<\/p>\n
\u201cNevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells\u201d (2 Peter 3:13).<\/p>\n
THE PROMISE OF THE GOSPEL IS THE PROMISE OF A NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH. Peter said this new reality is something we \u201clook for.\u201d Indeed we do! This new state of things, beyond the confines of this world, is the great, central hope of Christianity. Take it away, and what you have left is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. If there were no heaven, Christianity would be nothing but a pathetic hoax. As Paul wrote, \u201cIf in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:19).<\/p>\n
You probably have never read a writer more dogmatic than I am about the reality of heaven \u2014 but you probably have never read a writer less dogmatic about the details. I take it that heaven, like our resurrected bodies, is something we could not presently understand even if God explained it to us. Concerning our bodies, John wrote, \u201cBeloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is\u201d (1 John 3:2). Something similar could probably be said of heaven. \u201cIt has not yet been revealed,\u201d so I\u2019m open-minded about the details.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, I am going to make two guesses about heaven. One is that the \u201cnew heavens and earth\u201d are going to be very different from anything that we know right now. And the second is that it\u2019s going to be very different from any of our expectations. But whatever differences there may be, they\u2019re going to be in the direction of being better<\/em> than we expected, even in our loftiest dreams.<\/p>\n We look for heaven, Peter said, \u201caccording to His promise.\u201d And just think: the promise began before God even created the present world! Paul said that we are saved \u201cin hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began\u201d (Titus 1:2).<\/p>\n But lastly, Peter said that after this world is gone, there\u2019ll be a place \u201cin which righteousness dwells.\u201d That\u2019s why we long for it so, and I agree with Anatole France: \u201cWe thank God for having created this world, and praise him for having made another, quite different one, where the wrongs of this one are corrected.\u201d In that realm \u2014 praise God \u2014 sin will have finally been left behind.<\/p>\n \u201cHeaven begins where sin ends\u201d (Thomas Adams).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n