Will heaven be on earth?

Before the face of Him who sits upon the great white throne "the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them." (Chap. xx. ii.) We have now a complementary statement: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth." It is clear, therefore, that an earthly condition abides for eternity. It is a point of interest as to which Scripture seems to give full satisfaction, whether this new earth is itself a "new creation," or the old earth remodelled and made new. At first sight, one would no doubt decide for the former; and this was the view that at one time almost held possession of the field, the new earth scarcely being regarded by the mass as "earth" at all. Practically, the earth was simply believed to exist no more, and in contrast with it all was to be heavenly: the double sphere of blessing, earth and heaven, was lost sight of, if not denied. Lately, for many, reaction has set in, and the pendulum has swung past the point of rest to the other extreme. The prophecies of the Old Testament rightly understood as to be literally taken, and delivered from the glosses of a falsely called "spiritual" interpretation, seemed to agree with the apostle Peter and the book of Revelation in making the earth to be the inheritance of the saints, - the earth in a heavenly condition, brought back out of its state of exile, and into true relation with the rest of the family of heaven, not alienated from their original place. Contrast between earth and heaven as an eternal existence was again, but from the other side of it, denied. The whole web and woof of Scripture is against either of these confusions: the point of rest can only be in accepting the distinction of earthly from heavenly as fundamental to all right understanding of the prophetic word. The Old Testament "promises," which have in view the earth as a sphere of blessing, are, as the apostle declares (Rom. ix. i - 5), Jewish, not Christian. The New Testament emphasizes that the blessings of the Christian are in "heavenly places." (Eph. i. 3.) Nor can this last possibly apply to earth made heavenly. The Lord has left us with the assurance (Jno. xiv.) that in His Father's house are many mansions, - permanent places of abode, - that He was going to prepare a place there for us, and that He will come again to receive us to Himself, that where He is, there we may be also. As well assure us that the Lord's permanent abode is to be on earth and not in heaven, as that our own is to be here, not there. Each line of truth must have its place if we are to be "rightly dividing the word of truth." The heavenly "bride of the Lamb" is not the earthly; "Jerusalem which is above" is not the Palestinean city; the "church of firstborn ones, who are written in heaven" are not that "Israel," declared God's "firstborn" as to the earth; the promise of the Morning Star is not the same as that of the "Sun of Righteousness," although Christ assuredly is both of these. Discernment of such differences is of necessity for all true filling of our place, and practical rendering of Christian life. Let us look now, however, at the question of continuity between the earth that flees away and the earth that succeeds it. At first sight we should surely say, they cannot be identicaL The well known passage in the epistle of Peter would seem to confirm this (2 Pet. iii. 10, 12). There we learn that "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." And it is repeated and thus emphasized by repetition that "the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." Yet, as we look more closely, we shall find reason to doubt whether more is meant than the destruction of the earth as the place of human habitation. In the deluge, to which it is compared., "the world that then was perished;" yet its continuity with the present no one doubts. Fire, though the instrument of a more penetrating judgment, yet does not annihilate the material upon which it fastens. The melting even of elements implies rather the reverse, and dissolution is not (in this sense) destruction. Yet the heavens and the earth pass away, - that is, in the form in which now we know them; or, as the apostle speaks to the Corinthians, "the fashion of this world passes away" (i Cor. vii. 21): and that this is the sense in which we are to understand it, other scriptures come to assure us. A "new" earth does not necessarily mean another earth, except as. a "new" man means another man -"new" in the sense of renewed. And even the words here, "there was no more sea," naturally suggest another state of the earth that now exists. This fact is a significant one: that which is the type of instability and barrenness, and condemns to it so large a Portion of the globe, is gone utterly and forever.

