By Dr. Nathan E. Jones
The Christ In Prophecy
Will we live forever in Heaven or on the New Earth?
Dr. Reagan: A lot of people are surprised to learn that our eternal home is not going to be Heaven but the New Earth.
Tim Moore: The New Jerusalem on the New Earth is going to be Heaven, for what defines Heaven? Heaven is where God is. Wherever God is, that’s where I want to be, and that to me is a heavenly place. It is Heaven. The Scriptures say that the Lord is going to return to reign over the earth. Heaven will come down and God’s glory will fill the earth. When that happens, Ezekiel reveals that Jesus’ name will then become Yahweh Shammah, meaning “the Lord who is there.” The Lord will be there ruling over the earth, and so Heaven will be here. Christians will reign with Jesus on the earth during the coming Millennial Kingdom and then on after into the Eternal State.
Dr. Reagan: Having been raised in an Amillennialism-teaching church, when I first began to believe what the Bible really says about the end times and started the transition to becoming Premillennial in my view, this revelation about Heaven being on the New Earth was one of the things that was the biggest shock to me. I had always been taught that when we died we were going to become like ghosts, we were going to be kind of like spirits, and we were going to float around on clouds and play harps. Heaven wasn’t going to be tangible and material, but an ethereal place filled with spirits. A lot of that kind of thinking is actually due to Eastern religious concepts and not biblical concepts. When I read in the Bible that we are going to be given glorified, eternal bodies and that we are going to live on a new earth, I was shocked. Nobody had ever taught me that, but that is indeed what the Bible teaches.
Nathan Jones: I have always wondered how some can teach that we will be living forever in ethereal bodies, sitting on clouds, and playing harps. Wouldn’t our immaterial hands go right through the harps? Ever since I was a kid, that imagery bothered me.
Rather, John 14 reveals that ever since Jesus ascended to Heaven He has been preparing a place for His children to live. Read Revelation 20-22, for there we learn about this prepared place will be like, and it’s given a name — the New Jerusalem. It’s this super-city that the Lord has been building. And what a structure! John explains that this super-city is going to be 1,500 miles wide, and long, and high. So, it could be a cube or it could be a pyramid. The New Jerusalem will actually come down to a New Earth.
Dr. Reagan: This eternal city will descend down to the New Earth just at the end of the Millennial reign. God is then going to take all of those who are believers in Christ and place them in that glorious new city while He refurbishes the planet, burning off all the effects of sin and the curse. Then the city is going to descend to the purified New Earth, and the Father Himself is going to come and live in our midst. We are going to be living in our new bodies, in the New Jerusalem, on a New Earth, living in the presence of our Creator Jesus forever and ever.
More
christinprophecyblog.org
The Christ In Prophecy
Will we live forever in Heaven or on the New Earth?
Dr. Reagan: A lot of people are surprised to learn that our eternal home is not going to be Heaven but the New Earth.
Tim Moore: The New Jerusalem on the New Earth is going to be Heaven, for what defines Heaven? Heaven is where God is. Wherever God is, that’s where I want to be, and that to me is a heavenly place. It is Heaven. The Scriptures say that the Lord is going to return to reign over the earth. Heaven will come down and God’s glory will fill the earth. When that happens, Ezekiel reveals that Jesus’ name will then become Yahweh Shammah, meaning “the Lord who is there.” The Lord will be there ruling over the earth, and so Heaven will be here. Christians will reign with Jesus on the earth during the coming Millennial Kingdom and then on after into the Eternal State.
Dr. Reagan: Having been raised in an Amillennialism-teaching church, when I first began to believe what the Bible really says about the end times and started the transition to becoming Premillennial in my view, this revelation about Heaven being on the New Earth was one of the things that was the biggest shock to me. I had always been taught that when we died we were going to become like ghosts, we were going to be kind of like spirits, and we were going to float around on clouds and play harps. Heaven wasn’t going to be tangible and material, but an ethereal place filled with spirits. A lot of that kind of thinking is actually due to Eastern religious concepts and not biblical concepts. When I read in the Bible that we are going to be given glorified, eternal bodies and that we are going to live on a new earth, I was shocked. Nobody had ever taught me that, but that is indeed what the Bible teaches.
Nathan Jones: I have always wondered how some can teach that we will be living forever in ethereal bodies, sitting on clouds, and playing harps. Wouldn’t our immaterial hands go right through the harps? Ever since I was a kid, that imagery bothered me.
Rather, John 14 reveals that ever since Jesus ascended to Heaven He has been preparing a place for His children to live. Read Revelation 20-22, for there we learn about this prepared place will be like, and it’s given a name — the New Jerusalem. It’s this super-city that the Lord has been building. And what a structure! John explains that this super-city is going to be 1,500 miles wide, and long, and high. So, it could be a cube or it could be a pyramid. The New Jerusalem will actually come down to a New Earth.
Dr. Reagan: This eternal city will descend down to the New Earth just at the end of the Millennial reign. God is then going to take all of those who are believers in Christ and place them in that glorious new city while He refurbishes the planet, burning off all the effects of sin and the curse. Then the city is going to descend to the purified New Earth, and the Father Himself is going to come and live in our midst. We are going to be living in our new bodies, in the New Jerusalem, on a New Earth, living in the presence of our Creator Jesus forever and ever.
More
Answering Questions About the Eternal State: Our Destination | The Christ in Prophecy Journal
Where do we go when we die? Will we live forever in Heaven or on the New Earth?
christinprophecyblog.org
