Real Earth Real Bodies
Revelation 21:1-5
Message #40
Last week we started studying the subject of Heaven and the subject of Heaven should absolutely captivate the heart of every Christ-follower. AND the subject of Heaven should be throughly and honestly considered by every non-believer.
In our first message on Heaven, I did my best to get us thinking about just one truth. Heaven is real - it is very real! And in that message we talked a lot about summary truths and general statements about Heaven. And I did that to try to get us to adjust some of our assumptions and possibly our MIS-conceptions about Heaven.
So today, I want to start backing up and clarifying some of the truths we introduced last week. And yes, we are still studying Revelation Chapters 21 and 22, and my desire is for us to leave these last two chapters of the Bible excited and passionate about the reality of Heaven!
As I said last week, the book that challenged me about how we see Heaven is called Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It’s a great book, and you should read it.
I want to talk more today about the New Earth, which is an integral part of the eternal Heaven, because maybe you’ve never really considered how real, how tangible, and how incredible the New Earth is going to be.
We talked last week about our possible misconceptions that heaven is some kind of ethereal, disembodied, spirit-only “out there somewhere” kind of place. But that is not true, and it certainly is not in the Bible.
The Bible describes a type of transition from this earth to the New Heaven, and that New Earth is a vital part of the New Eternal Heaven. That transition time is called The Millennium, which is a 1,000-year period when Believers in glorified bodies will reign on this earth with Jesus Christ. It’s like the transition period. The Millennium is primarily for God to fulfill completely every Covenant and Promise he’s ever made to Israel. The Millennium is so much about Israel because it is in the Millennium that every promise to Israel will be fulfilled.
God is going to protect Israel; he is protecting Israel. Hezbollah is bombing the heck out of the Galilee right now, firing thousands of missiles (about three thousand) in a short period of time over a border that is not a disputed border. The border between Israel and Lebanon is not a disputed border. It’s not an “occupied area,” as if that was a reality. It is a real border. It is exactly, completely like Mexico firing three thousand missiles into San Diego. They’re taking hostages at colleges to show they have to support Iran, really, and the terrorists have to support them in eliminating Israel. If Mexico fires three thousand missiles into San Diego, we might respond. War is going on, and sadly, it’s in really our favorite place on earth. The Millennium is for Israel, and that 1,000 years is like our transition period from the Old Earth to the New Earth.
We will reign on this earth with Jesus Christ. We discussed that in detail in our Revelation message called “The Millennium.”
But then, the Bible says at the end of the Millennium, this present earth will pass away to make room for the New Earth. Let’s turn over to 2 Peter Chapter 3. I encourage you to read all of 2 Peter 3, but let me give you some highlights here.
2 Peter 3:7 (NLT)
7 And by the same word (of the Lord), the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment . . .
The present heavens – this one throws us a lot – does not mean the dwelling place of God. When Paul gets caught up to the third Heaven (in 2 Corinthians 12), we see that as a way to differentiate the heavens. So, the first Heaven is our atmosphere, where we breathe. The second Heaven is what we call space – the stellar atmosphere. And then the third Heaven is the place where God exists. Some people say that this present heaven refers only to our atmosphere. Some say our stellar atmosphere is this universe, this area where God exists (which is big for my mind), but it’s not the place where God exists. That’s not what it’s referring to. It is the physical heavens. They are going to be burned up.
2 Peter 3:10 (NLT)
10 . . . Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements (this word for elements refers to planets and stars) themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
2 Peter 3:12-13 (NLT)
12 . . . On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.
13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
I don’t know if it’s just me or if it’s other people. I get the feeling that people can get the first part. We can imagine (maybe because of movies) the atmosphere being burned up and the earth being burned up. But then when we read new heavens and New Earth . . . a world filled with God’s righteousness, and then we think of some ethereal, unreal “whatever.” We don’t know what that means. It’s just as real as the heavens and earth that are going to be burned up. Guys, there is a New Earth and New Heavens coming for us to live in for eternity.
In the Gospels, Jesus says This earth will pass away, and we find references to God creating a New Earth throughout the Bible, including three key prophecies in Isaiah, which is exactly what Revelation 21 and 22 are describing. These two chapters give us a picture (as much as we can handle) of how Heaven will look like.
