Resting And Working - 50 Days of Heaven

Resting and Working

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. . . . They will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them. . . . The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.

— Revelation 14:13; 22:3

If there be so certain and glorious a rest for the saints, why is there no more industrious seeking after it? One would think, if a man did but once hear of such unspeakable glory to be obtained, and believed what he heard to be true, he should be transported with the vehemency of his desire after it, and should almost forget to eat and drink, and should care for nothing else, and speak of and inquire after nothing else, but how to get this treasure.^a

— RICHARD BAXTER

In Heaven, we’re told, we will rest.

Eden was a picture of rest—with not only sleep and leisure, but also work that was meaningful and enjoyable, abundant food, a beautiful environment, and unhindered friendship with God, other people, and animals. Even with Eden’s restful perfection, one day was set aside for special rest and worship. Work will be refreshing on the New Earth, yet regular rest will be built into our lives.

God rested on the seventh day. He prescribed rest for Adam and Eve before they sinned, and he prescribed it for mankind under sin. Regular rest will be part of the life to come in the new universe. (Wouldn’t it be wise to learn how to rest now?)

But will we really have work to do? The idea of working in Heaven is foreign to many. 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 2:15). Work was part of the original Eden. It was part of a perfect human life on Earth.

Work wasn’t part of the Curse, but the Curse made work menial, tedious, and frustrating: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food” (Genesis 3:17-19).

However, on the New Earth, work will be redeemed and transformed into what God intended: “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (Revelation 22:3). Serve is a verb. Servants are people who are active and occupied, carrying out tasks.

God himself is a worker. He didn’t create the world and then retire. Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17). Jesus found great satisfaction in his work. He said, “My food . . . is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). We’ll also have work to do, satisfying and enriching work that will never be drudgery.

In The Happiness of Heaven, Father Boudreau argued against Aquinas’s belief that Heaven is a place of motionless absorption with an intellectual contemplation of God:

We are active by nature. Action, therefore, both of mind and body, is a law of our being, which cannot be changed without radically changing, or rather destroying, our whole nature. Instead of destroying it, it follows that in Heaven we shall be far more active than we can possibly be here below. . . . The soul of Jesus Christ enjoyed the Beatific Vision, even while here on earth in mortal flesh. Was He, on that account, prevented from doing anything except contemplating the divine essence? He certainly was not. He labored and preached; He also drank and slept; He visited His friends and did a thousand other things.^b

Consider Christ’s activities: working in a carpenter shop, walking the countryside, fishing, sailing, meeting people, talking, teaching, eating—doing his life’s work. Even after his resurrection he moved from place to place, connecting with his disciples and continuing his work. We might consider this a preview of our coming lives on Earth, after our resurrection.

I’m not just speculating that we’ll work on the New Earth; Scripture directly tells us that we will. Upon entering Heaven, what’s offered the faithful servant is not retirement but this: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:23, NKJV).

Jonathan Edwards said, “The most perfect rest is consistent with being continually employed.”

Jesus said to his Father, “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do” (John 17:4, NLT).

How will we glorify God for eternity? By doing everything he tells us to do. What did God first tell mankind to do? Fill the earth and exercise dominion over it. What will we do for eternity to glorify God? Exercise dominion over the earth, demonstrate God’s creativity and ingenuity as his image-bearers, and produce Christ-exalting culture.

In reflecting on his life’s work, writer Victor Hugo spoke profoundly of anticipating his work in Heaven:

I feel within me that future life. I am like a forest that has been razed; the new shoots are stronger and brighter. I shall most certainly rise toward the heavens. . . . The nearer my approach to the end, the plainer is the sound of immortal symphonies of worlds which invite me. For half a century I have been translating my thoughts into prose and verse: history, philosophy, drama, romance, tradition, satire, ode, and song; all of these I have tried. But I feel I haven’t given utterance to the thousandth part of what lies within me. When I go to the grave I can say, as others have said, “My day’s work is done.” But I cannot say, “My life is done.” My work will recommence the next morning. The tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes upon the twilight, but opens upon the dawn.^c

Not every Christian’s vocation will continue on the New Earth (morticians, for instance, will be finding new work), but our life’s work will continue; our calling to glorify God will never end. That calling will apply as much there and then as it does here and now.

As you work or rest today, will you ask God to help you do it to his glory?

Lord, on the days when we are so busy and tired and unfinished tasks demand our attention, how wonderful rest sounds to us. After the demands of life, of caring for children and wearing ourselves out at work, what a delight it is to contemplate Heaven as a place of rest. And on the days when we are eager to work, to garden, to study, to design and assemble and build, what a pleasure it is to know that good, productive, enriching work awaits us on the New Earth—work unencumbered by the Curse and done in collaboration with others who will find as much joy in serving Jesus as we will.