Last week we talked about what our new glorified bodies will be like. Let’s review. Our glorified bodies will be fully clothed and illuminated by righteousness just like Adam and Eve before sin.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 “42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
Here we see the four characteristics of a glorified body that we will all share. Your glorified body is imperishable, meaning it will last forever. It is not subject to death and decay like our current body. It will be glorious, meaning it will be honorable. It will be powerful and it will be spiritual.
These new glorified bodies will be necessary because we will live on a new re-created earth. This is where we will continue our discussion this week. Here is our first question. What will the new earth be like?
This new earth will function and look the way God made the earth originally. God’s original design was perfect, but through man’s disobedience, the earth’s management was surrendered to Satan. The earth has been on a path towards destruction ever since. Things are not getting better, they are getting worse.
Romans 8:18-23 “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free
from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
All of creation was subjected to futility. To us futility just means useless. Like trying to pour coffee into a cup that has no bottom. No matter how much coffee you pour in, it will never be full. The pouring is a futile act.
But the word that was translated to futility in English has a much stronger definition of what happened to the earth and what it was subjected to. The Greek word is ma-tah-yo-tace. It means devoid of truth and appropriateness. It means perverseness, depravity and frailty. This current earth is in bondage to corruption and groans to be free.
We also groan to be free from these earthly decaying bodies. Our adoption as sons of God comes with it the promise of the redemption of our bodies. We need a new body for a new earth.
But, before we can live on a new re-created earth, this current one has to go away. Just like our current body will be replaced with a new glorious one, so the earth be replaced with a new perfect one. This will all happen on The Day of The Lord.
1 Peter 3:10-13 “10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which
the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
The Day of The Lord will be quite the event. The current heavens and earth will be destroyed by fire. But then comes the new heavens and the new earth. Did you see what dwells in the new earth...Righteousness. Let’s now explore this new heaven and earth.
Revelation 21:1-5 “1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, newJerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no
more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
This is what we can expect in the new earth. God will dwell with us.
Think about that for a minute. God has always desired to dwell with His created family of mankind. His presence was there as a cloud by day and a fire by night when Israel was in thew wilderness. He instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant, over which His presence dwelt, He became flesh and dwelt among us according to John 1.
In the new earth God will dwell with man, the way He originally intended with Adam and Eve. That is basically the concept for the new earth. Everything will be as God originally intended in the beginning. In the end...it will be like the beginning.
Just like it was for Adam and Eve before the fall, there will be no more tears. Death will be no more. No mourning or crying or pain. These are the former things of this current fallen cursed earth that will pass away. God is going to make everything brand new. One more thing that will be no longer is the memory of the things that caused the sadness, crying, pain and mourning.
Isaiah 65:17-18 “17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.”
So we know what won’t be in the new earth, but what will be there? What will it be like? What else can we expect?
Isaiah 65:21-24 “21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
This passage tells us some of the things that we will be doing. It contrasts our current system of working for others and not being able to enjoy the reward of that work. Do you work now? Do you get to enjoy all the reward for that work or does it go to the
company profit or CEO salary? In the new earth we will enjoy all that we work for. Our labor will not be in vain, it will be blessed.
There will be no floating around on clouds playing harps.
Isaiah 65:25 “25 The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.”
In the new earth animals will not be a danger to us or each other.
Isaiah 66:22-24 “22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain. 23 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord. 24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Can you imagine how grateful you’d be to be in the new earth
going to worship God and on the way you see those who rejected God. They are described as having dead bodies, but not dead spiritually...in a condition of eternal fire. They are a reminder of what it means to reject God.
Revelation 21:10-21 gives us a description of the capital city... New Jerusalem. The dimensions and building materials are listed in that passage. Those are interesting and have a depth of symbolism but we won’t go into that today. Instead, I want us to focus on what it’s like inside.
Revelation 21:22-27 “22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the
city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
Now that you have a basic idea of what the new heaven and earth will be like I want to read a couple sections from a book written by Tommy and Karen Drumm. He is a pastor and evangelist in Texas who went through multiple brain surgeries and during his time in the hospital unconscious, he experienced what can only be described as a trip to the place that lies beyond this life for believers.
The book is titled “Just Beyond the Door.” It only deals with the afterlife description for a couple of chapters. Most of the book deals with what his wife Karen experienced while Tommy was going through multiple life threatening situations in the hospital. It’s a story of faith, prayer and thanksgiving during a horrific situation. Tommy writes:
All of my senses were active and normal. I was not asleep, I was definitely awake and aware that I had stepped into the beyond. My faculties were as they are right now while writing this book. Within moments, I just appeared instantly, walking down a country road on a “whiter than snow” gravel like substance. I had absolutely no apprehension and no fear of anything as I ventured on my new excursion. I noticed there were no sharp edges in the gravel nothing existed that would harm anyone or anything.
As if I had been there many times before I knew where I was. I knew I was in heaven, and I had crossed the finish line. It was like returning home after a long long trip. Everything I saw and felt was familiar to me, with no explanations needed. It was not a foreign place to me. It was exactly who I was right now on earth but without flaws and without mystery. It was within a moment of time, and I was walking in a terrestrial land of sudden peace and safety.
My experience begins with me standing on this road for just a moment, and then being drawn by this inner intuition to walk forward on this road. I yielded to my inner feeling and made my move. While I was walking down that road, I noticed an amazing peace encompass me, as though a warm blanket of comfort was wrapped around me. In all my life I have never known such peace.
