CHAPTER 27
LOCATION: THE FUTURE NEW UNIVERSE & NEW HEAVEN (aka NEW JERUSALEM)
The final location to be created by God will be the eternal new universe. After human history is complete, the current universe will be totally destroyed, then a new eternal universe will be created from nothing as the eternal home of all human believers, elect angels, and God the Trinity. After ruling for 1000 years during the Millennium, Jesus Christ will continue His rulership during the Eternal State, which is Phase II of "the Kingdom." God will live with His believers and angels during all eternity in this new universe with an integrated heaven. This will be an eternal combined new universe and new heaven, since the current heaven will be shut down. All human unbelievers will reside with Satan and his fallen angels in the Lake of Fire which was created long before man ever existed. All other locations ever created by God will be gone, having been destroyed along with the old universe.
Therefore, eternity for believers will not be spent in the current heaven but rather in a new universe and on a new earth along with a new heaven. The new earth and universe will be prepared to accommodate the powerful resurrection bodies of believers, which will be superior to the current bodies of angels. The new earth will have plants and animals. We will eat the plants but not the animals. Will the dinosaurs be brought back since humans can no longer die? Of course not. But I realize some only are reading to find out about the dinosaurs. God must have enjoyed creating them. It shows His sense of humor.
Jesus Christ said our bodies would be just like His resurrection body (Philippians 3:20-21). These bodies will be capable of instantaneous space travel, so the entire new universe will be available for the pleasure of believers for all eternity. We will not need sleep. We will eat for pleasure but won't need food for sustenance. There will be no need for a sun or moon since God's glory will be the source of all light. There will be no need for rain, so there will be no oceans or seas on the new earth to drive a rain cycle. The new earth will not be cursed like the old earth prior to the Millennium, whereby man struggled on the old earth through the “sweat of the brow.” This curse is not applied to the new eternal earth. Whatever we can conceive the new earth will be like, we will come up way short.
Isaiah 65:17 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind."
Isaiah 66:22 ""For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me," declares the LORD, "So your offspring and your name will endure."
Revelation 21:1 “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” 2 “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
Revelation 21: 4 “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Note that believers in eternity are promised an end to unhappiness, and therefore are promised happiness, but they are not promised perfect happiness or equality. This verse focuses on the “negatives” being removed, not on the level of happiness since that will be an individual issue. There will be degrees of eternal blessing based on how well each believer lived their spiritual life while on earth, so there will not be equality of status or happiness. Since all believers will be in eternal resurrection bodies with no sinful nature, and will be in a place without any “negatives”, their eternal life is one of basic happiness. But those spiritual winner believers who reside with Christ in the New Jerusalem will have rewards exceeding all other believers of all time, including greater access to the Lord and the Father, among other fantastic blessings. Those who live on the new earth below the New Jerusalem will have happiness, but less status and fewer levels of rewards, and will not have nearly the access to the Lord. Once again we see various levels of rewards for believers based on their spiritual life during human history. Everyone will have basic happiness since all the “negatives” that caused unhappiness on earth will be gone, but some will have more happiness, greater access to the Lord, more status as rulers, crowns and special clothing showing spiritual achievements during their life, and other currently unimaginable rewards than those who did not fulfill their spiritual life while on earth.
The Bible mentions that rewards will include crowns, rulership positions, a better residence (New Jerusalem), greater access to the Lord, a better “uniform” with decorations, shining brightly (Daniel 12:3), and other types of undefined benefits: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) There will be hierarchy and structure, and the Lord “shall reign forever and ever” with believers having positions and status in that structure based on their spiritual life while they lived on earth. Overall the single most important difference will be the level of access each individual believer has to the Lord throughout eternity, and this will be the ultimate reward separator defined by living either close to the Lord in the New Jerusalem or on the new earth with less access to the Lord.
