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Living the Life of Eden, December 20
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Revelation 21:1
.
Heaven is a school; its field of study, the universe; its teacher, the
Infinite One. A branch of this school was established in Eden; and, the
plan of redemption accomplished, education will again be taken up in
the Eden school....
The prophet of Patmos thus describes the location of the school of
the hereafter:
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away.... And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband.”
Revelation 21:1, 2
....
The giving of the tree of life in Eden was conditional, and it was
finally withdrawn. But the gifts of the future life are absolute and
eternal....
Restored to His presence, man will again, as at the beginning, be
taught of God: “My people shall know my name: ... they shall know in
that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.”
Isaiah 52:6
....
All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s
children. With unutterable delight we shall enter into the joy and the
wisdom of unfallen beings. We shall share the treasures gained through
ages upon ages spent in contemplation of God’s handiwork. And the
years of eternity, as they roll, will continue to bring more glorious
revelations. “Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think”
(
Ephesians 3:20
) will be forever and forever, the impartation of the gifts
of God....
The life on earth is the beginning of the life in heaven; education on
earth is an initiation into the principles of heaven; the lifework here is a
training for the lifework there. What we now are, in character and holy
service, is the sure foreshadowing of what we shall be.
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