The order of the events which ensue on the appearing of Christ in judgment, it may be somewhat more difficult to trace. The first blow falls on "the beast," "the false prophet," and the great confederacy against God of which they are the head. Satan also being bound, the sovereignty of the whole earth is transferred to the hands of Christ; and more than this, "all things both in heaven and on earth are gathered together in one, even in Christ." Judgments are executed on all who refuse submission; but these are not judgments executed by Christ as coming from heaven, but as having made Zion the earthly centre of His kingdom. "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." The surviving Jewish remnant, pardoned and owned of the Lord as His people, will have their numbers and prosperity augmented by the unexpected return of the ten tribes, so long lost sight of but now brought back by the Lord's own hand. While the Jews are undergoing their terrible sifting in the land, the ten tribes will be passing through discipline of another kind on their way thither. They will be all then reunited in the land, and form one nation, under the peaceful rule of their long-rejected King. With the nation, thus re-established, "the new covenant" will be made; and thus all the blessings promised to them of old in case of their obedience, but which they have forfeited by their sin and unbelief, will become their portion on the ground of absolute grace, and of the redemption-rights of the Lord Jesus Christ. All things which offend, and all doers of iniquity, having been gathered out of His kingdom, and the Spirit being poured out upon all flesh, the authority of Christ will be owned by all the nations of the earth. "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." The throne of the Lord, now established at Jerusalem, shall be the gathering point for all nations. His house shall then be indeed "a house of prayer for all people." Mankind will still be divided into nations, each having its separate government; but all Gentile rulers will then be subject to the King of kings and Lord of lords. "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him." Happy nations! Pre-eminently happy, that nation of Jehovah's choice to which will then be fulfilled all that God has promised, far surpassing man's fondest dreams of prosperity and blessedness on earth! Jerusalem, so long a proverb and a byword for the depth of desolation to which it had been reduced, shall then be known as "the city of the Great King." "And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and all the prosperity, that I procure unto it." Happy and glorious beyond the power of human language to express, or of human heart to conceive, that "Church of God" which will then with Christ be reigning over the earth. Heaven, not earth, is the place where the Church is glorified with Christ; but heaven and earth will not be disunited then, as at present, and ever since the fall. The vision of its glory which the prophet of Patmos was favoured to receive exhibits it in connection with the millennial earth. He sees "that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." Its glory fades not, nor does its blessedness pass away, when the thousand years expire: still it is in connection with the earth during those thousand years that the apostle beholds its glory. A vision indeed it is; but a vision of glory which could not otherwise have been made known, to the faith and hope of those whose happiness it will be to constitute the heavenly city. Its jasper walls, its streets of gold, and gates of pearl, are but the images of that which the heart well knows must surpass in glory all that the symbol conveys. God Almighty and the Lamb are its light and its temple; while the river of life, and the tree of life, and the throne of God and of the Lamb, whence the living waters issue — all bear witness to the exceeding riches of God's grace, in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. But the all-pervading light which fills that city of our God shines through it on the nations of the millennial earth. The river of the water of life, which flows from the central throne of God and of the Lamb, through the street of the city, refreshes in its onward and downward course the earthly subjects of Christ's glorious reign. Of Jerusalem on the earth it can be said, "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High."

Man's thoughts concerning heaven too often are fashioned from earthly moulds. We take of things around us, and, subjecting what we have gathered to a process of mental purifying, cast it into a shape, which our imagination has formed out of the clay of this sin-stained earth, and then we call that which we have fashioned heavenly! Vain are such thoughts! No mere man hath ascended up to heaven. Ideas of heaven without a divine revelation are only things of earth, painted with the colors of earth — the paradise of our inclinations, the fruition of the wishes of our fallen selves. Heaven is the dwelling-place of God, and can only be apprehended as God Himself is known; "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." What is known of them is by revelation: "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." (1 Cor. 2:9-10.) The earthly things of the kingdom of God may well interest true believers, but they do not directly pertain to us. Since Christ went to prepare a place for those who love Him, our place is where He is. We have to do with the heavenly part of God's kingdom, or we have no lot in the matter. A christian is not a Jew; he has not an earthly but a heavenly inheritance.

The much beloved thirty-seventh Psalm with its blessed promises which we as Christian believers have a right to enjoy and to claim contains the promise, "But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (verse 2). This is promised to the godly Jews who will inherit the earth. The Church does not inherit the earth, but hers is a heavenly possession. When our Lord in the kingly proclamation, the sermon on the mount, said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," He quoted from the thirty-seventh Psalm. This promise has therefore nothing whatever to do with the Church, but is a kingdom promise for the godly in Israel.

Meekness too is proven In adverse circumstances: In this there is no forcing of one's convictions, no insistence on one's rights, but the faith that depends upon the promise of God, and can wait for the time of inheriting the earth. Israel will eventually inherit the land God has promised her, but only the meek will be so blessed, that is, the godly remnant who will be brought through the tribulation. Yet the heavenly saints, in overcoming, will inherit all things (Rev.21:7). This involves the earth, though earth will not be their dwelling place: they will reign over it with Christ.

For those of earth's race taken up to be the bride or the second Man earth can never again be their home. The upper chambers is that alone which answers to the relationship which is theirs. Myriads of saints belonging to other dispensations will be there also, for earth can never again be the home of resurrected persons. Such will be promoted to positions of rank and honour in proportion to past faithfulness on earth, but for one class remains the highest place of creature exaltation. Earthly saints will live through that long reign of blessing in flesh and blood. The close of the Millennium must therefore bring about for them the transfer to new and eternal conditions, for all things have then become new. The new heavens and new earth speak of the whole scene in perfect accord with the will of God through the Son's atoning work, but leave room for the distinction throughout eternal days of heavenly and earthly life according to the will of God.

