Heaven Or New Jerusalem?

Q

Can you explain who will be in heaven and who will be in the New Jerusalem? From what I have read it seems to me like the rapture happens, we are taken to heaven and then after the tribulation we go to the New Jerusalem for 1,000 years. And then what after the 1,000 years? Will we ever go back to heaven?

A

I believe that for all practical purposes Heaven and the New Jerusalem are one and the same and that it will be the eternal home of the Church. The fact that John saw it coming down out of heaven (the Greek word means the sky) at the end of the Great Tribulation simply means it was coming close enough to Earth that it could be seen with the naked eye. I believe we’ll go there at the rapture and live there forever.