2026-07-24
Good morning, Dear Ones,
When I was doing the research for dealing with question 6: What is heaven like, there was surprisingly more information that I ever imagined. In His great wisdom, God has given us enough to impel us to want to gain eternal life and live there. Most of us are not looking forward to physical death because it is often accompanied with illness, pain, or catastrophe. Yet, our loving God calls us to live according to His teaching and thus, become eligible for eternal life. The body may die, but the spirit does not. He has made it clear that those who are serially sinning and rejecting Him, will face the lake of fire [REV 20: 12-15]. The latter is the second (or spiritual) death, and each person facing it doesn’t have his name written in the book of life. As verse 11b, says, “Each person is judged according to what they had done.”
It helps to know the qualities of people whose names are in God’s book of life. JAS 3: 17-18 tells a lot about them. They are peace-loving, submissive, considerate, merciful, impartial, sincere, righteous, and produce good fruit (deeds). So, let’s look at these qualities first. At this point in time, there are deep divides in North America based on political, cultural, and religious views. Our country is about to celebrate its 250th birthday, and when it was formed it was an “experiment in freedom.” Like Canada, the United States is a melting pot of many immigrant cultures coming together. Only the native Americans (indigenous people) had been here before all these immigrants came to it. There was nothing submissive about the Revolutionary war, what eventually happened to the indigenous people, or the practice of slavery. So, the “experiment in freedom” was far from complete. However, over the years, all these groups were eventually given their rights (after much violence and death) becoming full-fledged citizens of Canada and the USA. Our Lord Jesus was making His mark on some of us, and others who rejected Him disappeared through history. However, today’s North America is still far from the purity of heaven. The reason for this state of affairs can be traced back to the original sin [GN 3: 1-6].
The decision our Lord Jesus will make at the Great White Throne judgment, that time when every person must give an account of himself before Him, will be totally fair and impartial---based on what they have done. REV 20 tells us if they are in the judgment of the righteous or the judgement of the dead.
Those who are written in God’s Book of Life are pure in thought, word, and deeds. They don’t fornicate or commit adultery. Everything in heaven is pure [REV 21: 27]. The inhabitants of heaven are peace loving, never violent. There will be perfect unity [EPH 4: 5, 25b]. They are submissive because there is no reason for war or destructive anger, having obeyed EPH 4: 25-27. The citizens of heaven are considerate, having been generous and caring about those less fortunate. Certainly, the good Samaritan of LK 10: 30-37 or the person who fed and clothed the poor, as in MT 25: 32-46 would be found in heaven. The person who has a habit of being merciful is be found in heaven, as we are told in IS 58: 7, PR 14: 31, MT 5: 7, LK 6: 36, and JAS 2: 13. A person who is impartial, is just and fair is found in heaven [MICAH 6: 8]. One who is sincere and truthful will be found in heaven in accordance with PR 12: 22, ZECH 8: 16, RO 12: 9, and EPH 4: 25. Such people are righteous and produce good deeds (fruit), as depicted in 1 PET 4: 14, 1 PET 3: 8-12, PHIL 2: 3-4, PR 10: 25, PR 10: 7, & PS 112: 9.
PRAYER: Dearest Lord, we know that Your Son, Jesus Christ, has been given the task of the last judgment [DN 7: 13-14]. There is none other than He who models perfection, universal power, and the will to do good as He does [1 JN 1: 5]. He carries all the same attributes as You do, and there is no darkness or evil in Him. Through His great sacrifice on the cross, He has paid the ransom that frees those who love Him and are committed to Him, releasing Him from slavery to sin [JN 3: 16; HE 9: 11-12]. It is eternal redemption that we seek. We trust in You, as You promised in JER 29: 11-13. We seek Your wisdom and intervention in our lives, so that this great sacrifice is not wasted. At the same time, we offer our love, loyalty, honor, praise, and thanksgiving to You, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: There was so perfect a description of heaven in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit commands me to write about the martyrs and physical qualities of heaven next week. Now that we have learned about the denizens of heaven and what they are like, we will examine what heaven is like for the martyrs and from the physical descriptions of it found in the Bible. Let me urge you to consult the citations given here, if you are not already familiar with them. They are hard evidence of who gains eternal life. These people have God’s seal of ownership [EPH 1: 13-14]. Moreover, they stand firm in their faith and resist the devil’s mark in the end times [EPH 6: 13; 1 PET 5: 8-9; JAS 4: 7, REV 14: 9-12, 15: 2; & 20: 4. What a great and wonderfully loving God we have! Praise and thanksgiving be to Him!
Grace Be with You Always,
Lynn JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2026. All Rights Reserved.
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