Pastor Mark Driscoll
One of the most pernicious, problematic, and powerful lies that Satan tells about Heaven is that it will be boring. The frequent and flawed picture of Heaven is that everything will be known so we have nothing to learn, everything will be done so that we have nothing to do, and everywhere will be explored so we have nowhere to go. Learning nothing, doing nothing, and going nowhere sounds a lot more like Hell than Heaven because it is nothing like the real Heaven.
Part of the problem is that we get confused by perfection and completion. We wrongly think that to be perfect is to be complete so that we have nothing to learn, do, or explore. This is simply wrong and one of the greatest impediments to understanding that Heaven is simply this life with the curse lifted so that we can continually learn, do, and explore without our current limitations. As case studies, let’s consider the only three people who have ever walked on this earth while perfect – Adam and Eve and Jesus Christ.
While Adam and Eve were still perfect, Genesis 1:28 says, “And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” Genesis 2:15-16 says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man…” Although perfect, Adam and Eve had to learn (which is why God gave them instructions), had work to do, and had the earth to explore and cultivate. When Heaven and Earth come together, the original plan that God had for everyone and everything will resume, and you and I will be like Adam and Eve before the fall and pick up where they left off when kicked out of Eden. We do not learn, grow, and explore because we are fallen but because we are human. A perfect human being is still not God who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present. Just because we will be perfect does not mean that we are done as the example of Adam and Eve reveals.
Lastly, let’s look at Jesus Christ. Admittedly, what I am about to share is controversial, but is biblical. While on the earth, Jesus remained fully God and added humanity to his divinity so that He was continually and fully God and man. In my book Spirit-Filled Jesus I explain how Jesus did not lose His divine attributes while on the earth (e.g. all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present), but rather chose not to continually avail Himself to the use of those divine attributes. Think of it like an archer who can see just fine but chooses to shoot at a target while wearing a blindfold. They have sight, and simply choose not to use it. Jesus lived by the power of the Holy Spirit and invites us to do the same.
Although Jesus was perfect while on the earth, we read that he learned and grew. Luke 2:40 says, “And the child [Jesus] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.” Luke 2:52 says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Though Jesus was perfect, while fully human on the earth (in addition to still being fully God), He learned and grew through experience. Think of it in this way, there is a difference between learning through experience and sin. It’s not a sin for a child to take a few steps, topple over, and then get back up to learn how to walk – it’s simply part of the human learning process. It’s not a sin for a child to sit at a piano and make noise until they learn how to make music – it’s simply part of the human learning process.
There is a difference between moral perfection and learning through experience. Religious parents who do not understand this wrongly treat imperfection as sin and discipline both. One example would be a religious parent who spanks their child for dropping their food on the floor because they had little hands and were learning how to walk with a plate and did not mean to spill.
God is a Father. We are His kids. When Heaven comes to earth, we won’t sin, but we will learn, grow, and explore in ways that are not sinful but part of the learning process. You will learn. You will grow. You will mature. You will explore. You will be perfect. But you will not be God with nothing to learn, nothing to do, and nowhere to go. This means Heaven will be an incredible adventure that never ends which is why we call it GOOD NEWS!
What are you most looking forward to learning, doing, or exploring when Heaven comes to earth?
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