The New Beginning - The fourth of four series of Study
The Revelation
by Paige Ramsey
Life in
God’s Holy City – Lesson 3
Revelation 22:1-6
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on both sides of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, “These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done.”
Heaven is REAL! Our concept of heaven is not real. Our concept is so limited, and because we falsely use the word “heaven,” we have created a very unreal idea of what eternity will be like. There are only three heavens that we know about. The first heaven is the atmosphere surrounding our planet, where the birds and airplanes fly. The second is the planetary heaven where the stars, galaxies, and endless outer space exists. The third is God’s present abode, where the angels receive instruction from God, where the Father is sitting on the throne, and where Jesus is now sitting at the Father’s right hand, making intercession for our sin when Satan accuses us, and where our soul and spirit will go when our bodies die (to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord[i]). But none of these places is where we will spend eternity.
When people say, “We’ll live in heaven with God forever through eternity,” they are using the wrong term. They are not lying; they are simply not conveying the proper picture. Perhaps they do not see the picture properly themselves. We will spend eternity on the New Earth!! We won’t be on clouds with harps, we won’t have wings, we won’t become angels. We will be us. I will be myself. You will be yourself.
Our New Body
We will have a real, physical body – the same body we have now, only glorified so that it will never grow old, never get sick, never be weak, always be energetic and ready to do what we choose to do as we glorify the Lord. We will receive this glorified body when Christ comes to get us.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 tells us, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
And 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 says, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Many refer to this event as the Rapture of the Saints (from the words “caught up”) but whatever you wish to call it, this is a very real event that will take place sometime before the thousand year (millennial) reign of Christ begins on this present earth. So, we will have a thousand years – during the Millennial Reign of Christ – to get used to our new bodies before Eternity begins – before the New Heaven and New Earth – before the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. Since we have not explored these glorified bodies before in this study, let’s explore what life will be like in these wonderful, glorified bodies as we live in the New Jerusalem.
Our glorified body will be like Jesus’ glorified body after His resurrection.[ii] In His glorified body, Jesus was able to enter a room without opening a door[iii] – we will be able to do likewise. He left the disciples in Emmaus by vanishing from their sight[iv] – we will travel likewise, perhaps with the speed of thought. He had the scars in His hands, feet, and side[v], proving He had the same body as He had when He was crucified. We, too will have the same body we have now. Some people have a really hard time understanding this. “After all,” they say, “some bodies are buried at sea or have been blown to bits or have completely decomposed and are now part of the plants, etc.” We have the Creator of all as our God. He has every hair on our heads numbered and all the quazillion stars named. He is quite capable of finding every atom and putting them all back together or recreating our bodies!
Jesus ate with the disciples[vi] – we’ll still be able to enjoy eating great food!! I believe we’ll dine sumptuously, and be completely satisfied with a vegetarian diet. Some people choose a vegetarian diet today, and are completely satisfied with it, but most need higher protein enrichment easily accomplished with meat. God gave us permission to eat meat after the flood, because that catastrophe changed the earth in such a way that our diet needed to change in order to adjust. We would need more protein. But, our glorified bodies will not need to depend upon death to be vital, and no curses or damage will have blemished the New Earth so it will produce abundantly.
Because there will be no form of disease that will affect our glorified bodies, we’ll never be sick or out of shape. Think of it! We’ll be able to run without ever getting tired. A high-jump competition will take on a whole new dimension! Our strength will never fail us and there will be no sore muscles after a long, vigorous workout. We won’t have to worry about gaining weight or losing weight – our metabolism will be perfectly adjusted to our bodies. Even these cursed dying bodies we live with today are a miraculous creation. They heal themselves, they try to compensate for any kind of malfunction so that they can continue to live. Our present bodies are fragile, but they are also really quite versatile and resourceful in their rejuvenating properties. Imagine how our glorified bodies will be! We’ll literally be invincible!
The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life itself will give us everything we need for food. We’ll enjoy those twelve kinds of fruit, which could be nuts, berries, apples, tomatoes, root vegetables, and other manner of fruit we have no knowledge of today. Let’s look at the history of the Tree of Life for a minute.
This tree existed on our present earth, in the Garden of Eden[vii]. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their spirit died immediately, just as God warned. Remember how Satan convinced Eve that it was ok for them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: he deceived them by saying that God had not been honest with them – that they would not really die[viii]. But they did – they died spiritually. The spirit is that part of man which communes with God, and it was a very realistic death for them. Suddenly, their spiritual eyes were blinded, and everything real in that realm, which they understood before, was taken from them. It was a very scary event and they did not know how to handle it. Their nakedness, which had been so natural and innocent, suddenly became an evil, shameful thing. They tried to cover it by making clothes out of fig leaves[ix], but even that did not help. They hid themselves from God because of their guilt and shame[x].
