The New Heavens And New Earth

 

            So many Christians are longing to be free from evil and to live in HIS glorious presence.

            Evil is rampant in our world (cf. Ephesians 2:2). Those whose lives are overwhelmed by evil are yearning for deliverance.

            For Christians, this earthly life is a road to the glorious life we would be living with God forever.

            After our death, our soul (in a disembodied existence) would proceed to God’s presence (although not yet into the new heavens and new earth), awaiting the final judgment.

            After the final judgment, Christians will enter into the full enjoyment of life in the presence of God forever. Jesus will say to us, “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” (Matthew 25:34, ESV). We will enter a kingdom where “And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him...” (Revelation 22:3, NET). We would be with God in heaven forever in the new heavens and a new earth – an entirely renewed creation (cf. Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13).

            The new heavens and new earth is a joining of heaven and earth in this new creation wherein we will live in the presence of God forever. Just as the earth is a place, the new heavens and new earth will be a literal place, not a state of mind.

            In the new heavens and new earth, we will live in our resurrected bodies – a body that will never grow old or become weak or ill.

            We will have perfect knowledge – a beatific vision of God. For the very first time, we shall see and know God in a direct way (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:9-12 & 1 John 3:2).

            The following aspects characterize the new heavens and new earth:¹

           No death, sorrow, or sickness (Revelation 21: 4; 2 Corinthians 1: 4-5).

           No curse (Revelation 22: 3).

           A place of abundant life and joy (John 10:10; Revelation 22: 1-2 cf. Psalm 16: 11; Luke 15:10).

           Perpetual worship and service (Revelation 4:8, 5:13-14, 22:3).

           We will be perfect in heaven – in body, in morality, in knowledge (Philippians 3: 21; 1 Corinthians 13: 9-12, 15: 51-53; Revelation 21: 27).

           There could be heavenly homes, mansions and palaces (John 14: 1-3).

           We would be reunited with our loved ones in heaven (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18).

           Heaven is a place of eternal rest and eternal reward (Revelation 14:13, 22:12; Hebrews 4: 9)

           Heaven will be exceptionally beautiful and indescribably glorious (1 Corinthians 2: 9; Revelation 21: 18-21; Romans 8:18; Ezekiel 1:13).

            Heaven is an eternal or everlasting or an endless abode. Heaven will not cease to exist (Titus 1: 2; Matthew 25: 46). 

            William Lane Craig describes our post-death corporeal existence in the new heavens and new earth as, “Your next life will not be “in heaven” but on the new Earth that God will usher in after the close of human history and the dissolution of this universe. We shall have resurrection bodies that Paul describes as glorious, powerful, immortal, and supernatural (I Corinthians 15.42-44), inhabiting a new universe which has undergone a resurrection of its own (Romans 8.21), free of decay and death... I would say that the afterlife will, indeed, be “an extension of our earthly life.”... There will not be marriage in the afterlife, but that’s no reason to think that you will not know your earthly wife (or wives!) as your sister in heaven.”²

            How does the study of the new heavens and new earth help us now? The present creation filled with evil is temporary. Our life in the new creation will last for eternity.

            Hence, we should strive to live a godly life while on earth regardless of living in a [perpetual] state of happiness or sorrow (cf. 2 Peter 3:11-13).

Endnotes:

¹https://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.com/2016/02/what-is-heaven-like.html

²https://www.reasonablefaith.org/question-answer/P40/how-will-we-be-different-in-heaven

Websites last accessed on 29^th April 2021.