November 23, 2021 – Click here to listen
I just finished my study of the book of Isaiah, and I came away from it with a profound appreciation of God’s holy attributes and power. I also am bewildered at the enormity of what God has created. I thought about this at length and then I thought of the place, (heaven) where I will reside for eternity. Then I asked myself, so, just how big is heaven?
It seems no one knows anything much more than it’s BIG! The Bible doesn’t give any linear measurements. When John had his vision of heaven, he wrote, “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). It is a safe bet that there will be no overcrowding in heaven to accommodate all of us so it must be gigantic.
Will this be a problem for God? I read the following the other day, “Scientists have not even been able to chart the size of the known physical universe. There is a photo called the XDF (eXtreme Deep Field) that was put together from images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope over the course of ten years. It shows a vast number of galaxies, each comprising billions of stars like our sun. Our sun is 93 million miles away from the earth. And the galaxies are very, very far apart—Andromeda, the closest galaxy to our own, is 2.2 million light years away. To give an idea of how far that is, a shuttle traveling at 18,000 miles per hour would need 37,200 years to travel one light year. Divide that into 2.2 million just for kicks. The universe is absolutely huge—and God created it all.
The word for “heaven” in the Old Testament is the Hebrew word shameh or shamayim, which refers to the sky, the lofty arch above the world and its clouds, and beyond that the place where the planets and stars exist. In the New Testament, the word heaven is a translation of the Greek ouranos, which means “the sky” and “the abode of God” and, by extension, “an eternal realm of happiness and glory.” The sky in its vastness is a metaphor for the vastness and loftiness of God. It is the best earthly representation of the place where God lives.”
So, will we be confined to live in neighborhoods filled with mansions in the new heaven and earth? Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3).
This saying of Jesus has confused many because of the King James Version’s rendering of the words “house” and “mansions.” The Greek word translated “house” means “an abode,” literally and figuratively, and, by implication, “a family.” The word translated “mansions” or “rooms” means literally “the act of staying or residing.” So, putting the Greek together, Jesus is saying that in God’s home (heaven) there will be many people in the family of God all abiding together. Within God’s heavenly house, Christians will live in the presence of the Lord. This is quite different from the idea of rows of mansions on streets of gold, which is the image many people have of what Jesus was saying.
The new earth will be free from sin, evil, sickness, suffering, and death. It will be similar to our current earth, but without the curse of sin. It will be earth as God originally intended it to be. It will be Eden restored. And if we look to Eden, Adam and Eve prior to Eve I believe it might be similar and we will learn, work, and fellowship with God.
So, those of you who are impatient like me and want to know more now. Too bad so sad we just have to wait and wonder at it all. Why? Because the new heaven and new earth event comes after the tribulation, after the Lord’s second coming, after the millennial kingdom, after the final rebellion, after the final judgment of Satan, and after the Great White Throne of Judgement. The brief description of the new heavens and new earth is the last glimpse into eternity that the Bible gives.
Rev, 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 was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”