But somehow, we might not think the New Earth will be as real or as tangible as this earth.
But the Bible talks about a real New Earth with the things of this earth that are truly godly. Those things will remain on the New Earth in their glorified form.
The Bible describes the New Earth with terms that are similar to life on this earth, only glorified and without sin. And so, we can see God in what C.S. Lewis calls “The Shadowlands” (we talked about that last week). We can see a shadow of what God created on this earth. Let me give you two examples.
Number one, God is a relational God. That’s who he IS. That’s his character. Let me ask you a question. Do you know anybody who, if you were to say, “Hey. Would we know each other in Heaven?” they would say, “Oh no, no. We won’t.” Has anyone ever experienced that little mistake there? Listen, that is so crazy to think that! God is a relational God. He made us for relationship. He created the earth for us to have relationship with him and with each other. The entire Bible can be separated into two relationships. A vertical relationship with God and horizontal relationships with each other (the Ten Commandments are separated into those two categories).
God is a relational God, and he created the Garden of Eden to be in relationship with Mankind. Why in the world would someone say, “In Heaven, there will be no relationships.” Listen, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If God is a relational God, he’ll be a relational God in Heaven. And if God made us for relationships now, then he made us for relationships in Heaven. The only catch is that it is “saved ones” that we’ll be in relationship with. Right? This includes babies and those who are of the age of accountability who have chosen Christ. We will be in relationship with them. Don’t let anybody mess with you on that.
Number two, you see the glory of God on this earth. You not only see a picture of what relationships are supposed to be like, but you see the glory of God. When you go to Yosemite – have you been to Yosemite lately? You go to Yosemite, and you are simply in awe! When Danielle was ten, we hiked the back side of Half Dome, got to the top, sat on the edge, and looked at the whole Yosemite Valley. And you can’t do anything else but recognize the glory of God there. That’s not going away. God is a Creator. He created this earth. And so, the New Earth is going to have all the glory of God that we see here, glorified, amplified, without the curse of sin that affects creation.
All that is sinful will be destroyed by fire, and all that is godly will be glorified and returned to its sinless state.
It’s just as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says about us when we’re saved. “Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.”
Here’s how Randy Alcorn summarizes it. “The earth’s death will be no more final than our own. The destruction of the old Earth in God’s Purifying judgment will immediately be followed by its resurrection to new life. Earth’s fiery “end” will open straight into a glorious new beginning.”
So, when we think about Heaven, we have to see a real New Earth.
Okay, next, let’s talk about our real new bodies because one of the greatest misconceptions about Heaven is that we won’t have real, tangible, actual bodies.
Let’s turn over to 1 Corinthians Chapter 15. This is called “The Resurrection Chapter.” It is a massive and incredible chapter. But (again) I can’t give this great chapter its “rightful focus” in this message. So, if you would really like to dig into our resurrection bodies, I would encourage you to go to wordbymail.com (or the Word By Mail phone app), type in the search bar, “Our Own Resurrection,” and watch or listen to the entire teaching. You can also search gotquestions.org for “Our Resurrection Body.”
So, 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 begins by talking about the real bodily Resurrection of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:20 (NLT)
20 . . . Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
1 Corinthians 15:23 (NLT)
23 . . . Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
The word the NLT translates as “first of the harvest” means “Jesus is the first of more who will be like him.” NOT like him in his deity, but like him in his Resurrection.
R. A. Torry – a great scholar: “We will not be disembodied spirits in the world to come, but redeemed spirits, in redeemed bodies, in a redeemed universe.”
We will be redeemed spirits, in redeemed bodies, in a redeemed universe. So, we won’t have this body, but we will have a redeemed body.
1 Corinthians 15:35 (NLT)
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”
God doesn’t describe the material composition of our heavenly bodies in detail, but he does give us pictures of them throughout the Bible, with Jesus’ Resurrection body being our best example, along with Moses and Elijah in John 17, at the Transfiguration with Jesus. They’re recognized as bodies, but they’re not the same bodies that Moses and Elijah had when they were on this earth. But somehow identifiable and relatable.
