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Revelation 7:16-17
Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.
Revelation 21:4
He 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.
Years ago I walked up to a youth baseball field where one of my boys was practicing. A couple other Dads were standing there shooting the breeze, talking about fishing. One was saying to the other, “every year we go to a lodge in Wisconsin and for 30 bucks we get a boat, a guide, fish all day, drink beer, come back and get a 16 oz. steak – all for 30 bucks!” Then he said, “It’s like heaven!”
I thought to myself, “Uh…. No!” And then I thought, “Well, in a way, yes!”
The Bible indicates that Heaven will be rest and restoration!
Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. (Revelation 7:16)
He 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. (Revelation 21:4)
Heaven will be “rest”, but not the rest of a nap on Sunday afternoon! My boys tease me for the increasing frequency of my Sunday afternoon naps as I get older. We have a couch in our family room that they now refer to as the “tranquilizer couch” because whenever I lie down on it I fall asleep within a few minutes!
But as enjoyable as those naps may be, the rest of Heaven will not be a Sunday afternoon nap! Heaven will be rest as in Sabbath rest or rest in the presence of Christ himself. We will rest from the pain and suffering of this fallen world. I think about this whenever I do funerals for those who have suffered long and debilitating illnesses. In Heaven they will have rest!
We will rest from the hunger and thirst the plagues our earthly existence. So much of our earthly lives are concerned with caring for or worrying about our physical needs. In our own culture we tend to eat too much, and suffer for it. In most of the rest of the world, people don’t have enough food, and they suffer for it. But in heaven we will have rest from hunger and thirst!
And we will rest from the burden of our own sins and guilt because Christ will utterly remove all of that from us!
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said,
Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Heaven will be rest from our pain. Heaven will be rest from our sorrow. Heaven will be rest from our sin. Heaven will be rest for our souls.
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