Day 2 - Verse 97 - "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer." Revelation 21:1

Just happens that I was in my church today and visited with my pastor, David Ritchie, about two scenes that groups in our church have painted over the last couple of years.  The first one is the Annunciation to Mary by Gabriel of Jesus' first coming.  The second is the revelation to John of Jesus' second coming.  David told me that he plans to have each of the paintings hung in the sanctuary, one on each side, with the church in between.  Makes a perfect picture, doesn't it?  The church today lives in between Jesus' first coming and His second.  We are in this unique period of time..a period of time that one day, as our verse tells us, will pass away.

We are living in the time of the first heaven and the first earth.  As much as we talk about one day being in "heaven", we don't think much about a "new earth" do we?  But we are assured there will be one...and it will be a part of our eternal existence.  What do you think about that?

Robert Morgan says in our reference book, 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart, "Too many of us have a vaporous view of eternity.  We picture it as clouds, harps, robes, and never-ending worship services.  But the Bible teaches that God is going to recreate the universe and give us a new planet Earth.  This new Earth will be a lot like the old one, only imperishable.  No sin or sinners.  No sorrow or suffering.  No pain or pollution.  No tears. No death."

Randy Alcorn says, "The first earth serves as the prototype or pattern for the new earth.  There's continuity between old and new.  We should expect new trees, new flowers, new rocks, new rivers, new mountains, and new animals.  As our current bodies are the blueprints for our resurrection bodies, this present earth is the blueprint for the new earth."

I guess I start thinking about perfection...we are told that  "when that which is perfect is come , then that which is in part shall be done away" 1 Corinthians 13:10.  This earth is "in part"...our new earth will be perfection!  Everything that we see good in our earth will become even better...perfect.  And everything that we see broken and ugly in our world will be gone forever.

Can you even begin to imagine?  Think of the most beautiful sight you've ever seen and then try to imagine that same scene exploding in even more brilliant color, without even the slightest hint of any imperfection.  Our new earth will astound us!

As I'm sitting here writing and thinking, Genesis 1:1 shouts to me..."In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

In the beginning, God created the first heaven and the first earth. In the beginning of time.  In the beginning of the ticking of this earthly clock.  And in the end, when time is complete and we move into the wonderful newness of eternity, God will create for us a new heaven and a new earth...perfect places for perfect lives.

And it will be good...forever.

I can't wait.

Day 1 - Verse 97 - "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer." Revelation 21:1

After a wonderful weekend with my son, daughter-in-law and two beautiful granddaughters visiting from Kansas City, today starts off "back to normal"...the house seems so much quieter and I'm missing the activity and having those sweet little faces to wake up to!  Some of God's very greatest blessings in life come through our children in the form of grandchildren...there's just nothing like them!  Until they are part of your life, you just can't quite imagine how much love you will have in your heart for them.

In the same way, I don't believe we can quite imagine what heaven will be like...until it becomes our new life.  We can try, we can conjure up all kinds of images, but I think, going back to 1 Corinthians 2:9, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him—" , we just can't really begin to imagine what God has in store for us.  And, in fact, the Bible really doesn't tell us that much about what eternity will be like, I think because God knows that our human, finite minds just cannot grasp so many of the features of the home that He is preparing for us.  So, He just asks us to trust Him....it will be good.

Our Verse 97 is one of those verses, though, that does give us a brief glimpse into the eternal picture. All things are new!  A new heaven, a new earth...and all the old has passed away.  Our earth stories...of zero consequence in the newness of eternity.  The fame we established...gone!  The wealth accumulated...gone!  The toys we worked for....gone!

The many sins we grieved over....thank You, Lord...gone!!

I often say, "wish I could do some things over, I'd sure do them differently."  I think (underlined that since I'm not quoting Scripture here!) in heaven we get that opportunity, we have an eternal life to do things right.  I'm not saying we're going to live a perpetual "Groundhog Day" existence...I don't think we will replay our earthly life's mistakes over and over until we get them right.  But I think we will live in such newness of the total understanding of who our Father God is, and who we are in His sight, that we will get to experience life in complete "rightness"---we get to live life absolutely differently than we did this first time around on planet Earth. Never having to look back and wishing we had made another choice, regretting choosing our way over God's will, because we will be living new lives basking in the glory of God Himself, always living to please Him!

Let's recap this section of verses so we can again embed them in these earthly brains of ours!

Isaiah 9:6  "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be on His shoulders.  And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,The mighty God, The eternal Father, The Prince of Peace."

Luke 2:10   "But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people.' "

Luke 2:11  "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:12  "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in a cloth and lying in a manger."

Acts 1:11 "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven?  This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven."

And now add to these five verses, Revelation 21:1:

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer."

New here - old gone...that's part of what we will experience.  And that's just the first layer of the onion of this verse.  There's a lot more to peel off!