Who will I be? What will I do in heaven?

I’ve been to too many memorials lately. Two in the last couple of weeks.

One was for a woman who had walked with Jesus for years. She had time to think about it and time to prepare. She was ready. The other was for a young man who died in a car accident in the middle of the night. No warning. No time.

Two very different goodbyes. But standing at both, I realized only one thing really mattered: whether they had a personal relationship with Jesus.

Because for those who do, we don’t say goodbye. We say, see you on the other side. That’s why Paul could look at the grave and say, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

But here’s the honest part

Promises are hard to picture

“See you on the other side” is a beautiful promise. But if you’re like me, it can be hard to picture. If you told me about the best vacation spot on earth, I’d want pictures. I’d want to know what the people are like, what it costs, what to pack. Nobody has come back from heaven with photos.

The first Christians in Corinth felt the same way. They were burying friends and asking what we all ask: Who will we be on the other side? And what will we do there? God answers both questions in Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul tells us who we’ll be. In Revelation 22, the apostle John tells us what we’ll do.

Question one

Six years ago a doctor called and told me I had thyroid cancer. I hung up the phone, and suddenly I didn’t trust my body anymore. If you live long enough, you’ll know that feeling. These bodies wear out.

Paul says that’s not the end of the story. He compares our bodies to a seed. What goes into the ground looks nothing like what comes up. Sown perishable, raised imperishable. Sown in weakness, raised in power. And because Jesus rose first, the “firstfruits,” we know we will too.

Here’s the best part: you’ll still be you. After Jesus rose, His friends recognized Him. He even kept His scars. Your personality stays, minus the rough edges. You’ll be like Jesus. Not Jesus, but a lot like Him.

So if I’m still going to be me… what will I actually do for all of eternity?

Question two

Not sit on a cloud playing a harp. (I’m relieved too.) Revelation 22 has one line that changes everything: “No longer will there be any curse.” Everything that keeps you from being who God made you to be, gone.

Then John tells us three things we’ll do for sure: we will be with God and see His face. We will serve Him. And we will reign with Him forever.

Beyond that, Scripture drops hints. Some are fun to imagine:

A friend of mine designs microscopic parts for jet engines. That sounds like torture to me. But when I asked if he could do it forever, he said, “If I could contribute and be part of it… yeah, I could get behind that.” Whatever God gives you to do, it’ll be the job you never want to quit.

So what do we do now?

Live like it’s true

If all of this is true, then what we do here really matters. Three things to carry into this week:

I want to see you on the other side!

Thanks for walking through this series with me. So many of you leaned in, asked hard questions, and did the work, and I love that. Let’s keep nudging each other toward heaven.

See you on the other side,
Pastor Rick