Sunday, February 22, 2009

Heaven - Part IV (and last)







I'm sure you are either wildly anticipating these ideas about the new heaven or more likely wanting me to end the discussion. Well both of you win today. In Revelation 21 we see that after the 1000 year reign of Christ and Satan is thrown into hell that God does away with the old heaven and earth and creates these anew. No longer does Satan have access to heaven to accuse us and no longer does the earth groan under the weight of sin. And before you think that this is just apopolyptic imagery, look at II Pet. 3:13 and Isaiah 65-66. So what is the new heaven like?






First of all it is dominated by the new Jerusalem which will be 1400 miles cubed, approximately the size of the eastern half of the USA. The walls will be 200 feet thick with 12 gates and 12 foundations. Of note is that there is no temple because the dwelling place of God is with man. Thus it will be more like the old garden of Eden, with God walking with us in the cool of the morning. Think of the old hymn "I Come to the Garden Alone". There will also be no sun for God will be the light and there will be no night. The river of life runs through the middle and there are trees of life on each side with fruit each month, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.






Secondly, there will be no more death, no tears, mourning or pain. But will will not just be floating on the clouds with harps. We will be serving/ministering to God, planting vineyards and building houses. And of course the wolf will lie down with the lamb, meaning that they are both herbivores and that there are animals in heaven (I'm not sure about cats though). We see also that there are nations outside of the city walls and that the glory and honor of the nations is brought into the city. So in a word this means that there is a lot of activity going on in heaven and we are working as we were always meant to do, only now it is not with pain and difficulty and there are no weeds.






Thirdly, a word about our resurrection bodies. Since we only have one to compare so far, we will use the example of Jesus. He was recognizable at times and at times he was not. So I think we will have some recognizable features though exactly what age we will be is unclear. Peter recognized Moses and Elijah even though he had never seen them. And we will have a physical body though it might not be subject to the same physical limitations. Jesus could walk through walls and could transport Himself in a moment. We will be able to eat and drink also. And presumedly not get fat. Our bodies will not die or decay. And in Isaiah 65 we see that God will answer our questions or needs before it is even on out lips.






Two more things. First are the three differences between the new and old heaven. There is no temple, there is no Satan, and we have resurrection bodies. There may be others, mostly having to do with the new earth. Secondly I just wanted to give a picture of life in the new heaven. I Corinthians 13:13 says that faith, hope and love abide, meaning that they will be functioning in heaven. That means that relationships will be prominant there - both with other people and with God. These will not be tarnished with sin. Can't you wait to love each other with pure agape love? Then we will continue to grow in our relationship with God for eternity. We can never know Him completely. I even think that the level of our relationship with Him here on earth will be our starting point when we get to heaven. We will not all have equal relationships with God. Then as I said there will be work to do of various types so that we can use our God given abilities and possibly even some new ones. Certainly I am going to need to get a new profession. We will eat and drink and live in houses. And lastly of course there will be plenty of worship - and who knows but that maybe I will be able to sing on key.






If all of that does not get you excited then you need to see your doctor. Hurry because you will not need one there.

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