Ask yourself: If you could have every other blessing of heaven—eternal life, no pain, all your loved ones present—but Jesus wasn’t personally there, would it feel like heaven?

Revelation 21 tells us that when the new heaven and new earth come down, God will take up residence with his people, death and pain will be abolished, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. One of God’s purposes in salvation has been to create an eternal family united by a love that never fades, where we never experience heartache and we never have to say goodbye.

In heaven, we’ll be reunited with those loved ones in Jesus who we lost. The prophet Isaiah alluded to this day in Isaiah 49 when he said: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘[In that day], I will give a signal … and they will carry your little sons back to you in their arms; they will bring your daughters on their shoulders’” (v. 22 NLT). Parents who have lost children—maybe through an accident, a disease, or a miscarriage—imagine seeing them brought back to you by the angels carrying them in their arms. What a day that will be! But of course, that reunion pales in comparison with the greatest reunion—with God himself.

In Revelation 22, John talks about a “river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (vv. 1–2 ESV). As Tyler Staton has said, a “river” is one of the oldest biblical metaphors for God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit flows from the Temple, into every nook and cranny of the new heavens and new earth, bringing abundance and healing wherever he goes.

When you become a believer, the Holy Spirit enters you. In 2 Corinthians, Paul calls that the firstfruits, or down payment, of God’s eternal union with us. Here, in heaven, that union becomes complete. Revelation 22:4 tells us that Jesus’ name will be tattooed on our foreheads. I’m not sure if that’s symbolic or not, but a tattoo signifies permanence. This is God’s way of saying, “Our relationship is locked in forever.” The greatest joy of heaven is reunion, and the greatest reunion is union with God.

John Piper once said,

The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?

The whole point of salvation, God’s redemption plan, is God uniting himself to his people—to you. That’s what salvation is about. And if that’s not what you most look forward to in heaven, you have to ask yourself: Am I even his child? The evidence of God’s Spirit in you is a desire to be with him. And if you’re not excited about being with him, I’ll be honest with you: You probably wouldn’t enjoy heaven.

J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He leads the Summit in a bold vision to plant one thousand new churches by the year 2050. Pastor J.D. completed his Ph.D. in Theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Chick-fil-A since January 2022 and recently served as the 62nd president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor J.D. and his wife Veronica are raising four awesome kids: Kharis, Alethia, Ryah, and Adon.This article has been republished with permission from the J.D. Greear website and is under copyright law. It may not be republished without express written consent by J.D. Greear Ministries Team. J.D. Greear is the author of 27 Books including his newest book, Everyday Revolutionary: How to Trancend the Culture War and Transform the World.

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Books by J.D. Greear

In Everyday Revolutionary, pastor J.D. Greear calls us to reimagine our Christian witness in today’s world. Written for those of us who feel like outsiders in this new era, Everyday Revolutionary draws on the story of Daniel to help us “live sent” right where we are. This Christian guide to “living quietly but testifying loudly”