The New Heaven and the New Earth

1
The New Heaven and the New Earth

• Revelation 21

2
Opening Question

• What is your view of heaven?
• What is heaven?
• A physical place or a state of mind?
• What will life be like in heaven?
• What will we be like in heaven?
• Is there time in heaven?
• What will heaven look like?
• Do you really look forward to heaven?

3
Heavenly Myths

• What the Bible does not say about heaven
  (Sanders, 1993)
• Our main occupation in heaven will be sitting on
  a cloud, plucking strings of a golden harp
• Everything in heaven will be bland and not
  interesting
• Life in heaven will largely consist of rest and
  contemplation

4
Heavenly Myths

• What the Bible does not say about heaven
• The music in heaven will be dull, heavy and
  repetitive
• Peter guards the pearly gates
• That we become angels, wearing halos and wings
• Longing for heaven is weakness and a form of
  escapism

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Why myths are dangerous

• Revelation 2218-19
• For I testify unto every man that heareth the
  words of the prophecy of this book, If any man
  shall add unto these things, God shall add unto
  him the plagues that are written in this book
• And if any man shall take away from the words of
  the book of this prophecy, God shall take away
  his part out of the book of life, and out of the
  holy city, and from the things which are written
  in this book.

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What is Heaven?

• The Greek word translated heaven is used in
  three ways in the Bible
• The aerial or atmospheric heavens
• Genesis 11 In the beginning God created the
  heavens and the earth
• The sidereal or starry heaven
• 1 Kings 827 The heavens, even the highest
  heaven, cannot contain you.
• The eternal abode of God
• Matthew 69 Our Father in heaven

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Biblical Heaven

• Revelation 211 226
• Events in these passages take place after
• The return of Christ (1911-21)
• The thousand years (201-6)
• Satans doom (207-10)
• The final judgment (2011-15)
• Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the
  first heaven and the first earth had passed
  away (211)

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Eternal Heaven

• The place were God dwells
• Isaiah 661 Heaven is my throne
• Matthew 69
• 1 Peter 322 (Jesus) has gone into heaven and
  is at God's right hand - with angels, authorities
  and powers in submission to him.

Heaven is the place where God most fully makes
known his presence to bless.
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Is Heaven a Physical Place?

• Often denied outside the evangelical word
• Existence only known from the testimony of
  Scripture
• Even some evangelical scholars have been
  questioning this
• heaven is both a place and a state, it is
  primarily a state (Erickson, Christian Theology)
• Heaven is not so much a place, but the presence
  of a person, God (Guthrie, New Testament
  Theology)
• What do you think?

10
The Case for Heaven as a Place

• Jesus ascension
• Acts 19-11
• Stephens death
• Acts 755-56
• Jesus promise
• John 142-3

11
The New Earth

• God will make a new heaven and a new earth
• Isaiah 6517, 6622 2 Peter 313, Rev 211
• Physical creation will be renewed in a
  significant way
• Romans 819-21
• The earth will be as God intended it to be at
  creation
• Genesis 131 (very good)
• Paradise, utopia etc

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Renewed or Replaced?

• Some Scripture seem to suggest that earth will
  be completely destroyed
• Hebrews 111-12
• Heaven and earth will perish, grow old, be rolled
  up, changed
• Hebrews 1226-27
• Remove what was shaken, so what cannot be shaken
  remains
• 2 Peter 310
• The earth and all its work will be burned up
• Revelation 2011
• Earth and sky fled away, no place was found for
  them
• Revelation 211
• The first earth has passed away, and the sea was
  no more

13
Replaced or Renewed?

• Completely destroying the earth, however, would
  seem to give the devil the last word
• The original earth that was very good (Genesis
  11) would be scraped
• Earth will not be new, not in the sense of a
  new creation, but new in character
• Disagreement in the Protestant world on this
• Lutheran entirely new creation
• Reformed present creation will be renewed

14
Believers in Heaven

• Similar to heaven and earth, believers will have
  new resurrected bodies (Glorification)
• 1 Corinthians 1512-58
• All things will be subject to us, under the
  kingship of Christ, forever and ever
• Hebrews 26-9 Rev 225
• Matthew 55 we will inherit the kingdom
• This was according to Gods original plan at
  creation (Genesis 126-28)

15
Life in Heaven

• Life in heaven include many features that are
  part of Gods physical or material creation
• Eating and drinking (Rev 199 Luke 2218)
• River of the water of life, street of the city
  (Rev 221)
• Tree of life will bear twelve kinds of fruit,
  each in its month (Rev 222)
• Heavenly city (the New Jerusalem) with gates, a
  wall, foundation etc (Rev 2110-11, 21-26)
• Music (Rev 57-14 142-3)

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Eternity Timeless?

• Will time be no more in heaven?
• No Scripture support
• There shall be no night there (Rev 2125)
• Due to light from the Gods glory (Rev 2123)
• Most description of heaven imply sequence or
  succession of moments
• Rev 2124-26 Rev 222
• For us, eternity means living in a succession of
  moments that will never end

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Life in Heaven

• Heaven will be a place of great beauty and
  abundant joy
• A holy cityprepared as a bride adorned for her
  husband (Rev 212, 11, 18-21)
• No more death, mourning, crying, pain (214)
• Drink freely from the fountain of life (216)
• Free from all evil (217)

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Life in Heaven

• Most importantly, we will be in the glorious
  presence of God and enjoy unhindered fellowship
  with Him (Rev 213-4)
• See also Jude 124 Romans 323 818 923 1
  Cor. 1543 2 Cor. 318 417 Col. 34 1 Thess.
  212 Heb 210 1 Peter 51, 4, 10
• We will experience genuine worship of God and
  shall see His face (Rev 223-4)
• See also Psalm 1611 274

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ApplicationTwo Questions for Reflection

• Will we be going to heaven?
• Revelation 2127 Matthew 183
• See perseverance of the saintsRomans 835-39
  John 1724
• Does our life reflect our hope in heaven?
• Present life is temporary (2 Peter 311-13)
• Storing treasures in heaven (Matthew 619-21)
• Stewardship eternal consequences (Matthew
  2514-28)

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Next Lesson

• Chapter 22