Once God dealt with the sin (by explaining the extenuating results of their sin[xi], killing an innocent animal to postpone the payment for sin, covering Adam & Eve with the skin[xii], and promising to one day send a perfect sacrifice, a Savior, to permanently pay for the sin and free mankind[xiii]), He then had to keep Adam and Eve from eating of the Tree of Life.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Gen 3:22-24)
When I first read this at the age of fifteen, after I became a Christian and hungered to understand the Scripture, I remember thinking, “Why didn’t God just let them eat of the Tree of Life? That would have taken care of everything right away and we wouldn’t have to go through all this chaos in this cursed world!” And I also remember trying to figure out exactly where the Garden of Eden would have been so that I might also figure out where God hid the Tree of Life. I’m sure I’m not the only person to fall into this ridiculous thinking, and later, I laughed at myself for believing that I could out-think God. How many times do we become fools in the sight of God?
But honestly, I never truly understood the Tree of Life, until a man of God, years later, and I cannot actually remember who, in his message mentioned that if Adam and Eve, or any of their descendants had eaten from the Tree of Life at that time, while their spirit was dead, before their sins were paid and before they received their glorified bodies, then they would have existed forever in that cursed, dying body and spiritually dead state and there would have been no hope for them to ever have a Savior. Wow! Thank you, Lord, for taking care of us! This is one more understanding of Jesus’ words, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.[xiv]”
So, with our sins paid, our spirits made alive, the cursed earth gone, and we are living on the New Earth, in the New Jerusalem, we now feast on twelve kinds of fruit from the Tree of Life! How exciting is that?!! Our text specifically says this tree produces its fruit once every month. Does this mean we will eat once a month? That is one possibility, or perhaps we will feast once each month from this magnificent tree, and at other times we’ll eat from other sources (Jesus ate bread and fish after His resurrection). The scripture in Genesis seems to indicate that it would only take one serving to produce eternal results, so other feastings might be simply for delight.
The River of Life
Notice that the Tree of Life is fed by the river of the Water of Life. Living Water! That is what Christ offers for us now. He told the woman at the well that if she knew the gift of God and who He was, she would only have to ask and He would give her living water, and that anyone who drank of this living water would never thirst again, but it would become a well of water that springs up into everlasting life.[xv] If you have truly trusted Christ, you have tasted of the living water. You no longer are thirsting for spiritual fulfillment, because Christ is living in you.
If you are walking with Christ, He is springing up within you, and flowing out of you so that others will desire the refreshing water of life they see in you. If this does not describe your life, you need to check your salvation – have you truly put your trust in Christ? Perhaps you need to walk more closely with the Lord – in all the light He has given you. If you know you have completely trusted Christ, yet find yourself in the confusion of darkness, then ask the Lord to reveal your sin and for His forgiveness. He will always forgive and cleanse you completely from all sin.[xvi]
John Gill alludes to the River of Life as the “river of God’s everlasting love[xvii]” which certainly gives a wonderful depiction. It is God’s ever-flowing, abundant, pure love that gives us life. God’s love is abundant in the New Jerusalem!
Our Knowledge
Our knowledge will exceed anything we’ve experienced before and our understanding will be keenly sensitive.
We will recognize each other. Because we will have the same body, others whom we knew on this earth will readily recognize us, and we will recognize others we have known in this life. However, our recognitions will go far beyond this. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says: For now we see through a glass (or mirror), darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. Nothing will be hidden. Today, we know people, some more than others. And often, when we think we know someone, something happens to make us wonder if we really knew them at all. That’s because we only know in part. But, in the New Jerusalem, when we commune together, we’ll see the intentions of the hearts, and others will see our intentions as well. We will know clearly. That will be so refreshing! No longer will we have to wonder if someone is being two-faced or what would really give them pleasure or how to communicate effectively. We will truly know each other. And, don’t despair, because we’ll all have the mind of Christ. We will truly and completely love each other.
Our knowledge will go beyond recognizing those we knew on this earth. Do you remember the incident that we call the Mount of Transfiguration? Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain and His body changed – transfigured – so that His face shined like the sun. He became glorified right before the eyes of Peter, James, and John. Then, two others joined him: Moses and Elijah. Peter, James, and John were so excited that they wanted to erect three tabernacles – one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus.[xviii] My question, as I read this: How did Peter, James, and John know it was Moses & Elijah? Jesus did not introduce them. They just knew. Both Moses and Elijah lived many years before this incident, and to my knowledge, no painting or sculpture or any likeness of them had survived to that day. So how did they know?
When I was studying for a series of lessons on spiritual warfare, I read hundreds of accounts of people who had claimed to see angels, people who had spiritually discerned situations, and people whom the Holy Spirit led in a miraculous way. In so many of these accounts, the person who experienced the incident said things like, “I just knew…” “Somehow, I knew…” “…then I understood everything…” “my mind was so clear” “I know it was from God” “I have absolutely no doubt…”. When I read those things, I also remembered incidents, not nearly as profound as those I read about, when I seemed to just know something as sure as if I had all the evidence, but without that evidence. (Being led by faith… “the evidence of things unseen…”[xix])
Most of us can remember little things like “knowing” someone was watching us without any evidence of that fact, then turn in the direction to lock eyes with the one watching us. Or, times when the answer to a situation just popped into our minds and was so clear it caused us to wonder how we had ever overlooked it. God’s children often receive “spiritual discernment” or a “word of knowledge” or a “word of wisdom” during times of confusion or decision making. We can expect this kind of spiritual direction in our lives today as we walk with Christ and learn to operate in it more wholeheartedly, but on the New Earth in eternity, this type of knowledge will be absolutely common. It will be better than the internet or a Global Positioning System, and we will know that our knowledge is absolute truth – after all, it comes from the mind of Christ!!
