<\/p>\n
In\u00a0this video<\/a>\u00a0from my class\u00a0Eternity 101<\/a>, I talk about how anticipating Heaven motivates us to live life differently now:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/iframe> In<\/p>\n<p>Below is an expanded transcript of what I share in the video:<\/p>\n<p>Charles Spurgeon wrote in his classic devotional\u00a0<em>Morning and Evening<\/em>, \u201cChristian, meditate much on Heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the steppingstone to a world of bliss. And, after death, what cometh? What wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is what we need to do. In the spirit of C. S. Lewis and Charles Spurgeon, we should anticipate the world to come. And if we are delighted by that anticipation\u2014because we know the God who lives there; we know the Carpenter from Nazareth, who\u2019s gone to prepare a place for us\u2014it will radically change us and get hold of us. We will not view death the same. Not our death, or the death of a loved one.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ll look forward to death because death involves some level of suffering. And it doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ll be glad that our loved one is gone, of course. But it does fundamentally change the game\u2026big time!<\/p>\n<p>In this excerpt from my novel\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.epm.org\/store\/product\/deception-softcover\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Deception<\/em><\/a>, Detective Ollie Chandler looks to his friends, Jake Woods and Clarence Abernathy, for a reason to anticipate Heaven:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhy would anyone want to go to heaven? When my grandmother spoke about heaven, it was the last place I wanted to go. Who wants to be a ghost anyway? My idea of utopia was a place like earth, where you could have fun and ride bikes and play baseball and go deep into the forest and dive into lakes and eat good food.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSounds to me like the New Earth,\u201d Clarence chimed in from the backseat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExactly,\u201d Jake said. \u201cThe Bible says the heaven we\u2019ll live in forever will be a New Earth, this same earth made new, without the bad stuff. God doesn\u2019t give up on His original creation. He redeems it. And we\u2019ll have these same bodies made better. The Bible teaches the exact opposite of what you\u2019re saying\u2014we won\u2019t be ghosts. We\u2019ll eat and drink and be active on a redeemed earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you\u2019ll still be Jake Woods?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah\u2014without the bad parts. We\u2019ll be able to enjoy creation\u2019s beauty and rule the world the way God intended us to. Baseball and riding bikes? Why not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWish I could believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s stopping you?\u201d Jake asked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>God evicted the devil from Heaven; now our enemy wants Heaven to sound boring to us, because that implies God is boring. He doesn\u2019t want us to be so excited about Heaven and the New Earth that we would want to share the Gospel with people so they too would anticipate living forever with God and His people.<\/p>\n<p>And I also think our anticipation calls us to live at a greater level of purity, a greater level of service in this world. In 2 Peter 3, we\u2019re told about the new heavens and the New Earth, in which righteousness dwells. Then Peter wrote, \u201cSo then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.\u201d He proceeded all that with verse 11, \u201cSince everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the new heavens and the New Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Peter links the promise of life together in the new universe with the call to be holy and pure and to live for Christ. God wants us to use this time He\u2019s given us to serve Him with all our hearts. I pray that\u2019s what God\u2019s people would do.<\/p>\n<div class=\"xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a\">\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px 20px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.epm.org\/static\/uploads\/images\/blog\/heaven-for-kids-promo.jpg\" alt=\"Heaven for Kids\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">From\u00a0<span class=\"xt0psk2\">Eternal Perspective Ministries<\/span>:<\/strong>\u00a0Right now you can purchase Randy Alcorn\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/store.epm.org\/product\/heaven-kids\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Heaven for Kids<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on sale from our ministry for $7 (50% off $13.99 retail)! Plus get free media mail shipping on orders over $30 with code\u00a0<strong>23THANKS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI and a fellow teacher have found\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/store.epm.org\/product\/heaven-kids\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Heaven for Kids<\/em><\/a>\u00a0uses a question and answer format that is not just for kids. I and several adult friends of mine have read this book and find it very enlightening and informative. It truly makesyou look forward to the better place God has prepared for His believers\u2014especially in light of all the turmoil and disturbing issues of the world today.\u201d \u2014Reader Review<\/p>\n<p><em>Sale ends Monday, November 20 at noon PT. Free shipping offer ends Friday, December 8. Available for U.S. continental orders only.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">Photo:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/gold-and-silver-compass-on-person-s-hand-8082893\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pexels<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In\u00a0this video\u00a0from my class\u00a0Eternity 101, I talk about how anticipating Heaven motivates us to live life differently now: \u00a0 In Below is an expanded transcript of what I share in the video: Charles Spurgeon wrote in his classic devotional\u00a0Morning and Evening, \u201cChristian, meditate much on Heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2661,"featured_media":6893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[15,14],"class_list":["post-6890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heaven","tag-eternity","tag-heaven"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Anticipation for Heaven Changes Our Lives Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"God wants us to use this time He\u2019s given us to serve Him with all our hearts. I pray that\u2019s what God\u2019s people would do.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/2023\/12\/anticipation-heaven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Anticipation for Heaven Changes Our Lives Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"God wants us to use this time He\u2019s given us to serve Him with all our hearts. 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\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/iframe> In<\/p>\n<p>Below is an expanded transcript of what I share in the video:<\/p>\n<p>Charles Spurgeon wrote in his classic devotional\u00a0<em>Morning and Evening<\/em>, \u201cChristian, meditate much on Heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to forget the toil of the way. This vale of tears is but the pathway to the better country: this world of woe is but the steppingstone to a world of bliss. And, after death, what cometh? What wonder-world will open upon our astonished sight?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is what we need to do. In the spirit of C. S. Lewis and Charles Spurgeon, we should anticipate the world to come. And if we are delighted by that anticipation\u2014because we know the God who lives there; we know the Carpenter from Nazareth, who\u2019s gone to prepare a place for us\u2014it will radically change us and get hold of us. We will not view death the same. Not our death, or the death of a loved one.