The Eternity : Life in the New Heaven and New Earth

THE ETERNITY : LIFE IN THE NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH

The Millenial Kingdom of Christ is just a prelude to the eternal kingdom of God. The Millenial Kingdom must come first to fulfill all the promises of God to Abraham and the nation Israel. Satan will still launch his final revolt after the thousand-year earhly reign of JesusChrist.

"When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth - Gog and Magog - to gather them for battle. "

Revelation 20: 7 - 8

There will be people born during the Millenium who will be deceived by Satan and will join him in his rebellion against God. Satan and his forces will finally be overthrown by the power of God. Then he will be thrown into the Lake of Fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The White Throne Judgement

The white throne judgement is the judgement seat for all the wicked who lived throughout all the ages. The souls of all men who have died in their sins will be released from hell to join their resurrected bodies for the ultimate Judgement Day. The purpose of the great white throne judgement is to give every man a fair trial before God the Fathe and JesusChrist.

"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and Sky fled from His presence and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small standing before the throne and books were opened. Another book was opened which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire."

Revelation 20: 11 -15

The "Lake of Fire" is the final destination of the wicked dead. Hell or Hades is just a temporary place of torment. All those souls of the wicked dead in hell will be released to join their resurrected bodies to face the white throne judgement.

The white throne judgement will expose their wickedness and will give justification for their condemnation. There are "books" that are kept to record all their deeds, words, thoughts while they were living on earth. Nothing will truly be hidden, all the secrets will be revealed as Jesus has spoken in Luke 8:17;

"For there is nothing that will not be disclosed and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into open."

The New Heaven and the New Earth

"For I know the plans I have for you ," declared the Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plan to give you Hope and a FUTURE "

Jeremiah 29: 11

God has been preparing a FUTURE for us, even hundreds of years before the time you were born. This "future" must be something very great, very glorious and awesome. This "future" is not bounded by time and money unlike the future the world could give which is always limited by time and available resources. Generally, if you have limited resources you have also limited future.But God promises us a very great"future" no matter how limited our resources maybe. You may have spent a lifetime of frustrations and failures and still wonder if there could still be a great future awaiting you. Cheer up!

Don't loose hope for you could still be a part of the great "Future" God is preparing for His People.

This Future God has stored for us will begin on the Millenium and will continue through the New Heaven and New Earth. The righteous people of God will enjoy this magnificent "future" which the Lord has been preparing for hundreds even thousands of years.

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth has passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death nor mourning nor crying nor pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Revelations 21 : 1 - 4

The New Jerusalem, the celestial city as it is fondly called by some Christians will someday come down from heaven to take its seat on earth. This city is presently located in heaven. This city will become the residence of all the believers. It is extremely vast that it can house billions of mansions. Architects estimated that a believer could have a Mansion that has an area of a half mile by a half mile. These mansions I believe with all my heart will be breathtaking in beauty. Why I said so ? For God had only six days to create a perfectly beautiful earth, while Jesus has been preparing these mansions since he ascended into Heaven two thousand years ago as He said in John 14:2;

"In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."

This present earth where we live will someday be cleansed and renewed by fire as it is written in 2 Peter 3:10. The earth will become new again. All the toxic wastes, industrial pollutants, electromagnetic waves and other destructive chemicals brought by man's vain technology will be completely eliminated. The earth will be recreated just like the days of Adam and Eve before the fall, it will be just like "Paradise regained."

Once again we could see through the crystal clear waters of Pasig River the beautiful aquatic life beneath it. Even all the private sectors and NGO's joined hand in hand to unite all their efforts and resources to restore Pasig River, still this is somewhat impossible task. They will never be able to restore Pasig River to its original glory, only God can make it.

In eternity, in the New Heaven and the New Earth, we have infinite wonders to explore. The New Earth with all its resources is freely given to the citizens of the heavenly city. And after exploring the whole earth, we have still the entire universe whose wonders are awaiting for the heavenly citizens to be discovered. We will have access both to the New Earth and to the New Heaven or Universe. During this time, traveling to faraway galaxies will be possible.

The Splendor of the Celestial City

"So he took me in spirit to a great high mountain and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. It was filled with the glory o God and sparkled like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper. Its walls were broad and high with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. The wall was made of jasper and the city was pure gold as clear as the glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve gems."