Now, righteousness suffers, in the millennial day it reigns, but in the eternal day it dwells happily, it is quite at home. "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." This is not what Isaiah alludes to (Isa. 65:17). His new heavens, and new earth, are only new, in a moral sense, as suiting the millennium, and the sea also exists, for he speaks of "the isles afar off," but here, every bit of the new earth is seen, brought into relationship with every other part, for "there was no more sea." This would be impossible, as things now are, for man's life. Of course, there must then be a wonderful change in the character of our life, because, as things now exist, we could not get on without the sea. It is the great reservoir, from whence comes the moisture, that is necessary for man, and the earth. I do not know what the change will be, but God brings out here, that which is very simple, and plain, and which faith delights to contemplate, "a new heaven, and a new earth, and no more sea." God, if I might so say, in the new scene, will efface everything, that could bring to memory, the sorrows of man's heart down here.

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Last Lord's Day evening we were occupied in looking at this holy city — the Bride — the Church. Then we saw that she was merely descending from heaven, towards earth, but now she comes right down to earth, because the new earth is divinely suited to this heavenly city. Look how she comes out? In the 19th chapter we saw the marriage of the Lamb, to His Bride, on the nuptial day, preparatory to the millennial reign. But now John sees her coming down, out of heaven, at the end of the thousand years. And how does she look? I have seen a good many brides in my day, and I have met them a few years after, and what furrows are on the brow, what cares evident on the countenance, and how soon grey hairs have appeared. A very few years will do it, in this scene down here. But what does John see? He sees, coming down from heaven, her, who has been the Lamb's wife, for one thousand years, and she looks as bright, and as beautiful, and as fresh, as the day she went up. Not a grey hair, not a wrinkle, can be seen; her condition is what I may call perennial joy. No change can ever be, thank God. The Christian is going to fixed happiness, and unchangeable blessedness with Christ. This is all told out in the lovely words, "coming down … 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." The moment has come when God takes up His place, upon this earth, in happy relationship with men — not paying them a visit, as He did to Adam, in the garden of Eden, but tabernacling with them, and the tabernacle is the Church, the assembly, the body of Christ, those who are, through grace, now united to the blessed Lord.

All is new. All is according to God in His nature. All is fixed. No economic changes now. We are introduced into God’s everlasting rest, into God‘s unchanging state, one of absolute perfection. We have not here the Lamb and the fulfilment of counsel and prophecy, nor the mediatorial kingdom and the reign of righteousness, but the kingdom given up, and God all in all (1 Cor. 15:24-28). Time distinctions, geographical boundaries, and limitations as at present entirely disappear in the grand eternal state, which, whether in Heaven or earth, displays the energy of God Himself. The “new Heaven” and “new earth,” the respective spheres of all the saved, shall be brought into blessed harmony with what God is. This is the state referred to by Isaiah 66:22, and Peter's second Epistle (2 Peter 3:13), a state in which righteousness shall dwell, not reign as in millennial times. Neither enemy nor evil shall invade either of the spheres where the redeemed will for ever dwell. Every one and everything will re-echo the glad refrain, God is light and God is love.

— “For the first Heaven and the first earth had passed away.” The undoubted reference is to the statement in the previous chapter. “From whose face the earth and the Heaven fled away” (v. 11). This dissolution, not annihilation, is effected by fire (2 Peter 3:10). Scripture is silent as to any future act of creating material in a literal sense, and is equally silent on what some foolishly contend for, namely, annihilation or total extinction of being. Scripture knows nothing of such a baseless theory. Not an atom of matter, not a blade of grass, and surely not a sentient being in the wide universe is doomed to extinction. Our planet will be put in the crucible, altered, changed, and made new, to abide for ever. There being no sin, there can be no corruption. The new earth is eternal. The terms “first Heaven” and “first earth” are in contrast to the “new Heaven” and “new earth.”

The Christian teacher suggested this present earth would not be destroyed, but purified by fire. Reading passages bearing on the subject it looks as if the new heaven and new earth would be brand-new. You cannot speak of a renovated thing as a new thing, and an earth purified by fire would be simply renovated. Revelation 20:11 speaks of the earth and the heaven fleeing from the sight of Him who sits on the great white throne, and no place being found for them. A renovated earth must have a place found for it. Revelation 21:1 speaks of the first heaven and the first earth being passed away, whilst Peter writes of the heavens being dissolved and the elements melting with fervent heat, the earth and the works that are therein, being burned up.

Earth, then, itself remains, but a "new" earth; and, as the seal upon its eternal blessedness, "I saw," says the prophet-evangelist, "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 the throne, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God." Here is the promise in Immanuel's name made finally good to the redeemed race: and he who is privileged to show us the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father, tabernacling among men when the Word was made flesh, is the one who shows us the full consummation. Of the new Jerusalem we have presently a detailed account; here, what is emphasized is, that it is the link between God and men; God Himself is with men, in all the fulness of blessing implied in that.