What Will Heaven be Like? (Part 1)

Rev 21:1-6 "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I john saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.  And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful...."

What will heaven be like?  In our nature, it is impossible to say but we can draw from the biblical pictures of what heaven is like.

It will be a new heaven and a new earth.  This theme is repeated throughout the bible.  Isaiah 65:17 "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind."  Isaiah 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD.."  These are bible references.  A new heaven and a new earth.  Some people think that a new earth is symbolic but the reality will be more than the symbol.   The earth is created, but the world (people) are sinful.  Why would God ever want to make a new heaven and a new earth?  because God said he will.  The earth will be restored and renewed with all traces of sin gone.  The earth will be filled with the glory and knowledge of God.  In the life to come heaven and earth will be merged.   A brief look at the current earth shows us reasons as to why God would want to make a new one.  Corrupt, greedy, natural disasters, all consequences of the fall of man and the fall of creation from the good creation that God made at the beginning.

What is the current heaven?  It is a habitation of spirits, only the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven in his glorified body.  But God is making a new heaven, not just for the spirits of just men made perfect, but for the glorified bodies of his people at Christ's second coming, the resurrection of the dead when believers will have bodies as like Christ's glorified body.  What can that mean to a believer that cannot walk, or is blind? 1 Corin 15:43 "it is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.." Christ had a real body after he rose from the dead. Luke 24:39 "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."