The New Jerusalem

~ The New Jerusalem ~

"Not only will God come to dwell with us on Earth, he will also bring with him the New Jerusalem, an entire city of people, structures, streets, walls, rivers, and trees that is now in the present, intermediate Heaven. If you’ve ever seen a house being relocated, you appreciate what a massive undertaking it is. God will relocate an entire city—Heaven’s capital city, the New Jerusalem—from Heaven to Earth. It’s a vast complex containing, perhaps, hundreds of millions of residences. He will bring with it Heaven’s human inhabitants and angels as well."

"It appears that God has already fashioned the New Jerusalem: 'He has prepared a city for them' (Hebrews 11:16). It doesn’t say that God will prepare a city or even that he is preparing it, but that he has prepared it. This suggests that the New Jerusalem, complete or nearly complete, is already there in the present Heaven. When God fashions the New Earth, he will relocate the city from Heaven to the New Earth. It’s possible that those in the present Heaven are already living in it. Or it may be set aside, awaiting simultaneous habitation by all its occupants when transferred to the New Earth. Imagine the thrill of beholding and exploring God’s city together!"

"Will we always be engaged in worship? Yes and no. If we have a narrow view of worship, the answer is no. But if we have a broad view of worship, the answer is yes. As Cornelius Venema explains, worship in Heaven will be all-encompassing: 'No legitimate activity of life—whether in marriage, family, business, play, friendship, education, politics, etc.—escapes the claims of Christ’s kingship. . . . Certainly those who live and reign with Christ forever will find the diversity and complexity of their worship of God not less, but richer, in the life to come. Every legitimate activity of new creaturely life will be included within the life of worship of God’s people.'... Will we always be on our faces at Christ’s feet, worshiping him? No, because Scripture says we’ll be doing many other things—living in dwelling places, eating and drinking, reigning with Christ, and working for him. Scripture depicts people standing, walking, traveling in and out of the city, and gathering at feasts. When doing these things, we won’t be on our faces before Christ. Nevertheless, all that we do will be an act of worship. We’ll enjoy full and unbroken fellowship with Christ. At times this will crescendo into greater heights of praise as we assemble with the multitudes who are also worshiping him... Have you ever spent a day or several hours when you sensed the presence of God as you hiked, worked, gardened, drove, read, or did the dishes? Those are foretastes of Heaven—not because we are doing nothing but worshiping, but because we are worshiping God as we do everything else."