Utopian Prophecies of Our Future Dwelling Place
Bible prophecy is not just about gloomy future happenings belonging to this present evil age. It also encompasses Christ's coming millennial rule on earth and the Kingdom of God. This article focuses on our futuristic dwelling place in that glorious Kingdom to come.
by John Ross Schroeder
Perhaps a decade ago, noted British news broadcaster Martyn Lewis startled the U.K. media world by strongly suggesting that daily news output should include a substantial dose of really good news. The reaction was electric and immediate. So addicted were his peers in the broadcast media to our almost daily diet of bad news that they shouted him down in word and print. For a time his career was practically in ruins.
We are so attuned to news of extreme criminal behavior, unconscionable terrorist bombings, roller-coaster stock markets, gasoline price increases and the incredible antics of certain actors and pop stars in their upside-down personal lives, that there seems to be an unconscious human craving for an overflowing continuance of bad news.
The fact that God inspired many prophesies about geopolitics and social trends demands that we watch world news and trends and even lament the horrendous happenings of our present age (Ezekiel 9:4). This publication exists in large measure to fulfill those necessary purposes.
But an exclusive diet of bad news sooner or later will prove detrimental to our spiritual health. Christians should supplement negative information with regular good news from the pages of the Bible.
The world tomorrow
While Luke highlighted in summary the many Old Testament prophecies regarding the days of vengeance in his Gospel account (Luke 21:22), he later underscored the many positive restoration prophecies of the Old Testament in his book of Acts (Acts 3:19-21). The apostle Peter referred to this wonderful utopian period yet ahead as "times of refreshing" and "the times of restoration." (The lead feature column of this newsletter is called "Restoration" with these truths in mind.)
During the prophesied 1,000-year reign of Christ, the millennial prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Micah will find their ultimate fulfillment. The government of God will be restored to this earth as foretold by Isaiah and Micah. Swords will be beaten into plowshares, the need for military academies will completely cease, the lame and the blind will be healed, abundant harvests will turn global and the deserts of this earth will bloom as roses.
However, there is an even better time on beyond Christ's 1,000-year reign and the Great White Throne Judgment period. At the conclusion of God's plan for mankind, human life will cease reproduction on this earth and be replaced by the everlasting spirit life granted to the overcoming sons and daughters of God. The fullness of the Kingdom of God is the focus of this article.
Not easy to grasp
Humanly we do not naturally have the required spiritual focus to truly understand the wonders of the next world. The apostle Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10: "But as it is written [in the Old Testament]: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us [Christians] through His [Holy] Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."
Unless we are truly converted (or at least on the road to conversion), the nature of the Kingdom of God remains hidden from us. It is simply beyond the grasp of our five senses without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Humanly, we are helpless to envision the wonders that are beyond this physical life.
Yet we are told over and over again to focus our minds on spiritual matters, rather than the concerns of this life. For instance, the apostle Paul tells us to "seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died [figuratively in the waters of baptism]... When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:1-4, emphasis added throughout).
Verse 4 speaks of the second coming of Christ when we join our Savior in resurrected glory, changed to everlasting spirit life as 1 Corinthians 15 explains. Focusing on the spiritual is not an easy task when we have to pay the rent and put bread on the table. But Christ tells us God will gladly add the necessities of this physical life if we will only put His Kingdom first in our lives (Matthew 6:33).
Throughout his writings, Paul continues to insist on the necessity of understanding the things of God. Ephesians 1:16-18 is a case in point: "[I] do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."
Our prayers to God should be that He would grant us much greater spiritual insight, leading us to more understanding of the very points that Paul mentions here in the first chapter of Ephesians.
The City of God
Our readers may or may not be familiar with Augustine's (A.D. 354-430) book, The City of God. Whatever the merits of this ancient theological work, the contents remain rather far from the description of God's city revealed in the New Testament.
