A refreshing development in evangelical theological studies is the new emphasis on the “new earth.” Refreshing to me in particular because of the “Beam me up, Lord” mentality of my generation, a mindset that concentrated on the Rapture of the Church and the Second Coming of Christ. It was heaven-centered, but focused on an ethereal heaven that we would either be “raptured” into alive or the souls our dead bodies had inhabited would be resurrected into. It was somewhere out there; but where was “there”?
As a boy that uncertainty plus the belief I got at church that we would spend eternity singing hymns “somewhere beyond the blue” sure wasn’t something I looked forward to. I enjoyed catching crawdads, frittering away hours in farmer Kelly’s woods, playing “kick the can” with my friends, and just hanging around at home smelling supper and reading Sugar Creek Gang books. That nagging fear of being bored to death with heaven hung on well into adulthood, but I never talked about it. It seemed ungodly and un-Christian.
That’s why the realization I came to a couple decades ago kindled a new hope in my heart—the understanding of the biblical promise that heaven was going to come to earth, and the earth be redeemed by “the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5) and would be refreshed (Acts 3:19), reunified Ephesians 1:9-10), restored (Acts 3:20), reconciled to God (Colossians 1:20): the joyous “Five Rs” of our future existence on God’s good earth!
This truth was unfolded aptly by my friend Mike Wittmer, associate professor of systematic theology at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, in his encouraging book Heaven Is a Place On Earth:
Our temporary stay in heaven—what theologians call the intermediate state—is not the primary focus of Scripture. There are only a few verses that allude to it. Scripture is relatively silent on our intermediate state in heaven because it is not the Christian hope. The Christian hope is not merely that our departed souls will rejoice in heaven, but that, as 1 Corinthians 15 explains, they will reunite with our resurrected bodies.
And where do bodies live? Not in heaven: That’s more suitable for spiritual beings like angels and human souls. Bodies are meant to live on earth, on this planet. So the Christian hope is not merely that someday we and our loved ones will die and go to be with Jesus. Instead, the Christian hope is that our departure from this world is just the first leg of a journey that is round-trip. We will not remain forever with God in heaven, for God will bring heaven down to us. As John explains his vision in Revelation 21:1-4, he “saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” to the earth, accompanied by the thrilling words, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.”
In short, Christians long for the fulfillment of Emmanuel, the divine name that means “God with us.” We don’t hope merely for the day when we go to live with God, but ultimately for that final day when God comes to live with us.
That’s not a message I heard preached as a kid but really would love to have heard. It was hard to live all those years thinking that my future state was going to be boring—and to feel guilty because of that feeling. Later in his book Mike describes what that future state might look like as foretold in part by the ancient prophet Isaiah. He concludes with this thought:
Because redemption
restores rather than obliterates creation, we will find that its completion in our next life will be the fulfillment of our humanity. Nothing will be more satisfying than dwelling with our Father on the earth we call home, enjoying the well-rounded, flourishing lives he intended for us all along. Our next life will look an awful lot like this one, lacking only the suffering that arises from sin.
[Photo by Inspics: http://inspiks.com/]
Now that’s a heaven this old boy can look forward to!
See you outdoors!
Dean
August 24th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Dean, do you suppose that when:
[The earth will be redeemed by “the Lamb who was slain”, and would be refreshed, reunified, restored, and reconciled to God]
that the Lord will remove all the interstate highways, the garbage dumps, the cities as we know them, and that we will live in the natural world similarly to how Adam lived prior to the fall?
Do you suppose that He might allow me to live in the Great Smoky Mountains that I love now, and be able every day to walk the trails with Jesus by my side, no trace of man’s prior litter, no fear of a mountain lion (maybe my grandson lying down beside one) The Timber Rattlesnake and me enjoying each others company.
You know, I don’t have enough time to dream these things to their full, and you don’t have enough space on your server for me to write it either, but can’t our imaginations run wild with optimism as we consider how wonderful the renewed, reconciled, redeemed and refreshed earth might be!!!
Bob
August 24th, 2009 at 9:08 am
I had a very similar experience while “growing up”. Mike Wittmer’s book was a huge sigh of relief for me.
August 24th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Bob,
I spent the better part of Saturday with Blue Heron Ministries in Steuben County, Indiana, a Christian group that is doing land restoration work—mostly prairie restoration—and think I got a feel for a little bit of how God may restore things. One of the major things that Blue Heron does is to burn what it is there now so that the ground is ready to receive seeds from original prairie plants. And man, did they get some awesome results. I am going to do a post on it later today. One neat thing they discovered is that even in the wet prairie there are no mosquitoes because the insect predator/prey relationship has also been restored. Talk about the Curse being removed! (Rev. 22:3). I also think soberly of this passage:
“And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God saying: ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great—and for destroying those who destroy the earth‘” (Rev. 11:16-18).
I’m not sure about the interstate highways, but so much of what we are doing creates so many problems for the earth’s ecosystems—some of which we don’t even yet understand—that I am sure we will be surprised at how much of what we have done “has to go.” I used to think that the endtimes inferno was mostly judgment on those who are obviously evil, but am coming to see it now as something that is ecologically necessary to rebalance God’s natural systems and destroying even the work of God’s people done in ignorance, carelessness, and in defiance of one aspect of the Curse—that we should work by the “sweat of your brow.” It appears that it is our “labor saving” devices and practices that have ultimately done the most damage to the earth.
Yet it is indeed thrilling to contemplate the nature of the new earth after the consummation of our misguided efforts.
Dean
September 19th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Hi Dean, greetings from inspiks.com. Thanks for sharing this post and sharing your thoughts with us, thanks also for using our art to depict the message at the end.
I read a comic book when I was much younger that said, eternity should not be desired, because, we will not feel any pain and our lives will be eternally boring. I thought to myself, this is a lie from the devil and I threw away the book. As I search the scriptures, I find that the new earth will be much more glorious and beautiful than the present one we now enjoy. The scripture gives me great hope, we have no idea of the beauty and splendor God is preparing for us, I think we will be walking around in awe.
I love this passage:
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. ~1 Corinthians 2:9
Just a thought: God took 6 days to create the earth and the entire universe and all that dwell in it, Christ is away preparing a place for two thousand years, I think He is preparing the best for last
God Bless