Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven

Life would be much different for each of us if God's will were done here on earth as it is in heaven. I'd like to share with you just how different it would be and why.

Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven
The Lord taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Mt 6:10). I stated previously in my article, The Disciples' Prayer:

In heaven, God’s will goes unchallenged and is always done. There’s nobody there resisting God’s will. On earth there are many enemies of God and hindrances to block his will. Yet His will is best. “Father knows best.”  The Father is looking out for your best interest. Trust God. Go with what He says.

When you pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then it will guide you to pray in His will.  And even if you make a mistake and pray outside His will, He will know that you asked for His will to be done, so He will answer it according to His will, rather than how you wanted it.

When you do God's will, that is one way this prayer of yours will be answered.  He said, "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (Mar 3:35).  He also said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." (Luk 11:27-28).

Jesus prayed for the Father’s will, when it was contrary to His own (Mt 26:39-42).  This is what we must do also, following our Lord's example. His will is what we live for, not our own. This is critical, because of the power of the will. Your will has the ability to make you miss heaven. God will not force you to obey Him. He will not force Himself on you. If you allow your will to take priority, it can take you to hell. If you aren’t willing, then you can block God’s will from being done, so live your life for the will of God. Surrender to His will, and live according to it. (1 Pe 4:1-6).  The one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 Jn 2:17). His will is holy, righteous, perfect, and true.

Citizens of Heaven

Even while we are living on earth, if we know the Lord Jesus Christ personally and are born again, then we are citizens of heaven. The apostle Paul wrote, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Php 3:20, NIV). This means that heaven is our home and our names are already written in the register there as citizens of that glorious place. Our names are written in the Book of Life, which is an actual book in heaven with the names of every person who belongs to the Lord (Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12; 20:15; 21:27).

Jesus taught those of us who are truly His disciples to rejoice that our "names are written in heaven.” (Lk 10:20). It's very important that your name be written there, because it means you have eternal life and will spend eternity there with the Lord. However, anyone whose name is not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:5). Hell is real! You don't want to go to that terrible place. That's why you need to make certain that your name is in the Book of Life.

Being a citizen of heaven comes with both privileges and responsibilities. The privileges are rather obvious. As I said, you get to live there forever in the presence of God and walk with Jesus on the streets of gold. You receive a beautiful white robe to wear, which is reserved for the overcomers. You can bathe in the River of Life and drink from it. You can eat from the fruit of the Tree of Life. You will worship with the saints at the throne of God and behold His power and His glory in the sanctuary. You will enjoy fellowship so sweet with the saints and angels up there. It's a wonderful kingdom of light, life, and love, where everyone is full of joy and cares for one another. There's no more sorrow there, no more dying there, no more sickness, and no more pain. It's only perfect peace and rest.

But with that citizenship comes the responsibility to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Everyone there delightfully does the work the Lord has given them to do, which is very fulfilling and satisfying. It's not toilsome at all like work here on earth. And they live in holiness unto the Lord there, so there is nothing impure or evil allowed in that place. There is no devil, no demons, no property of satan, nothing false or artificial. There is no smoking, no drug use, and no alcohol abuse. They don't bow down to idols there. Everyone dresses modestly and godly. Everything is perfectly pure, holy, and righteous in heaven. "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life." (Rev 21:27, NIV).

If you would like to know more about what heaven is like, you can read about it in the book of Revelation. You can also read many testimonies that I have posted on Eternal Destinations from people who have visited heaven and come back to tell about it. Heaven is real!

On Earth as it is in Heaven
Now let's relate that back to life here on earth. Since we who know Christ personally as our Lord and Savior are citizens of heaven, and we pray for our Heavenly Father's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, that means He is expecting us to live our lives here and now just as they do in heaven. That also comes with privileges and responsibilities as well.

