No tears in heaven, but does that mean no sorrow?

Hard to comprehend how heaven will have joy without sorrow, rest without weariness...

If a fundamental reason for allowing/creating sin and death and evil is that its existence helps us value and appreciate good/life/righteousness/love, that leads me to think that in heaven, worship, grace and joy etc. will only be completely appreciated if the sin and sorrow is still somewhat residual on our minds as opposed to being completely forgotten as if evil/sin never existed.

MEANING, it is still a mystery to me how heaven will be heaven if loved ones aren't in heaven as well, especially if sorrow still exists per the above argument. And if sorrow does not exist, doesn't that diminish the fullness of joy?

If lack of sorrow, the absence of evil, does NOT diminish the fullness of joy and good in heaven, then why make it that way on earth? If this duality is not necessary for heaven, why is it necessary for the foundations of creation?

Answer to everything:  because somehow it glorifies God more (I'm guessing)

Not too satisfied =\

Relationships in Heaven

So I understand that relationships are perfected in heaven. This means perfect communion with God (no dispute there) and perfect fellowship with the saints. On that second point, here are two questions:

(1) Apparently there is no marriage institution in heaven since the need for it is gone (fine), and the relationship I have with my spouse will be perfected in heaven (yay), but apparently that same level of perfection is also shared between every single believer in heaven! I mean, it is a good thing, but that means there is nothing special left that is private and unique shared between the former spouses? Is it sinful to want such a thing? It is hard to conceive how every single relationship in heaven will be infinitely more intimate than the one I currently share with my spouse, and also that that higher intimacy is no longer something special but is widely prevalent...

(2) Apparently we will recognize people we never knew... i.e. the old saints and brothers and sisters we know nothing about. Actually, per the above note, we will not only recognize them, but we will have a relationship with them that is even more intimate than the one we currently have with our spouse. Question is... Is it instantaneous? The recognition part, sure, but the intimacy part? Is that instantaneous as well?

How is Christ seen in the Levitical offerings?

From J. MacArthur

Offering --> Christ's provision --> Christ's character

1. Burnt offering --> atonement --> Christ's sinless nature
2. Grain offering --> dedication/consecration --> Christ was wholly devoted to the Father's purposes
3. Peace offering --> reconciliation/fellowship --> Christ was at peace with God
4. Sin offering --> propitiation --> Christ's substitutionary death
5. Trespass offering --> repentance --> Christ paid it all for redemption

Jacob Wrestles With God

- Genesis 32:23-32 Why did God wrestle with Jacob just before Jacob's meeting with Esau?

The 12 Sons of Jacob

- Reuben (Leah)
- Simeon (Leah)
- Levi (Leah)
- Judah (Leah)

- Dan (Rachel's maid Bilhah)
- Naphtali (Rachel's maid Bilhah)

- Gad (Leah's maid Zilpah)
- Asher (Leah's maid Zilpah)

- Issachar (Leah)
- Zebulun (Leah)
- Dinah (Leah) <-- daughter

- Joseph (Rachel)
- Benjamin (Rachel)

What's So Good About Mandrakes?

Genesis 30:14-16 Rachel wanted some of Leah's mandrakes, so Rachel traded the privilege of sleeping with Jacob in order to get some of Leah's mandrakes!

Jacob Paid For His Deception

(1) he never saw his mother after he fled (to escape from Esau)
(2) Esau wanted him dead
(3) Laban, his uncle, deceived him
(4) his family life was full of conflict
(5) he was exiled for years from his family

Jacob would have received the birthright by the promise of God (25:23)... didn't need to scheme w/ Rebekah.

Jacob's Ladder

- Genesis 28... After Jacob "steals" Esau's blessing from their father Isaac, Jacob flees from Esau... Jacob has a dream about a ladder and resolves to follow God... Not sure why this is so famous...

 10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it[c] stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[d] 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

 18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel,[e] though the city used to be called Luz.

 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD[f] will be my God 22 and[g] this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Quarreling About Wells

Abraham vs. Abimelech
Genesis 21:22-34 I don't understand what happened. Abimelech took some of Abraham's wells, then Abraham confronted Abimelech. Then Abraham gave Abimelech some animals to commemorate the fact that new wells were dug that belonged to Abraham (or maybe reclaiming the old wells)? The animals were part of an oath. I think it makes more sense for Abimelech to be giving animals to Abraham, in apology for having seized wells that belonged to Abraham...? Oh well...

Isaac vs. Philistines (same Abimelech?)
Genesis 26:15-33 Philistines stopped the wells that Abraham's servants had dug. Isaac redug those wells and also dug new ones. So the same Abimelech and Phichol made an oath with Isaac (Abimelech and Phichol made an oath with Abraham in Genesis 21). The oath with Isaac is that Isaac would not harm them, as opposed to the oath with Abraham which was that Abraham gave them animals and claimed the wells as Abraham's. That's my understanding...

Homosexuality Condemned in the Bible

- Genesis 19:23-29 (in response to Genesis 19:5): Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.... Everyone who does any of these detestable things—such persons must be cut off from their people.

- Lev 18:22,29; 20:13: If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

- Rom 1:26-27: Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

- 1 Cor 6:9-10: Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

- 1 Tim 1:9-11: We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Abraham and God "Bargaining" About Sodom and Gomorrah

- Genesis 18
- The point of this "bargaining" conversation is to show that God is merciful but the city was really deserving of judgment. God ended up saving Lot out of mercy, for Abraham.
- This helps us understand God's willingness to save, His mercy but also the need for judgment.