Revelations 21: 10-12, 18 - 19a

A Glimpse of the Celestial City

The New Jerusalem is the abode of God's Kingdom. It is the center of God's heavenly Government. Astronomers reveal that there is a great empty space in the North of Nebula of the constellation of Orion. Its heavenly cavern extremely large and brilliantly beautiful that words are not sufficient to describe it. It was found by gigantic lenses plus long exposures of photographic plates. Astronomers agree that its huge opening is more than 16 trillion miles in diameter. Its exotic beauty and luminous colours are uncomparable. Professor Learkin of Mt. Iowe Observatory gives us the following descritptions:

"For the depths of the Orion nebula appear like torn and twisted objects and river masses of shrine glass, irregular pillars, columns of stalactites and stalagmites from the mighty floor. The appearance is that of lights shining and glowing behind the clear walls of ivory and pearl, studded with millions of diamonds and shining stars. "

No present city in the world may it be Paris, New York, London can equal the grandeur and splendor of the celestial city, the New Jerusalem, the city with pearly gates and streets of pure gold. Paris maybe an extra-romantic place made perfectly for passionate lovers, New York with its towering skyscrapers looks extra brilliant and marvelous during the nights, buts still their wonders are far far behind the elegance and beauty of the celestial city. These cities with all its glories are soon to be destroyed but the glory of the eternal city, the New Jerusalem will shine forever. We as mere ordinary citizens of a third world country may never make it to Paris, New York nor London but we could still hope to make it to the celestial city, the New Jerusalem, whose architect and builder is God.

Some Expectations In the New Earth and New Heaven

Face to Face Fellowship With the Father and JesusChrist

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes."

Revelations 21 :3

God will dwell among men. God will live amidst His people. It will be just like the time of Adam and Eve before the fall, when they enjoyed an intimate fellowship and friendship with God. Men will see the Father, His countenance which remain veiled up to this time will be unveiled before them. They will meet Him in person, the Great and Awsome God of the universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of all the ages, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.We are going to behold God , His beauty, His glory face to face. It is the fulfillment of one of the promises of Jesus in His Beatitudes:

"Blessed are the pure in heart , for they will see God."

Matthew 5:8

It is also written in Revelations 22:4;

"And they will see His face, and His Name will be written in their foreheads."

Jesus once again will walk among us. We can talk to Him as our friend and brother. We can approach Him to ask some of the questions which remain unanswered in our lifetime. The friendship we have started with Jesus that started on earth will blossom even more during this time.

Rich Fellowships And Continuing Friendships

The fellowships that were started in our present generation will continue in the New Heaven and the New Earth. But in eternity, it will be richer and bigger for it will comprise all the believers of all the ages. It will be a fellowship of holy people with pure hearts, and genuinely redeemed people. The worldly and the hypocrites will not be part of this fellowship, therefore there will be no more divisions, nor envyings, nor gossips.The believers will enjoy the love and friendship of one another. Their love is pure, deep and real.

Fellowships in Heaven will be a great opportunity to meet personally the great men and women of the Holy Bible such as Abraham, Moses, Daniel, King David, Elijah , the apostles John, Peter, Matthew and even the great apostle to the Gentiles, Paul. How about a conversation with Daniel and ask him if he ever got married while he was on earth or you may ask Paul how he died.

Meeting new acquaintances and forming new friendships will continue to happen in Heaven. We are going to meet wonderful people in Heaven with awesome hearts for God, people who love deeply and genuinely.

Transportation in the New Heaven and New Earth

There will be no more automobiles nor jets nor any manmade vehicles. Transportation will be chariots of fire drawn by horses that could take you throughout the whole earth and even the entire universe. When the prophet Elijah was taken up into heaven, chariots of fire drawn by horses appeared before him. Elijah was taken up into Heaven by these chariots of fire. In eternity we will be privileged to travel beyond our galaxy , with these chariots of fire. During our time, due to the limited resources we have, we failed to see all the beautiful places of the earth. But in the New Earth, we can visit them all.

The Music of Heaven

One of the greatest sources of delight in heaven is its ethereal music which will remain uncomparable to anything in the world. The hundred million choir of angels herald their songs of praise to God day and night. Their very very fine voices surround the heavenly throne with a glorious anthem,

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength, and honor and glory and blessing. "

Revelations 5 : 11, 12

Life in the New Heaven and New Earth

Life in the New Heaven and New Earth is a "Life of Rest.". Rest from all our labor, rest from all our struggles, rest from all the pressures of earthly life. It will be a rest in the beautiful and ever loving presence of God.

In the New Heaven and New Earth, all our senses are still with us as well as our uniqueness and personality. We will be completely healed from all our sickness and physical defects. If you were blind while on earth, in heaven you will have your sight. There will be healing for all the nations.

Our life there will involve eating and drinking. There will be feasts in heaven such as the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb." We will partake of foods and take delight in them. Jesus with His glorified, resurrected body still had a meal with his disciples. We will parake of food simply for pleasure not for maintaining physical well-being.

In Heaven, our heart will swell with joy upon realization of the great and marvelous things God has stored for us. We will have a deeper understanding of His love which we have not fully grasped while we were on earth and may say someday about this love :

What we have seen is only the tip of the iceberg. What we have known is only the smallest part of the endless love in our Father's heart. As it is written:

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared

For those who love Him."

I Corinthians 2 :9