We are looking at what Revelation 21 has to say about the new heavens and new Earth. We left off with the following:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God with with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 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.”
This is hard to imagine. We read that God walked around the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve interacted directly with God, but we have no similar experience. There is a perceived distance now that will be taken away. The fact that God will actually live with us is stated twice for emphasis. It’s a big deal.
This passage demonstrates God preference for the human race. He wants to be with His people. I love that, but I don’t truly understand it. I think that we can be a pain, but we will be different then. We will not have a sinful nature. All our undesirable but “human” traits like selfishness, clannishness, faithlessness, unrighteous pride (and I could go on) will not be a part of humanity. That’s not just a blessing for God. It will be a blessing for us. Truly something for which to look forward.
There will be other changes as well. There will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain, which is connected with the “old order”. One thing for sure that is part of this old order is what the Bible calls “the curse”. Do not think of an old Italian grandma putting on a spiteful magical spell when you think of the curse here. This is something more like God taking a step back from maintaining the order of things. It isn’t all “very good” anymore as it was in Genesis. With the curse comes loss and suffering from various quarters: natural disasters, poor health, aging, cycles of death and decay. These are part of our current natural order. A different natural order will exist then. The specifics of this order are not revealed but it does spur the imagination of what is possible.
For instance, I ate something that might have sat out too long, the next day my digestive tract complained. No more of that in the new order. Hospitals?–won’t need them. Nor will we need funeral homes, police departments, auto repair, dentists, most of government. Won’t need pastors because God is right there. Probably 90% of our jobs exist because of the curse. What will we do? Don’t worry, there will be plenty to do all and all enjoyable. Labor is part of this order.
This description is very similar to what is found in Revelation 7:16-17, which is a description of Heaven, hence some of the confusion. Heaven will be trouble free as well. Heaven will be living with God. Clearly there are differences, but the differences are hard to discern. Revelation 21 goes on to say:
He who is seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new! Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
It’s exciting to think what may be very different from what we experience today. Perhaps even the laws of physics will be changed. Biology will be vastly altered. I would not go so far as to assume that there will be nothing familiar. It is just that the familiar will be greatly improved. Earth 2.0. You can write that down because God guarantees it.
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