ENDTIME ISSUES NEWSLETTER No. 173

“Marriage in the World to Come”

Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D.,

Retired Professor of Theology and Church History,

Andrews University

INDEX OF TOPICS OF THIS NEWSLETTER

• How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe

• Good News on My Liver Cancer Recovery

* How to Contact the Center for Cancer Care

• New DVD recording of Prof. Jon Paulien’s

Revelation Seminar

• “Will There Be Marriage in the World to Come”

(The Essay of this Newsletter)

• Announcements of Services and Products

* Special offer on the book The Marriage Covenant

together with a special CD album.

* Special offer on the book More than a Prophet

together with a special DVD album.

* Special offer on the book Immortality or Resurrection?

together with a special CD album.

* Special offer on all the 6 DVD/CD albums

with Dr. Bacchiochi’s lectures and publications

* Incredible New Offers on Hitachi Projectors

* The Smallest and most Powerful Remote Presenter

* Does your church or School Need a Screen?

* A New Townhome Community near the campus of

Andrews University

* Bed and Breakfast in London, England

* TAGNET new Web-hosting offer

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE

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A THANK YOU NOTE

The responses to my last newsletter no. 172 on “Ellen White and the Future of the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” surpassed my fondest expectations. Within three hours from the posting of the newsletter, I received about 50 messages of appreciation, including over 20 orders of the new edition of Prof. Graeme Bradford’s book More than a Prophet.

I would like to express my wholehearted appreciation for taking time to read my lengthy essay and to email me so many notes of thanks. Many of you told me that More than a Prophet was long overdue and will help to restore confidence in the prophetic ministry of Ellen White by helping people gain a balanced picture of her ministry.

If you or your church have not ordered yet More than a Prophet, you are still in time to take advantage of the special offer. See the details below or by clicking at this link: http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/BradfordOffer/offer.htm Note that with your order you will receive also one FREE DVD with Prof. Bradford’s two hours lecture on Ellen White. Thank you for sharing this timely book and the DVD with your church members.

GOOD NEWS ON MY LIVER CANCER RECOVERY

In my previous newsletter I gave an extensive report of the providential recovery from my colon cancer surgery and liver cancer treatments. You may have seen the image of the PET/CAT scan taken on April 24, 2007, showing how shows that the presence of cancer in my liver has been reduced by almost 80% after three treatments. To see the impressive color image of the PET/CAT scan, click on this link: http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/colon/

Since then, I have had two more treatments which have further reduced the activity of the cancer cell. The latest PET/CAT scan shows that the substance produced by the cancer cells, known as Carcino Embryonic Antigen (CEA), has been reduced from 1760 before the treatment to less than 80 after the last treatment.

One thing is sure. I feel like a new man, with an unprecedented surge of energy and a burning desire to praise God for restoring my health and for giving a new lease on life. Few months ago the major cancer treatment centers in the USA that viewed by CAT scan, gave me from few months to a couple of years to live. Now I feel like a new man with a new lease on life. The only thing that I can say is: Thank you God for healing my body and restoring my health! God still has a work for me to do. To this end I want to with to dedicate the rest of my life.

How to Contact the Center for Cancer Care in Goshen, Indiana

To express my gratitude to God for leading me to this unique Center for Cancer Care, in Goshen, Indiana, I decided to post the information on how you can contact the Center. The Assistant to the President is Vladimir Radivojevic, who is a gracious and caring Adventist Christian. Feel free to contact him at this address:

Vladimir Radivojevic MS, MBA

Assistant Vice-President

The Center for Cancer Care

200 High Park Ave.

Goshen, IN 46526

574.535.2970 phone 574.535.2535 fax

Email: vradivoj@goshenhealth.com

Websites: www.goshenhealth.com or www.cancermidwest.com

If you or someone you know has cancer, feel free to contact Vladimir. He will talk with you personally, gather your information, and place you in contact with an oncologist who can examine your situation. Vladimir informed me that it is very important for them to receive the medical records, especially CAT/SCANS. That will help them determine if one of their clinical trials programs fits the cancer needs of the patient.

What is unique about this Center for Cancer Care, is that they have a dozen of clinical studies on different forms of cancer. This means that they use different procedures not available in most hospitals. I contacted various Cancer Centers in Chicago, Dallas, Loma Linda, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Detroit, but none of them conduct clinical trial on cancer. All what they have to offer is chemo treatments. Chemo alone would hardly have shut down the activity of 95% of the cancer cells.

Feel free to contact Vlasdimir by email or by phone. You will find him to be most helpful. Incidentally, the Center provides free accommodation in a nicely furnished Guest House with several rooms, each with private bathroom facilities. Vladimir will also arrange for someone to pick you up at the South Bend airport, which is about 30 miles away. You will be impressed by the caring and compassionate service the Cancer Center offers.

UPCOMING SEMINARS FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE

Gradually I am rescheduling some of the invitations I had to cancel because of the colon cancer surgery and liver treatments. Here is a list of the upcoming weekend seminars for the months of June:

JUNE 8-9: TYLER (TEXAS) SDA CHURCH

Location: 2935 S. Southeast Loop 323, Tyler, Texas 75701.

