Contrary to popular belief, there will be much to do in addition to worshipping the Lord, though worship will certainly be the happy occupation of all the redeemed in heaven. In Revelation chapter 5 we are given a “future look” at the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ: “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures , and in the midst of the elders, STOOD A LAMB AS THOUGH IT HAD BEEN SLAIN….and the twenty-four elders FELL DOWN BEFORE THE LAMB…and they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; FOR YOU WERE SLAIN, AND HAVE REDEEMED US TO GOD BY YOUR BLOOD’” (verses 6, 8-9…NKJV). Every time we look at the Lord Jesus we will see the scars of Calvary in His hands, feet and side, and we will be reminded that He became a Man and died for our sins at the cross to “redeem us to God by His blood.” We will never tire of singing His praises and thus worship will fill our hearts and spill forth from our lips throughout the endless ages of eternity.

Besides worship, we shall SERVE the Lord. How so, you ask? If we read on in verse 10 it says, “And made them to our God KINGS and PRIESTS; and THEY SHALL REIGN OVER THE EARTH” (DARBY). The Lord Jesus is going to have a kingdom on the earth. He will rule over it for 1,000 years and every believer will have the privilege of “reigning with Him” at that time (see Revelation 20:4). But our “reigning with Christ” will not end there, for we read of a scene in the “eternal state” which teaches us that we will SERVE HIM and REIGN WITH HIM FOREVER. “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His SERVANTS SHALL SERVE HIM. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And THEY SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.” We may not know what our service may be or what is all involved with “reigning with Him,” but we will NOT BE IDLE. We will be kept busy by doing His bidding and by having a place in His “everlasting kingdom” (see 2nd Peter 1:11).

There will be “other activities” as well that will fill our hearts with unending JOY and PLEASURES, for we read in Psalm 16:11, “In Your presence is FULLNESS OF JOY; at Your right hand are PLEASURES FOREVERMORE.” One may be thinking, “What kind of PLEASURES will there be?” I will end this short meditation by mentioning FOUR PLEASURES that Scripture speaks of:

1) Beautiful SIGHTS! I would encourage you to read Revelation 21:10-21 where we are given a description of the heavenly city, New Jerusalem. It is going to be “breathtakingly beautiful!” I also believe we will explore the “New Heaven and New Earth” that God is going to create (see Revelation 21:1). His “universe” will go well beyond the heavenly city and perhaps, as one has said, we will go on many “earthly and celestial field trips” to be awed by the infinite marvels of God’s creation.

2) Awesome SOUNDS! The apostle Paul wrote of being caught up to the “third heaven” in 2nd Corinthians 12:1-2 and in verse 4 he says that he “HEARD inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” I’m sure Paul could have spoken of the “beautiful sights” he SAW, but instead he alludes to the “inexpressible words” that he HEARD. They were so amazing and impossible to describe that he wasn’t permitted to do so. But when we get to heaven, we will have the privilege and joy to HEAR THOSE WORDS and all the other SOUNDS OF HEAVEN that we could never imagine (or appreciate) in this life.

3) Fresh REVELATIONS! In Ephesians 2:7 we read, “That in the ages to come He MIGHT SHOW the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” God will be continually REVEALING TO US HIS GRACE throughout “the AGES to come.” We will never get bored, for God will be teaching us more and more of Himself through His Son. And because God is INFINITE, we will never get to the point where we have learned all that we can about Him!

4) Surpassing GLORY! In John 14:3 Jesus promised believers that He would “come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Then Jesus prayed these words to the Father (in John 17:24): “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me be with Me where I am, that THEY MAY BEHOLD MY GLORY which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” Here we learn of the GREATEST PLEASURE that we will experience; we will SEE THE GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST! I believe this takes in His GLORY as “the Son of God”; in other words, His ETERNAL GLORY AS GOD (see John 17:5). I believe it also takes in His MORAL GLORY as the Perfect Man that He became so He could be our Savior (see John 1:14; Hebrews 2:9). And I believe it will include the OFFICIAL GLORY God the Father gave Him after He died and rose again in which “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord” (see Philippians 2:5-10).  (485.1)  (DO)