The Hope of Heaven: Eternal Relationships and Friendships
by David Chadwick
Eternal relationships and friendships will be a special part of the new heaven and new earth. Jesus implies in Luke 16:9 that we will have friends in heaven. Jesus basically tells his followers to use earthly riches to build relationships, knowing that it will form eternal bonds.
All of our family and friends who love Jesus will be in heaven. We will also make new friends like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and all of the kings and prophets in the Old Testament. We will befriend the saints and disciples like Peter, Paul, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and others who have loved our Lord through the ages.
The martyrs will become our friends. As will the millions upon millions of angels. They will never die. They will always be there, standing with us and for us.
Never again will there be betrayal, treachery, slander, gossip, and hurtful actions. There will only be eternal love and acceptance among us. It’s hard to even comprehend how perfect perfection will be.
This world is so broken, and it is easy to become complacent and to forget what will happen on the other side of the squalor of this world.
Might we be able to travel around the solar system together? Explore the vastness of God’s newly created order? Share eternal memories with those we love the most? Who knows? But perfect joy and peace will be ever-present. The joy of the Lord will finally be our permanent strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
One final thought: in heaven, we will worship forever before Jesus and relish in his gift of eternal life to us. The people surrounding us in this regular worship will be the people we love the most! It will be so wonderful.