You get to begin enjoying your eternal life right now and experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10:10). You also experience the presence of God and walk with Jesus in your everyday activities (Jn 15:4). You receive a beautiful white robe to wear, but you need to wash your robe and keep it from becoming stained with sin (Rev 3:4,18). You can drink daily from the living waters that Jesus promised (Jn 7:37-39). You worship with the saints at the throne of God. You enjoy sweet fellowship with the saints here. You are seated in heavenly realms with Christ (Eph 2:6), and you are hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3). The Lord sets His angels about you to protect you at all times (Psalm 91:11-12; Heb 1:14). It's a wonderful kingdom of light (Col 1:13), life, and love, where everyone is full of joy and cares for one another. You may have hardships, trials, sorrows and griefs to bear (Ac 14:22), but the Lord comforts you, gives you grace, and enables you to experience peace that passes all understanding in the midst of it (Phl 4:7), as well as joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Pe 1:8).

But with that citizenship comes the responsibility to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Lk 10:27). Your life should bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). You must do the will of God (Mt 7:21), and complete the work the Lord has given you to do (Col 4:17). Whatever you do you must do it with love as unto the Lord for the glory of God. And you should aim for perfection (2 Cor 13:11), walking in holiness, righteousness, and truth (Eph 4:24), allowing nothing impure, unholy, worldly, sinful, or evil in your life (2 Cor 7:1). That means you must not entertain demons. You must not own or wear any property of satan on your body. You must not be deceitful, false, or artificial (Ps 101:7). You must not bow down to any idols or lift up your soul to them (Ps 15; 24:3-4). Everything in your life must be perfectly pure, holy, and righteous like it is in heaven (Heb 12:14). That includes the way you dress and adorn yourself, which must be with decency and propriety in all modesty (1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Pe 3:3-4), so that you honor the Lord with your body (1 Cor 6:19-20).

Since they don't smoke, do drugs, or get drunk with alcohol in heaven, then that means you shouldn't do those things here on earth either, if you are a citizen of heaven. Since they don't get tattoos in heaven, you shouldn't get them here either (Lev 19:28). Since they don't wear makeup in the Holy City, you shouldn't wear it here. Since they are not going around dressed half naked in heaven, you should cover your body. Since they are not listening to secular music in the courts above, you shouldn't listen to it here either. It's easy for you to know how the Lord expects you to live, because anything they do in heaven, you should do here, and anything they don't do there, you should not do here. This is what the Bible teaches us. It's sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

Do you think that the saints here on earth are allowed to carry on living like the world (1 Joh 2:15-17) -- drinking, smoking, watching secular movies, listening to secular music, hating, lying, cheating, deceiving, not caring for one another, not praying, not worshiping the Lord, wearing the property of satan, being artificial, and dressing immodestly or indecently -- and then die and go to heaven? Do you think that just because they said a sinner's prayer and attend church they can live their life however they wish, and then as soon as they die they will walk through the pearly gates into heaven and begin to act differently and become holy people? If you do, you're wrong (Rom 6:1-2). If you don't hate sin now, you won't hate it there. If you don't like to worship and pray now, you won't like it there either. If you don't love the Lord with all your being now, you won't do so there either. If you don't love your neighbor as yourself now, what makes you think you will become a loving person after you die?

Let's pray that our Father's kingdom would come and that His will would be done here on earth in our lives as it is in heaven, so that we would live our lives on earth as they do in heaven. With the Lord's help, and by His grace, let's live on earth as they do in heaven.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB copyright the Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Other Scriptures where noted as NIV, taken from the Holy Bible New International Version, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Citizens of Heaven image copyright Word of Grace Bible Church - Battle Ground, WA, used according to Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.
 
Author's note: You are invited to read Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Aim for Perfection, Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, Carrying Your Cross or Cross Dressing?, Tattoos and Body Piercing, Keeping Your Body Pure and Holy, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Three Divine Revelations, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Called to be Blameless, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Separation from the World, The Straight and Narrow Path, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, Your Identity in Christ, and Fruit in Every Season. You may access the Main Directory for this Seeking the Lord blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.