It’s true; we will never live where God rules from today. In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever. Heb 1:10-12 (NLT) God lives today where the Devil has worked his evil against God both with angels and with men. But Christians are going to see something wonderful in the future. God is going to move to a new place. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” Rev 21:3, 5 (NLT) The new home of God will be in a new sacred place where there is no sin and there never was, nor ever will be. God is going to change his home TO LIVE with us. Wow!
Many people like to say that this old earth will be rebuilt into our eternal home. The Scriptures tell us something totally different. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. 2 Peter 3:10-13 (NLT.) Someday, God will get rid of everything that exists today and He will start over with everything brand new. Our new home will never be exposed to sin and because God is living with us, we will live in righteousness forever.
Our new world is going to be called heaven and it will be huge. A conservative estimate of size would probably be at least 4 million miles around the center of it. Remember that the capital city is the New Jerusalem and it is 1500 miles tall. A large city must sit on a good foundation and a proportionate earth would need to be at least 4 million miles around or bigger. The idea that we will remain on this small planet must come from the Devil who cannot create anything new himself. In fact, this earth and our old universe is so insignificant that the Old Testament says we will not even remember them at all. Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! Isaiah 65:17-18 (NLT) Our wonderful God is unlimited and He has great plans for our future.
The fact is that our God could not join us on this planet because it is far beneath the size required for God. After all he holds the earth in his hand. But will God really live on earth? (No) Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! 1 Kings 8:27 (NLT) Solomon knew that God was very big and he asked in his prayer only that God’s “name” would live in his beautiful temple. In the future, eternity will change by combining the world of God with the creation that God has waiting for us. This is a new work of God and it will be truly miraculous. It will include a great new city with gates and walls that have Hebrew names written on them. It bothers some people that the Jews will be memorialized in the New Jerusalem but it is very clear in the description of the city given in Revelation chapter 21:12-14. Even the Old Testament promises it; As surely as my new heavens and earth will remain, so will you always be my people, with a name that will never disappear,” says the Lord. Isaiah 66:22 (NLT). It is wonderful to be a servant of God on this earth because of our future.
But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. Phil 3:20-21 (NLT) This new place is what we dream about and it is large and beautiful. There has always been an intermediate time between the death of our earthly bodies and the receiving of our glorious new bodies. This time of waiting may be the reason many people think they will be a disembodied soul floating around in some cloudy place. This popular idea is gives a totally wrong view of eternity. The Bible gives us some facts about the great city where Christians will live some day and it is made of many fabulous materials and we will live in great mansions.
Everything will be different. The first thing mentioned is the missing oceans. The old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. Rev 21:1 (NLT). Most of the earth today is covered by water because the sin of people caused God to bring about the great flood. Maybe there are no oceans on the new earth because there never was any sin? We know that it will be a happy place because there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. Rev 21:4 (NLT). This means there will be no graveyards or any need for lineage or family trees. Everyone has heard about the gates of our city. The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. Rev 21:21 (NLT). Some people do not believe in twelve pearls of this size. If they cannot believe in the huge pearls or the street of pure gold then they probably cannot believe that God has saved us from our own sinful life. They probably don’t believe that giving up earthly things to serve God will be well worth the effort.
In our future are unlimited wonders that we cannot explain to anyone on this earth. Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. Rev 22:1-5 (NLT). The servants of God must learn to believe anything He says and rejoice in the reality of what we know our Heavenly Father will give us someday. Heaven is our BIGGEST blessing.
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faith is our victory
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