Ep.1249: What Will We Be Doing When We Get to Heaven? (Part II)
Absorbing the many inheritances and responsibilities of heaven
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: John 14:3
Going to heaven is a really big deal. Last week was Part I of our three-part series on what heaven-bound Christians will be doing when they get there. So far, we uncovered the mechanics of why only chosen ones are privileged to go to heaven. We began to scratch the surface regarding what these disciples of Jesus will be doing. Turns out the job descriptions we focused on were nothing like what most people envision as heavenly life. In this episode, we dig deeply into what the responsibilities of those heaven bound will be. In addition, we will attempt to understand the “why” of it all by connecting several prophecies and scriptures. Our discoveries will reveal absolutely inspiring details and descriptions of how God’s plan is destined to work!
Isaiah 61
Jesus himself told us that the prophecy of Isaiah 61 began with a description about him. In the book of Luke, he quoted the first few verses of Isaiah 61 and told his listeners those words were being fulfilled before them. Though Jesus stopped quoting the prophecy, the prophecy didn’t stop describing what would happen after his first advent. It spoke of the Day of Vengeance and the journey of his faithful followers through it. Then the prophecy began to describe his followers after they were given heavenly glory as "trees of righteousness."
Trees of righteousness
In Part I of this series, we confirmed that these strong trees picture Jesus’ glorified followers as deeply rooted and immovable symbols of God’s will and way. Their divinely appointed work on earth is described as massive and important. Among the many facets of the work we discuss on this episode that Isaiah 61 describes, here we will just touch on two: These trees are called “priests of the Lord" and "ministers of our God.”
Priests and ministers
At first glance, we might think that being a priest and minister of God are two ways to describe the same thing. While these two responsibilities do work towards the same end, they are very different in application. The biblical priesthood in ancient Israel was responsible to receive the offerings of the people before God. They taught the people and positioned them to be blessed of God as well. While being a priest is to hold a position before the people, being a minister is doing the work of God among the people. It shows an interactivity with those whom the minister serves.
So, how are trees supposed to be priests and ministers? And what about the Apostle Peter telling us that this priesthood is a "royal" priesthood? What does that mean? And what about Israel? Aren’t they supposed to be God’s chosen people on earth? The Isaiah prophecy addresses all of these questions and more! Check out our October 3, 2022 podcast, “What Will We Be Doing When We Get to Heaven? Part II." The future work of Jesus’ followers is not just fascinating, it is thoroughly inspiring as well. Join us as we look into scriptures that paint a vivid picture of the future!
This is the best example of GODs plan for humanity! Wonderful podcast.
Hi, Joseph, we really appreciate such an uplifting comment. This was a difficult series to narrow down so many scriptures to try to comprehensively understand the finer points. All credit is to God for providing the research time and allowing His holy spirit to help guide the conversation. – Christian Questions