New Heavens and New Earth
ONE
I think many people don’t really look forward to Heaven.
They think it is better than the alternative; they would rather go to Heaven than hell, but most do not passionately long for Heaven.
How do we change this? How do we foster in ourselves and others the desire for Heaven? How do we get people excited about it when they’re not already?
The same way you get them to desire anything. You use your imagination, and you get desirable images which will fire up your desire for Heaven.
Fortunately, we don’t have to look very far to get great images of Heaven. Scripture tells us Heaven will be a “New Heavens and a New Earth” in which the whole universe is raised up and transformed (2 Pet. 3:13).
“New Heavens and a New Earth” means everything good will be in Heaven - all the good things of this life, but none of the troubles of this life.
Imagine all the great things of this life. Then imagine them without any imperfection, without any limitation and without any end – they will be everlasting. That is Heaven.
TWO
To imagine the greatness of Heaven, we need to know the whole visible universe will be raised to life again.
Peter tells us, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the Earth and all that it contains will be burnt up” (2 Peter 3:10). “What we are waiting for is what God promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home” (2 Peter 3:13).
The whole visible universe with all the planets will be raised up and transformed. Everything good in this world will be there but without all the problems. There will even be dogs in Heaven. Psalm 36:6 seems to tell us so. Now, I don’t know if your dog will be in Heaven. But it seems to me it should be dogs that we petted in this life.
I like when we say of those in Heaven “Rest in peace”, and I look forward to everlasting peace – but not an everlasting nap because I want to do stuff in Heaven. Well, we will do stuff, let me tell you! Heaven will be dynamic rather than static, exploring rather than staring at God, endless beginnings rather than merely the end because the whole visible universe will be renewed and transformed.
I really believe God gave me a glimpse of what this new heavens and earth will be like in Alaska at the Turnagain Inlet in a little town called Girdwood. This is where the Alaskan Rockies meet the Pacific Ocean at one place. We were there when it was light for 24hrs a day. One Sunday morning, I got up for a hike and hiked up 2000 feet to the top of a mountain, sat down, and looked out over the ocean. I could see whales and eagles and otters. I cried out to the Lord, I said, “Lord, why do I live in Kansas?”
He said to me, “Michael, this is nothing in comparison to Heaven. For the whole world is going to be transformed. There you will be able to go from peak to peak to peak, and each time it only gets better. So get back to Kansas and do the work I wanted you to do. Place your hope in Heaven.”
THREE
In the Creed we profess every Sunday: I believe in the resurrection of the body
The Resurrection of the Body means that not only your immortal soul will live on after death, even our “mortal body” will come to life again. Through His own Resurrected body, Jesus gives us a glimpse of what our bodies will be like. His body was not bound by time or space:
· He could go wherever He willed whenever He willed
· He could pass through locked doors
· He could change forms and not be recognized
· He could still eat and drink with the Apostles
Like the Risen Body of Jesus, our new body will be immortal. We will no longer be subject to sickness, injury, death or decay. We will have indestructible life.
In this life, we’re subject to the laws of nature, but in Heaven, our resurrected bodies, the laws of nature will be subject to us. We will have the ability to go anywhere in the world we choose at any moment simply by an act of will or choice. We will not need to breathe, or eat, or drink or sleep; yet we will be able if we want to. In Heaven, we will live by the principle of “Freedom from need.”
We will be truly super-human in Heaven because we will share in the supernatural life of God!
FOUR
Revelations 21:4 tells us that in Heaven death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. In Heaven, death, mourning, crying and pain will be gone forever! But that is just the beginning of the list of Heaven’s “positive negatives.” The full list is almost literally endless. In Heaven, God’s people “shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat” (Revelation 7:16).
There will be no stresses, no pressures, no failures, no baffling problems, no remorse, no guilt trips, no unsatisfied desires, and no lost causes. There will be none of the sad effects of separation and divorce, no breakdowns in families or society, no need to guard against anything being stolen, no business failures, no declining industries, no corrupt politics, no injustice, no deprivation of any kind, no sad or tragic news in the media. There will be nothing that will bring doubt, concern, unease or annoyance. There will be no let-downs and no complaints. There will be no unproductive days, sleepless nights or wasted time. Even the weather will be perfect all the time.
Maybe best of all, in Heaven you will know without doubt your infinite personal worth as will everyone else and we will all delight in the goodness of God and one another.
In Heaven there will be no danger and nothing to lose, and you will be perfectly safe.
Yet in Heaven, we will learn and experience and grow and become more and more like God forever.
FIVE
Only three things go with us from this life into the next life:
1. Our friendship with God
2. Our friendship with others, for that is the Communion of Saints
3. What we become as human persons:
a. A virtuous adopted son or daughter of God
OR
b. A demonic vicious beast
That should teach us that the most important things we should work on every day are just that, intimacy with God in prayer and the sacraments; friendships with one another, in the family and beyond; and getting rid of our vices, which make us vicious, and growing in virtue (especially humility and courage), which makes us more like God.
If these are the only things that last, then how are we doing on each one?