Here’s a thought. If we were going to be raised as spirits without bodies, why was Jesus’ body missing from the grave when he was raised from the dead? The fact that Jesus was raised in his body and he is the Firstfruit – the first of many like him – points to the fact that we’ll be raised in a body. He was raised in a body that was ultimately recognized by those that he was in relationship with. He fooled a few people up front, but ultimately everybody recognized him. He was in a body that was not like ours – but was like ours. When Jesus ascends, we see him in Revelation Chapter 1 in his true deity glory. And so, we’re not saying that part of his body is what we’ll be like. But we can look at his resurrected body and say there are some hints there, some clues there.
When the Bible says we will have a heavenly (spiritual) body, it IS HEAVENLY (SPIRITUAL), but it is still a body LIKE Jesus’ Resurrected body.
Look down at verse 53.
1 Corinthians 15:53 (NLT)
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
It’s not that we will stop having bodies. It’s that these mortal bodies will be transformed into immortal bodies . . . but still bodies. It’s a big deal because it gives us this heart of “Wow! Heaven really is real.” It’s not what we’ve imagined.
Look back up at verse 49.
1 Corinthians 15:49 (ESV)
49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven (Jesus).
We know what Jesus’ Resurrection body looked like because he walked the earth for forty days after his Resurrection, and the Bible is really clear about what Jesus’ Resurrection body was like.
Now, we can’t say that is exactly how Jesus’ body remained after he ascended to Heaven. But it should give us a good picture of how our resurrected bodies may work on the New Earth.
So, first of all, the empty tomb is the ultimate proof that Christ’s Resurrected body was the same body he died in. If resurrection didn’t mean a real body, then his body could have remained in the tomb. But his body did not remain in the tomb, and for forty days, those who knew him ultimately recognized him.
Let’s turn over to Luke 24. In Luke 24, Jesus initially hid his identity from the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. But while he talked and ate and fellowshipped with them, he allowed their eyes to be opened. The key point today is that Jesus talked, ate, and fellowshipped with them in his resurrected body.
Then, when those two disciples found the eleven Disciples, as they were telling the story, Luke 24, verse 36 says suddenly Jesus was standing there.
Luke 24:37–43 (NLT)
37 But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! 38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40 As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched.
Remember, Jesus is the Firstfruits of our resurrection and we will bear his image, which is so incredible when we look at how Jesus interacted with others on earth after his Resurrection.
There’s also that great meeting between Jesus and Doubting Thomas in John Chapter 20, where Jesus has Thomas touch the marks of Crucifixion on his body. Then, in John Chapter 21, Jesus again interacts with his Disciples, this time on the Sea of Galilee. The Disciples had gone fishing (following Peter). Jesus hollers at them from the shore, and John realizes it’s Jesus. Peter jumps overboard and swims to shore, and when they all get there, Jesus is making a real fire and cooking a real fish breakfast. And after breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside for a little heart-to-heart, and Jesus restores Peter after Peter’s awful denial that he even knew Jesus.
It’s real Jesus
and real friends
and real food
and real relationships
and real fellowship.
And when Jesus said to his friend at the Last Supper in Matthew 26, verse 29, 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” there’s no indication Jesus is talking about anything other than the actual cup – actual Disciples – actual New Kingdom.
There is continuity between this life and Heaven.
God desires for us to live in harmony with God and with others now, and in Heaven, we will live in perfect (sinless) harmony with God and with others.
God desires for us to experience the glory of God’s creation now, and in Heaven, we will experience the perfect glory of all of God’s creation for eternity.
Because this is the way God created us to live.
And it is the real New Earth and our real new bodies that will allow us to live in perfect harmony with God and others for eternity and experience the glory of all of God’s creation for eternity.
The New Earth is all of the best we can imagine on this earth but amplified, glorified, and perfected, and without any effects of sin.
Max Lucado says the Book of Revelation could be entitled the Book of Homecoming, for in it, we are given a picture of our heavenly home.
And that picture of our heavenly home is primarily in these last two chapters and John begins to describe it here in Revelation 21.
Revelation 21:1–5 (NLT)
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.
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 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.
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” . . .
The Lord will restore his creation and us to what he originally intended it all to be with a real New Earth and real new bodies and real relationships of perfect harmony with those you love who have also put their faith in Christ to be there with you.