In our life in the New Jerusalem, we will know people we have never met. When we see John, we’ll know him, and he will know us. We’ll know Moses and Abraham and our great-great-great-great grandparents. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, and John Calvin will know you. Wow. That is just exciting! As we sit down to speak with people, we’ll have a deep understanding of their experiences, as though we had the same experience. If you’ve ever read a good novel written close on an individual, a well-written biography or auto biography, you can guess what I’m talking about. As the scenes unfold, it feels as though you are experiencing the things the main character experiences. Our commune with each other will be even greater than that. Walking with each other will be invigorating, moving, and awakening like nothing we’ve experienced here. Even in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, because of our “old man,” our sinful condition, we can’t experience that relationship to its fullest until we meet face-to-face.
We will also have complete and instant memory recall. I am always impressed with people who seem to remember every detail about something experienced or learned at the drop of a hat. I, on the other hand, usually need to be reminded, have ample time to recall, and/or restudy the subject before I am able to rattle off what I have experienced or learned. Little things, like song lyrics, are not a problem – I seem to remember those instantly. But recalling details of a deep study or an incident (especially, I’ve noticed, when it is an emotional incident) is a bit of a struggle for me until I have time to sort out the details and retrieve the files that are stored away.
A very select few people – a dozen or so known individuals out of the over 300,000,000+ people living in the United States today have 100% instant memory recall, or H-SAM (Highly Superior Auto-biological Memory).[xx] We met one of them a few weeks ago when we visited New York and went to see Tony Danza in his new musical Honeymoon in Vegas. Marilou Henner, who co-starred with Tony Danza in the 1970’s sitcom Taxi came in right behind us, and sat across the aisle a couple of rows behind us. Gene recognized her right away, and during the intercession, our daughter, Jade, took his picture with her. Ms. Henner remembers every moment of every day she has lived and recalls each of them instantly, just as though they all happened yesterday. It is a marvelous gift. In an interview with CBS 2’s Katie McGee, Henner speaks:
“You say April 3, 1992 and all of a sudden the whole week starts presenting itself to me. That was a Friday and I was in New York, actually. Early that week I had won $1,760 at a winner-take-all Academy Awards pool. It was a clean sweep of the Oscars, ‘Silence of the Lambs’, Jodie Foster,” Henner said. … “Every single thing that you have ever done is on your hard drive,” she explained.[xxi]
In the New Jerusalem, our memories will also be that clear, but with the added benefit of having the mind of Christ – His full knowledge and His complete understanding, so those memories won’t affect us negatively the way they might if we had that instant recall today. With a mind that alert, we’ll be able to learn amazing things, like God’s fundamental design for the universe, calculate equations to bend space and light, learn languages – or even develop languages, and a whole host of other things I can’t even imagine. That is just one more exciting feature to look forward to in the New Jerusalem!
New Senses
Our senses will also be enhanced – to see and hear in the spiritual world – and perhaps we’ll even have more senses!
Our eyes will see better – not just because they will be perfect, but because they will be required to do more. If we will be walking through walls, we’ll have to see beyond those walls. If we will be moving at super speeds, we’ll have to see further ahead than we do now. We won’t just have 20/20 vision, we’ll have super vision!
Our ears will also be super enhanced to hear further distances and to hone into miniscule sounds. The range of our hearing now is quite limited, but in the New Jerusalem, we will be able to hear and perceive so much more that is going on around us. The shrill pitches that would now hurt our ears and the deep low pitches that our ears cannot hear will be prevalent, clear, and meaningful. Nothing will escape them.
We’ll have perfect pitch – musically. Some people, like my son and his wife have what we call “perfect pitch,” and use it to create delightful melodies, many beautiful harmonies, and dynamic instrumental accompaniments. Most of us have some impairment of hearing that distorts musical notes to some degree or another and prohibits us from excelling in that field. However, in the New Jerusalem, we’ll all hear music as it should be heard – clear, crisp, and of such beauty that it will compel us to worship in song because anything that beautiful must be given to the Lord. What a worship experience with our new ears!!
But… spiritual hearing and seeing goes beyond physical sights and sounds. To hear spiritually is an awakening. To see spiritually is to understand beyond understanding. Matthew 13:9-13 says:
Who has ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”
Jesus was telling His disciples that some people do not have spiritual ears to hear spiritual things; nor do they have spiritual eyes to see spiritually. With His parables, Jesus spoke the truth, but in such a way that those who could discern the spiritual message would understand it and those who could not discern the message would only hear a story. When a man of God preaches to a congregation of people, some hear the Gospel message so clearly and come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Others, who have listened just as intently, do not seem to grasp the spiritual message. They were just good words, and once the service is over they leave unchanged, their minds engaged on the cares of the world.
