We will be surprised who is in heaven

Acts —5. What a shock this must have been to Saul. No wonder he said later he was the foremost of sinners, for he had persecuted the church of God 1 Timothy Every time he threw a believer into prison, he was abusing the Savior of the world. He was afflicting the Creator of the universe. But those who persecute Christians are not the only ones who are going to be surprised on judgment day. Jesus said believers are going to be surprised:.

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? My dad would regularly take a mentally handicapped guy to pick up food. Even the smallest acts of love we do for believers will be rewarded:.

But, Heaven is another story. None of us are good enough to deserve Heaven — not even good people like you and me. But, nobody has to stay on the wrong side of God. Yet, to God all sin is heinous, even ours. If grace is good for some, but not for others, then we should all feel insecure about that. Everyone God calls will be saved — regardless of what He has called them out of. So, what about Mormons? With any religious group the two key questions are: 1 What is their source of truth? And 2 What do they hold as their means of salvation?

But, everyone who confesses with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believes in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead will be saved Romans That is the only criteria for entrance into Heaven. Who do you find yourself steering clear of, even at church? Would you be uncomfortable having a cup of coffee with any other believer?

What backgrounds do you have difficulty relating to? What would tempt us? Innocence is the absence of something sin , while righteousness is the presence of something God's holiness. God will never withdraw His holiness from us; therefore, in heaven we cannot sin. We'll never forget the ugliness of sin, however. Having known death and life, we who experience life will never want to go back to death.

We'll never be deceived into thinking God is withholding something good from us or that sin is in our best interests.

We'll always know sin's costs. Every time we see the scarred hands of Jesus , we'll remember. We'll see sin as God does. It will be stripped of its illusions and will be utterly unappealing. The idea of working in heaven is foreign to many people. Yet Scripture clearly teaches it. When God created Adam, he "took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" Genesis Work was part of the original Eden. It was part of a perfect human life.

God Himself is a worker. He didn't create the world and then retire. Jesus found great satisfaction in His work. We'll also have work to do, satisfying and enriching work that we can't wait to get back to, work that'll never be drudgery. God is the primary worker, and as His image-bearers, we're made to work. We create, accomplish, set goals and fulfill them—to God's glory. In Scripture, God is said to enjoy, love, laugh, take delight and rejoice, as well as be angry, happy, jealous and glad.

To be like God means to have and express emotions. Hence, we should expect that in heaven emotions will exist for God's glory and our good.

We know that people in heaven have lots of feelings—all good ones. We're told of banquets, feasts and singing. People will laugh there Luke Will we cry in heaven? The Bible says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes ; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying or pain" Revelation These are the tears of suffering over sin and death, the tears of oppressed people, the cries of the poor, the widow, the orphaned, the unborn and the persecuted.

We might, though, shed tears of joy. Can you imagine joy flooding your eyes as you meet Christ, for example, and as you're reunited with loved ones? I can. God alone is omniscient. When we die, we'll see things far more clearly, and we'll know much more than we know now.

But we'll never know everything. In heaven we'll be flawless, but not knowing everything isn't a flaw. It's part of being finite. Righteous angels don't know everything, and they long to know more 1 Peter They're flawless but finite. We should expect to long for greater knowledge, as angels do. And we'll spend eternity gaining the greater knowledge we'll seek.

Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe causing us not to recognize family and friends. Paul anticipated being with the Thessalonians in heaven, and it never occurred to him he wouldn't know them. In fact, if we wouldn't know our loved ones, the comfort of an afterlife reunion, taught in 1 Thessalonians , would be no comfort at all.

In heaven we probably won't fail to recognize an acquaintance in a crowd or forget people's names.