In our first message on Heaven, I did my best to get us thinking about just one truth. Heaven is real - it is very real! And in that message we talked a lot about summary truths and general statements about Heaven. And I did that to try to get us to adjust some of our assumptions and possibly our MIS-conceptions about Heaven.
So today, I want to start backing up and clarifying some of the truths we introduced last week. And yes, we are still studying Revelation Chapters 21 and 22, and my desire is for us to leave these last two chapters of the Bible excited and passionate about the reality of Heaven!
As I said last week, the book that challenged me about how we see Heaven is called Heaven by Randy Alcorn. It’s a great book, and you should read it.
I want to talk more today about the New Earth, which is an integral part of the eternal Heaven, because maybe you’ve never really considered how real, how tangible, and how incredible the New Earth is going to be.
We talked last week about our possible misconceptions that heaven is some kind of ethereal, disembodied, spirit-only “out there somewhere” kind of place. But that is not true, and it certainly is not in the Bible.
The Bible describes a type of transition from this earth to the New Heaven, and that New Earth is a vital part of the New Eternal Heaven. That transition time is called The Millennium, which is a 1,000-year period when Believers in glorified bodies will reign on this earth with Jesus Christ. It’s like the transition period. The Millennium is primarily for God to fulfill completely every Covenant and Promise he’s ever made to Israel. The Millennium is so much about Israel because it is in the Millennium that every promise to Israel will be fulfilled.
God is going to protect Israel; he is protecting Israel. Hezbollah is bombing the heck out of the Galilee right now, firing thousands of missiles (about three thousand) in a short period of time over a border that is not a disputed border. The border between Israel and Lebanon is not a disputed border. It’s not an “occupied area,” as if that was a reality. It is a real border. It is exactly, completely like Mexico firing three thousand missiles into San Diego. They’re taking hostages at colleges to show they have to support Iran, really, and the terrorists have to support them in eliminating Israel. If Mexico fires three thousand missiles into San Diego, we might respond. War is going on, and sadly, it’s in really our favorite place on earth. The Millennium is for Israel, and that 1,000 years is like our transition period from the Old Earth to the New Earth.
We will reign on this earth with Jesus Christ. We discussed that in detail in our Revelation message called “The Millennium.”
But then, the Bible says at the end of the Millennium, this present earth will pass away to make room for the New Earth. Let’s turn over to 2 Peter Chapter 3. I encourage you to read all of 2 Peter 3, but let me give you some highlights here.
2 Peter 3:7 (NLT)
7 And by the same word (of the Lord), the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment . . .
The present heavens – this one throws us a lot – does not mean the dwelling place of God. When Paul gets caught up to the third Heaven (in 2 Corinthians 12), we see that as a way to differentiate the heavens. So, the first Heaven is our atmosphere, where we breathe. The second Heaven is what we call space – the stellar atmosphere. And then the third Heaven is the place where God exists. Some people say that this present heaven refers only to our atmosphere. Some say our stellar atmosphere is this universe, this area where God exists (which is big for my mind), but it’s not the place where God exists. That’s not what it’s referring to. It is the physical heavens. They are going to be burned up.
2 Peter 3:10 (NLT)
10 . . . Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements (this word for elements refers to planets and stars) themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
2 Peter 3:12-13 (NLT)
12 . . . On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.
13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
I don’t know if it’s just me or if it’s other people. I get the feeling that people can get the first part. We can imagine (maybe because of movies) the atmosphere being burned up and the earth being burned up. But then when we read new heavens and New Earth . . . a world filled with God’s righteousness, and then we think of some ethereal, unreal “whatever.” We don’t know what that means. It’s just as real as the heavens and earth that are going to be burned up. Guys, there is a New Earth and New Heavens coming for us to live in for eternity.
In the Gospels, Jesus says This earth will pass away, and we find references to God creating a New Earth throughout the Bible, including three key prophecies in Isaiah, which is exactly what Revelation 21 and 22 are describing. These two chapters give us a picture (as much as we can handle) of how Heaven will look like.
But somehow, we might not think the New Earth will be as real or as tangible as this earth.
