Grieving with Hope

Heaven

I read these words from one of Charles Spurgeon’s sermons, and found them both timeless and encouraging:

It will sometimes happen that where there is the most sorrow in the antecedents, there will be the most pleasure in the sequel. As the furious storm gives place to the clear sunshine, so the night of weeping precedes the morning of joy. Sorrow the harbinger; gladness the prince it ushers in.

[William] Cowper says: “The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the place where sorrow is unknown.”

To a great extent we find that we must sow in tears before we can reap in joy. Many of our works for Christ have cost us tears. Difficulties and disappointments have wrung our soul with anguish. Yet those projects that have cost us more than ordinary sorrow, have often turned out to be the most honorable of our undertakings. …You may expect a blessing in serving God if you are enabled to persevere under many discouragements. The ship is often long coming home, because detained on the road by excess of cargo. Expect her freight to be the better when she reaches the port. 

"Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Psalm 30:5)

As I’ve shared before, reading and discussing biographies of faithful believers can give both children and adults footprints to follow, especially through our suffering. So let me recommend John Piper’s excellent presentations on the life of Charles Spurgeon and the life of William Cowper (whom Spurgeon quoted above).

If you’d like to read more from Spurgeon, see my book We Shall See God. In writing that book, I became Spurgeon’s coauthor, without his permission, drawing extensively from the best of his sermons about Heaven and the New Earth and adding my own thoughts, so it’s about half and half. If the saying “it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission” ever applied, I’m confident it will when I meet Spurgeon and explain how he and I wrote a book together. :) It may help to tell him that all the royalties went to causes he would endorse!

We Shall See God

Big books full of Scripture, theology, and quotations from people long dead don’t normally sell well. Yet to my surprise, and the publisher’s, over a million copies of my 2004 book Heaven have sold. Innumerable readers, including pastors, have told me their views of the afterlife have radically changed.

Why? In an age when people try to make doctrines more appealing by ignoring or twisting biblical truth, here’s the irony—the true biblical doctrine of Heaven is far more attractive than the dull, inhuman view of the afterlife that has long prevailed in evangelicalism.

That off-putting perspective still imprisons many believers. Based on countless interactions I’ve had with readers of the book and others over the past sixteen years, here are eight persistent misconceptions about Heaven.

After the final judgment, God will remake the universe itself and then relocate the present Heaven to the New Earth, where He will live with His people (Revelation 21:1–4). The promise of Heaven on Earth shouldn’t surprise us, but it’s shocking and suspicious if we’ve always believed something else.

Many throughout history understood this biblical doctrine, including more recent Reformed theologians such as Herman Bavinck, Cornelius Venema, Anthony Hoekema, and Albert Wolters. Sadly, the great majority of evangelicals have not read their books. Even those who have don’t always grasp the implications.

At Bible college and seminary, my last New Testament classes ended with the final judgment in Revelation 20. In eschatology, we examined the pros and cons of a mid-trib rapture, and discussed the millennium, but we never talked about the new earth, the central subject of Scripture’s last two chapters. So we paid zero attention to the place where we will live with Jesus and each other forever! Pastors who have read Heaven often contact me to share that their education was nearly identical.

As humans, we’re no more drawn to a vague angelic realm than we are to eating gravel. We need to recover the biblical doctrine of Heaven, culminating in the New Earth.

A Christian leader once visited my office, asking what I was researching. “A big book on Heaven,” I answered. He replied, “First Corinthians 2:9 says, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.’ So what will you write about?” I gave my usual response: “You didn’t complete the sentence: ‘but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.’”

When God reveals otherwise undiscoverable truths to us, we’d better pay attention. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever” (Deuteronomy 29:29). The Bible’s substantial information about the world to come belongs to us—and the Bible provides far more information than most realize (for example, Isaiah 60 is quoted twice in Revelation 22, suggesting it’s about the New Earth).

God wants us to anticipate what awaits us. That’s why Peter says, “According to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

A television network once called my office and asked, “Has Randy been to Heaven?” Our receptionist answered, “If he has, he’s never mentioned it. But he did do years of research in the Bible and church history.” The conversation ended abruptly: “We want to interview people who have actually been there.”

