NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH - Jesus Revolution - Bible Study

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband." - REVELATION 21:1–2

Perhaps the most popular picture of heaven is the cartoonish scene of an angel strumming a harp while sitting on a cloud. How many times have you seen death represented by a spirit floating out of a cartoon body and into the sky? While most of us would laugh at such childish depictions, knowing not to take them as serious theological expressions, we may also not have a much better description to offer for our eternal life after death.

What does Revelation 21:1–3 reveal about our future home with God? Do we go “up” to live with Him? Are we disembodied spirits? Will we leave earth forever?

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What does Revelation 21:4–6 promise?

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Although the scene is clearly worshipful, how is Revelation 21:22–22:5 different than turning into an angel who plays a harp in the clouds?

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In the end—which is really just a new beginning—God will finally live among His people. All of Creation will be in perfect harmony with God and each other. Christ will make all things new, not all new things. We don’t abandon this world when we die and fly away to the sweet by and by. Ultimately, God brings heaven and earth together, and His new city is established on earth. So, on the one hand, you will live forever in heaven, but you will also live forever on a redeemed earth. You don’t go to heaven for eternity in a ghostlike spiritual state to be with God. He comes down from heaven to be with you as you live eternally in a renewed physical body on a renewed planet earth.

God’s plan for humanity and the world didn’t fail. He didn’t throw away His original design and go back to the drawing board after sin and death entered into Creation. The entire Bible tells the story of how God created all things in the beginning and is making all things new in the end. (Gen. 1–3 and Rev. 21–22.) His desire is to be with His people—forever.

What are you most looking forward to from this description of the new heaven and earth?

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How does it change the way you think about your life now to see that eternity is not a completely different type of non-physical existence?

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What does it reveal about God to see that from beginning to end His purpose has not changed for your life and for all of humanity?

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To end, read and reflect on Revelation 22:20. Pray that your heart would eagerly desire for the Lord Jesus to come soon.

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