I love seeing people’s homes. There is something about seeing how a person lives that can really give you a glimpse into their character, their interests, and what makes them ‘tick’. It gets me thinking about the wonder and beauty of seeing our heavenly home for the first time- it will amaze us and cause us to glorify even more our Saviour who prepared it for us (John 14:3).
In Part 1 of ‘Heaven- is it for Real?’, I was writing about how easy it is for us to think about heaven according to how it is shown in Hollywood. Instead of reading the Bible and finding out what the Home Owner has to say, we are taken by visual depictions and claims of people who have been there (for an interesting article on the danger of these claims, read this).
The other danger when it comes to thinking about heaven, is thinking too much about heaven as being a place of constant singing, rather than dwelling on the fact that it is part of God’s ultimate plan to have a New Heaven and New Earth. For those who don’t enjoy singing all that much, let this help you realise ‘heaven’ encompasses a lot more than just the heavenly choirs (amazing as they may be!)
A New Heaven and New Earth
- Isaiah 65:17 tells us there will be a new heaven and new earth.
- Psalm 102:10 reinforces this, telling us that while God is eternal and will never change, heaven and earth will.
- Revelation describes this new heaven and new earth being created after the end of the world as we know it.
- In Revelation 21:1-3, we read “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”
- Tim Keller, in his sermon “The New Heaven and New Earth” (available itunes), points out that this is what makes Christianity so different to other religions. God recreates a perfect world, with heaven and God coming down to earth. Our goal is not about us escaping this world (though we will be set free from sin and the effects of sin), it is about the recreation of a perfect world. Like the Garden of Eden, God will dwell with man. But this time, it will be permanent.
So What Will It Be Like?
- Perfect! No sin nor defilement- ever. No effects of sin. (Revelation 21:27)
- Beautiful (Revelation 21:15-21).
- It will have a River of Life and fruit trees (Revelation 22:1-3)
- There will be no night as the Lord God will be so radiant he will be all the light that is needed (Revelation 22:4-5)
- We will see God face to face and have full knowledge of Him (Revelation 22:4, 1 Corinthians 13:12).
- Perfect! (bring it on- can’t wait for this)
- New bodies will be given (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
- We will work. The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-29 highlights that we will be given different responsibilities depending on how we use our time and giftings on earth.
- Our work will be enjoyable. While we do not know what work we will do, we know that Adam was given work to do (Genesis 2:15). This work will not be tainted with sin so we will glorify God in and through it and enjoy it, being completely satisfied with our work.
photo credit: Nebojsa Mladjenovic via photopin cc