Too often, people view accounts of visiting Heaven as gospel. Obviously, God can show someone the afterlife if He so chooses. But “it is appointed for man to die once” (Hebrews 9:27). Since these stories are told by people who will “die twice,” it seems likely that they did not truly die the first time, even if vital signs weren’t measurable. A person’s memories under heavy sedation—and his or her ability to distinguish dreams from reality—aren’t reliable, but God’s word is (John 17:17).

The apostle Paul, who had been to Heaven, said, “This man was caught up into paradise . . . and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” (2 Corinthians 12:3–4). Many books, however, claim to divulge secrets that, sadly, some readers believe instead of Scripture.

When Christians die, they enter the present Heaven. “Grandma’s now in Heaven” refers to a temporary period between life on Earth and the resurrection.

Though the present Heaven is wonderful, “far better” than Earth under the curse (Philippians 1:23), it is not the place we’re made for. Our destiny is a resurrected life on a resurrected earth: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them’” (Revelation 21:1–3). Heaven is wherever God dwells and His throne is, and God’s dwelling place and throne will be on the New Earth (Revelation 22:3).

God’s ultimate plan is not to take us up to live with Him in His place (which happens at death). His plan is, rather, to come down after the resurrection to live with us forever in our place, the New Earth. As Jesus is God incarnate, so the New Earth will be Heaven incarnate.

Plato believed that material things, including bodies, are evil, while immaterial things, such as souls, are good. What I call “Christoplatonism” infects many churches, teaching that human spirits are better off without bodies, and Heaven is a disembodied realm.

Our inability to appreciate the physical nature of the resurrection robs believers of excitement for Heaven. God’s future plan of a renewed physical universe means we will live, eat and drink, laugh and play, rest and work, exercise our gifts as God’s image-bearers, and most importantly, be with, worship, and serve King Jesus.

Jesus spoke of the “renewal of all things” (Matthew 19:28 NIV). Peter preached that Christ will remain in Heaven “until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets” (Acts 3:21). Yet somehow, we’ve overlooked an entire biblical vocabulary. Reconcile. Redeem. Restore. Recover. Return. Renew. Resurrect. God plans to physically restore His entire creation, including us, Earth, and animals (Isaiah 11:6–9; 65:17, 25; Romans 8:19–23).

Believing that eternal life consists of endless harp strumming furthers Satan’s strategy “to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling” (Revelation 13:6).

Thinking that Heaven will be boring betrays a heresy—that God is boring. Nonsense! God made our taste buds, adrenaline, the nerve endings that convey pleasure to our brains, our imaginations, and our capacity for happiness and excitement.

“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:3 NIV). Servants have things to do, places to go, people to see. Our most common everyday activities will be worship, punctuated by the joy of joining the multitudes to praise Him.

First Corinthians 10:31 will apply just as much in eternity as it does now: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We can worship God now by working, painting, playing, reading, writing, and enjoying every other innocent activity. How much more on a New Earth where righteousness reigns?

The idea that we’ll lose our identities in heaven is Hindu, not Christian. Resurrection will forever reestablish us as glorified human individuals.

Christ’s resurrection is our prototype. He proclaimed, “It is I myself” (Luke 24:39). When Thomas said, “My Lord and my God,” he knew he was speaking to the same Jesus he’d lived with for years. Job said, “After my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself” (Job 19:26–27).

You will be you in Heaven. Who else would you be? Since we’ll give an account of our lives on earth, we must remain us, and our memories will have to be better, not worse. Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe causing us not to recognize family and friends. In fact, if we wouldn’t know our loved ones, the comfort of an afterlife reunion, taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18, would be no comfort at all.

A Bible college professor took offense at my suggestion that culture—including inventions, concerts, drama, and sports—will likely be part of the New Earth. But if we will be God’s resurrected image-bearers living on a resurrected earth, why wouldn’t they be?

We’re told Heaven is a city (Hebrews 11:10; 13:14). Cities have buildings, art, music, commerce, science, and technology. And of course, cities have people engaged in gatherings, conversations, work, and play. Heaven is also a country (Hebrews 11:16). Countries have land, animals, rulers, and citizens who are both diverse and unified. We’re told “the kings of the earth will bring their glory into” the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:24).

Culture is the natural, God-intended product of His calling for mankind to rule over creation. If we believe Scripture’s teaching that mankind and earth will exist in physical form, as the entire doctrine of resurrection dictates, then culture must continue. How could it not?

