The New Heavens and New Earth
ONE
CCC 1042 At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign forever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be renewed.
What will this mean for us?
Both the Bible and the Catechism teach us that to be in Heaven is to be like God and live like God forever. 1 John 3:2 “we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is.”
Now, we cannot be like God apart from God; however, God’s plan is to share His divine nature with us and transform us
TWO
Peter 1:3-4 By his divine power, he has given us all the things that we need for life and for true devotion…In making these gifts, he has given us the guarantee of something very great and wonderful to come: through them you will be able to share the divine nature and to escape corruption in a world that is sunk in vice.
St. Irenaeus, St. Athanasius and St Thomas Aquinas
God became man so that man might become god
We are born into this world with a human nature only. At Baptism God infuses a second nature, His divine nature into us. We call this Sanctifying Grace.
Then through His grace and our cooperation by the practice of Virtue, we become like God, we are transformed to share in all of the attributes of God our Heavenly Father.
Grace alone is not enough, because we have free will. That is why we must get rid of our vice and practice the virtues, especially humility.
What prevents you from removing vice and practicing virtue?
THREE
In the Creed we profess: I believe in the resurrection of the body
Jesus said: It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him up on the last day.' John 6:40
The Resurrection of the Body means
· Not only the immortal soul lives 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 and whenever he willed
· He could pass through locked doors
· He could change forms and not be recognized
· Yet 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 were subject to the laws of nature. In Heaven, in our resurrected gloried bodies, the laws 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 the will or choice
· St Thomas called this the gift of “agility”
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
· b/c we will share in the very nature of God!
FOUR
Not only will our bodies be resurrected and glorified, Scripture tells us that the visible universe is destined to be transformed. Heaven will be a “New Heavens and a New Earth”
· 2 Pet. 3:10 What we are waiting for is what he promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home.
The New Heavens and New Earth” means that everything good about this world will be present in Heaven
There will be dogs in heaven
· Psalm 36:6 seems to tell us so
· I don’t know if your dog will be in heaven
· But why not dogs that we had relationships with here
I like that we say of those in Heaven “Rest in peace”, and I look forward to everlasting peace – but not an everlasting nap…I want to do stuff. 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 world will be renewed and transformed
God gave me a glimpse of Heaven in Alaska
· Turn-Again Inlet
· Girdwood – Alyeska resort
· Mountains and the Ocean meet at one place
· Light 24hrs a day
· Sunday morning hike and meditation
· Lord, why do I live in Kansas?
· Michael this nothing in comparison to heaven
· For the whole world is going to be renewed
· There you may go from peak to peak to peak
· Each time it only gets better
Before this world is resurrected and transformed - everything in it will come to an end.
2 Peter 3:10 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.
That is why I don’t do lawn care.
Only three things go with us into the next life
1. Friendship with God
2. Friendship with others – that is the Communion of Saints
3. What we become in our nature:
a. a virtuous adopted son of God;
b. or a demonic vicious beast
That should teach us that the most important things we should work on every day are friendship with God in prayer and the sacraments; friendship with one another, in the family and beyond; and getting rid of our vices and growing in virtue – especially humility and courage.
If these are the only things that last – how are you doing on each?
FIVE
We conclude with a prayer to the Holy Family to help us live out the only things that last:
Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph
I consecrate myself entirely to you.
As you lived friendship with Jesus and the Father; move me to desire the same.
As you lived friendship with one another and invited many people into your home at Nazareth;
I ask you to place in my life those who are meant to be my spiritual friends;
And help me to be the person that reaches others or that can be reached.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, come and live in me the virtues of humility, courage, boldness, perseverance, initiative, hospitality and especially the spirit of generosity to overcome all of my self-absorption.
Amen