New CreationSample

Will there be any sin or death in the new heaven and earth?

No. In the new heaven and new earth there will be no more sin or death. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and make His home with us forever.

It’s very hard for us, on this side of heaven, to imagine God’s new world but the Bible gives us several pictures and images. There will be transformed human beings. There will be harmony between God and humans, humans and humans, and humans and the animal kingdom. God and humans will live together. It will be a place of beauty and creativity. And it will be a place without corruption.

Think about it for a minute. What would it be like to live in a world where plants, animals, and humans didn’t decay; where nothing bad ever happened?

It’s so hard to imagine, but that’s what the Bible promises us.

Here we meet two extremes that can lead us astray.

On the one hand, many people imagine that God’s new world will be just like this one but without the sin. In a sense, that’s true. But the problem with putting it this way is that it’s impossible for us to imagine a world without sin, as every aspect of our world is infected by sin.

On the other hand, many people imagine that heaven will be nothing like this world. But the problem with this is two-fold. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up saying that God made a mistake the first time or that this world wasn’t created as good, as Genesis 1 says it was. And secondly, if you’re not careful, you’ll end up saying that heaven is so different from this world that it can’t really be this world rescued from sin.

So, as hard as it is to grasp the Bible’s vision of heaven, we have to try. God’s new world, what we often call heaven, will be this world transformed out of its sinfulness and corruption. But, at the same time, this new world will be so different from this one—because this one’s so infected by sin—that it’s still impossible to imagine.

Reflect on how the chance to spend eternity with God and His people in heaven transforms your life. Then ask God to give you the opportunity to share the promise of heaven with someone else.