Having spiritual eyes and ears are rare on this earth. Perceiving a spiritual incident, understanding a spiritual meaning, or discerning a spiritual brother or sister in Christ is not a conventional operation for most people. Even most of us born-again Christians have not learned to depend upon our spiritual modes of operation. But in the New Jerusalem, we will use our spiritual senses to the maximum.
The senses of touch, smell, and taste must be heightened to sense the full goodness of God. Some people believe we will have seven senses – because seven is the number of completion. If that is the case, what could the new senses be? Are they the spiritual senses that believers actually have but do not name as senses today of spiritual intuition or discernment? Or would they be extra physical senses that we will need to do the things we will be doing?
Talents and Abilities
We will have talents and creative abilities, just as we do today, but with even more capacity. God gives people talents and abilities today and those people need to practice, learn, and work to truly excel in their abilities. I feel it will be like that in the New Jerusalem. We’ll have so much to explore, so much to experience and the Lord has joy in watching us grow, learn, and become all we can be.
During the first thousand years on this earth, Adam lived to be 930 years of age, Methuselah lived 969 years, and Noah was 500 years old when God sent the flood and lived 450 years more after the flood. God intended human life to be eternal from the beginning, but even after the curse, their bodies survived almost a thousand years. Think of all you could learn and do in a thousand years!! We’ll have ETERNITY to play instruments, make perfect artistic creations, perform perfect gymnastic feats, write songs to praise the Lord, explore the universe, and an untold million or billion other things. God made us curious creatures, and I do believe He will delight in seeing us discover all these new abilities, create new things, and become even more than we can possibly imagine.
We have a glorious, wonderful God with a marvelous creative power!! Everything He thought of to make life on this earth a wonderful, exciting life will be exponentially multiplied! The beauty of this present earth, though nothing short of breath-taking, will fade in comparison to all the beauties of the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem will surpass them all! God gave us an imagination to dream of great, lofty possibilities, but none of us can fathom what He has in store for us! Plus…
There Will Be No More Curse!!
This whole messed up scenario will never happen again. There will be no more curse. Praise the Lord!! There will be no more devil to deceive. There will be no more sin to bring about another curse. We’ll never have to worry again – about anything. No more murder, no rape, no burglary. No more sick jokes! No more tilling the ground. No more thorns or stickers. No more work!! No more taxes. No more prejudices. No more political correctness. No more Alcoholics Anonymous. No more jails. No Rehab. There will be no more night – no darkness whatsoever. Wow. Nothing hidden ever again.
God’s Throne, God’s Servants, God’s Name
The throne of God is now in the Third Heaven (God’s abode) but in eternity, it will be in the New Jerusalem forever. Some believe the Third Heaven may not even exist any longer – it may have passed away with the first heaven and the first earth as there may be no more reason to have it, unless the angels will still inhabit it. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit (Jesus Christ) will live with His people. We will serve Him – gladly, thankfully, and anxiously. We will see His face. In Exodus 33:20, God told Moses, “You cannot see My face: for no man shall see Me, and live.” I am completely lost of imagination about seeing the face of God.
Just imagining these things alone makes me wonder why anyone would want to miss out on all of this! I actually heard a guy say, “I don’t want to go to heaven. I think it would be boring to float around on clouds playing a harp all the time. If there is a heaven and a hell, my friends will all be in hell. That’s where we’ll get to party and have a good time.” What an idiot. If you do not know for sure that if you would die right now you would be with the Lord in the Third Heaven, waiting for life in the New Jerusalem, I beg you to pray fervently to the Lord to awaken your spiritual eyes and ears and give you faith. Why do you need faith? Because…
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Praise the Lord for His wonderful gift of everlasting life!!”[xxii]
You need faith in order to believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins. You need faith to trust Jesus completely with your life and live for Him. That is my prayer for everyone who completes this study. How sad to learn about all the wonderful things God has to offer and never experience them.
The next lesson is the last lesson for Study the Revelation. However, I will continually update the sight. In the next lesson I’ll expound on these updates– some are already in the works!
[i] 2 Corinthians 5:8
[ii] Philippians 3:21
[iii] Luke 24:36; John 20:19
[iv] Luke 24:31
[v] Luke 24:39-40; John 20:20, 27
[vi] Luke 24:41-43
[vii] Genesis 2:9
[viii] Genesis 3:4-5
[ix] Genesis 3:7
[x] Genesis 3:8
[xi] Genesis 3:14-19
[xii] Genesis 3:21
[xiii] Genesis 3:15
[xiv] John 14:6
[xv] John 4:10-14
[xvi] 1 John 1:9
[xvii] Gill, John (1690-1771) John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
[xviii] Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10
[xix] Hebrews 11:1
[xx] newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/01/seen-at-11-rare-mental-condition-gives-actress-henner-super-human-memory/
[xxi] newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/01/seen-at-11-rare-mental-condition-gives-actress-henner-super-human-memory/
[xxii] John 3:16
Revelation 22:1-6
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on both sides of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. And he said unto me, “These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly be done.”
