Back to: Heaven: Alcorn
Heaven On Earth
Heaven, God’s dwelling place, will one day be on the New Earth.
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In Scripture, it is (almost) always God who comes down to interact with man:
Genesis 3:8 ESV
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Exodus 33:9-11 ESV
When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. [10] And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. [11] Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
That God would come down to the New Earth to live with us fits perfectly with his original plan.
John 14:23 ESV
Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
This is a picture of God’s ultimate plan-not to take us up to live in a realm made for him, but to come down and live with us in the realm he made for us.
Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us and would take us there to live with him forever (John 14:2-3). Yes. But what is that place? Revelation 21 makes it clear—it’s the New Earth. That’s where the New Jerusalem will reside when it comes down out of Heaven. Only then will we be truly home.
DISCUSSION: what would have to happen for us to ‘go up’ to where God dwells?
God’s special dwelling place is by definition Heaven, and we are told that “the dwelling of God” will be with mankind on the redeemed Earth (Revelation 21:3). So the present Heaven and the New Earth will be essentially the same place.
Some characteristics of the New Earth.
The book of Hebrews seems to say that we should see Earth as a derivative realm and Heaven as the source realm…We should stop thinking of Heaven and Earth as opposites and instead view them as overlapping circles that share certain commonalities.
A CITY
Hebrews 13:14 NIV
For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
Cities have buildings, culture, art, music, athletics, goods and services, events of all kinds. And, of course, cities have people engaged in activities, gatherings, conversations, and work.
A COUNTRY.
Hebrews 11:16 NIV
Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
(countries) have territories, rulers, national interests, pride in their identity, and citizens who are both diverse and unified.
Revelations 21-22.
Rivers, mountains, trees, animals, gems, and more ‘Earthly’ things
The 3 Eras of Mankind and Earth
The church is constantly being tempted to accept this world as her home . . . but if she is wise she will consider that she stands in the valley between the mountain peaks of eternity past and eternity to come. The past is gone forever and the present is passing as swift as the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz. Even if the earth should continue a million years not one of us could stay to enjoy it. We do well to think of the long tomorrow.
A. W. Tozer
Creation Redeemed
God has never given up on his original creation. Yet somehow we’ve managed to overlook an entire biblical vocabulary that makes this point clear. Reconcile. Redeem. Restore. Recover. Return. Renew. Regenerate. Resurrect. Each of these biblical words begins with the ‘re-‘ prefix, suggesting a return to an original condition that was ruined or lost.
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Romans 8:18-25,28 ESV
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 firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [24] For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? [25] But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. [28] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Word Study: Re
Reconcile.
Redeem.
Restore.
Recover.
Return
Renew.
Regenerate.
Resurrect
Christ’s mission is both to redeem what was lost in the Fall and to destroy all competitors to God’s dominion, authority, and power. When everything is put under his feet, when God rules all and mankind rules the earth as kings under Christ, the King of kings, at last all will be as God intends. The period of rebellion will be over forever, and the universe, and all who serve Christ, will participate in the Master’s joy!
Heaven, as the eternal home of the divine Man and of all the redeemed members of the human race, must necessarily be thoroughly human in its structure, conditions, and activities. Its joys and activities must all be rational, moral, emotional, voluntary and active. There must be the exercise of all the faculties, the gratification of all tastes, the development of all talent capacities, the realization of all ideals. The reason, the intellectual curiosity, the imagination, the aesthetic instincts, the holy affections, the social affinities, the inexhaustible resources of strength and power native to the human soul must all find in heaven exercise and satisfaction. Then there must always be a goal of endeavor before us, ever future. . . . Heaven will prove the consummate flower and fruit of the whole creation and of all the history of the universe.
A.A. Hodge