Since the resurrection awaits God’s children, we haven’t passed our peak happiness and never will. There’s no need for bucket lists, because our new universe adventures will far exceed this life’s. We really will live happily ever after. That’s not wishful thinking. It’s the blood-bought promise of Jesus.

We should daily look forward to a world without evil, suffering, or death, where God will live with us and wipe away our tears forever (Revelation 21:4). Anticipating the glorious realities of the resurrected earth has breathtaking implications for our present happiness and our sense of the far-reaching scope of the gospel message.

Let’s live upon Heaven’s joys now, jettisoning unbiblical and unworthy views of Heaven, and believing that the best truly is yet to come.

50 Days of Heaven (Special Edition)

Heaven

The Promise of the New Earth

A reader sent me this question: I really want to follow Christ but at times I become anxious searching for God’s Spirit within me. How can I hear God’s voice and know that He is clearly speaking to me?

Knowing God’s voice, I think, comes from abiding in Christ, as we see in John 15. A vital part of that is His Word abiding in us. Confession of sin is also important, so our relationship with God isn't hindered by our sin. The wisdom and input of others—not just any others but very godly others—is certainly helpful. But in the end, there is a supernatural aspect to following God’s leading that’s more than knowing what the Bible says and listening to others.

It’s hard to put it in words, but sometimes I sense a definite prompting from God—call it the still small voice or whatever. Often, I’m prompted to pray for someone, speak to someone about the Lord, or to give them a book, and not just a book but one particular book. I remember years ago I was playing tennis with a non-Christian guy I’d never met. At the time, my default giveaway book to nonbelievers was Grace and Truth Paradox, but for some reason I really felt led to give him Lord Foulgrin’s Letters. I called him the next day to see if we could play again and he said, “I read that whole novel you gave me; it was very interesting.” I have no doubt God was speaking to me to give him that particular book.

I usually avoid the words “God told me to...” or especially, “God said to me, ‘Give him Lord Foulgrin’s Letters.’” Yet essentially, I do believe that’s true. I avoid saying it that way because for me, it’s never been an audible voice, and because there is a danger in thinking that everything that comes into your mind is a word from the Lord. But sometimes it seems just as objectively real even though it’s not audible. Of course, that’s my subjective sense, but I am virtually certain of God’s leading in some of these things even that are not directly stated in Scripture (but certainly honor and align with it).

In many ways, I think God’s voice has become clearer to me as the years have gone on. Maybe I’ve been around long enough now to evaluate the difference between a thought or idea popping into my mind, and something really coming from the Lord. Of course, much of life does function on the basis of principles, wisdom, and counsel. We don’t need an audible voice from God to know we should help the needy and share the Gospel!

I do have a greater sense than ever of God’s providence in arranging the people who come across my path. For example, when I was helping coach tennis, I got a call about a player who was really struggling. I called him and spent three hours with him, mostly playing tennis, but also building a relationship, and talking quite a bit afterward. I felt God directing me to call him, to say certain things, to pray for him, etc. I have no doubt of God’s voice and direction in this. On the other hand, when I came home, the Olympics were on, and I watched them for forty minutes. It wasn’t a matter of feeling God’s leading. It was a discretionary choice. I didn’t have to hear God’s voice to figure out what I should do.

Now that doesn’t mean that God’s Spirit doesn’t lead in such trivial things, but I can say that I don’t sense God’s voice in every detail of my life (nor do I need to!). But most days I have a number of things—small and large—in which I do think I’ve heard His voice in the sense I’m talking about.

I encourage anyone seeking to follow the Lord’s leading to relax and be patient, and let God develop your sense of His voice and direction more as the years go on. As long as you abide in Him and stay rooted in His Word, I believe you’ll find a greater sense of assurance of God’s leading and speaking in your life.

Lord Foulgrin's Letters

The Grace and Truth Paradox

After my book Happiness was released, I did an interview with Faithlife about some of the book’s main themes. The interviewer, Daniel DeBartolo, did a great job asking thoughtful questions. Below the video, you can read an edited transcript:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utVTZJTRoTY

Daniel DeBartolo: We're here with Randy Alcorn, author of Heaven and Happiness. Randy, is there a difference between joy and happiness, and why does that even matter?

Randy: In the end, there is very little difference between joy, happiness, gladness, and merriment. These words are synonyms; they are overlapping circles and essentially the same thing. If I were to say, “It’s bright outside. It’s a sunny day. The sky is blue. There's not a cloud in the sky,” have I said four different things? No, I've said one thing in four different ways. They're slightly different enough to broaden your view, but I'm not contrasting them with each other.

