5 biblical truths about work on the New Earth

The Word Before Work

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Series: Work in Heaven
Devotional: 5 of 5

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads….And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:4-5)

Today concludes our series exploring 5 biblical truths about work on the New Earth. Here they are again:

• Truth #1: We who are in Christ will delight in our work for eternity.
• Truth #2: We will be rewarded with varying degrees of responsibility based on how we live and work today.
• Truth #3: We can expect some continuity between our work now and our work on the New Earth.
• Truth #4: We will have unlimited time to do the work we want to do for God’s glory.
• Truth #5: We will reign with Christ intimately forever and ever.

I saved the best truth for last. Because it is that foundational truth—that we will finally be with God fully—that makes all the others so wonderful.

But read Revelation 22:5 again. We won’t just be with God. We will work and reign with him, which is exactly what he intended from the beginning (see Genesis 1:26-28).

On October 22, I’ll be publishing a picture book called The Royal in You to help you and your kids catch a vision of just how glorious this eternal vocation will be. As I say in the book…

The best part by far is King Jesus will be there,

making everything new with His peace, love, and care.

God says He won’t rule this world all on His own—

He’ll send princes and princesses out from His throne.

So don’t think for one second that Heaven is boring,

because we’ll be reigning, creating, and exploring!

Not just for our joy, and surely not for our glory,

but to love and to worship the One who is worthy.

It’ll be so much better than your wildest dreams—

ruling heaven on earth next to Jesus our King.

How should we respond to that vision of our eternal tomorrow today? Here are three ideas.

First, seek God’s face until you see his face. Not just when you’re studying your Bible before work. But right now. At your desk. Before your next appointment. Be relentless in seeking communion with him all day every day.

Second, play a mental tape of what King Jesus might say about your work today. Hebrews 6:10 says that “[God] will not forget your work.” And my guess is that those memories will fuel many of our interactions with Christ on the New Earth. What might Jesus say about how you worked today? Play it out mentally as a means of cultivating your hope and faithfulness.

Finally, baptize your imagination of work on the New Earth as a means of spurring your heart to worship. You can do this by memorizing some of the Scriptures we’ve read in this series, completing some of the practices, or by picking up a copy of The Royal in You.

But don’t miss this: worship of Jesus should be the response to all of that imagination. Eternity is not ultimately about us. It’s not ultimately about enjoying the work of our hands. It’s about worshiping “the One who is worthy!” I pray this series has helped you worship him even more enthusiastically.