The atmosphere was filled with this overwhelming presence of love not an icky sticky gooey feeling but a warm calm atmosphere, absolutely nothing could ever hurt anyone ever again. It may be hard to grasp, but even the knowledge of fear, worry, depression, heartache, trouble and torment did not exist.
I did not even think, at that moment, that the negativity we were used to constantly being bombarded with every day did not exist. It was not until I came back to lying in the hospital bed that it dawned on me, that pain on any level does not exist there. God does not permit it at all. There were no aches, sickness or death. Nothing negative had permission to exist
The peace that passes all understanding mentioned in the Bible opened up before my very eyes. The peace of mind I experienced was overwhelming, like a warm blanket wrapped around me. There was this never ending, overwhelming restfulness, intermingled with joy.
There was a feeling of never ending, strong loving arms wrapped around me and I knew that it was him...Jesus.
Shadows did not exist. Shadows require an item or someone standing in one place and the light remaining in another place shining only on one side of it. Imagine yourself standing in a doorway with the sun behind you in the light casting its way around you. The illumination of the light will cast a shadow into the house. But not in heaven.
The glory of God is everywhere all the same time. Since He is omnipresent, He is at one place and yet his glory is all around. No matter where you are standing or walking he is there. Since God himself and His glory are one in the same, the light is equally the same. Everywhere you turn the presence of the Lord is everywhere. His light is everywhere. Since his light is everywhere, there are no shadows. The light of the Lord is equally brilliant everywhere all in the same place. He is omnipresent
There were flowers everywhere. Each of them had a childlike personality. It was as though they had a playful happy life themselves. The faces of the flowers looked as though they could've looked up at me and spoken. They did not talk, but it would not have surprised me at all if they had stood up on their petals and sang. All they, like everything else, carried the same sweetness of the spirit of God Himself. Every living thing, every living soul looks up to Him as their soul provider. Even the little flowers look to Him with great adoration. Their entire desire was to worship Jesus. The only thing everything wanted to do with all their heart was to worship Him. There was not anything or anyone that did not give him attention and adoration.
I looked up and heading my direction were three angelic men. They were dressed in pearly white attire that glistened from head
to toe. As they walked, their robes shimmered in the light that gave off a sparkling, glimmering light.
Their garments were made with interwoven flexible diamonds and other precious gems. The diamonds crinkled with the fabric as the garments moved. These particular heavenly diamonds were not hard as they are on earth. And when the fabric was released, it left no wrinkles or pieces. I also noticed there were no seams, then I remembered the Bible describe Jesus robe as seamless the best money could buy in that day. When I saw there were no wrinkles in the fabric of their clothes, I instinctively knew that wrinkles do not exist there, because they represent a defiled church. Wrinkles represent imperfection, uncared for garments and there are no imperfections in God's presence.
When I looked up from the road I saw a wall surrounding an estate. I knew it was my estate. The wall was made from pure white stone something like marble or alabaster with colorful veins running through it. It was the most majestic and beautiful stone I had ever seen. It wrapped around the estate as a wall of protection, even though there was not any need for protection.
I took time to walk around the wall before I entered. I walked through the gates, and they were of massive stature and remained open all the time. There was never any need to close these gates because there were no enemies and no nighttime there.
I walked up a few steps and entered the foyer of the building. One of the first things I noticed was the decorated walls that were completely lined with beautiful different sizes of oil paintings. Looking at the paintings, I saw exquisite colors surrounded by gold frames. There was one painting that stuck out to me that was like a landscape of trees and rolling hills. Instantly, I knew I could step into the painting and walk around and be immediately in a different dimension of heaven, if I chose
to. The painting was alive, a type of portal from one place to the next. None of which would ever take me out of the presence of God. He was in every dimension.
Tommy meets Jesus
I was escorted without anyone's assistance, and instantly before him. He was kind and considerate and he radiated love. He is love. You cannot separate the two, they are one in the same. When I saw him I realized a lot of things I had not seen before. He was the answer to all of life's questions and problems and without him nothing was made. He is life. There is no life outside of him, it does not exist anywhere. He wore the whitest, most pearl robe which extended all the way down to his ankles. His shoes were tan colored leather like sandals. There was an iridescent sash wrapped around him, that was purpleish blue which changed colors as he moved. The colors had life deep inside them as though they were alive themselves. And they represented the whole human race He created.
Out of all that was shown on the journey to heaven and as beautiful as it was I will never forget how overwhelmed I became when I saw...His eyes. They were captivating to the point I felt myself being drawn to him and him alone. I've never seen such beautiful eyes. I've never felt such a piercing gaze from someone as I did from Him. He knew me, every part of me, from inside out. There was no condemnation, there was no fear. I was drawn to him. I was drawn into his Eyes
Here, I was surrounded by Him alone and there was no way any harm would come. The safest place in the entire known universe is in Christ. Suddenly, a safe “nowhere” place encompassed me. I was not floating around clouds, I was just there suspended somewhere before Him. it was comfortable like my hand in His.
There was no sound from his voice but I heard every word he spoke to me.
I heard Him say “you can either come in and stay with me, or go back and finish the work I gave you to do.”
Now please note, that I never thought of my son or my wife while in heaven and with Jesus. Not because I do not love them, but because of him, there is fullness of life. The moment I knew there was still more that I could do for Him, I told him I will go back and finish the work. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the hospital. I was supposed to have died on that table, but God had a different plan. I'd come back to tell you about Jesus and this wonderful place called heaven. I would not miss it for the world if I were you.
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