For directions and information call Pastor Elton DeMoraes at 903-258-5757

JUNE 15-16: LOS ANGELES: PASADENA SDA CHURCH

Location: 1280 E. Washington Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91104.

For directions and information call Pastor David Recalde at 323 258 2827.

JUNE 29-30: ENGLAND - CHELMSFORD SDA CHURCH

Location: 43 Roman Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 OHA.

For directions and information call Elder Cliff Hilton at 01376 334 848

JULY 6-7:ENGLAND - TOTTENHAM W GREEN SDA CHURCH

Location: 253-255 West Green Road, Tottenham, London N15 SED

For directions and information call Elder Orville Baxter at 01992 621 599

NEWLY RELEASED DVD OF PROF. JON PAULIEN’S LIVE SEMINAR ON SIMPLY REVELATION

Prof. Jon Paulien is one of the most respected Adventist scholars. Besides serving as the chairman of the New Testament at Andrews University Theological Seminary, he writes and lectures extensively in many parts of the world. He is rightly regarded as a leading Adventist authority on the book of Revelation which he has taught at the Seminary for the past 20 years. His doctoral dissertation as well as several of his books deal specifically with the Book of Revelation.

The constant demand for Prof. Paulien’s CD albums with his publications and articles, led me to discuss with him the possibility of producing a live video recording of a mini Revelation Seminar, which he chose to call Simply Revelation, because its aim is to simply present the message of Revelation.

The preparation of this video recording took several months. The Simply Revelation seminar consists of four one-hour live video lectures, which have just been recorded in the studio of Andrews University. An impressive virtual studio provides the background of the lectures. Each lecture is delivered with about 50 powerpoint slides. I have spent long hours looking for suitable pictures to illustrate the text of each slide in order to enhance the visual effect of each lecture.

In the first video lecture Prof. Paulien discusses the proper method to interpret Revelation. In the following three lectures he focuses on the essential messages of Revelation and their relevance for today. This mini Revelation seminar will offer you and your congregation fresh insights into the Book of Revelation.

Listening to the four one-hour lectures during the taping was an enlightening experience for me. I was spellbound by his profound insights into the meaning of the imagery of Revelation. He speaks freely without notes, out of the abundant knowledge derived from 20 years of painstaking research. For me it is refreshing to listen to a scholar like Prof. Paulien who knows what he is talking about.

Your church will be richly blessed by viewing Simply Revelation, which offers a profound and yet popular presentation of the messages of Revelation for today. If your church is equipped with a DVD player and a projector, the whole congregation can benefit from these timely messages. Be sure to inform your pastor about the newly released Simply Revelation.

The video editing of Simply Revelation has just been completed. We are now airmailing the new DVD album to Adventists in the USA and overseas. The album has two DVD disks, each containing two live, video lectures illustrated with powerpoint slides.

You will be pleased to know that we have placed on a separate file all the powerpoint slides and text used for the live video presentations. Each slide has the script of the live lecture. This means that if you are a pastor or a lay members who want to use Prof. Paulien’s Simply Revelation, you can pick and choose the powerpoint slides that you like.

The file with the powerpoint slides is placed on Prof. Paulien’s CD album containing all his publications. The reason is that there was no memory left on the DVD disks. In spite of my pleas, Prof. Paulien was so full of the subject that he used the full 60 minutes for each lecture, leaving no space for the slides’ file.

This has been a very expensive project, both in time and money. The regular price of the DVD album is $100.00, but you can order it now until June 30, at the introductory price of only $50.00. The price includes the airmailing expenses to any overseas destination.

If you have not ordered before the CD Album with Prof. Paulien’s publications, we will be glad to add it to your DVD order for only $20.00, instead of the regular price of $60.00. This means that you can order both the DVD album with Prof. Paulien’s four live video lectures on Revelation and the CD album with all his publications and powerpoint slides of Simply Revelation, for only $70.00, instead of the regular price of $160.00.

INTRODUCTORY OFFER OF PROF. PAULIEN DVD ALBUM

• ONE DVD Album of Prof. Paulien’s four video lectures on Simply Revelation at the pre-release price of $50.00, instead of $100.00. The price includes the airmailing expenses to any overseas destination.

• ONE DVD Album of Simply Revelation and ONE CD Album with Prof. Paulien’s publications for only $70.00, instead of the regular price of $160.00. The price includes the airmailing expenses to any overseas destination.

• QUANTITY ORDER: Please contact us by email <sbacchiochi@biblicalperspectives.com> or by phone (269-471-2915) for a special discount on quantity orders.

FOUR WAYS TO ORDER

(1) Online: By clicking here: http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/revelation/

(2) Phone: By calling us at (269) 471-2915 to give us your credit card number and postal address.

(3) Email: By emailing your order to <sbacchiocchi@biblicalperspectives.com>. Be sure to provide your postal address, credit card number, and expiration date.

