Randy Alcorn

This is another one of those areas where we have to speculate. We don’t have the direct biblical teaching on this, but we do have the direct biblical teaching of having real actual human bodies as created by God, not subject to sin and death and suffering.

The Bible does not teach there is no marriage in Heaven. The Bible teaches there is one marriage in Heaven: Christ married to His bride, the Church.

There’s no reason at all to think there wouldn’t be. What we see in Revelation 21 and 22 and, for that matter, in Isaiah 60, 65, 66 and other New Earth passages, is that you would expect people to do what they have been able to do—except do it better.

Where did sports come from? Who gave us the ingenuity to even create them as human beings? Clearly it is from God. We are made in His image. Satan did not come up with the idea of sports.

I think there is every reason to expect that in the majority of cases that there would be continuity between the old Earth and the New Earth. If there is a New Jerusalem, why not a new Los Angeles? Why not a New Chicago, a New Paris, and a New London?

One of the common questions about Heaven I’ve heard over the years is, “Do people in Heaven know what's presently happening on earth?” In an interview with Pastor Todd Wagner, I share more thoughts related to this question.

The biggest mistake in studying this issue is selecting those passages that most fit with what a person already believes. We should study the “whole counsel of God,” not ignoring or twisting or interpreting away those passages that challenge our position. 

I highly recommend Kevin DeYoung's book What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? He has an appendix on gay marriage that's terrific. Kevin posted it recently in his always excellent blog and I want to draw attention to it because both the book and this small appendix are really worth reading and discussing in our churches.

Nanci and I recently returned from The Gospel Coalition’s 2015 National Conference in Orlando. We had a wonderful time at the conference, where we joined 6,000 others from all over the world to focus on Jesus and the New Heavens and New Earth.