Behold, I Make All Things New

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind had conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.” I Cor 2:9

The Greek word translated new in Rev 21:5 describes freshness, not age. It’s the same word used in Rev 21:1 referring to a new heaven and a new earth. This is consistent with the Hebrew word used in Isaiah 65:17 where new heavens and a new earth are also mentioned, along with one of the better descriptions of life in Israel during the Millennium. That word comes from a root meaning to rebuild, renew, or repair. Think of Heaven and Earth as being restored to their condition before the fall; refreshed, renewed, repaired and rebuilt for Messiah’s Kingdom.

Have you noticed that there’s a lot more information about the nature of the coming Kingdom in the Old Testament than in the New? That’s because even though Christians talk more about the Millennium than Jews, the fact is that the 1000 year Kingdom of the Messiah is intended for Israel not the Church, and for Earth not Heaven.

Major glimpses of life in the Millennium are found in Isaiah (2 and 65) Ezekiel (40-48) Micah (4) and Zechariah (14) with other smatterings through out the Old Testament. All we know from the New Testament is found in Rev. 20-22, and even there, portions referring to New Jerusalem describe only our physical surroundings, not our life style.

In the rest of the New Testament, we find only a couple of hints, such as Matthew 19:28 and Acts 3:21, because the New Testament concerns Christian life in phase one of the Kingdom of Heaven (before the rapture), not phase two (after it). So we can read much more about life on Earth during the Millennium, than about life in New Jerusalem. Those passages are important because they describe the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel, a promise that includes peace (finally) prosperity, land of their own and long happy life with God in their midst, but they’re not written for us.

So What About Us?

Descriptions of life in New Jerusalem are limited; no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain (Rev 21:4). Sounds great, but what do we do all day? On Earth folks are building houses, bearing children, planting vineyards, tending sheep and otherwise enjoying the works of their hands (Isa 65:17-25). Do we just spend our time in some endless worship service as some have suggested?

Behavioral Scientists have determined that the average child is much happier than the average adult, partly because children spend most of their time learning and doing new things, and partly because they haven’t yet acquired the worries of adult life. Science has also discovered that for all practical purposes the creative potential of the human brain is limitless, but the average adult uses a mere fraction of that potential working toward and achieving life goals.

A reasonably successful life in the US is beyond the wildest dream of most non-Americans, but even that can be reduced to such predictable routine that once learned it’s quite possible to “live the good life” without much mental effort at all. More of our creativity is invested in hobbies and leisure activities than in career goals. In short, our Creator has endowed us with limitless creative potential (Deut 8:18), but as less of that potential is needed to live successfully, we become bored and unhappy, searching for something to stimulate our creativity and get us excited again. Such is life.

What’s The Alternative?

But suppose we were suddenly thrust into an environment filled with endless opportunity for exploration and the acquisition of new experience and knowledge without any worries, just like being kids again. Suppose this environment was created just for us, to stimulate our unique blend of talent and creative ability, even to the extent of being designed around our favorite shapes and colors. Suppose it was a dynamic environment growing as we grew to provide endless opportunity for discovery without any possibility of defeat, disappointment or failure.

Suppose we were given full use of the dimension of time, able to observe all of history and understand how everything came to be and why. Suppose we had been divested of all fear, hatred, jealousy, envy, greed and worry, our minds filled with happiness, gratitude, joy and satisfaction for self and others. Suppose there were no more misunderstandings, arguments, or betrayals, that everyone around us was just as concerned for our well being as we were for theirs.

Billy Graham was once asked if there’d be golf courses in heaven. “If they’re necessary for our happiness,” he replied “they’ll be there.” I believe everything necessary for our happiness has been created and installed in the New Jerusalem, and that even with our supernatural abilities we’ll live endless lives of exploration and realization, joy and happiness.

So why doesn’t the Bible go into more detail about this?

It’s written for the Age of Man, not for eternity.
Our limited minds couldn’t comprehend much of it. But
what little we could understand would make us so miserable here that we’d do anything possible to hasten our departure.

As it is written “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9)