--Read: Revelation 21:1-7 ---- 'I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth.' --Revelation 21:1 -- ----- -IN it's "plot," the story of the Bible ends up very much where it began. The broken relationship between God and human beings has healed over at last, and the curse of Genesis 3 is lifted. Borrowing images from Eden, Revelation pictures a river and a tree of life (Rev. 22:1-12). But this time a great city replaces the garden setting --a city filled with worshipers of God. No death or sadness will ever darken that scene. When we awake in the new Heaven and new Earth, we will have at last a happy ending.
Heaven is not an afterthought or an optional belief. It is the final justification of all Creation. The Bible never belittles human tragedy and disappointment--is any book more painfully honest?--but it does add one key word: 'temporary.' What we feel now, we will not always feel. The time for re-Creation will come.
For some people who feel trapped in pain or in a broken home, in economic misery or fear--for all of us--Heaven promises a timeless future of health and wholeness and pleasure and peace. The Bible begins with the promise of a Redeemer in the book of Genesis (3:15) and ends with the same promise (Rev. 21:1-7)--a guarantee of future reality. The end will be the beginning. And we will forever live with our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ! ~~ ---- --The gains of Heaven will more than compensate us for the losses of earth.~~
