Absolute slavery and absolute freedom

Heaven will be a place of absolute slavery.  For all eternity we will be subject to the will of another and will not be able to do anything contrary to that will.

Heaven will be a place of absolute freedom.  For all eternity we will be free to do whatever we want and no one will hinder us.

How can we experience slavery and freedom at the same time?  That sounds like a contradiction.  Perhaps it would help to look at what is meant by slavery and freedom.  Slavery means being subject to another’s will and being forced to do what he wants you to do.  Freedom means being free to do what you want without any restrictions imposed by another.

What happens if you are subject to the will of another but you want to do exactly what your master wants you to do?  Are your actions acts of slavery or expressions of your will?  In a situation like this the distinction between slavery and freedom disappears.  In Heaven our wills will be totally aligned with God’s will so that we will want to do the things he commands us to do.

How does this alignment of wills come about?  It clearly isn’t something we experience today.  Even those who want to obey God don’t always want to do the things he commands.  Jesus said that to follow him we must deny ourselves.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  (Matthew 16:24,25)

We are born with a nature that is naturally rebellious against God.  We need to be reborn with a new nature that is submissive to him.  By his death and resurrection Jesus has made a way that we can experience such a rebirth.  We must repent of our sins and trust in Jesus.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  (John 1:12,13)

When we do this we receive a new nature that always conforms to God’s will, but we still have our original rebellious nature.  We must constantly choose to do what the new nature desires and suppress the old nature.  When our bodies are raised from the dead this old nature will be eliminated.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.  (1 John 3:2)

Because Jesus is God he cannot sin.  When we become like him we will also be incapable of sinning.

If you want to experience the freedom of Heaven you must make the decision to be born again during this life.  If you fail to do so you will be condemned to spend eternity in Hell where you will never experience any freedom.  Here is a good place to find out how you can be born again:  Jesus Saves