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People often say, \u201cWe don\u2019t understand now, but in Heaven we\u2019ll know everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is this true? Definitely not.<\/p>\n
God alone is omniscient. When we die, we\u2019ll see things far more clearly, and we\u2019ll know much more than we do now, but we\u2019ll\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0know everything. (If we did, we\u2019d be God!)<\/p>\n The apostle Paul writes, \u201cNow we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known\u201d (1\u00a0Corinthians 13:12).<\/p>\n To \u201cknow fully\u201d doesn\u2019t mean that we\u2019ll be omniscient but that we will know without error and misconception. We\u2019ll \u201cget it.\u201d We\u2019ll see God\u2019s face and therefore\u00a0truly\u00a0<\/em>know him. But he will remain infinite and we will remain finite. We will know accurately, but not comprehensively.<\/p>\n In Heaven we\u2019ll be flawless, but not knowing everything isn\u2019t a flaw. It\u2019s just part of being finite. Angels don\u2019t know everything, and they long to know more (1\u00a0Peter 1:12). They\u2019re flawless, but finite. We should expect to long for greater knowledge, as angels do. And we\u2019ll spend eternity gaining the greater knowledge we seek.<\/p>\n One poll indicated that less than one in five people believe we will grow intellectually once we\u2019re in Heaven. I heard a pastor say on the radio, \u201cThere will be no more learning in Heaven.\u201d One writer says that in Heaven, \u201cActivities such as investigation, comprehending, and probing will never be necessary. Our understanding will be complete.\u201d<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not what Scripture says.<\/p>\n Paul, in Ephesians 2:6-7, writes, \u201cGod raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace.\u201d The word translated\u00a0show<\/em>\u00a0means \u201cto reveal.\u201d The phrase\u00a0in the coming ages<\/em>\u00a0clearly indicates that this will be a progressive, ongoing revelation, in which we learn more and more about God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n I often learn new things about my daughters, grandsons, and closest friends, even though I\u2019ve known them for many years. If I can always be learning something new about finite, limited human beings, how much more will I be learning about Jesus in the ages to come? None of us will ever begin to exhaust His depths.<\/p>\n Jesus said to His disciples, \u201cLearn from me\u201d (Matthew 11:29). On the New Earth we\u2019ll have the privilege of sitting at Jesus\u2019 feet as Mary did, walking with Him over the countryside as His disciples did, and always learning from Him. In Heaven, we\u2019ll continually learn new things about God, going ever deeper in our understanding.<\/p>\n Occasionally we hear stories that provide a small taste of what we\u2019ll learn in eternity. One morning when I was speaking at a church, a young woman came up to me and said, \u201cDo you remember a young man headed to college sitting next to you on a plane? You gave him your novel\u00a0Deadline<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n I give away a lot of my books on planes, but after some prompting, I remembered him. He was an unbeliever. We talked about Jesus, and I gave him the book and prayed for him as we got off the plane.<\/p>\n I was amazed when the young woman said, \u201cHe told me he never contacted you, so you wouldn\u2019t know what happened. He got to college, checked into the dorm, sat down, and read your book. When he was done, he confessed his sins and gave his life to Jesus. And I can honestly tell you, he\u2019s the most dynamic Christian I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n All I did was talk to a college student on an airplane, give him a book, and pray for him. But if the young woman hadn\u2019t told me what happened later, I wouldn\u2019t have had a clue. This made me think about how many great stories await us in Heaven, and how many we may not hear until we\u2019ve been there a long time. We won\u2019t ever know everything, and even what we know, we won\u2019t know all at once. We\u2019ll be learners forever. Few things excite me more than that.<\/p>\n Jonathan Edwards maintained that we will continually become happier in Heaven in \u201ca never-ending, ever-increasing discovery of more and more of God\u2019s glory with greater and greater joy in him.\u201d He said there will never be a time when there is \u201cno more glory for the redeemed to discover and enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n When we enter Heaven, we\u2019ll presumably begin with the knowledge we had at the time of death. God may enhance our knowledge and will correct countless wrong perceptions. I imagine He\u2019ll reveal many new things to us and then set us on a course of continual learning like that of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Perhaps angels or loved ones already in Heaven will be assigned to tutor us.<\/p>\n Think of what it will be like to discuss science with Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, and Thomas Edison, or to discuss mathematics with Blaise Pascal. Imagine long talks with Malcolm Muggeridge or Francis Schaeffer. Think about discussing the writings of C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, G. K. Chesterton, or Dorothy Sayers with the authors themselves. How would you like to talk about the power of fiction at a roundtable with John Milton, Daniel Defoe, Victor Hugo, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Flannery O\u2019Connor?<\/p>\n Imagine discussing the sermons of George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, or Charles Spurgeon with the preachers themselves. Or talking about faith with George Mueller or Bill Bright and hearing their stories firsthand. You might cover the Civil War era with Abraham Lincoln and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Or the history of missions with William Carey, Amy Carmichael, Lottie Moon, or Hudson and Maria Taylor.<\/p>\n Consider how exciting intellectual development will be. Father Boudreau writes in\u00a0The Happiness of Heaven<\/em>, \u201cThe life of Heaven is one of intellectual pleasure. .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0There the intellect of man receives a supernatural light. .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0It is purified, strengthened, enlarged, and enabled to see God as He is in His very essence. It is enabled to contemplate, face to face, Him who is the first essential Truth. Who can fathom the exquisite pleasures of the human intellect when it thus sees all truth as it is in itself!\u201d<\/p>\n Imagine what Heaven will be like for those who never had the benefits of literacy and education. What joy they will have in drawing truths ever deeper and ever more from their God, the Well who will never run dry.<\/p>\n Browse more resources<\/a>\u00a0on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy\u2019s\u00a0related books<\/a>, including\u00a0Heaven<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The Promise of the New Earth<\/a>.<\/em><\/samp><\/p>\n