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ll look forward to death because death involves some level of suffering. And it doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ll be glad that our loved one is gone, of course. But it does fundamentally change the game\u2026big time!<\/p>\n<p>In this excerpt from my novel\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.epm.org\/store\/product\/deception-softcover\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Deception<\/em><\/a>, Detective Ollie Chandler looks to his friends, Jake Woods and Clarence Abernathy, for a reason to anticipate Heaven:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWhy would anyone want to go to heaven? When my grandmother spoke about heaven, it was the last place I wanted to go. Who wants to be a ghost anyway? My idea of utopia was a place like earth, where you could have fun and ride bikes and play baseball and go deep into the forest and dive into lakes and eat good food.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSounds to me like the New Earth,\u201d Clarence chimed in from the backseat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExactly,\u201d Jake said. \u201cThe Bible says the heaven we\u2019ll live in forever will be a New Earth, this same earth made new, without the bad stuff. God doesn\u2019t give up on His original creation. He redeems it. And we\u2019ll have these same bodies made better. The Bible teaches the exact opposite of what you\u2019re saying\u2014we won\u2019t be ghosts. We\u2019ll eat and drink and be active on a redeemed earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you\u2019ll still be Jake Woods?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah\u2014without the bad parts. We\u2019ll be able to enjoy creation\u2019s beauty and rule the world the way God intended us to. Baseball and riding bikes? Why not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWish I could believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s stopping you?\u201d Jake asked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>God evicted the devil from Heaven; now our enemy wants Heaven to sound boring to us, because that implies God is boring. He doesn\u2019t want us to be so excited about Heaven and the New Earth that we would want to share the Gospel with people so they too would anticipate living forever with God and His people.<\/p>\n<p>And I also think our anticipation calls us to live at a greater level of purity, a greater level of service in this world. In 2 Peter 3, we\u2019re told about the new heavens and the New Earth, in which righteousness dwells. Then Peter wrote, \u201cSo then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.\u201d He proceeded all that with verse 11, \u201cSince everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the new heavens and the New Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Peter links the promise of life together in the new universe with the call to be holy and pure and to live for Christ. God wants us to use this time He\u2019s given us to serve Him with all our hearts. I pray that\u2019s what God\u2019s people would do.<\/p>\n<div class=\"xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r x1vvkbs x126k92a\">\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float: right; margin: 5px 20px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.epm.org\/static\/uploads\/images\/blog\/heaven-for-kids-promo.jpg\" alt=\"Heaven for Kids\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\">From\u00a0<span class=\"xt0psk2\">Eternal Perspective Ministries<\/span>:<\/strong>\u00a0Right now you can purchase Randy Alcorn\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/store.epm.org\/product\/heaven-kids\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Heaven for Kids<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on sale from our ministry for $7 (50% off $13.99 retail)! Plus get free media mail shipping on orders over $30 with code\u00a0<strong>23THANKS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI and a fellow teacher have found\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/store.epm.org\/product\/heaven-kids\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><em>Heaven for Kids<\/em><\/a>\u00a0uses a question and answer format that is not just for kids. I and several adult friends of mine have read this book and find it very enlightening and informative. It truly makesyou look forward to the better place God has prepared for His believers\u2014especially in light of all the turmoil and disturbing issues of the world today.\u201d \u2014Reader Review<\/p>\n<p><em>Sale ends Monday, November 20 at noon PT. Free shipping offer ends Friday, December 8. Available for U.S. continental orders only.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p dir=\"auto\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">Photo:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/gold-and-silver-compass-on-person-s-hand-8082893\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pexels<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In\u00a0this video\u00a0from my class\u00a0Eternity 101, I talk about how anticipating Heaven motivates us to live life differently now: \u00a0 In Below is an expanded transcript of what I share in the video: Charles Spurgeon wrote in his classic devotional\u00a0Morning and Evening, \u201cChristian, meditate much on Heaven, it will help thee to press on, and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2661,"featured_media":6893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[15,14],"class_list":["post-6890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heaven","tag-eternity","tag-heaven"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Anticipation for Heaven Changes Our Lives Now<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"God wants us to use this time He\u2019s given us to serve Him with all our hearts. I pray that\u2019s what God\u2019s people would do.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/2023\/12\/anticipation-heaven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Anticipation for Heaven Changes Our Lives Now\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"God wants us to use this time He\u2019s given us to serve Him with all our hearts. I pray that\u2019s what God\u2019s people would do.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/2023\/12\/anticipation-heaven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eternal Perspectives, with Randy Alcorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/randyalcorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-07T16:30:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-17T16:32:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/644\/2023\/11\/compass-anticipate-heaven.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1199\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"693\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Randy Alcorn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@randyalcorn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Randy Alcorn\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/2023\/12\/anticipation-heaven\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/2023\/12\/anticipation-heaven\/\",\"name\":\"How Anticipation for Heaven Changes Our Lives Now\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-07T16:30:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-17T16:32:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/randyalcorn\/#\/schema\/person\/214b66ae06d44a58785070a3d97d6035\"},\"description\":\"God wants us to use this time He\u2019s given us to serve Him with all our hearts. 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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n