Heaven: A Place Of Enjoyable Work

My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.
–John 5:17

Heaven will not only be a time of indescribable worship, but it will also be a place of enjoyable work. Before you rebel at the idea of working in Heaven, remember God is a worker. God did not just create the universe in six days and then go into retirement. He took one day off, but that is all He took off. In John 5:17, Jesus said this about God: “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” God is a worker.

You and I were created in the image of God, and therefore we, too, were created to be workers. In Genesis 2:15, God gave this assignment to Adam: “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.” Many people believe that work is a curse from God, that it was a punishment for man’s sin against God. That is not true. Genesis 2:15 takes place before the Fall in Genesis 3. In his original form man was created to work. Now, it is true that after the sin of Genesis 3 work became harder for us, but work itself has never been a curse. It is a privilege God has given us because we are created in His image.

We are to all be involved in doing something productive. And it is going to be that way in Heaven. If God wants us to be workers on earth, then He wants us to be workers in Heaven as well. You may say, “Wait a minute, pastor. Working for an eternity? That sounds more like Hell than Heaven.” I want you to think about your job right now. What is it that makes it unpleasant? Maybe it is because you get so tired. Or perhaps it is a strained relationship you have with a coworker or with your boss. Or maybe it is the government regulations that just seem to keep piling up to make your work harder and harder and harder. The reason our work is hard is because we live in a sin-infected world, but in Revelation 22:3 it says in the new Heaven and Earth the curse of sin will be removed. In Heaven, we will be able to perform our work in bodies that never grow tired. We will have perfect relationships. We will not be overburdened with regulations, and we will not be fighting against an uncooperative environment. We will experience the work that God intended for us to enjoy.

What will our work entail? First of all, our work will involve cultivating–that is, taking what God has created and making it even better. For example, cherries are good; cherry pie is very good. That is part of cultivating, taking what God has given and improving upon it. Second, our work will involve creating. As human beings, God has given us the ability to create something out of nothing. For example, in the Garden Adam used creativity to name the animals. Today we see man’s God-given creativity at work in the invention of the automobile, the airplane, and the iPhone. In Heaven, we will use the gifts God has given us. Some people will write books, other people may produce music, and other people may produce movies. There is no telling how God will use our creativity in Heaven.

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Who Will Be In Heaven?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2016.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.lockman.org)