A New Heaven and a New Earth

Isaiah 65:17 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! 

This verse, which I read recently, caught my attention because I had just finished Surprised by Hope, a new book by NT (Tom) Wright. In this book, he repeatedly emphasizes that God will be restoring earth to its original glory, as “heaven and earth come together” on “that day”.

But it is a book that I am currently reading, Imagine Heaven by John Burke, that grabs my attention.  The book is an exposition of what some people, and there are very many, who have experienced a “near death experience” are describing about what they experienced. 

I must confess that up until now, I have not taken seriously what a “near death experience” might be.  Nor have I paid any attention to the reports of those who attest as to having had one.  But in reading this book, I must now confess that it has challenged my thinking, opening the “eyes of my imagination” to what “life after death” and to what, as Tom Wright writes about, is “life after ‘life after life after death’”, might be like.

Let me back up a bit.  Long before I read any of Tom Wright’s books or started to read Imagine Heaven, I firmly believed in God’s promise that we who have placed our faith in Christ Jesus will one day be resurrected and “will be like Jesus because we will see Him as He is”. I believe in the declaration and command in Psalms 103: 1-5.  Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless Your Holy Name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all Your benefits-who forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases, who redeems my life from destruction (from the pit) and crowns me with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies all my desires with good things so that my youth is renewed like the eagle. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is in me. Bless Your holy name!  It is through the shed blood of Jesus, and His bearing our sins on the cross, that we have the hope of a resurrected and glorified body.

                I have also long believed that when this mortal life that we are now living comes to an end, we, our very essence, will vacate the “tent” in which we now live and pass through a portal into the very presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This entry into “life after death” is presently shrouded in mystery, a “veil” prevents us from seeing what this means and so we accept it by faith, in trust.

 My understanding of this place, a “waiting place” that precedes our resurrection, will be in the very presence of Jesus.  This will remain a mystery, a mystery that has not been a subject of my imagination…until now.

Our son, who is an attorney, loves to travel, most often by cruising.  Because he can take his work with him, he is able to do this.  He has traveled and seen so much of our beautiful earth and has allowed us to travel with him vicariously through photos and messaging.  His most recent cruise involved a 31-day cruise around the south end of South America, up the west side, crossing through the Panama Canal and disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  He was able to see and experience the magnificent beauty of God’s creation!  Around Cape Horn, through miles and miles of beautiful fjords in Patagonia, awe-inspiring glaciers.  The list goes on and on!

My wife and I also enjoy cruising, but we will never be able to do so to the extent that our son has because our age and our physical constraints won’t allow it.  But all of this got me to thinking “outside the box”.  Won’t there be a grand opportunity to enjoy God’s restored earth?   After all, we will be residents!  If God’s creation, presently corrupted and degraded by sin and rebellion, is so beautiful, how much more beautiful and glorious will be the renewed “new creation” be? And why wouldn’t we, His children, be able to enjoy His restored creation?

With these thoughts in mind, I began to imagine, ever so slightly, that there will be a day when we will be able to “cruise the world” enjoying the indescribable beauty of a restored earth!

And then I thought about Revelation 21:1.  “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.  And the sea was also gone.”      WHAT?!!  There will be no sea on the restored earth?  How could that be?  There go my dreams of seeing, from the perfect cruise ship, all the magnificence of God’s oceans, seas, fjords and coastlands.  After all, the “old earth” had miles upon miles upon miles of absolutely beautiful coastlines!

But as I progressed in the book Imagine Heaven, I came across, in chapter 8 – The Most Beautiful Place Imaginable! – a section titled “Living Water”.  The author, John Burke, also remembering Revelation 21:1, felt just like it felt, in his words “bummed out!”.  But, reading on, he wrote “But the longer I thought about this, John (the Revelator) might not have been making a statement on the eternal state, but just what he noticed not there in his vision.”  Going further, he said “What we do know is that there is water in heaven – living water!”  After all, the Bible describes a river of living water that flows out from the New Jerusalem, flowing into the Dead Sea, bringing it back to life, filling it with life!. 

John continues by introducing the description of a New Zealand surfer who “died” while night diving.  In relating his “near death experience”, this surfer described seeing lots light and lots of water.  Others, in describing what they experienced, also mentioned rivers, waterfalls and seas.

What I can say right now is that “life after death” remains a mystery and will remain a mystery until it becomes our turn to pass through that portal.  In the meantime, I will use my imagination in anticipation to “see” something that is surely unimaginable to us today.