Even among Christians, there can be some confusion about where we will spend eternity. Virtually all Christians believe that immediately following death, we are escorted into heaven—there is clear New Testament evidence for this. The Apostle Paul says, “We…would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). The source of the confusion is centered around the final eternal destination of the believer—Christians generally believe that heaven is our eternal home…it might surprise you to read that this notion has far less biblical support than we might think.
In the beginning, human beings were created to inhabit the earth. Our mission, as described in the early chapters of Genesis, was to populate and manage this planet, and do so in a way that honored our Creator. Obviously, we failed at this task and continue to do so. However, the great message of the Bible is that God did not give up on us, but immediately activated a plan for our redemption. This glorious plan manifested itself in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Through the Lord Jesus, God is redeeming humanity for the purpose of fulfilling his initial plan, a plan to live among his people on a planet that is righteous and holy.
The Bible mentions three heavens, generally understood this way: The first heaven, the atmosphere (or troposphere), is the space around the Earth and includes the air we breathe, where winged creatures fly, and clouds exist. The second heaven, that is, the stellar heaven, is the space where the sun, moon, stars, and planets are located (the universe). Finally, the third heaven, God’s dwelling place, at times referred to as paradise, where our created spiritual counterparts live…angels, cherubim, seraphim, and others—this is the heaven we have in mind when we think about dying. In 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, Paul describes being caught up to the third heaven (paradise) and hearing things so wonderful and profound that no one is allowed to tell of them—unfortunately for us, this included Paul.
Regarding our inhabiting this place, the New Testament describes heaven more as a spiritual “halfway house,” so to speak, for redeemed human beings waiting for the final fulfillment of the promises made by God. Though heaven is certainly the destination for all who have placed their faith in Christ, it is not the final destination for us. The New Testament repeats clearly the promise spoken through Isaiah the prophet that there will be a time of a new heavens and a new earth (see Isaiah 65:17, 66:22). The Apostle Peter describes the current heavens and earth as eventually passing away dramatically and ushering in a new heavens and a new earth, “… the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11-13). This, of course, is in reference to the first and second heavens.
The apostle John expands on this future event in the Book of the Revelation, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4).
In the final two chapters of the Book of the Revelation, the description of the eternal destiny for followers of Jesus Christ is clearly the new Eden on the new earth, where God reigns with his people from the New Jerusalem. Much of the activity we are familiar with on our current planet will be happening on the new earth, as well, but without any of the terrible corruption that has come upon this earth through sin.
To inhabit this new earth, redeemed humanity will experience the bodily resurrection of the righteous, discussed in both the Old and New Testaments. The New Testament in particular is adamant about the fact that we are not going to be spirits hovering around throughout eternity, but we will receive new bodies, tangible bodies, that are fit for inhabiting the kingdom of God on the new earth. The Apostle Paul speaks explicitly about this in his letters to the Corinthian Christians. In First Corinthians, he explains that in a flash this body will give way to a new body that is fit for heaven, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
In Second Corinthians, Paul describes this new body as a building that God has prepared for us, a building that will replace this feeble tent we currently live in, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life” (2 Corinthians 5:1-4, NLT).
It is true, when followers of Christ die now, we do indeed go to heaven and reside in the presence of the Lord in some spiritual form. However, that spiritual form will be transformed when we are given a new, physical body, designed to live forever in the presence of God on the new earth—our eventual destination. The notion that we die and are forever released from this body, much like a bird might be released from a cage, is not biblical theology, in fact, that idea is derived from paganism. Biblical theology, both Old and New Testament, is adamant that the future of the redeemed involves a transformed physical body that will live forever, without sin, sickness, and death on the new earth.
According to the Bible, Jesus’ resurrected body was physical and identical to the body he had before his crucifixion. His resurrected body was made of flesh and bone, and could be felt and touched, his disciples and followers recognized him after his resurrection, and his resurrected body had the same crucifixion wounds he had before his death. Luke records the following, “He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’” (Luke 24:37–39). On more than one occasion, Jesus ate with his disciples, as well, something a spirit likely would not do (see Luke 24:30; John 21:9-14). The Apostle John also tells us that, in the future, we will be like Christ, “Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
This new earth, this incomprehensible paradise, is our final destination, our forever home. The qualities of our future home are scarcely referred to in the Bible because the focus of the Scripture is undeniably God’s activity on this planet. Nevertheless, the few references and allusions are powerful, to say the least. The Apostle Paul, in a bit of personal testimony, tells of a time when he was “caught up to paradise” and “heard inexpressible things, things that a mere man is not permitted to tell.” In fact, Paul was given by God a chronic ailment of some kind, “a thorn in the side”, to remind him not to become arrogant because of the incredible revelation he had experienced (see 2 Corinthians 12:3-10).