Heaven is REAL! Our concept of heaven is not real. Our concept is so limited, and because we falsely use the word “heaven,” we have created a very unreal idea of what eternity will be like. There are only three heavens that we know about. The first heaven is the atmosphere surrounding our planet, where the birds and airplanes fly. The second is the planetary heaven where the stars, galaxies, and endless outer space exists. The third is God’s present abode, where the angels receive instruction from God, where the Father is sitting on the throne, and where Jesus is now sitting at the Father’s right hand, making intercession for our sin when Satan accuses us, and where our soul and spirit will go when our bodies die (to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord[i]). But none of these places is where we will spend eternity.
When people say, “We’ll live in heaven with God forever through eternity,” they are using the wrong term. They are not lying; they are simply not conveying the proper picture. Perhaps they do not see the picture properly themselves. We will spend eternity on the New Earth!! We won’t be on clouds with harps, we won’t have wings, we won’t become angels. We will be us. I will be myself. You will be yourself.
Our New Body
We will have a real, physical body – the same body we have now, only glorified so that it will never grow old, never get sick, never be weak, always be energetic and ready to do what we choose to do as we glorify the Lord. We will receive this glorified body when Christ comes to get us.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 tells us, “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
And 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 says, “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
Many refer to this event as the Rapture of the Saints (from the words “caught up”) but whatever you wish to call it, this is a very real event that will take place sometime before the thousand year (millennial) reign of Christ begins on this present earth. So, we will have a thousand years – during the Millennial Reign of Christ – to get used to our new bodies before Eternity begins – before the New Heaven and New Earth – before the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven. Since we have not explored these glorified bodies before in this study, let’s explore what life will be like in these wonderful, glorified bodies as we live in the New Jerusalem.
Our glorified body will be like Jesus’ glorified body after His resurrection.[ii] In His glorified body, Jesus was able to enter a room without opening a door[iii] – we will be able to do likewise. He left the disciples in Emmaus by vanishing from their sight[iv] – we will travel likewise, perhaps with the speed of thought. He had the scars in His hands, feet, and side[v], proving He had the same body as He had when He was crucified. We, too will have the same body we have now. Some people have a really hard time understanding this. “After all,” they say, “some bodies are buried at sea or have been blown to bits or have completely decomposed and are now part of the plants, etc.” We have the Creator of all as our God. He has every hair on our heads numbered and all the quazillion stars named. He is quite capable of finding every atom and putting them all back together or recreating our bodies!
Jesus ate with the disciples[vi] – we’ll still be able to enjoy eating great food!! I believe we’ll dine sumptuously, and be completely satisfied with a vegetarian diet. Some people choose a vegetarian diet today, and are completely satisfied with it, but most need higher protein enrichment easily accomplished with meat. God gave us permission to eat meat after the flood, because that catastrophe changed the earth in such a way that our diet needed to change in order to adjust. We would need more protein. But, our glorified bodies will not need to depend upon death to be vital, and no curses or damage will have blemished the New Earth so it will produce abundantly.
Because there will be no form of disease that will affect our glorified bodies, we’ll never be sick or out of shape. Think of it! We’ll be able to run without ever getting tired. A high-jump competition will take on a whole new dimension! Our strength will never fail us and there will be no sore muscles after a long, vigorous workout. We won’t have to worry about gaining weight or losing weight – our metabolism will be perfectly adjusted to our bodies. Even these cursed dying bodies we live with today are a miraculous creation. They heal themselves, they try to compensate for any kind of malfunction so that they can continue to live. Our present bodies are fragile, but they are also really quite versatile and resourceful in their rejuvenating properties. Imagine how our glorified bodies will be! We’ll literally be invincible!
The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life itself will give us everything we need for food. We’ll enjoy those twelve kinds of fruit, which could be nuts, berries, apples, tomatoes, root vegetables, and other manner of fruit we have no knowledge of today. Let’s look at the history of the Tree of Life for a minute.
This tree existed on our present earth, in the Garden of Eden[vii]. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their spirit died immediately, just as God warned. Remember how Satan convinced Eve that it was ok for them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: he deceived them by saying that God had not been honest with them – that they would not really die[viii]. But they did – they died spiritually. The spirit is that part of man which communes with God, and it was a very realistic death for them. Suddenly, their spiritual eyes were blinded, and everything real in that realm, which they understood before, was taken from them. It was a very scary event and they did not know how to handle it. Their nakedness, which had been so natural and innocent, suddenly became an evil, shameful thing. They tried to cover it by making clothes out of fig leaves[ix], but even that did not help. They hid themselves from God because of their guilt and shame[x].
