What does the Bible really say about Death, Judgment, Rewards, Heaven, and the Future Life on a Restored Earth?

Clean air and pure water. All the land, even deserts, fertile and blooming. Pasturelands full of grazing animals. Rivers and seas teeming with fish. More than enough food for everyone. Starvation and hunger_distant memories. No crime and no war. Every weapon destroyed or converted for domestic use. Safety and security for everyone. Guaranteed justice for all. All animals living together peacefully, even the wolf and the lamb. Lions eating grass like cattle. New bodies for everyone, empowered by a new life force. No sickness or disease. The blind see, the mute talk, and the lame leap like deer. Too good to be true? Not if you

take God's Word for it. According to Jesus Christ, quoting from Psalm 37:11, the meek (those willing to believe God's Word) shall inherit the earth.

The biblical teaching that all saved people will live forever on a recreated and Eden-like earth has been virtually lost for modern Christians. Why? Because in the early centuries of the Christian Church, the doctrine of life on a new earth was replaced by the belief that “heaven” is the eternal dwelling place of those who are saved. The Christian's Hope reaffirms in a straightforward yet well-documented way that the everlasting home of the saved will be on a lush and Eden-like earth. It offers a biblically clear and vividly described glimpse of the glorious destiny that awaits every believer.

God originally planned for mankind to live on earth, and His plan, though postponed by sin, will not be thwarted_it will come to pass in the future when a new earth is created. God describes this future earth in hundreds of verses, and Christ spoke of it in his first recorded sermon, so surely it is important that we understand it properly. Christianity needs to replace the vague ideas about heaven with the concrete and vivid images of the future life that are so abundantly portrayed in Scripture. Only then will Christians become grounded in biblical certainties about the world to come.

Very importantly, The Christian's Hope shows from Scripture that each Christian will be rewarded in the coming world in direct proportion to the quality of how he lives for God in this world. If the believer's vision of the future is clear and certain, he has a much greater possibility of standing like a rock and working faithfully in service to the Lord, despite the pressures and pleasures of this world. Our hope of a better place is to be the anchor of our souls. The Christian's Hope will become a treasured part of any believer's library, and its contents an important source of comfort, peace, and strength.

John W.Schoenheit

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