New heaven and new earth

https://odb.org/MY/2023/07/25/every-grief

I have written before on Revelation 21, and I’m writing it again today. It is about the new Jerusalem and the new heaven and new earth. The dwelling place of God that Isaiah wrote about many years ago in Isaiah 65:17-25 and which the Apostle John was given a glimpse while he was exiled at the island of Patmos.

The eternal life or “life everlasting” that John wrote in John 3:16 is actually Revelation 21. Ironically, heaven will be on earth and not a place in another dimension. As the dead in Christ rises on the second coming of Christ, we will all be given a glorified body, a body that is physical and yet will not be contaminated by sin and will not slowly rot away. On top of that, the place where God dwells among His people will come with unrestricted access to the tree of life, upon which as we partake of the tree, we will continue to live. Thus, Revelation 21 is Eden recreated, as it was at the beginning, and so it will be at the end of time. For Christ is the Alpha and the Omega. This is the hope of glory for all believers. A life lived in eternity with our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why it is said that as believers, we will only have one death and not two, as since we have had two births (natural and spiritual), we will have only one death. https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/born-twice-die-once/

In Matthew 10:12, Jesus warned us not to be afraid of those who want to kill our body but can not touch our souls. Fear only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell. At the end of time, souls that are condemned with the devil and his evil compatriots will be destroyed in hell. That is the second death. You may read about this in Revelation 20.

This beautiful earth with all the creatures and living things created by God for man – we will get to relive it again at the end of time in the new heaven and earth. The original intent of God for man to have dominion over all other creatures on earth will now materialise again. The sin of Adam redeemed by the Lamb of God, the stain and sting of sin are no more!

A word of caution, though. The new heaven and new earth and the new Jerusalem are not for everyone in the sense that not everyone will be there. This future place, this future heaven and earth, is, however, available for anyone who wishes to book a place there. We can do so by accepting Jesus Christ into our lives today as our Lord and Saviour. One day, we will all meet up there at this place for those whose names are written in the Book of Life.