Once God dealt with the sin (by explaining the extenuating results of their sin[xi], killing an innocent animal to postpone the payment for sin, covering Adam & Eve with the skin[xii], and promising to one day send a perfect sacrifice, a Savior, to permanently pay for the sin and free mankind[xiii]), He then had to keep Adam and Eve from eating of the Tree of Life.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Gen 3:22-24)
When I first read this at the age of fifteen, after I became a Christian and hungered to understand the Scripture, I remember thinking, “Why didn’t God just let them eat of the Tree of Life? That would have taken care of everything right away and we wouldn’t have to go through all this chaos in this cursed world!” And I also remember trying to figure out exactly where the Garden of Eden would have been so that I might also figure out where God hid the Tree of Life. I’m sure I’m not the only person to fall into this ridiculous thinking, and later, I laughed at myself for believing that I could out-think God. How many times do we become fools in the sight of God?
But honestly, I never truly understood the Tree of Life, until a man of God, years later, and I cannot actually remember who, in his message mentioned that if Adam and Eve, or any of their descendants had eaten from the Tree of Life at that time, while their spirit was dead, before their sins were paid and before they received their glorified bodies, then they would have existed forever in that cursed, dying body and spiritually dead state and there would have been no hope for them to ever have a Savior. Wow! Thank you, Lord, for taking care of us! This is one more understanding of Jesus’ words, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.[xiv]”
So, with our sins paid, our spirits made alive, the cursed earth gone, and we are living on the New Earth, in the New Jerusalem, we now feast on twelve kinds of fruit from the Tree of Life! How exciting is that?!! Our text specifically says this tree produces its fruit once every month. Does this mean we will eat once a month? That is one possibility, or perhaps we will feast once each month from this magnificent tree, and at other times we’ll eat from other sources (Jesus ate bread and fish after His resurrection). The scripture in Genesis seems to indicate that it would only take one serving to produce eternal results, so other feastings might be simply for delight.
The River of Life
Notice that the Tree of Life is fed by the river of the Water of Life. Living Water! That is what Christ offers for us now. He told the woman at the well that if she knew the gift of God and who He was, she would only have to ask and He would give her living water, and that anyone who drank of this living water would never thirst again, but it would become a well of water that springs up into everlasting life.[xv] If you have truly trusted Christ, you have tasted of the living water. You no longer are thirsting for spiritual fulfillment, because Christ is living in you.
If you are walking with Christ, He is springing up within you, and flowing out of you so that others will desire the refreshing water of life they see in you. If this does not describe your life, you need to check your salvation – have you truly put your trust in Christ? Perhaps you need to walk more closely with the Lord – in all the light He has given you. If you know you have completely trusted Christ, yet find yourself in the confusion of darkness, then ask the Lord to reveal your sin and for His forgiveness. He will always forgive and cleanse you completely from all sin.[xvi]
John Gill alludes to the River of Life as the “river of God’s everlasting love[xvii]” which certainly gives a wonderful depiction. It is God’s ever-flowing, abundant, pure love that gives us life. God’s love is abundant in the New Jerusalem!
Our Knowledge
Our knowledge will exceed anything we’ve experienced before and our understanding will be keenly sensitive.
We will recognize each other. Because we will have the same body, others whom we knew on this earth will readily recognize us, and we will recognize others we have known in this life. However, our recognitions will go far beyond this. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says: For now we see through a glass (or mirror), darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. Nothing will be hidden. Today, we know people, some more than others. And often, when we think we know someone, something happens to make us wonder if we really knew them at all. That’s because we only know in part. But, in the New Jerusalem, when we commune together, we’ll see the intentions of the hearts, and others will see our intentions as well. We will know clearly. That will be so refreshing! No longer will we have to wonder if someone is being two-faced or what would really give them pleasure or how to communicate effectively. We will truly know each other. And, don’t despair, because we’ll all have the mind of Christ. We will truly and completely love each other.
Our knowledge will go beyond recognizing those we knew on this earth. Do you remember the incident that we call the Mount of Transfiguration? Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain and His body changed – transfigured – so that His face shined like the sun. He became glorified right before the eyes of Peter, James, and John. Then, two others joined him: Moses and Elijah. Peter, James, and John were so excited that they wanted to erect three tabernacles – one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus.[xviii] My question, as I read this: How did Peter, James, and John know it was Moses & Elijah? Jesus did not introduce them. They just knew. Both Moses and Elijah lived many years before this incident, and to my knowledge, no painting or sculpture or any likeness of them had survived to that day. So how did they know?
When I was studying for a series of lessons on spiritual warfare, I read hundreds of accounts of people who had claimed to see angels, people who had spiritually discerned situations, and people whom the Holy Spirit led in a miraculous way. In so many of these accounts, the person who experienced the incident said things like, “I just knew…” “Somehow, I knew…” “…then I understood everything…” “my mind was so clear” “I know it was from God” “I have absolutely no doubt…”. When I read those things, I also remembered incidents, not nearly as profound as those I read about, when I seemed to just know something as sure as if I had all the evidence, but without that evidence. (Being led by faith… “the evidence of things unseen…”[xix])
Most of us can remember little things like “knowing” someone was watching us without any evidence of that fact, then turn in the direction to lock eyes with the one watching us. Or, times when the answer to a situation just popped into our minds and was so clear it caused us to wonder how we had ever overlooked it. God’s children often receive “spiritual discernment” or a “word of knowledge” or a “word of wisdom” during times of confusion or decision making. We can expect this kind of spiritual direction in our lives today as we walk with Christ and learn to operate in it more wholeheartedly, but on the New Earth in eternity, this type of knowledge will be absolutely common. It will be better than the internet or a Global Positioning System, and we will know that our knowledge is absolute truth – after all, it comes from the mind of Christ!!
