A Christian Guidebook: What Is Eternal Life? (4)

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 2 Peter 3.10-12

Heaven
Heaven is part of the glorious inheritance which comes to all who have eternal life through Jesus Christ. We probably need to say a bit more about heaven, since it is the place where we will first see Jesus face to face and begin to be made like Him.

Heaven is a spiritual domain. It represents the third sense in which the word “heavens” is used in Scripture. The first heaven, or heavens, is the atmosphere around us—the air we breathe. The second is the place where the “great lights” have been placed—the sun, moon, and stars. And the third, into which Paul was wondrously and briefly translated (2 Cor. 12.1-4), is that spiritual domain where God rules, from which angels do His bidding, and throughout which the saints worship and rejoice in the Lord.

This heaven is a spiritual domain; therefore, all the inhabitants of that domain are spiritual merely. All but one, that is: Jesus rules in heaven in His new and glorified body. Don’t ask me how that can be. It just is. And part of the reason the saints are so excited and completely satisfied to worship Him is that they see in Him what they themselves will become. For all who have eternal life will be made like Jesus, in a new and glorified body, true and good and full of beauty and glory; for Jesus will bring all of creation, which He has redeemed and reconciled to God, to its full and original state, wholly good and sinless. I thrill at the way C. S. Lewis framed this in God in the Dock: “[T]he Christian story is precisely the story of one grand miracle, the Christian assertion being that what is beyond all space and time, what is uncreated, eternal, came into nature, into human nature, descended into His own universe, and rose again, bringing nature up with Him. It is precisely one great miracle.”

Before that final recreation of all things happens, all the saints of God from every age and place will be transformed (1 Cor. 15.50-55) and united with Jesus in the second heaven as He descends from the third heaven into the first to complete His great and glorious work of redemption (cf. Rev. 19.11-16; 2 Thess. 4.13-17). At that time, Peter tells us, the “heavens”—presumably all three—will be destroyed, together with all those who rejected the gift of eternal life. But we will be safe in Jesus, Who is already glorious and is thus the precursor and first fruit of the new heavens and new earth. And we will be translated through Jesus into the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells.

The new heavens and new earth
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if Adam and Eve had not fallen into sin? Let’s assume they passed the test, Eve tweaked the serpent’s nose, and Adam booted him permanently out of the garden. As Satan’s banishment was completed, God Himself would have served up the fruit of the Tree of Life to His creations. They would have eaten, and eternal life—for all creation—would have begun at that instant.

Adam and Eve would have turned the garden of Eden into a paradise of beauty, bounty, and fecundity. They would have befriended all God’s creatures and, together with them, would have expanded the garden and enriched and enhanced its bounty. Beauty and wonder would have abounded in infinite variety. New tools would have been developed to improve labor and extend the variety of work. Nothing would be wasted; everything would be continuously renewed. The resources of the earth would have been discovered and used to add beauty and utility to the project. Children—sinless children (can you imagine that?)—would have been born and would have taken their place in the garden with joy and without jealousy or competition. The boundaries of the garden would have been continuously expanded. More children would have been born. Holy and joyful communities would crop up here and there. More discoveries would be made. More culture created. More of the Lord’s Presence known and delighted in.

And this would have expanded to encompass the entire earth. Forever.

Of course, this did not happen, nor could it have. Because we are creatures. We are not God. Only God can fulfill God’s eternal plan for eternal life, and He has chosen to do that through Jesus, His Son, Who descended from the Father to save a people for Himself, to redeem and reconcile the world, and bring all of creation to its full and enduring beauty in the new heavens and new earth.

This is where we’re headed, friends. This is what Jesus is preparing for us. This is where the mansions of God will be, where the lion will lie down with the lamb, the child will play with the viper, the Tree of Life will bear endless fruit, the River of Life will flow continually, and all the very good intentions of God for all His beloved creatures—human and otherwise—will be fully and beautifully and joyously realized in great bounty, variety, and unity. The Son of God will light this new creation with His constant Presence, so that ne’er a shadow will be in view.

Preparing for the Lord’s promise
And as for us, we who have received the gift of eternal life and look forward to heaven and the new heavens and new earth: How should such an unfathomable and wonderful gift affect the way we live here and now? We must pursue “holy conduct and godliness”, Peter says, and “be diligent to be found in Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Pet. 3.12, 14). As we shall see, Paul will insist that this is the only proof to the watching world that such a thing as eternal life exists and can be known.

Eternal life—in all its stages and components—is the gift of God to those who believe in in Jesus. And, while the full realization of eternal life is very much a matter of “then and there”, we may expect—and indeed, labor—to realize foretastes, manifestations, glimpses, and insights of the full scope of eternal life in all our “here and now.”

Are we making ready for that?

Search the Scriptures
1. Meditate on Revelation 21.1-5 and 22.1-5. How does this teach us to think about the new heavens and new earth?

2. Why is it important that Christians have as clear as possible an understanding of the gift of eternal life?

3. In what way or ways is your understanding of eternal life changing or being reinforced?

Next steps—Demonstration: Jot down some ideas, images, or other notes that suggest to you what it will be like as eternal life comes to its fullness in the new heavens and new earth.

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

For a more complete study of this subject, order the workbook, The Landscape of Unseen Things, by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.