The eternal state The enjoyment of all things new Revelation 21v5.
We have seen the negative side, the absence of the dread consequences of sin; we now have the positive prospect of enjoying all that God has for His people. There is little to illuminate us further because as He says elsewhere " eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." (Isaiah 64v4;1st Corinthians 2v9).There is enough to whet our appetite for the future glory. So amazing will this be that the inspired writings can only touch the perimeter of the deep things of God.
Psalm 16v11 says "in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for ever more." The prophet Isaiah speaks of "the former things" and "the things to come" chapter 41v22 where he mocks the false gods who know neither the former things nor the things to come. In Isaiah 42v9 he says "Behold the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them." Isaiah 46v10 "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done." He sums up something of the future in Isaiah 43v19-20 "Behold I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert...... to give drink to My people My chosen the people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise."
The epistle to the Hebrews speaks much of the world to come. In chapter 2v5 it says that not to angels but to Christ His people has He given charge of the world to come. Hebrews 6v5 speaks of "the powers of the world to come. Hebrews 9v11 speaks of Christ being "a high priest of good things to come." Hebrews 10v34 he says "Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance." In 2nd Corinthians 5v1 it is written "we have a building of God, an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens." We can categorise the new things He is speaking of under four headings:
- All things will be new bodily. - In 1st Corinthians 15 it is recorded "it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." Again in verse 49 of the same chapter "as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." The natural body such as we have now is marked by the limitations of a body of flesh. The new spiritual body will have no such limitations, being able to cover vast distances in a moment's time. Philippians chapter 3 adds light to this when it says "the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body....." Therefore as he was able to pass through doors, and appear, and disappear at will, and indeed ascend in His body directly from earth into heaven, so will we be like Him.
- All things will be new morally. - 2nd Corinthians 5v17 says "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." In Ephesians 5v26-2 it is written "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." This is speaking of moral perfection which could not be possible this side of eternity. In eternity according to Colossians 3v10 we will have put on "the new man" which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him.
- All things will be new environmentally. - The entire topography of the earth with its atmosphere and its climate will be completely changed. In Romans chapter 8 it says that the earth will be released "from the bondage of corruption." Something of this process will exist in the millennium but will be seen at its greatest in the eternal state. There will be perfect conditions in all the universe, a fitting environment for God to dwell with His people. Even the animal creation is looking for this glorious day (Romans 8v19) "the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."
- All things will be new spiritually. - God and man in a new relationship, a direct relationship and not one at a distance as at present. This is contained in the fivefold statement in chapter 21v3 "God with men,...... God dwelling with them........they shall be His people......God Himself shall be with them.......God Himself shall be their God." Also chapter 22v3-4 "His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face and his name shall be on their foreheads.
The rest is left to our imagination, and our earnest expectation.
Amazon bookshelf now
No comments:
Post a Comment