In our life in the New Jerusalem, we will know people we have never met. When we see John, we’ll know him, and he will know us. We’ll know Moses and Abraham and our great-great-great-great grandparents. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther, and John Calvin will know you. Wow. That is just exciting! As we sit down to speak with people, we’ll have a deep understanding of their experiences, as though we had the same experience. If you’ve ever read a good novel written close on an individual, a well-written biography or auto biography, you can guess what I’m talking about. As the scenes unfold, it feels as though you are experiencing the things the main character experiences. Our commune with each other will be even greater than that. Walking with each other will be invigorating, moving, and awakening like nothing we’ve experienced here. Even in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, because of our “old man,” our sinful condition, we can’t experience that relationship to its fullest until we meet face-to-face.
We will also have complete and instant memory recall. I am always impressed with people who seem to remember every detail about something experienced or learned at the drop of a hat. I, on the other hand, usually need to be reminded, have ample time to recall, and/or restudy the subject before I am able to rattle off what I have experienced or learned. Little things, like song lyrics, are not a problem – I seem to remember those instantly. But recalling details of a deep study or an incident (especially, I’ve noticed, when it is an emotional incident) is a bit of a struggle for me until I have time to sort out the details and retrieve the files that are stored away.
A very select few people – a dozen or so known individuals out of the over 300,000,000+ people living in the United States today have 100% instant memory recall, or H-SAM (Highly Superior Auto-biological Memory).[xx] We met one of them a few weeks ago when we visited New York and went to see Tony Danza in his new musical Honeymoon in Vegas. Marilou Henner, who co-starred with Tony Danza in the 1970’s sitcom Taxi came in right behind us, and sat across the aisle a couple of rows behind us. Gene recognized her right away, and during the intercession, our daughter, Jade, took his picture with her. Ms. Henner remembers every moment of every day she has lived and recalls each of them instantly, just as though they all happened yesterday. It is a marvelous gift. In an interview with CBS 2’s Katie McGee, Henner speaks:
“You say April 3, 1992 and all of a sudden the whole week starts presenting itself to me. That was a Friday and I was in New York, actually. Early that week I had won $1,760 at a winner-take-all Academy Awards pool. It was a clean sweep of the Oscars, ‘Silence of the Lambs’, Jodie Foster,” Henner said. … “Every single thing that you have ever done is on your hard drive,” she explained.[xxi]
In the New Jerusalem, our memories will also be that clear, but with the added benefit of having the mind of Christ – His full knowledge and His complete understanding, so those memories won’t affect us negatively the way they might if we had that instant recall today. With a mind that alert, we’ll be able to learn amazing things, like God’s fundamental design for the universe, calculate equations to bend space and light, learn languages – or even develop languages, and a whole host of other things I can’t even imagine. That is just one more exciting feature to look forward to in the New Jerusalem!
New Senses
Our senses will also be enhanced – to see and hear in the spiritual world – and perhaps we’ll even have more senses!
Our eyes will see better – not just because they will be perfect, but because they will be required to do more. If we will be walking through walls, we’ll have to see beyond those walls. If we will be moving at super speeds, we’ll have to see further ahead than we do now. We won’t just have 20/20 vision, we’ll have super vision!
Our ears will also be super enhanced to hear further distances and to hone into miniscule sounds. The range of our hearing now is quite limited, but in the New Jerusalem, we will be able to hear and perceive so much more that is going on around us. The shrill pitches that would now hurt our ears and the deep low pitches that our ears cannot hear will be prevalent, clear, and meaningful. Nothing will escape them.
We’ll have perfect pitch – musically. Some people, like my son and his wife have what we call “perfect pitch,” and use it to create delightful melodies, many beautiful harmonies, and dynamic instrumental accompaniments. Most of us have some impairment of hearing that distorts musical notes to some degree or another and prohibits us from excelling in that field. However, in the New Jerusalem, we’ll all hear music as it should be heard – clear, crisp, and of such beauty that it will compel us to worship in song because anything that beautiful must be given to the Lord. What a worship experience with our new ears!!
But… spiritual hearing and seeing goes beyond physical sights and sounds. To hear spiritually is an awakening. To see spiritually is to understand beyond understanding. Matthew 13:9-13 says:
Who has ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”
Jesus was telling His disciples that some people do not have spiritual ears to hear spiritual things; nor do they have spiritual eyes to see spiritually. With His parables, Jesus spoke the truth, but in such a way that those who could discern the spiritual message would understand it and those who could not discern the message would only hear a story. When a man of God preaches to a congregation of people, some hear the Gospel message so clearly and come to a saving knowledge of Christ. Others, who have listened just as intently, do not seem to grasp the spiritual message. They were just good words, and once the service is over they leave unchanged, their minds engaged on the cares of the world.
