A Study of Eschatology

Revelation 21 - 22

As we continue to look at our existence of life with Christ in the New Heavens and earth our excitement over the reality of living forever should increase. There is real evidence that in the Bible of Resurrection since we can observe the resurrected body of Jesus Christ during His appearance for forty days here on earth before His return to heaven. Notice Luke 24:39 and John 20:27. These appearances are not recorded as an experience of one person, but of many.

Some alternate spiritual groups or religions may claim to give a new existence after death, but one must understand the fine print. These religions do not offer a person their real body, but a virtual one. You know, one of a cow or some other animal, spirit or some other form of unknown life. These religions teach a person to believe that a virtual existence is all they will need to live again.

But the New Heavens and Earth do not offer us that kind of existence. Simply put; if our New home is one hundred percent real then we too will be one hundred percent real. Our existence will be just as real as the existence of Christ. The apostle John motivates us to purify ourselves daily because when we see Him (Jesus) we shall be just like Him. This is a confidence that all believers in Jesus Christ should have. 1 John 3:2-3

When Jesus rose from the dead, He was recognized. John 20:11-18. And from a shore distance off shore the apostle John recognized Jesus as the One talking with them. John 21:7-8. This then is true of Jesus and is true for those who believe in Jesus too. We know these things are true through the mirror of faith. Hebrews 11:1 and as we continue to look into this mirror the evidence becomes clearer with each observation. 1 Corinthians 13:12

One more thought about living an eternal life after the death of our temporal life. We spend billions of dollars annually to gain longevity or to maintain our marginal existence. We often do this without regard to our spiritual condition. Our outward appearance may look good, but the inner person is rotting away. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. So with all of this change our efforts of a therapeutic existence will change from prevention of death to the enjoyment of everlasting life. Revelation 22:2 refers to the Trees of Life and the healing of the nations. We will not need this food to be holy since we are already holy or we would not be in heaven. The Greek word for healing here is therapeia our English word comes from this word and you guessed it; therapeutic. So the maintenance that these trees offer is enjoyment of this phenomenal life after death.

So someone also said in scripture that there will be rewards in Heaven. Matthew 5:12. The statement of Jesus that there will be reward in heaven is not profound, since other religions offer reward too. But what is profound is that most of us believers in Jesus are not really looking for reward and it sort of makes us nervous to think about laying claim to a reward when spiritually we are living in Christ out of a faithful experience of love for Him.

The lure of reward seems then to be illogical and morally wrong, but the truth is that this logic is incorrect and is on the verge of corrupting our Spiritual walk. Look at it this way, the Bible does not defend the concept of reward as religions often do: rather, the idea of reward is accepted to be a supernatural reward in eternity. That is to say that the religions of the world around us do not offer anything supernaturally.

Psalm 58:11; Psalm 62:12; Hebrews 6:10-12; Luke 18:29-30; Mark 9:41 and Mark 10:29-30.

In our natural life, we cannot expect to receive a reward of 100 percent, taxes and other expenses always seem to take away from the real thing. However, God promises a reward of a hundredfold when we serve Him. Different from religion is the truth that God begins this rewarding process even while we yet live in this physical body.

More next week.