| “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth…” |
| —Revelation 21:1a |
As a member of a gospel quintet more than 60 years ago, I remember clearly a number of the songs we used to sing at banquets and other church social gatherings. One of the songs, a spiritual, was intended to be somewhat humorous—at least it seemed that way at the time:
Everybody talkin’ ’bout
heaven ain’t goin’ there.
Heaven! Heaven! Heaven!
Gonna walk all over
God’s heaven!
A far better view of what lies ahead was recorded in very specific detail by the Apostle John in Revelation 21:1-4:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Did you know that, in founding the United States of America, those brave leaders often referred to this passage of Scripture in their writings? They knew they weren’t in heaven. But, as much as humanly possible, they wanted to create something that had never existed before, something that would remind the citizens of heaven.
They often used the phrase “a new order for the ages.” If you look at the Great Seal of the United States printed on the back side of the one dollar bill, you will find the Latin phrase: Novus ordo seclorum—which of course translates: “New order of the ages.”
The founders intended to bring to pass something as startling and new as the new heaven and new earth described by the Apostle John. Contrary to what you may have been taught in school, many of the founders were not Deists, but were actually committed Christians. They knew the power of what John described in the opening verses of Revelation 21.
Yes, they knew the United States would not be heaven, or even heaven-on-earth. But, they sincerely believed that the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—had uniquely blessed this new land, even called it into being for His purpose of changing the world.
Satan tried to destroy this new endeavor from the outside through two wars in the first 36 years of its existence. And, the evil one has tried, and nearly succeeded, to destroy our nation from within ever since.
As believers in the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe that, in His mercy, grace, and love, God can send another great, sweeping revival across our nation and pull us back from the brink of destruction. That is why we must pray that God will do so. For some reason, if He chooses not to respond to our prayers, we have heaven in view. The Apostle John encourages us with what lies ahead.
Our time on this earth is but the blink of an eye compared to eternity. Let us comfort one another this day with the knowledge that heaven awaits.
Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, June 8, 2016
