Some people have never thought about Heaven’s weather because they don’t think of Heaven as a real place, certainly not on the New Earth. Or they assume the New Earth will have bright sunshine, no clouds, no rain . . . forever.

Some imagine that in Heaven we’ll be all dressed up with nowhere to go and nothing to do. (Except take an eternal afternoon nap, strum that harp, and polish that gold.) I’ve concluded there’s an unspoken assumption behind this pervasive notion that Heaven will be boring.

Jesus promised that in Heaven, those who endured difficult things on Earth would be comforted for them (Luke 16:25). The comfort implies memory of what happened. If we had no memory of the difficult things, why would we need comfort? How would we feel it?

The New Earth is where there’ll be no more pain and sorrow and God will wipe away the tears from every eye. That’s the perfect promise to share with unbelievers.  We should unapologetically tell them that the happiness they long for, the reconciliation to the God from whom happiness flows, is found in Jesus alone—this is what makes the gospel “good news of great joy”!

In Revelation, after the apostle John describes the river of life, he mentions another striking feature: “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).

People who think the New Earth won’t have a sun and moon generally refer to three passages, one of which is Revelation 21:23: "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp."

Randy Alcorn spoke at the 2016 Canvas Conference, put on by Humble Beast and Western Seminary, a two-day conference that "exists to inform all acts of human creativity and beauty with biblical, gospel-centered theology for the worship of the triune God." For more information, check out Randy's Heaven book. 

Randy Alcorn spoke at the 2016 Canvas Conference, put on by Humble Beast and Western Seminary, a two-day conference that "exists to inform all acts of human creativity and beauty with biblical, gospel-centered theology for the worship of the triune God." In this clip, Randy talks about why we don't need a bucket list and how we get to Heaven. For more information, check out Randy's Heaven book. 

Randy Alcorn spoke at the 2016 Canvas Conference, put on by Humble Beast and Western Seminary, a two-day conference that "exists to inform all acts of human creativity and beauty with biblical, gospel-centered theology for the worship of the triune God." In this clip, Randy talks about what we'll be doing on the New Earth. For more information, check out Randy's Heaven book.