HEAVEN
THE FINAL HOME OF THE REDEEMED

     When the first Adam sinned, he lost his home.  His doom was death. His labor became a necessity, and sweat was the penalty for him to earn his living.  His destiny was to return to the dust of the earth from which he came. Therefore, due to his disobedience, man now lives on a messed-up earth which is under the Creator’s curse.
 

     The only remedy for a cursed man living on a cursed earth would be a Redeemer.  God Himself, in grace that is greater than sin, provided the needed Redeemer.  The Father sent His Son Jesus to reconcile sinful man with a holy God Who demands righteousness.  The Son’s mission demanded that the sins of man be nailed to a Cross in order that man’s lost home could be restored, and life eternal could become a reality.  Also, the earth where man was born, where he died, and where he would be buried was to be redeemed by changes on transitions in the world order by the elimination of sin and not by the annihilation of the earth. This stained, sinful world will pass away.  It will become a heavenly world purified from all sin and filled with hope, joy, and godly wonders that will even make the creation cease from groaning. Evildoers will be removed by the Lamb of God and the redeemed “shall inherit the earth” (Ps. 37:9,22).  The Lord made Heaven and the earth.  The Lord and His angels live in Heaven but the earth He has given to the children of men (Ps. 115:15-16).  When a child of God dies, he or she goes immediately into the presence of God (2 Cor. 5:8).  Then when Christ returns, He will bring with Him those “who sleep in Jesus: (1 Thess. 4:13-14).  With a trumpet of deliverance, the Lord will shout and the souls of those who died trusting in the name of Christ will rise with a new and perfectly sound body from their graves.  They will reflect the glory and splendor of their risen Lord.  They will be joined by the Christians who are alive at the coming of the Lord.  This will be the Rapture of the Church to be forever with God (1 Thess. 4:15-18). However, the Book of Revelation extends the last days of earth’s sad history through the struggle of the early churches; the final political setup of the world; the last battle of human history; the career and ultimate defeat of the Antichrist; Christ’s 1000 years of earthly Kingdom; the glories of Heaven where the New Jerusalem, the City of God, comes down to earth to be the eternal dwelling place of the redeemed.

 

     The old order of earth was poisoned with the first Adam’s sin.  The second Adam (Jesus) through His life, death, and resurrection brought the power of a new life to the earth and the resurrected man.  The resurrected man will be the same man who died but now more perfect, more beautiful, and more glorious than can be adequately described in words.  The new earth and the new man will last forever.  God Himself will bring the City where He dwells to earth and the capital City of Heaven will be the New Jerusalem.  It will be a city of perfect holiness. It will be the Paradise of Eden regained where God will fellowship with the redeemed for all eternity.  All of the universe previously known by man will be changed, made new but not annihilated.  This new earth redeemed by the Father will be made a perfect place for God to live forever with His children.  It will be the end of the old world order contaminated by sin and made perfect for the King of kings.  The biblical terms used to indicate the tremendous changes that will take place are “vanish,” “dissolved,” “perish,” “pass away,” and “burned up.”  These words indicate a change or a cleansing but never the annihilation of the earth (Matt. 5:18; 13:39-40; 24:3; Luke 21:33; Isa. 51:6; Ps. 102:25-26).

     The old world of Noah’s day was “cleansed” and “destroyed” by water.  The earth remained.  Peter says that the present world will be cleansed and destroyed by fire (2 Pet. 3:10-12).  This burning of the heavens and the earth will be the preparation for the new heaven and the new earth for the reign of Christ in the New Jerusalem.  It will be a great bonfire on judgment day when ungodly men will perish, and righteousness will reign forever (2 Pet. 3:5-7).  Therefore, the old earth and the old man will give place to the new earth and the new man where the redeemed shall have a life as perfect, as free, as glorious, as filled with divine love, and as delightful as the very life of God Himself which will last for all of eternity.

    However, what will this new Heaven and new earth look like?  What will the new man be like?  What will God’s children in God’s new world be doing?  How big will Heaven be?  What will it be like to see God face to face?  These are but a few of the important questions concerning The Final Home of the Redeemed.  Would you like to know more?