Having spiritual eyes and ears are rare on this earth. Perceiving a spiritual incident, understanding a spiritual meaning, or discerning a spiritual brother or sister in Christ is not a conventional operation for most people. Even most of us born-again Christians have not learned to depend upon our spiritual modes of operation. But in the New Jerusalem, we will use our spiritual senses to the maximum.
The senses of touch, smell, and taste must be heightened to sense the full goodness of God. Some people believe we will have seven senses – because seven is the number of completion. If that is the case, what could the new senses be? Are they the spiritual senses that believers actually have but do not name as senses today of spiritual intuition or discernment? Or would they be extra physical senses that we will need to do the things we will be doing?
Talents and Abilities
We will have talents and creative abilities, just as we do today, but with even more capacity. God gives people talents and abilities today and those people need to practice, learn, and work to truly excel in their abilities. I feel it will be like that in the New Jerusalem. We’ll have so much to explore, so much to experience and the Lord has joy in watching us grow, learn, and become all we can be.
During the first thousand years on this earth, Adam lived to be 930 years of age, Methuselah lived 969 years, and Noah was 500 years old when God sent the flood and lived 450 years more after the flood. God intended human life to be eternal from the beginning, but even after the curse, their bodies survived almost a thousand years. Think of all you could learn and do in a thousand years!! We’ll have ETERNITY to play instruments, make perfect artistic creations, perform perfect gymnastic feats, write songs to praise the Lord, explore the universe, and an untold million or billion other things. God made us curious creatures, and I do believe He will delight in seeing us discover all these new abilities, create new things, and become even more than we can possibly imagine.
We have a glorious, wonderful God with a marvelous creative power!! Everything He thought of to make life on this earth a wonderful, exciting life will be exponentially multiplied! The beauty of this present earth, though nothing short of breath-taking, will fade in comparison to all the beauties of the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem will surpass them all! God gave us an imagination to dream of great, lofty possibilities, but none of us can fathom what He has in store for us! Plus…
There Will Be No More Curse!!
This whole messed up scenario will never happen again. There will be no more curse. Praise the Lord!! There will be no more devil to deceive. There will be no more sin to bring about another curse. We’ll never have to worry again – about anything. No more murder, no rape, no burglary. No more sick jokes! No more tilling the ground. No more thorns or stickers. No more work!! No more taxes. No more prejudices. No more political correctness. No more Alcoholics Anonymous. No more jails. No Rehab. There will be no more night – no darkness whatsoever. Wow. Nothing hidden ever again.
God’s Throne, God’s Servants, God’s Name
The throne of God is now in the Third Heaven (God’s abode) but in eternity, it will be in the New Jerusalem forever. Some believe the Third Heaven may not even exist any longer – it may have passed away with the first heaven and the first earth as there may be no more reason to have it, unless the angels will still inhabit it. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit (Jesus Christ) will live with His people. We will serve Him – gladly, thankfully, and anxiously. We will see His face. In Exodus 33:20, God told Moses, “You cannot see My face: for no man shall see Me, and live.” I am completely lost of imagination about seeing the face of God.
Just imagining these things alone makes me wonder why anyone would want to miss out on all of this! I actually heard a guy say, “I don’t want to go to heaven. I think it would be boring to float around on clouds playing a harp all the time. If there is a heaven and a hell, my friends will all be in hell. That’s where we’ll get to party and have a good time.” What an idiot. If you do not know for sure that if you would die right now you would be with the Lord in the Third Heaven, waiting for life in the New Jerusalem, I beg you to pray fervently to the Lord to awaken your spiritual eyes and ears and give you faith. Why do you need faith? Because…
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Praise the Lord for His wonderful gift of everlasting life!!”[xxii]
You need faith in order to believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins. You need faith to trust Jesus completely with your life and live for Him. That is my prayer for everyone who completes this study. How sad to learn about all the wonderful things God has to offer and never experience them.
The next lesson is the last lesson for Study the Revelation. However, I will continually update the sight. In the next lesson I’ll expound on these updates– some are already in the works!
[i] 2 Corinthians 5:8
[ii] Philippians 3:21
[iii] Luke 24:36; John 20:19
[iv] Luke 24:31
[v] Luke 24:39-40; John 20:20, 27
[vi] Luke 24:41-43
[vii] Genesis 2:9
[viii] Genesis 3:4-5
[ix] Genesis 3:7
[x] Genesis 3:8
[xi] Genesis 3:14-19
[xii] Genesis 3:21
[xiii] Genesis 3:15
[xiv] John 14:6
[xv] John 4:10-14
[xvi] 1 John 1:9
[xvii] Gill, John (1690-1771) John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
[xviii] Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10
[xix] Hebrews 11:1
[xx] newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/01/seen-at-11-rare-mental-condition-gives-actress-henner-super-human-memory/
[xxi] newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/05/01/seen-at-11-rare-mental-condition-gives-actress-henner-super-human-memory/
[xxii] John 3:16