God’s Rightful Place
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband.
(Revelation 21:1-2) Good News Translation
We refer to the life after this one as “heaven” because we haven’t paid attention to what the Bible says. We’ll eventually live in a new Jerusalem at the the location presently occupied by our Earth.
During the month of December our devotion is going to be a study of heaven, which is to say, the next life. We, that’s me and the Holy spirit, are going to see if we can clear up some misconceptions about what comes next.
Heaven?
There will be a new heaven and a new Earth. But let’s pay attention to how these words are used. The heavens which we presently observe in our time has two natures:
- day time, when we have to avoid looking directly at the sun,
- night time, when we can observe a panoply of stars.
In our present age and in the Millennial Kingdom the heavens are spoken of as plural. Three heavens are described in scripture:
The Three Heavens
- Open firmament, atmosphere or sky where birds fly,
- celestial realm, cosmos, observable universe or space where the stars are set in their courses,
- firmament, sea of glass or heliopause the location of God’s throne.
All of the stars fall to Earth during the tribulation or are vaporized at the end of the age. The firmament rolls up like a scroll. That only leaves an atmosphere but it’s consumed with the Earth. The Earth collapses in on itself because of the expansion of hell, but then hell is cast into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is Venus which is sent drifting off into outer darkness. Whatever’s left of the Earth is vaporized at the end of the age along with what was left of the former heavens. There’s nothing occupying the physical space where the Earth presently resides.
However, the gravitational singularity around which the Earth formed is still present. How do we know? Let’s pay attention to our text. Up and down, above and below, were established when gravity was created on the second day. If the holy city, new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven, the sky, then the orientation which was established on the second day is still in effect. We won’t be living in heaven, an empty sky, we’ll be living in the new Jerusalem which will be set upon the original singularity.
The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God shines on it, and the Lamb is its lamp.
(Revelation 21:23) Good News Translation
We should pay attention to the fact that the heaven of the new heaven and new earth is singular. As such, the new heaven is going to be a sky which has nothing in it. There won’t be a sun or moon or anything else to detract from the glory of God, or that could be worshiped as an idol. The new heaven is simply the atmosphere surrounding the new Jerusalem.
Tabernacle
I heard a loud voice speaking from the throne: “Now God’s home is with people! He will live with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. There will be no more death, no more grief or crying or pain. The old things have disappeared.”
(Revelation 21:3-4) Good News Translation
A tabernacle can be a tent, booth, abode, dwelling, mansion, or habitation. It can also be used figuratively to refer to our earthly body, the dwelling place of the soul. Here are a couple of examples:
I think it only right for me to stir up your memory of these matters as long as I am still alive. I know that I shall soon put off this mortal body, as our Lord Jesus Christ plainly told me.
(2 Peter 1:13-14) Good News Translation
For we know that when this tent we live in—our body here on earth—is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live in, a home he himself has made, which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on over us; by being clothed with it we shall not be without a body. While we live in this earthly tent, we groan with a feeling of oppression; it is not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be transformed by life. God is the one who has prepared us for this change, and he gave us his Spirit as the guarantee of all that he has in store for us.
(2 Corinthians 5:1-5) Good News Translation
The tabernacle of God is Jesus Christ. We’ll be living with him in the new Jerusalem. God the father has spent the whole of our age dwelling in a realm of light on the periphery of space. It was necessary for him to do this so that we could experience sentient life with free will and be sinful.
When sin has finally been vanquished and it’s no longer an option then God the father can take up his permanent abode at the center of creation with his people. We’re going to live with God in a city at the center of creation.
Imagery
Pleasantly there are some reasonable artistic impressions of what the new Jerusalem may look like. We are borrowing an image made by Michael Takeo Magruder.
We have frequently said that mainstream science (SciPop) is really nothing but a pseudo-scientific validation of the Star Trek universe. Guess what? The peer review propaganda is winning the battle for your mind. Behold the Borg Cube. It’s foursquare. It’s populated by aliens who intend to assimilate us. It would be funny if is wasn’t so disturbing.
Read through the Bible in a year
| Reading plan | December 1 | |
| Linear | Philippians 1-4 | |
| Chronological | 1 Corinthians 9-11 |
Salvation
- Call upon the name of Jesus Christ,
- believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
- confess your sin.