The faith chapter in the book of Hebrews gives us an important biblical insight into the nature of this, our future dwelling place. "By faith Abraham obeyed [obedience and faith go together] when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance... By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country...for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:8-10). This passage describes a heavenly city. In contrast, the cities of this age were and are constructed by human hands.
The Promised Land is a physical type of the spirit city to come mentioned in verse 10. Ultimately these promises will be fulfilled by everlasting spirit life in a majestic environment beyond human description.
None of these men and women of great visionary faith received the ultimate promises in their lifetimes. "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (verse 13).
Today's Christians are no different. We wait patiently for these same ultimate promises given to the faithful men and women of old. Notice what Paul wrote in Philippians 3:20-21: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."
Hebrews 11 goes on to tell us: "For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland" (verse 14). We hear a lot in America today of "homeland security" and rightly so, but this is speaking of that city whose builder and maker is God, a city in which our personal security will never again be threatened.
Verse 16 reads: "But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." Then in the two concluding verses of the faith chapter, the writer reiterates an important point: "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect [in the first resurrection] apart from us" (verses 39-40).
At that critical juncture in human history, true Christians will join the men and women of past ages in the Kingdom of God. (For further understanding, please request our free booklet What Happens After Death?)
Dwelling with God
Not long before His death by crucifixion, Jesus made a wonderful promise to His disciples, which also applies to Christians today. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again [to this earth] and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3).
"Mansions" is a very poor translation in terms of today's contemporary English. The Revised English Bible renders the expression as "dwelling places"; The New International Version, "rooms."
This passage has been almost universally misapplied by mainstream Christianity
to say that the saved go to heaven. But verse 3 plainly indicates that Christ
will return to this earth and the disciples will then be with Him. The crucial
question that few seem to ask is: "Where will Christ be after His return?"
The clear answer is that He will be ruling with His saints on this earth.
Another book written by the apostle John clarifies this passage in John's
Gospel. Remember that the Bible interprets the Bible, a long-neglected principle
of scriptural studies.
Revelation 5:10 says that true Christians will be "kings and priests" and they will "reign on the earth." Revelation 20:4 tells us that they will rule with Christ for a thousand years. The entire context of events in Revelation chapters 19 and 20 places them on planet earth.
Furthermore, the beginning verses of Revelation 21 tell us that the city of God, the New Jerusalem, will come to this earth. How shocking the truth of the Bible must be to those who have long believed that the saved immediately go to heaven at death. (For an in-depth examination of all of the important issues on this topic, please request our free booklet Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?)
But don't let the wonderful truths of the Bible be obscured by doctrinal misinformation. False teaching is one of the devil's methods by which he hopes to keep people overlooking the real meaning and intent of disputed biblical passages like John 14:1-3.
The city of God arrives on earth
The explanatory knowledge revealed in Revelation 21:1-4 is almost beyond our human comprehension. Yet the apostle Paul has written that we can begin to grasp it with God's help through His Holy Spirit.
The apostle John tells us what he witnessed in vision in Revelation 21:1-4: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea." Physical human beings need the oceans to survive, so we are looking at a kingdom of spirit beings—no longer flesh and blood but transformed into forever-new spirit bodies.
"Then I, John, 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 saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God [the Father] is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.'" On occasion take the time to meditate and think on this our glorious future in the Kingdom of our Creator. (Verses 22-23 tell us that the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is also present in this city.)
"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away," permanently. All of our human problems will have become part of the distant past. Will we even remember them?
One of the greatest deceptions ever foisted by Satan the devil on gullible men and women is that obedience to God is unnecessary for salvation. But notice one of the requirements for entry into this precious city of God. "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14). Stubbornly unrepentant and disobedient persons are excluded (verse 15).
Finally we read the promise of Jesus Christ (who died for our sins) to faithful, forgiven and obedient Christians. "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'" (Matthew 25:34). WNP
Recommended Reading
The Bible gives surprising and comforting news about the future. Our booklets What Happens After Death? and Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach? examine the scriptures on these vitally important subjects.
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