Names of Abraham and Sarah

Abram = high father
Abraham = father of many nations
Sarai = my princess
Sarah = princess

The Angel of the Lord

- often identified as the preincarnate Christ
- or special angel who is designated as messenger (speaks as God); God sends b/c people can't look @ God
- one reference in Genesis 16:9, another in Genesis 22:11

The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1-9 <-- people disobeyed God's command to spread out, so God responded to their pride/rebellion by forcing them to scatter. The location this took place became known as Babel and later became Babylon which was the constant enemy of God's people and the capital of human rebellion against God throughout Scripture (Rev. 16:19; 17:5)

Everlasting Covenants

"Everlasting" can mean either
(1) to the end of time and/or
(2) through eternity future (does not include eternity past)

5 everlasting covenants
(1) Noah (Gen 9:16)
(2) Abrahamic (Gen 17:7)
(3) Priestly (Num 25:10-13)
(4) Davidic (2 Sam 23:5)
(5) New (Jer 32:40)

Note: The Mosaic Covenant is not everlasting (temporary until New Covenant).

Names of God

Jehovah = German replaces Y with J and takes vowels from Adonai
Yahweh = vowels from Adonai
"God" = Elohim = God(s)
"LORD" = YHWH but Jews say Adonai since can't say YHWH (too sacred)
"Lord" = Adonai (general Lord)

El Elyon = God Most High (Gen 14:19,20)
Yahweh El Elyon = God Most High (Gen 14:22)

No Such Thing As A Person Who Wants To Be Saved But Is Not Chosen By God

There is no such thing as a person who truly wants to be saved yet is turned down by God. Every one who truly wants to be saved WILL BE SAVED, because only those chosen by God will truly want to be saved. Put another way, those who want to be saved are essentially already chosen by God, and their desire to be saved is evidence that they are chosen by God. We will never seek God if left to ourselves, apart from God's divine intervention in our lives. Those who choose to seek God do so because God first chose them and enabled them to seek Him (Ephesians 1:3-14; John 6:44,65; Romans 3:10-12). And whomever God chooses, that person WILL be saved all the way (John 6:37-38, Philippians 1:6). So there is no such thing as a person who naturally wants God if God didn't first choose that person, and there is no such thing as a person that God chooses who somehow doesn't make it to heaven, because whomever God chooses shall never be lost.

God Is Not Any Less Powerful or Worthy Just Because Some Are Not Saved

The fact that God chooses some but not others, the fact that not everyone is saved, the fact that suffering exists, the fact that God orchestrated so that Adam would choose sin, the fact that God orchestrates so that some people accept Jesus and others don't... none of that makes God any less powerful or any less worthy of worship. God is and has always been worthy. He chooses to do things for His glory, which is endless. It's not like He set out to save everyone and failed, or it's not like He set out to create a world without evil and failed. He set out to glorify Himself and He doesn't fail that. All of this contributes to His glory. We may not understand how exactly certain things contribute to His glory, and certain things may not come across well with some people. But God is the potter, and He is sovereign and can do whatever He wants. The good thing is that God does things that are righteous and just, and loving, and most of all, He consistently glorifies Himself, which is good because He is worthy of worship and if He cannot value such worthiness then His values are screwed up. He is not an evil God that chooses to do things out of malice, and He is not just bored and trying to amuse Himself, and He is not callous at the fact that some must perish, but He is a God that does things a certain way to glorify Himself, and those who find themselves among His flock are indeed to be in awe of the fact that God would choose us. God is not any less powerful just because certain people must perish. He could have made it that way so that nobody would have to perish, but for some reason the way that He did things results in greater glory.

God Actively Saves, Does Not Actively Condemn

So it seems unattractive that God would choose some and condemn other people... But this is not entirely accurate... The truth is that God is not an evil God that goes around choosing people to condemn. People, left to themselves in their sin, are already condemned, and they destroy themselves. It takes supernatural intervention to make salvation possible, whereas condemnation happens naturally from the natural order of things. God chooses to save people and actively saves them. He doesn't choose to actively condemn people. Yes the Bible says God prepares people for destruction to make His riches known to the people He prepared in advance for His glory (Romans 9), but the preparation done for those destined for destruction is a passive word whereas the preparation done for those destined for glory is an active word, in Greek. If this sounds like too subtle to make a difference, just talk to the people who argue about euthanasia. So God actively saves and lets others be condemned. Yes God does destroy those who are already condemned, in His righteous anger, but He does not actively condemn them. He may choose to harden those who are already condemned. Sin is indeed so terrible that it warrants condemnation... the wages of sin is death. If anyone thinks that sin is not so bad, just think about all the suffering... Suffering shows us how heinous our sin is. God does not necessarily inject suffering to teach us lessons. The suffering is a byproduct of our own sin. Destruction and death and ugliness come from ourselves and our sin.

God's Glory Is/Was Never Lacking

God doesn't need us to add to His glory. He is sufficient and glorious in and of Himself (the trinity). It's not like God lacked glory. God already had glory. But somehow you can always have more. You can keep adding to the glory and it would never end. That's why heaven is for eternity... there is no end. He didn't need humans in order to add to His glory because (1) He already had glory and (2) if He wanted to continue His glory He could have chosen something else. But He chose us, which makes it so marvelous. It's a bit paradoxical but the nature of glory is that God has already achieved glory and has always had glory, within the trinity but somehow God can continue to add to His glory... I'm still trying to understand this... whether it's like infinity plus infinity is still infinity...

I don't like the infinity argument because that frames the idea in quantitative terms. A better explanation is that God has always had infinite glory, but He chooses to magnify it through us (magnifying something does not change the fundamental nature of the thing being magnified). Or it is revealed more so through God's plan (meaning it's always been there).