The Bible says Jesus Christ will rule forever and ever, starting with the Millennium and continuing throughout the Eternal State. (Revelation 11:15) He will first rule on the current earth during the 1000 year Millennium, and after the current earth and universe are destroyed He will continue to rule during all eternity in the new universe with its new earth from His throne in the New Jerusalem, with the entire Trinity residing there. This shows how the Kingdom which Jesus Christ offered during His ministry on earth is a continuum consisting of two phases, first the Millennial Kingdom, then secondly the Eternal Kingdom. That is because these two phases of the Kingdom are under the direct rulership of Jesus Christ, therefore that rule is seen as one continuous Kingdom of Christ in two separate phases.
Revelation 21:6 “He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.”
Jesus Christ declares that after the Millennium is complete, human history is “done”, and so also the angelic conflict is “done”. He is the beginning and end, and all believers of all time are with Him forever in the Eternal State, even though they have various levels of rewards and status. The purpose of creating mankind and putting them on the earth during human history was to resolve the angelic conflict and prove to Satan that God was righteous, just and fair to condemn Satan and all fallen angels to the Lake of Fire forever, and that such actions did not violate His perfect Love. Human history will have proved God's grace to man who was offered salvation by a simple act of faith in Jesus Christ which gives the “water of life” Jesus offered to all during His time on earth. John 4: 14: “Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” During the course of human history many humans will have chosen for God through Jesus Christ, and the various Ages of time during human history will have proven from many different aspects how wrong Satan was. All believers of all time, regardless of spiritual victory or failure to fulfill their spiritual life while on earth, will be included in the new Eternal State described here, and they will be God's people. The “victorious” spiritual winners during their time on earth will inherit special blessings, status, and greater personal access to Jesus Christ. But of course, anyone who is a believer will be very glad to be there during eternity, and very grateful to the Lord for what He did to enable it. And the Lord will love them all as His children.
We will now take a detailed look at the eternal Throne Room of Jesus Christ, which is the New Jerusalem.
The New Jerusalem -- The New Heaven
Revelation 21:9 “One of the seven angels...showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
The New Jerusalem, something like a cube satellite 1400 miles square (roughly the size of the current earth's moon) will hover over the new earth. The throne-room of the Trinity, the true Holy of Holies in heaven, will be transferred from heaven into this new eternal city, so that God will live among His believers and elect angels forever. The New Jerusalem will also be the dwelling place for the “spiritual winners” of all time – the Old Testament, Church Age, Tribulation, and Millennial believers who fulfilled their spiritual life while on earth – these are the believers who will live in the New Jerusalem with Jesus Christ. The rest of the believers who did not fulfill their spiritual lives while on the old earth (most believers) will live on the new earth and possibly elsewhere in the new universe. Since Jesus Christ will reside in the New Jerusalem, that is where every believer will want to reside, but only those who excelled in their spiritual life during human history will reside there. This is the most significant difference among believers during all eternity, their individual access to the Lord, which will be the most highly prized issue for all eternity.
The New Jerusalem is described in terms we can relate to now, but is not actually made from these current jewels and precious stones. The entire city is made of translucent materials not currently known, and they shine as they reflect the glory of Jesus Christ, the only source of light for all eternity. The walls have 12 gates reminding of the 12 tribes of Israel. The city walls have 12 foundation stones reminding of the 12 apostles to the Church. So the gates remind of Israel and the foundation reminds of the Church. This ties Israel and the Church together, two major components of God's plan for history although during human history they were always kept separate. As noted, this city is where spiritual winners from human history will reside with Jesus Christ during eternity, and everyone else will reside on the new earth below. Those residing in the New Jerusalem will be in the hierarchy of rulership over the earth below supporting the reign of the Lord. This city will be the new throne-room of Jesus Christ and will hover over the new earth and is called “the Holy City” because heaven will be transferred into it, including the throne room of God. The New Jerusalem “coming down out of heaven”, shows the transfer of the throne room of God into it since Jesus Christ will rule from there. And the entire Trinity will reside in it instead of in the existing Heaven. Recall the current earth and universe as we now know them will be destroyed at the end of human history, so everything here is new – new earth, new universe, and a new eternal city.
