“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. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
A few days ago (Easter Sunday) Christians around the world celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why is this important to EVERYONE? Because through belief in Jesus and the fact He died for our sins and rose from the dead says we ALL can be saved if we accept His sacrifice. By doing this we can enjoy eternity with Him. Most people of all major religions believe the notion there is a hereafter and it includes either eternal damnation or eternal salvation. No one knows all the things God has planned for them; both what remains for us yet in this life on earth as well as what awaits us throughout eternity. But those who love God, who have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and understand His Holy Word WILL have those things revealed to them in a way which will explain various aspects of what Heaven WILL be like. This is an Eternal Blessing to those of us who believe. Unfortunately, for those who do not believe in God:
“But the natural man (unbelieving man) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
1 Corinthians 2:14
I believe these two Scriptures clearly tell us in our human, fallen nature we are basically incapable of envisioning ALL of the things God has planned for us, either while we are still alive here on earth or what ultimately awaits us for ALL of eternity. However, by loving God and reading His Word, we can ascertain certain things He did say which do apply to our lives today and even to our eternal time spent with Him. Anyone who shall come to us and proclaims their view of eternity will be spent on a cloud, relaxing, and playing a harp or something similar has obviously never read what God has said! To the unbeliever OR deceiver who also thinks and preaches ALL people will spend eternity in Heaven because a just God and would never punish us eternally for “minor” sins simply has not read what God has said.
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9
God says He doesn’t want anyone to perish BUT they still need to choose to repent of their sins or perish! Unfortunately, many DO NOT believe what God has said. Or, they are simply following the example of what Satan told Eve in the Garden of Eden and are flagrantly disputing what God actually said. That is, God told Adam and Eve they could eat of any of the trees in the garden EXCEPT for the one in the middle called the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17) because if they did eat from that one tree, they would surely die. Satan basically said in a direct rebuttal to what God said, “surely you won’t die.” They did eat and they did die!
If I may, please allow me to quickly remind you of the main time components outlined for mankind in the entire Bible:
- IN THE BEGINNING God created the heavens and the earth, including night and day, land and sea, all living things and lastly, mankind. He saw it was “good.”
- With man’s sinful Fall in the Garden of Eden, this started the corrupt and sinful world in which we now live in today. Man has become sinful and Satan rules much of what goes on the earth.
- In the Last Days Jesus will triumphantly Return at Armageddon and then rule a sin free earth for one thousand years.
- After the final defeat of Satan and the Great White Throne judgement of all unbelievers at the end of the Millennium, those of us previously saved through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Savior will enter a NEW heavenly kingdom on a NEW earth (the old earth is cursed and will be totally destroyed AND replaced with a new Heaven and Earth).
I find it interesting sequentially the very first chapter of Genesis, the FIRST book of the Bible, tells us of God’s Creation and the very last two chapters of Revelation, the LAST book of the Bible describes the Creation of the New Heaven and NEW earth which begins Eternity and what the MAJOR differences are between the two!
So, while no one knows what awaits us who have been saved, we DO know some of the differences between the “old” earth and the “new” earth Jerusalem.
Night and Day
- Old Earth – “And God saw the light , and it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. “ – Genesis 1:4
- New Jerusalem – “And the city (New Jerusalem) had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb (Jesus) is the light thereof.” – Revelation 21-23. “And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.” – Revelation 21:25
Geography
- Old Earth – “And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.” – Genesis 1:10
- New Jerusalem – “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first (old) heaven and the first (old) earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” – Revelation 21:1
Heavens
- Old Earth – “And God made two great lights (sun and moon); the greater light (sun) to rule the day, and the lesser light (moon) to rule the night: he made the stars also.” – Genesis 1:16
- New Jerusalem – “And the city (New Jerusalem) had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb (Jesus) is the light thereof.” – Revelation 21:23
Garden of Eden vs. New City of Jerusalem
- Old Earth – “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food: the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” – Genesis 2:8-9
- New Jerusalem – “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” – Revelation 21:2
Where does the River come from?
- Old Earth – “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden: and from thence it was parted and became into four heads.” – Genesis 2:10
- New Jerusalem – “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” – Revelation 22:1
Tree of Life
- Old Earth – “And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” – Genesis 2:9
- New Jerusalem – “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” – Revelation 22:1-2
Here we are clearly told many of the differences between the “old” earth and the “new” earth (the NEW Jerusalem). No longer will there be night and day, sun or moon, land and sea, etc. Rather, God and the Lamb will become the central point of the Eternal Heaven. I find it very interesting the “new home” of God and the Lamb will NOW be in the New Jerusalem which John, the author of the Book of Revelation, saw “…coming down from God”. In other words, God will not create a Heaven ON earth. Rather, He will bring it DOWN from Heaven already built! Even more interesting is He tells us much about the physical nature of Heaven, down to its structure and size!
“And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven FROM (capitals mine) God.”
Revelation 21:10
“And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. And the city lieth foursquare (each side are equal as in the sides of a square), and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs (approximately 1,500 miles). The length and the breadth AND the height of it are equal.”
Revelation 21:15-16
“And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones…”
Revelation 21:18-19
Do you see the description of the New Jerusalem which will descend from God? According to the Bible (Revelation 21:16), it is a new “city” 1,500 miles wide, 1,500 miles long AND 1,500 miles high!!!! This is equal to 3,375,000,000,000 cubic MILES (1,500 X 1,500 X 1,500). That is almost 3.4 TRILLION CUBIC MILES IN SIZE!! Just doing a quick estimate on my calculator says if you lived in a mansion of 10,000 square feet with 20 foot ceilings (I believe most would view this as a sizeable mansion), you would occupy a space of 200,000 cubic FEET. This says over 735,000 people could live in just ONE cubic mile. Multiple that by the overall size of the New Jerusalem and I believe there is more than enough space for all who are saved! In other words, either our “mansions” will be bigger than that or there is PLENTY of room for all saved throughout the history of the world! Or both! As Jesus Himself said:
“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am , there ye may be also.”
John 14:2-3
Furthermore, it took God 6 days to create the entire world, the universe, and all living things. Jesus has been preparing our “mansions” for almost 2,000 years! Is that one of many reasons we cannot even come close to imagining those things awaiting us in Eternity? It is well beyond our comprehension to even imagine what awaits us because we only have our lives and experience on this earth to compare it to. One of the other things we know about Heaven is we will be with God forever and all our pain and suffering will be gone:
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I will make ALL (capitals mine) things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
Revelation 21:4-5
We have the true Promise of God that whosoever believes in Jesus as their Savior WILL HAVE eternal life with Him. And, all it takes is our acceptance of His sacrifice for our sins to enjoy eternity in the New Jerusalem. That is SO comforting I am compelled to continue again to do as we are ALL told to do, and that is to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.”
May God Bless you and thank you for your interest and telling others about Comfort One Another!