The same thing is true with the Hebrew words for happiness and joy and gladness, as well as the Greek words that are used in Scripture. If you look them up in lexicons or dictionaries, you’ll find that the word translated “joy” in the lexicon will say “a state of happiness; gladness.” The word translated “happy” is defined as “joyful.”

Daniel: So really, it's a choice by translators to take a word in the Greek or Hebrew language, and use different words in English to convey the sense of that original word. Does it change the meaning of Bible passages that we read in English if it's translated joy or happiness?

Randy: It shouldn't, but it does. For example, the Greek word chara is typically translated “joy.” The verb form of it, chairo, is used in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” It could easily be translated as, “Be glad in the Lord always, and again I say be glad” or “Be happy in the Lord always, and again I say be happy.”

People will say things like, “Joy is the spiritual thing, and happiness is this worldly thing.” To prove that isn’t factual, one of the things I do in the book is cite a passage in Mark where the Pharisees rejoice, and it uses that same word chairo that’s used for “rejoice in the Lord always.” These Pharisees are rejoicing because Judas has agreed to betray Jesus, and they paid him his 30 pieces of silver. Except it’s not translated “rejoice”; it says, “they were glad,” so no one realizes this is the same word for rejoicing. But if joy is only a spiritual thing, were the Pharisees being spiritual when they rejoiced that Judas was betraying Jesus? Of course not! The point is, unbelievers who oppose God’s purposes can rejoice, just as believers can and should be happy in Christ in the appropriate sense.

Daniel: In your book, you talk about the fact that God is happy. Often times, especially perhaps with non-Christians or people who don't know much about the Bible, they have this view of God as being angry or full of wrath. How can we as Christians reconcile that God is happy and good and righteous, and because of that righteousness, pours out His wrath on the unrighteous? How can we reconcile those concepts as we live life and read the Bible?

Randy: That's a really important question. We need to be careful not to draw lines that fail to recognize paradox. There are so many things in life, and so many things in the Bible, that are simultaneously true. Paul talked about being sorrowful yet always rejoicing. How is that possible?

As soon as people hear someone like me say that Jesus was happy, they say, “But no, He's the man of sorrows. He was not happy.” Well, “man of sorrows” is a phrase that is used in Isaiah 53 related to the redemptive work of Messiah on the cross. He was pierced for our iniquities, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. They say, “But Jesus wept.” Sure, He wept, but that phrase “man of sorrows” is used in particular about a day of His life that started in Gethsemane with His agony, and then goes to the next day on the cross and the six hours of horrible suffering greater than anyone has ever known. But it's not right to think of Jesus as day to day being a man full of sorrow.

How do we know this? There are a number of ways. In the first message in the early church recorded in Acts 2, Peter quoted from Psalm 16 referring to the Messiah’s happiness, joy, or gladness, depending on what translation you use.

Hebrews 1 quotes Psalm 45 and says of the Messiah that He was anointed with the oil of gladness beyond His companions. Who are those companions? Most interpreters say that's not just the Apostles, the people He hung out with on Earth, but His fellow human beings. If so, Hebrews 1 and Psalm 45, which we now know is referring to Jesus, are calling Him the happiest person who has ever lived.

Think of the children who came to Jesus (Mark 9:36-37, Mark 10:16, Luke 18:15). Children don't come to unhappy people! They're not drawn to them.

When Jesus talked about the prodigal son, He described the father who celebrates and rejoices and kills the fatted calf. He says to the older son, “We had to celebrate and make merry.” This is a picture of God the Father’s heart.

There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God whenever a sinner repents. God the Father is pleased and delighted with His Son. He said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I'm well pleased.” Luke 10 also tells us Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. There's so much joy in God!

We need to understand that sin is a temporary condition, and God is unhappy with sin, but endless eons before the world was created, in eternity past, there was no sin and God was always happy. In the ages to come, when sin is dealt with once and for all, forever God will always be happy. Even now, our God of sovereignty and grace remains happy in Himself and pleased with His people. Yes, He is displeased with sin, and He does have anger and wrath. He will judge evil, yet all of that is congruent with the reality of His happiness.

Does God Want Us to Be Happy?

God's Promise of Happiness

Happiness (softcover)