Revelation 21:15 “The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.”
The New Jerusalem is a cube, nearly 1400 miles long, wide, and high. That would be the right size to roughly hover above the lands promised to Abraham in Gen 15:18-21. These lands will belong to the Jews during the Millennium, but in the Eternal State the old earth will be gone, so the New Jerusalem is the replacement promised to Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-10) and also for all spiritual winners of all time. The city has walls nearly 1400 miles high and over 200 feet thick.
Revelation 21:18 “The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.”
It is the New Jerusalem – not Heaven -- which has the features often referred to as “streets paved with gold” and “pearly gates,” but even these references are not quite accurate. The entire city is made of a gold-like translucent material including the streets, and the walls are like pure continuous diamond. The foundations of the walls are decorated as described here with all sorts of translucent precious stones not currently known, but a variety something like those listed, providing great beauty. The 12 gates are each an entire entity like a giant pearl in appearance. The overall appearance is one of translucent shining beauty which reflects the glory of Jesus Christ and provides pleasure to those who see it, both humans in resurrection bodies and angels. We see here that God will provide pleasure for His believers in every way possible, including visual beauty throughout the New Jerusalem, new heavens and new earth.
Revelation 21:22 “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”
Jesus Christ will reside with His believers and angels during the Eternal State, so there is no need for a temple building to represent Him to us. The temple buildings for Israel always represented Jesus Christ and showed aspects of His salvation sacrifice for us (brazen alter), his God-Man status (gold overlaying wood on temple furniture), the Holy of Holies representing Jesus Christ in Heaven, and so forth. The New Jerusalem is the eternal Holy of Holies represented first in the Tabernacle from the time of Moses until Solomon, and then in various temples of Jerusalem on the current earth, from Solomon's temple to the Millennial temple, since the New Jerusalem is the dwelling place of the Lord forever. Also, God's glory through Jesus Christ will be the source of all light in the Eternal State, so there is no need for a sun or moon. And the new heavens (universe) will be full of destination planets to visit for pleasure, and resurrection bodies will be capable of traveling through space instantly.
Revelation 21:24 “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
While spiritual winner believers will reside in the New Jerusalem with Jesus Christ, the remainder (most believers) will reside on the new earth, which of course will be very nice indeed, just not as desirable as the New Jerusalem. This new earth will have organization structure something like our current nations, and will be ruled by those who live in the New Jerusalem, so the view of eternity which has no structure or organization is not accurate. Those who reside on the new earth will periodically bring offerings to Jesus Christ in the New Jerusalem, which will be one of the rare times they can visit the city and see Jesus Christ. This provides additional details about one of the major differences in eternity for believers based on how well they accomplished their spiritual life while on earth, namely that access to the New Jerusalem and therefore to Jesus Christ will be limited for those believers who ignored their spiritual life during human history. Note here “The nations will walk by its light” meaning the New Jerusalem is the replacement for the sun and moon, as the light from Jesus Christ shines from the New Jerusalem onto the new earth. This verse says “there will be no night there” in the New Jerusalem, but does not specify whether there will be no night on the new earth below. We are also reminded in this verse that all unbelievers will be in the Lake of Fire forever so can never enter the New Jerusalem or be anywhere else in the Eternal State with God, and also that they will be in darkness apart from God's light. Once the person's life has ended, whether believer or unbeliever, their status for all eternity is locked in forever.
