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Chapter 67—The New Earth
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away.”
Revelation 21:1
. The fire that
consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is
swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed
the fearful consequences of sin. One reminder alone remains: our
Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His
wounded head, His hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel
work that sin has wrought.
“O Tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion,
unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion.”
Micah 4:8
. The
kingdom forfeited by sin, Christ has regained, and the redeemed are
to possess it with Him. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and
dwell therein for ever.”
Psalm 37:29
. A fear of making the saints’
inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the
very truths which lead us to look upon the new earth as our home.
Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for
them. Those who accept the teachings of God’s Word will not be
wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode. And yet the apostle
Paul declares, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love Him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9
. Human language is inadequate
[431]
to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to
those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of
the Paradise of God.
In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country.
(
Hebrews 11:14-16
.) There the great Shepherd leads His flock to
fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every
month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations.
There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them
waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the
ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains swell into
hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits.
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