A Whole New World

In Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven, Mark Twain wrote, “Singing hymns and waving palm branches through all eternity is pretty when you hear about it in the pulpit, but it’s as poor a way to put in valuable time as a body could contrive.” Twain was wrong on two counts. First, he was wrong about what occupies those who are in heaven. Second, he was mistaken about the believer’s location in eternity.

Today’s passage describes a whole new creation of a new heavens and a new earth. The world as we know it now will pass away. This might puzzle us, and some of the things John says about this new creation are hard to fathom. Indeed, it seems to be missing some of the aspects of the world that many consider beautiful: no sea (v. 1), no need for the sun or moon (v. 23), and no night (22:5). Other qualities seem mythical and maybe even clichéd, such as a jeweled city whose great street is made of gold that shines like transparent glass (v. 21).

The problem is not with John’s description but with our imagination. This city is real. We will dwell on a solid earth. Yet John is also expressing heavenly realities in earthly terms. He must use the imagery of what we already know to speak of that which we have not yet experienced.

Whatever this new heaven and earth is, it cannot be less than all that John describes and we can be sure that it is much more. We’re reminded of Paul’s words: “‘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—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:9–10).

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BY Dr. John Koessler

John Koessler is Professor Emeritus of Applied Theology and Church Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. John authors the “Practical Theology” column for Today in the Word of which he is also a contributing writer and theological editor. An award-winning author, John’s newest title is When God is Silent: Let the Bible Teach You to Pray (Kirkdale). Prior to joining the Moody faculty, he served as a pastor of Valley Chapel in Green Valley, Illinois, for nine years. He and his wife, Jane, now enjoy living in a lakeside town in Michigan.