To expand on what has been covered in this chapter about the eternal universe, earth, and heaven, it is worth noting that most ideas people currently have about eternity are wrong. All who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior will be in this new eternal state regardless of their spiritual life after salvation. But believers will not turn into angels. We will not play harps while sitting on clouds. We will not all be equal. But we will all have a resurrection body like Jesus Christ has right now. There will be rank and order and structure and variations in status, with spiritual winner believers having much more of everything than those who failed to fulfill their spiritual life while on earth. Before this Eternal State begins all believers who have died will reside temporarily in the current heaven, then during the Millennium most will be on the earth in their eternal bodies in various levels of leadership positions based again on how well each one fulfilled their spiritual life. But after human history is complete the current universe will be destroyed, and all believers during the Eternal State will live in a new heavens (universe) and new earth with a New Jerusalem hovering above the new earth. Spiritual winner believers will reside in the New Jerusalem with Jesus Christ, while all other believers will only be allowed occasional visits and will live on the new earth. We will be able to travel throughout the new universe and explore and use it for our pleasure. This is what eternity for believers will actually be like, although this is only a tiny glimpse of what God has in store for all of us who believed in Jesus Christ while living on earth. We see that God has something wonderful and exciting for believers in the Eternal State, and we will never be unhappy, bored, or otherwise uncomfortable. But there will be differences in levels of happiness based on how well we fulfilled our spiritual lives while believers on earth.
Time will be measured during the Eternal State in months and years based on the Tree of Life which was in the original Garden of Eden:
Revelation 22:1 “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
The New Jerusalem will be the new throne-room of God and Jesus Christ, having been moved from the current Heaven into the New Jerusalem during the Eternal State. The Trinity will actually “reside” in the New Jerusalem during the Eternal State. The satellite city will have the original Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden, which is currently being guarded by angels until it is moved during eternity. Genesis 3:24 says: “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” A “river of the water of life” is described as flowing down the middle of the main street, with the Tree of Life on either side, possibly rooted on both sides and arching over and connected as a single tree. This shows how the New Jerusalem will be a re-institution of the Garden of Eden in many ways. The Tree of Life will bear a different fruit each month, yielding twelve different fruit crops. Note there will be a twelve month calendar during eternity since humans orient to time, and also shows once again how eternity is a place of order and organization and therefore a continuation of time and location. We will eat and drink, but only for pleasure. We will not need to eat for sustenance or to maintain our status since that is locked in forever. The River of the Water of Life and the Tree of Life remind us that God will never allow anyone to lose their status for all eternity, and that during eternity we cannot do anything to lose what God has given us as a result of faith in Jesus Christ while we were on earth. It is noted that the fruit is for those who reside in the New Jerusalem, but the leaves will go to the nations on the new earth below for the “health of the nations” (not “healing”). The fruit vs. leaves shows yet another difference among believers in eternity based on various levels of reward status, as eating the fruit is better than having the leaves, whether as tea or otherwise.
Revelation 22:3 “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”
Again this shows the throne room of God the Father and Jesus Christ will be relocated from the current heaven into the New Jerusalem. The throne room of heaven as it now exists will be moved into the New Jerusalem forever, along with most of current heaven. The Trinity will dwell with believers forever inside this new universe, and the spiritual winners who reside in the New Jerusalem will have supporting roles for the rule of Jesus Christ and will have rulership positions over the structure on the new earth below. Again we see a structured Eternal State to support the eternal worship of Jesus Christ the Savior and the entire Trinity. And structure is also important for the happiness of mankind even in eternity.
We see therefore that the Eternal State will not be lived in the current heaven, but rather in a new universe and on a new earth and with a New Jerusalem hovering above the new earth. Both elect angels and saved humans (believers in Jesus Christ) will be there. There will be order and structure, with nations and organizational hierarchy. All will have basic happiness but there will be degrees of happiness. Some will be rulers and some will be lower level workers and staff members. The current heaven will be put into the New Jerusalem and the Trinity will live with all believers and elect angels forever in this new structure. Whatever we can conjure up of this Eternal State, it will be better than that.
We see that eternity is a complex subject with four separate categories of creatures with souls, each having separate tracks to their eternal status. Currently no creature is in their final location, and only elect angels are in their final bodies. Several changes will occur in future Ages of time, and also after human history ends and the current earth and universe have been destroyed. The final status of eternity for humans and angels will not be lived in either the current heaven or Hell, since both will be replaced. All creatures with souls will live forever, either with God or apart from Him, and the difference in eternal status will be the ultimate in contrasts.