New Heaven and New Earth

https://odb.org/2026/01/22/longing-fulfilled

Revelation 21:1–4 (NIV): 21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Blaise Pascal famously said there’s an “infinite abyss” inside us that only an infinite God can fill. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord,” Augustine prayed, “and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” As David put it, like thirsty people in the desert, our whole being “longs” for God (Psalm 63:1). For thousands of years this longing has fueled God’s missionary endeavors: sending prophets to win back His straying people and ultimately sending His Son to find His lost sheep (Isaiah 30:18; Luke 19:10). The good news is that in the end, this longing will be fulfilled. “They will be his people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God,” and God and human beings will dwell together (Revelation 21:2-3). (Sheridan Voysey, Our Daily Bread 22nd January 2026)

After God created the heavens and the earth, He placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. But then they sinned, and pain, strife, and death were the result (Genesis 1-3). In Isaiah, the prophet declares that God will one day create “new heavens and a new earth” where “the former things will not be remembered” (65:17; see also 66:22). Later, Peter wrote of “a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). In Revelation 21, John has a vision of this new heaven and new earth, where they’ll be “no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (v. 4). In this vision, Jesus—“he who was seated on the throne” (v. 5)—declares, “those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children” (v. 7). God rejoices when we repent of our sin and seek forgiveness. Those who do will enjoy this new earth with Christ for all eternity. (Alyson Kieda, Insights, Our Daily Bread 22nd January 2026)

It was only not too long back, perhaps ten years ago, that I became acquainted with Revelation 21. The reason was that I previously avoided the book of Revelation when I was growing up as a believer, believing that it’s allegory-like writing to be too difficult for a young Christian to understand. But the fact remains that it is a truthful representation of what Apostle John (the one loved by Jesus as he described himself in the gospel of John) saw in a vision at Patmos Island. He described to the best of his ability, limited by his own vocabulary as well as the things he himself had seen in his life as it then existed (his world and his world view).

However, when it comes to Revelation 21, it is a world that should have existed if sin had not come into the picture. Thus the Bible starts with creation and Eden and ends up with Eden Recreated and as Sheridan writes in today’s ODB article, for thousands of years this longing of God has fueled God’s missionary endeavours and the good news is that in the end, this longing will be fulfilled in Revelation 21 when God Himself will dwell amongst His people.

This brings us to a pertinent point we should all be aware of, that is, heaven is actually a place on earth. Although there could be periods of time when believers who are raptured may dwell in a spiritual heaven, the eternal life of John 3:16 is back on earth. We will live with God as He dwells amongst His people and we will likely live among the animals, trees and plants that Eden originally had, except that there will no more be tears and sorrow since sin is no more and the sea will also no longer be there (Revelation 21:1). Why is that so? We will find out when we are there.

The other pertinent point is that only those whose names are written in the Book of Life will have a place in this new heaven and new earth. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book (Revelation 21:27 NIV). Unlike Eden that was opened to all descendants of Adam and Eve had the Serpent not tempted them into committing the first original sin, this Eden Recreated is only for those who had been justified by their faith, who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and who had run the race until the very end as per Paul’s exhortation in 2 Timothy 4:7 – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

My exaltation and encouragement this morning for all of us is to continue to fight the good fight and finish the race so that our names remain in the Lamb’s Book of Life and we get to enjoy and live in the new heaven and new earth at the end of time for all eternity! Amen!