Mitch Albom, author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, said that he got the idea for his book when he speculated: What would heaven be like if it were a place where some of the people you impacted on earth explained your life when you met them in heaven?

Albom’s book does give insight into how we unintentionally affect others’ lives. But for the Christian, our ultimate joy in eternity does not stem from other people but from our Lord and Savior. Heaven is a real place that Jesus is now preparing for us. And when we get there, we’ll rejoice to meet the living Christ (John 14:2-3; 2 Peter 3:13).

This encounter with Jesus, however, will also include accountability for the life we lived on earth. Believers are told: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). His wise and just evaluation will show us how well we have loved God and our neighbor (Matt. 22:37-40).

We don’t know who will be the first five people we meet in heaven. But we do know who the first One will be—the Lord Jesus.