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THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH

There was a story told about a young boy who said he wanted to go to heaven. When asked why he replied: “because there are no vegetables or girls there”.

Many and varied are the views about heaven and one has to say that there are many mysteries around the topic. Maybe this is partly because Christians read 1Corinthians 2:9 : “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love Him”, and they stop there. But look at the next verse which follows: “these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.”

So, what are the things that God has revealed to us by His Spirit? In his book Biblical Teaching on the Doctrines of Heaven and Hell, Edward Donnelly says: “Heaven is where God’s magnificence is expressly revealed, His perfections shining in unimaginable splendour and beauty. Heaven is the place of God’s glory.” The Psalmist says: “You will guide me with Your counsel and afterward receive me to glory” (Psalm 73:24) and our Lord says that He will bring many sons to glory (Heb. 2:10).

To quote Donnelly again, “Heaven is the arena of God’s glory. In heaven God’s glory has always shone, in heaven it keeps on shining. Heaven is created for God’s glory. It is the place where His glory is most fully known.” Perceiving, experiencing and enjoying is what we can expect from the glory of God when we finally reach our eternal home. Heaven is God’s home, where Jesus is daily interceding for His people before the throne of God (Rom. 8:34).

Some biblical descriptions of heaven are hard to understand because they are embedded in symbolism that maybe is meant to be experienced rather than visualised. God employs metaphors, hyperbole and mental pictures to convey to us what heaven will be like because it is beyond our ability to comprehend, it is so far outside of our experience. Much of this symbolism is found in the last two chapters of Revelation. It is sometimes difficult to separate the symbolic from the actual, and even to establish whether such a distinction exists.

Let me attempt to list what I consider to be the actual and then the possibly symbolic.

First the actual:

There will be a new heaven and a new earth (21:1, cf Is. 65:17); and there will be no sea (21:1). All God’s people will be there, and God will be with them (21:3). Heaven can be described as being with Jesus (2 Cor.5:8). There will be no weeping, no death and no pain. There will be a river flowing through the middle of the new heaven and new earth with crystal clear water and a fruit-bearing tree of life (22:1,2).

The curse of God on man and all creation is gone, the throne of God and of Jesus is there and we will serve Him (22:3). We will see God face to face – an experience that brought death on the earth (Ex.33:20), but will bring elation in heaven (Rev.22:4). There will not be any night in heaven and there will be no sun because God will be the source of light (22:5).

The contemplation of these actualities surely have a powerful impact on us as we think about our final destination.

Then what of the possibly symbolic?

These might be the references to such things as the spring of the water of life (21:6), the city shining like a jasper, clear as crystal (21:11), the city made of pure gold as pure as glass and the surrounding wall made of jasper (21:18), the twelve pearl gates in the wall (21:21), the great golden street of the city, as pure as transparent glass (21:21), and the water and tree of life (22:1,2).

The literature reveals conflicting views on this. Some say that the language used is symbolic and expound their view on the symbolism involved. Others say that if this was meant to be symbolic, then God would have told us so and therefore a literal interpretation is appropriate. John was factually reporting what he actually saw, but was this visionary or actual?

All agree that the language used, whether symbolic or actual, conveys to the reader a spectacular and magnificent vision of the heavenly home God has prepared for His people. One might be forgiven for concluding, “what does it matter?” I must confess that I am drawn to this opinion, at the risk of being accused of sitting on the fence. But wherever the truth lies, the people of God are headed for a wonderful place called the new heaven and the new earth that God has prepared for them, and this after all is all that really matters. As believers in Jesus Christ we are going to glory, and to God be the glory.

– Ron Norman