But the Bible talks about a real New Earth with the things of this earth that are truly godly. Those things will remain on the New Earth in their glorified form.
The Bible describes the New Earth with terms that are similar to life on this earth, only glorified and without sin. And so, we can see God in what C.S. Lewis calls “The Shadowlands” (we talked about that last week). We can see a shadow of what God created on this earth. Let me give you two examples.
Number one, God is a relational God. That’s who he IS. That’s his character. Let me ask you a question. Do you know anybody who, if you were to say, “Hey. Would we know each other in Heaven?” they would say, “Oh no, no. We won’t.” Has anyone ever experienced that little mistake there? Listen, that is so crazy to think that! God is a relational God. He made us for relationship. He created the earth for us to have relationship with him and with each other. The entire Bible can be separated into two relationships. A vertical relationship with God and horizontal relationships with each other (the Ten Commandments are separated into those two categories).
God is a relational God, and he created the Garden of Eden to be in relationship with Mankind. Why in the world would someone say, “In Heaven, there will be no relationships.” Listen, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If God is a relational God, he’ll be a relational God in Heaven. And if God made us for relationships now, then he made us for relationships in Heaven. The only catch is that it is “saved ones” that we’ll be in relationship with. Right? This includes babies and those who are of the age of accountability who have chosen Christ. We will be in relationship with them. Don’t let anybody mess with you on that.
Number two, you see the glory of God on this earth. You not only see a picture of what relationships are supposed to be like, but you see the glory of God. When you go to Yosemite – have you been to Yosemite lately? You go to Yosemite, and you are simply in awe! When Danielle was ten, we hiked the back side of Half Dome, got to the top, sat on the edge, and looked at the whole Yosemite Valley. And you can’t do anything else but recognize the glory of God there. That’s not going away. God is a Creator. He created this earth. And so, the New Earth is going to have all the glory of God that we see here, glorified, amplified, without the curse of sin that affects creation.
All that is sinful will be destroyed by fire, and all that is godly will be glorified and returned to its sinless state.
It’s just as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says about us when we’re saved. “Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.”
Here’s how Randy Alcorn summarizes it. “The earth’s death will be no more final than our own. The destruction of the old Earth in God’s Purifying judgment will immediately be followed by its resurrection to new life. Earth’s fiery “end” will open straight into a glorious new beginning.”
So, when we think about Heaven, we have to see a real New Earth.
Okay, next, let’s talk about our real new bodies because one of the greatest misconceptions about Heaven is that we won’t have real, tangible, actual bodies.
Let’s turn over to 1 Corinthians Chapter 15. This is called “The Resurrection Chapter.” It is a massive and incredible chapter. But (again) I can’t give this great chapter its “rightful focus” in this message. So, if you would really like to dig into our resurrection bodies, I would encourage you to go to wordbymail.com (or the Word By Mail phone app), type in the search bar, “Our Own Resurrection,” and watch or listen to the entire teaching. You can also search gotquestions.org for “Our Resurrection Body.”
So, 1 Corinthians Chapter 15 begins by talking about the real bodily Resurrection of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:20 (NLT)
20 . . . Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
1 Corinthians 15:23 (NLT)
23 . . . Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.
The word the NLT translates as “first of the harvest” means “Jesus is the first of more who will be like him.” NOT like him in his deity, but like him in his Resurrection.
R. A. Torry – a great scholar: “We will not be disembodied spirits in the world to come, but redeemed spirits, in redeemed bodies, in a redeemed universe.”
We will be redeemed spirits, in redeemed bodies, in a redeemed universe. So, we won’t have this body, but we will have a redeemed body.
1 Corinthians 15:35 (NLT)
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?”
God doesn’t describe the material composition of our heavenly bodies in detail, but he does give us pictures of them throughout the Bible, with Jesus’ Resurrection body being our best example, along with Moses and Elijah in John 17, at the Transfiguration with Jesus. They’re recognized as bodies, but they’re not the same bodies that Moses and Elijah had when they were on this earth. But somehow identifiable and relatable.