What could he have seen that he was not allowed to share? We will only know when we get there ourselves. However, we do know that so much of what characterizes this planet will be noticeably absent in God’s kingdom. Think about it—no hospitals, doctors’ or dentists’ offices, no funeral homes, no jails or prisons, no police officers or military personnel, no pollution or natural disasters, no famine, homelessness, or racism. The Apostle John testifies that he saw a new heaven and new earth and that the first heaven and earth (this heaven and earth) had passed away—the Lord Jesus, who sits regally upon his throne declares, “I am making everything new!” (see Revelation 21:1 ff.).
All redeemed human beings living in total peace and harmony, joyously serving one another and celebrating who we are in Christ. What John saw in a vision will be our experience one day, living together with all those purchased by the blood of Jesus, “…with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God” (Revelation 5:9-10). The peace that countless thousands have worked so diligently to achieve on this planet, only to fail over and over again, this peace will be the norm in the kingdom of God—with nothing left to divide us, we will be intimately united in and with Christ.
And animals…what about animals? When God created this planet, prior to creating the first humans, he filled it with a myriad of creatures…mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. When he was finished creating, he declared that all things were “very good” (see Genesis 1:31). It is hard to imagine that the creator would not include in the new creation what he thought was “very good” in this creation. Some of the most precious Old Testament imagery of a perfected world certainly includes animals: wolves living in harmony with lambs, leopards napping with goats, lions playing with calves, and children leading wolves, leopards, and lions; calves and bear cubs sleeping together, lions eating straw like oxen, human babies playing with cobras and young children putting their hands into the viper’s nest (see Isaiah 11:6-9).
The Apostle Paul explains that all of creation fell under a curse due to humanity’s sin and is now eagerly waiting to be “liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). This verse implies that creation has a “collective consciousness,” so to speak, and is painfully aware of the curse as well as the promise of redemption. If God imbued creation with this awareness, it indicates he does indeed have a special love for all that he created, including the animal kingdom. It is not a difficult jump to believe his future kingdom will be populated with similar creatures. In fact, though it could be argued that the language is nothing more than imagery, horses are mentioned several times in the Book of Revelation—the armies of heaven are seen riding horses, including Jesus himself (see Revelation 6:2, 19:14). Likewise, Elijah was taken to heaven by what appeared to be horses pulling a chariot (see 2 Kings 2:11).
Many of us wonder what we will be doing throughout eternity; will it be one gargantuan, infinite worship service? On some level, this is probably correct—is it possible to be in the presence of Almighty God and not feel perpetually compelled to worship him? Isaiah’s vision of the temple of God (see Isaiah 6:1-4) is confirmed over and over again in John’s revelation. Unbelievable radiance, intense colors with blinding vibrancy, heavenly music soaring out into the universe, cherubs, seraphs, and angels singing at the top of their lungs, redeemed humanity in searing white robes celebrating God’s great mercy, and the Lord Jesus in all of his glory seated on the throne, highly exalted, mighty conqueror of evil, sin, and death, victorious and regal! Yes! We who have called upon his name for salvation will see all of this with our very own eyes. This is his promise, this is our destiny.
But there is more. There is much governmental language used in relation to the future kingdom of God: Jesus is the king and the judge who sits on the throne (see Revelation 6:10, 15:3); the apostles are described as having authority to judge as well (see Matthew 19:28; Revelation 20:4); the redeemed of God are described as reigning with him (see Revelation 20:6, 22:5). After the new heavens and earth are created, the Book of the Revelation describes the nations of this new earth walking by the light of the heavenly city New Jerusalem, and the kings of these nations will bring their splendor into it and the nations will bring their glory to it. On the banks of the river of the water of life grows the tree of life, whose leaves are used for the healing of the nations (see Revelation 21:23-22:6). The kingdom of God appears to be a place with much activity and plenty to do. Of course, we have no idea what exactly God has planned for us, but it will without question surpass our wildest imaginations and expectations!
“Rather, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him’” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
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(C) 2024 D. Edwin Cohea/Coheasive Concepts.
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Excellent article, Brother Ed. You laid it out well, and it’s easy to read for the layperson.
Blessings