Heaven, The Present Heaven and Future Heaven
What we ponder of the word Heaven is what theologians call the intermediate Heaven. For Born Agains, it's where we go when when we die. It's the place we'll live until our bodily resurrection.
Our Christians loved ones who've died are now in this present, intermediate Heaven.
(This is not the same as purgatory, which is not a biblical concept. The Bible teaches that Christ paid the complete price for our atonement, and thus we can do nothing to add to it.)
The Heaven we go to when we die is place without suffering, but it is not the place where we'll live forever. Our eternal home, where God will come down to dwell among his people, is called the New Earth (Revelation 21:1).
At the culmination of human history, we're told in reference to the New Earth, "The dwelling of God {will be} with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). Since Heaven is, by definition, God's dwelling place, the fact that he will come down to live with us on the New Earth will make it synonymous with Heaven.
Often we think of going to Heaven as departing from our place into an angelic realm to live with God in his place. But the Bible says that in the ultimate Heaven God will come down from his place to live with us in our place, the New Earth.
We're heard it said, "This world is not our home." That's true, but it's a half truth. We should say, "This world-the earth as it now is, under the Curse-is not our home." But we should say, "This world- the earth as it once was before sin and the Curse-was our home." And we should add, "This world-the earth as it one day will be, delivered from sin and the curse-will be our home."
In the intermediate Heaven, we'll be with Christ and we'll be joyful, but it won't be our permanent home. We'll be looking forward to our bodily resurrection and relocation to the New Earth. (Our loved ones won't go to the New Earth before we get there. We'll go together to colonize the New Earth.)
The idea that we'll go to a disembodied state fits with Platonism and Eastern Thought, but not with Christianity. The Bible says that there is a resurrection, but if there weren't, we would be of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
On the New Earth, we're told, "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him" (Revelation 22:3).
God is the sovereign ruler and all false gods will be taken down. Satan will be eternally dethroned. People who rejected God will be eternally dethroned. God will be permanently enthroned. The Lord's prayer, prayed countless millions of times over the centuries, will be dramatically answered: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Righteous human beings, enthroned by God to reign over the earth from Eden but dethroned by their own sin and Satan, will be re-enthroned forever with God. "And they will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5). God's people will reign with him on the earth, not only for a thousand years but forever. As the angel said to Daniel, speaking of an earthly kingdom that will replace the current Earth's kingdoms, "The saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will posses it forever-yes, for ever and ever" (Daniel 7:18). Christ will become the unchallenged, absolute ruler of the universe. Then he will turn over to his Father the kingdom he has won (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Redeemed humans will be God's unchallenged, delegated rulers of the New Earth. God and humanity will live together in eternal happiness, forever deepening their relationships, as the glory of God permeates every aspect of the new creation.
According to the Bible, God's people will reign over a resurrected universe, centered on a resurrected Earth, with a resurrected Jerusalem as its capital city. Carefully read Revelation 21-22 and many other verses and you'll discover that we'll eat, drink, work, worship, learn, travel and experience many of the things we do now.
Reference to "nations" on the New Earth suggest that civilizations will be resurrected, including human cultures with distinctive ethnic traits (Revelation 21:24,26). In the middle of the city will be the tree of life, just as physical as it was in Eden and we will eat a wide variety of fruits (Revelation 21:1-2). A great river will flow through the city. Both nature and human culture will be part of the New Earth.
God chose not only to make physical humans to live on a physical Earth, but he chose to become a man on the same earth. He did this to redeem mankind and the earth and to enjoy forever the company of human beings in a world made for them-a world called the New Earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). That world is what we are to be looking forward to (2 Peter 3:13).
We have never known as earth without sin, suffering and death-yet we yearn for it. God tells us that the world we- and all creation- long for, a world delivered from the Curse, will one day be ours to live in.. forever (Romans 8:19-23).
Our Christians loved ones who've died are now in this present, intermediate Heaven.
(This is not the same as purgatory, which is not a biblical concept. The Bible teaches that Christ paid the complete price for our atonement, and thus we can do nothing to add to it.)
The Heaven we go to when we die is place without suffering, but it is not the place where we'll live forever. Our eternal home, where God will come down to dwell among his people, is called the New Earth (Revelation 21:1).
At the culmination of human history, we're told in reference to the New Earth, "The dwelling of God {will be} with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). Since Heaven is, by definition, God's dwelling place, the fact that he will come down to live with us on the New Earth will make it synonymous with Heaven.
Often we think of going to Heaven as departing from our place into an angelic realm to live with God in his place. But the Bible says that in the ultimate Heaven God will come down from his place to live with us in our place, the New Earth.
We're heard it said, "This world is not our home." That's true, but it's a half truth. We should say, "This world-the earth as it now is, under the Curse-is not our home." But we should say, "This world- the earth as it once was before sin and the Curse-was our home." And we should add, "This world-the earth as it one day will be, delivered from sin and the curse-will be our home."
In the intermediate Heaven, we'll be with Christ and we'll be joyful, but it won't be our permanent home. We'll be looking forward to our bodily resurrection and relocation to the New Earth. (Our loved ones won't go to the New Earth before we get there. We'll go together to colonize the New Earth.)
The idea that we'll go to a disembodied state fits with Platonism and Eastern Thought, but not with Christianity. The Bible says that there is a resurrection, but if there weren't, we would be of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).
On the New Earth, we're told, "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will serve him" (Revelation 22:3).
God is the sovereign ruler and all false gods will be taken down. Satan will be eternally dethroned. People who rejected God will be eternally dethroned. God will be permanently enthroned. The Lord's prayer, prayed countless millions of times over the centuries, will be dramatically answered: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
Righteous human beings, enthroned by God to reign over the earth from Eden but dethroned by their own sin and Satan, will be re-enthroned forever with God. "And they will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5). God's people will reign with him on the earth, not only for a thousand years but forever. As the angel said to Daniel, speaking of an earthly kingdom that will replace the current Earth's kingdoms, "The saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will posses it forever-yes, for ever and ever" (Daniel 7:18). Christ will become the unchallenged, absolute ruler of the universe. Then he will turn over to his Father the kingdom he has won (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Redeemed humans will be God's unchallenged, delegated rulers of the New Earth. God and humanity will live together in eternal happiness, forever deepening their relationships, as the glory of God permeates every aspect of the new creation.
According to the Bible, God's people will reign over a resurrected universe, centered on a resurrected Earth, with a resurrected Jerusalem as its capital city. Carefully read Revelation 21-22 and many other verses and you'll discover that we'll eat, drink, work, worship, learn, travel and experience many of the things we do now.
Reference to "nations" on the New Earth suggest that civilizations will be resurrected, including human cultures with distinctive ethnic traits (Revelation 21:24,26). In the middle of the city will be the tree of life, just as physical as it was in Eden and we will eat a wide variety of fruits (Revelation 21:1-2). A great river will flow through the city. Both nature and human culture will be part of the New Earth.
God chose not only to make physical humans to live on a physical Earth, but he chose to become a man on the same earth. He did this to redeem mankind and the earth and to enjoy forever the company of human beings in a world made for them-a world called the New Earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22). That world is what we are to be looking forward to (2 Peter 3:13).
We have never known as earth without sin, suffering and death-yet we yearn for it. God tells us that the world we- and all creation- long for, a world delivered from the Curse, will one day be ours to live in.. forever (Romans 8:19-23).
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