Answer
Many people ask whether we will eat food in heaven because eating is not only necessary but also so very enjoyable! Many people conclude that what is enjoyable on earth (sex, family relationships, etc.) will naturally be present in heaven. While we will definitely have the fulfillment of all enjoyment in heaven, it will be because we are in the presence of the Lord. Whatever we enjoy in heaven won’t be there because we enjoyed it on earth but because it finds its fulfillment in God. The Bible does not give us a detailed answer to the question of eating food in heaven, but a few observations from the Scriptures are in order.
When the Lord Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples shortly before His crucifixion, He referred to eating and drinking in the kingdom: “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God’” (Mark 14:25). The earthly millennial kingdom is certainly in view here, and in that kingdom many will have already received their resurrection bodies. It would appear from this statement that we, in our glorified bodies, will eat and drink in the millennial kingdom. Jesus ate food post-resurrection (Luke 24:42), so it stands to reason that we will, too. But what about eating food in the heavenly kingdom?
When John had his vision of the New Jerusalem, he saw “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse” (Revelation 22:1–3, NKJV). This text does not say whether we will actually eat the fruit of the tree of life.
Eating from the tree of life is mentioned in Jesus’ message to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2:7. The Lord makes this promise: “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” If we are to take this literally, the tree of life will grow in the heavenly kingdom, it will bear fruit, and we will eat of that fruit.
So, we might eat food in heaven, but we cannot know for sure what the menu may contain. It has been suggested that our diet will be like that of Adam and Eve in paradise before the fall: “God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food’” (Genesis 1:29).
In the end, we don’t really know if, or what, we will eat in heaven. Believers only “know in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9). The joy of being forever with the Bread of Life is beyond our ability to comprehend, for “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” (1 John 3:2).
