[UntoHim]

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I 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 from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:1-5)

What a foretaste of deliverance
how unwavering our hope
Christ in power resurrected
as we will be when he comes
From "Come Behold the wondrous mystery" by Matt Papa et al

Frankly, I was not too interested in participating in this thread. I have enough on my plate with the here and now without having to worry about eternity. But it seems that God is very interested in eternity, at least if we are to take seriously how much time He spend on eternity in the Bible.

"I saw a new heaven and a new earth". Wait a minute...why is there going to be a new heaven? Even a simpleton like me can see the obvious need for a new earth, but what's up with this new heaven? I thought heaven was a pure and holy place - where God's presence and kingdom reign. "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool" (Isaiah 66:1) Why does heaven need to be made new?

As usual, Nell's thoughtful and fun post got me thinking and considering something with a new and fresh perspective. (Thanks again sis, you're the best) It's very easy to see that earth is missing so many things. It also is filled with a lot of things we don't need or want - sin, death, sickness and disease, hate, violence, and other negative things. But it turns out that heaven is missing something as well - US! Us and our story - the good the bad and the ugly. To be sure, God will have to deal with the bad and the ugly. We will have to answer for this bad and ugly, and we will suffer a certain amount of loss. Clearly some of us will suffer a greater loss, and some will receive a greater reward. (See the parable of the talents for how this is going to go down) In any event, at the dawn of the new heaven and the new earth, God will quickly deal with and dispatch of all negative things - including even sin and death.

This is where Nee and Lee's teaching regarding "taking the cross", "crossing out the self" and "have no opinions" steered us terribly wrong. In fact, these teachings and practices lead us away from God's purpose for our lives, and even away from the eternal purpose and blessings of his Kingdom. God did not create heartless, mindless, opinionless robots, and he has no intention of spending eternity with heartless, mindless, opinionless robots. He wants worshipers! He wants people who "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." God wants our story. God needs our story.