Here’s a thought. If we were going to be raised as spirits without bodies, why was Jesus’ body missing from the grave when he was raised from the dead? The fact that Jesus was raised in his body and he is the Firstfruit – the first of many like him – points to the fact that we’ll be raised in a body. He was raised in a body that was ultimately recognized by those that he was in relationship with. He fooled a few people up front, but ultimately everybody recognized him. He was in a body that was not like ours – but was like ours. When Jesus ascends, we see him in Revelation Chapter 1 in his true deity glory. And so, we’re not saying that part of his body is what we’ll be like. But we can look at his resurrected body and say there are some hints there, some clues there.
When the Bible says we will have a heavenly (spiritual) body, it IS HEAVENLY (SPIRITUAL), but it is still a body LIKE Jesus’ Resurrected body.
Look down at verse 53.
1 Corinthians 15:53 (NLT)
53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
It’s not that we will stop having bodies. It’s that these mortal bodies will be transformed into immortal bodies . . . but still bodies. It’s a big deal because it gives us this heart of “Wow! Heaven really is real.” It’s not what we’ve imagined.
Look back up at verse 49.
1 Corinthians 15:49 (ESV)
49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust (Adam), we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven (Jesus).
We know what Jesus’ Resurrection body looked like because he walked the earth for forty days after his Resurrection, and the Bible is really clear about what Jesus’ Resurrection body was like.
Now, we can’t say that is exactly how Jesus’ body remained after he ascended to Heaven. But it should give us a good picture of how our resurrected bodies may work on the New Earth.
So, first of all, the empty tomb is the ultimate proof that Christ’s Resurrected body was the same body he died in. If resurrection didn’t mean a real body, then his body could have remained in the tomb. But his body did not remain in the tomb, and for forty days, those who knew him ultimately recognized him.
Let’s turn over to Luke 24. In Luke 24, Jesus initially hid his identity from the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. But while he talked and ate and fellowshipped with them, he allowed their eyes to be opened. The key point today is that Jesus talked, ate, and fellowshipped with them in his resurrected body.
Then, when those two disciples found the eleven Disciples, as they were telling the story, Luke 24, verse 36 says suddenly Jesus was standing there.
Luke 24:37–43 (NLT)
37 But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! 38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40 As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched.
Remember, Jesus is the Firstfruits of our resurrection and we will bear his image, which is so incredible when we look at how Jesus interacted with others on earth after his Resurrection.
There’s also that great meeting between Jesus and Doubting Thomas in John Chapter 20, where Jesus has Thomas touch the marks of Crucifixion on his body. Then, in John Chapter 21, Jesus again interacts with his Disciples, this time on the Sea of Galilee. The Disciples had gone fishing (following Peter). Jesus hollers at them from the shore, and John realizes it’s Jesus. Peter jumps overboard and swims to shore, and when they all get there, Jesus is making a real fire and cooking a real fish breakfast. And after breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside for a little heart-to-heart, and Jesus restores Peter after Peter’s awful denial that he even knew Jesus.
It’s real Jesus
and real friends
and real food
and real relationships
and real fellowship.
And when Jesus said to his friend at the Last Supper in Matthew 26, verse 29, 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” there’s no indication Jesus is talking about anything other than the actual cup – actual Disciples – actual New Kingdom.
There is continuity between this life and Heaven.
God desires for us to live in harmony with God and with others now, and in Heaven, we will live in perfect (sinless) harmony with God and with others.
God desires for us to experience the glory of God’s creation now, and in Heaven, we will experience the perfect glory of all of God’s creation for eternity.
Because this is the way God created us to live.
And it is the real New Earth and our real new bodies that will allow us to live in perfect harmony with God and others for eternity and experience the glory of all of God’s creation for eternity.
The New Earth is all of the best we can imagine on this earth but amplified, glorified, and perfected, and without any effects of sin.
Max Lucado says the Book of Revelation could be entitled the Book of Homecoming, for in it, we are given a picture of our heavenly home.
And that picture of our heavenly home is primarily in these last two chapters and John begins to describe it here in Revelation 21.
Revelation 21:1–5 (NLT)
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.
2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 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.
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” . . .
The Lord will restore his creation and us to what he originally intended it all to be with a real New Earth and real new bodies and real relationships of perfect harmony with those you love who have also put their faith in Christ to be there with you.