What will we actually do in heaven?

As much fun as it is to wonder about what heaven is like and what we’re going to be doing there, it is probably useful to remind ourselves of this verse from the apostle Paul: [A]s it is written: “NO EYE HAS SEEN, NO EAR HAS HEARD, NO MIND HAS CONCEIVED WHAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM”—Paul, I Corinthians 2:9 (quoting Isaiah 64:4). While the context of that verse is referring to the wisdom of God that He freely gives to His children—a wisdom that unbelievers cannot understand—nevertheless it also reminds us that the future being prepared for His children is being prepared from a love and wisdom that we cannot even begin to get our heads around. As God also famously said through Isaiah, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts—God speaking, Isaiah 55:8-9.
That being said, a couple of exciting things we can know. First of all, we are going to see God—Father AND Son. According to John, writing in Revelation, No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his [God’s] face, and his name will be on their foreheads—Revelation 22:3-4. That is an idea carried over from the Old Testament, from the writings of David, where he said, And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness—David, Psalm 17:15. And John also wrote about seeing Jesus—God the Son—as we look forward to our eternity; he said, Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is—I John 3:2. Second, we will participate in worship—and how can we not, seeing the Father and Son, living in a place specially prepared for us, and existing in a place totally perfect, without flaw—including us. The book of Revelation is full of moments where worship just erupts from those already in heaven; a great example is from Revelation 4 where it says: At once I [John] was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being”—Revelation 4:2-11. Simply reveling in where we are and what we are, not to mention all that we will be seeing and experiencing, will cause spontaneous worship throughout eternity, as we will continue to be overwhelmed by all that we have to enjoy in that amazing place. And being so conscious of the immediacy of the presence of God, worship will be perfectly relevant, perfectly meaningful, and incredibly personal. We will be worshiping from our hearts in a way that we cannot even imagine. And that will carry over into the lives we actually lead in heaven. Paul said it this way in one of the most famous chapters in the Bible: For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known—Paul, I Corinthians 13:9-12. We will be perfectly aware of ourselves—who we are, the things we are passionate about—because we will be perfectly aware of how God made us, how He created us, to best serve Him. I think worship will come to mean doing many of the same things we do now, but doing them perfectly, and dedicating the results completely to our Father and Master. I think worship will be carried out in large portion by us simply functioning as God designed us, and thanking and praising Him for it. Our results—a new song, a new discovery, whatever—will be handed over completely and without hesitation to Him, in honor of who and what He is. Now that’s worship.
Another thing we will do in heaven is reign; in some way, we will have a place in governing this incredible paradise. As John said, There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever—Revelation 22:5.
Another thing that will occupy us is simply learning more and more about God and His Son. As Paul said it so well to the church at Ephesus, And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus—Paul, Ephesians 2:6-7. We will never come to the end of learning all there is to know about God and His Son Jesus. And it will also take eternity to explore all that heaven is going to offer us. The Bible seems to say this. As David wrote, You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand—David, Psalm 16:11.
And all this will happen in the context of being completely new ourselves—physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, all the ways we are commanded to love the Lord our God. As Paul later said in his first letter to the church at Corinth, And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immorality—Paul, I Corinthians 15:49-53. As a result of that, as John noted toward the end of Revelation, He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”—Revelation 21:4. And this will all happen in the context of us being us: We will keep our personalities. We will keep our relationships (plus obviously making an infinite number of eternal new ones). We will keep our talents and our abilities. We will keep our likes and loves. If we love music—writing it, playing it, singing it—why wouldn’t we do that in heaven, where we have the greatest subject of all to write about. If we love writing, we’ll do that. If we love working with our hands, we’ll do that. If we love exploring, intrigued by the mysteries found in the nature God has created, we’ll do that. Who God created us to be here is who we’ll be in eternity. We will be us—only as God perfectly designed us. Nothing will be available to make us anything less than exactly how God envisioned us to be. Why not? God created us for His plans, for His honor and His glory. If that was His plan for us on an imperfect earth, then wouldn’t a perfect heaven be the most appropriate place to express that honor and glory for Him?
While all the details about heaven may escape us in this life, Paul encouraged us to keep our minds on heaven; after all, as he said to the Philippians, But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body—Paul, Philippians 3:20-21. Therefore, because we have so much to look forward to, as Paul said, Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory—Paul, Colossians 3:1-4.