(4) Regular Mail: By mailing a check to BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVES, 4990 Appian Way, Berrien Springs, Michigan 49103, USA. We guarantee to process your order immediately.

“Will There Be Marriage in the World to Come”

Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D.,

Retired Professor of Theology and Church History,

Andrews University

Will there be marital relations in the world to come? The answer of many sincere Christians is “NO!” They believe that at the resurrection the redeemed will receive some kind of “unisex” spiritual, angelic bodies which will replace our present physical and heterosexual bodies. Consequently, marital intimate relationships will no longer exist in the world to come.

Is this what the Bible teaches about life in the world to come? Will the redeemed receive a spiritual, angelic, unisex body that precludes marital relationships? Will they spend eternity in a kind of monastic retreat center, devoted to everlasting contemplation and meditation, or will they engage in the normal activities of the present life?

The thought of spending eternity in an etherial center somewhere off in space, wearing white robes, plucking harps, singing, meditating, and contemplating, was attractive to medieval Christians who envisioned Paradise as a kind of monastic retreat. Such vision of Paradise, however, can hardly appeal to twentieth-century Christians in love with the sights and sounds of the great metropolis. This may explain why most Christians today do not seem to be eagerly waiting for the coming of the Lord to establish His eternal kingdom. They are not so sure if they want to live like monks for all eternity in the beatitude of an ethereal Paradise which is too chaste, too disinfected, and too unreal.

Two Sources Inspired this Bible Study

The inspiration to prepare this essay came from two different sources. The first, is an essay entitled “Will There Be Sex in Heaven?” by Mike Leno. He is currently serving as a pastor of the Ontario SDA Church in California. Over the years Pastor Mike has invited me several times to present my seminars at the churches he pastored in the Northwest, Georgia, and California. He is a keen and engaging thinker. He posted his essay in the May issue of his GraceNotes Newsletter which can be accessed at http://mikeleno.net/ You will enjoy his pastoral newsletters. They are short (not long like mine), perceptive, and engaging.

The second source is a compilation of statements from Ellen White about the reunification of families in the world to come. The compilation was prepared by Raymond Mayer, MD, a retired medical doctor who has been a most gracious and helpful next-door neighbor for the past 13 years. Recently he lost his wife to cancer after been happily married for 52 years. Though he is still a very healthy and energetic man, he has decided not to re-marry, because he is looking forward to be reunited to his devoted wife. Hi found support for his conviction in some of Ellen White’s statements which will be cited later.

This essay “Will There Be Marriage in the World to Come?” is excerpted from two of my books The Marriage Covenant and Resurrection or Immortality? For the sake of brevity, I have selected only those paragraphs that relate more directly to our topic. If you are interested in a fuller treatment of the subject, I will gladly mail you the two mentioned books. The information on how to order them is given at the end of this Bible Study.

Objectives of this Bible Study

This Bible Study seeks to understand the biblical teachings on the World to come. Christians should be eager to learn as much as possible about the new world that awaits them at the end of their earthly pilgrimage. A clearer vision of the new earth, can nourish the hope and strengthen the faith of those called to live among the uncertainties and troubles of the present life.

This Bible Study is divided into three parts which are closely related. The first part addresses the question: What will people be like in the world to come? Will the redeemed be resurrected with a physical body like the present one, or will they receive a radically different spiritual/etherial/immaterial body? Will they be the same persons as those who existed previously on earth or will they be completely different?

The second part examines the question: What will life be like in the world to come? Will the new world be a material place like the present one or a “spiritual/ethereal” realm radically different from our present world? Will the redeemed engage in the kind of activities we know today, or will they spend eternity in everlasting contemplation and mediation?

The third part discusses the question: Will there be marital relations in the world to come? Will the redeemed live single life-style like monks? Will the husband/wife relationship still continues in the world to come? Or is God going to change the creational design by recreating the redeemed as “unisex” persons who will live single life-style?

These are vital questions that deserve careful Biblical investigation because what Christians believe about their life in the world to come largely determines how they live their life in the present world. Historically, most Christians have envisioned the world to come as a place that is beautiful but ethereal, a place where the solid joys of this present life must be exchanged for a spiritual existence of continuous adoration and contemplation. Such vision of the world to come is reflected in the lines of popular hymns such as the one that says: “In mansions of glory and endless delight, I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright.”

The ethereal vision of Paradise has been inspired more by Greek philosophical dualism than by Biblical wholistic realism. For the Greeks, the physical body and the material components of this world were evil and, consequently, not worthy of survival. Their aim was to reach a spiritual realm where their souls, liberated from the prison-house of a physical body and of a material world, would enjoy eternal bliss.

Biblical Realism

The Bible rejects the ethereal vision of the world to come because it affirms the goodness of God’s physical creation. “It was good,” is the ringing divine proclamation of each stage of the creation of human and subhuman life (Gen 1:10, 18, 21, 25, 31). The purpose of redemption is not the liberation of spiritual souls from the bondage of a the physical body and of a material world, but the restoration of the whole human and sub-human creation to their original perfection. The “new heaven and new earth” (Is 65:17; Rev 21:1) are not a remote and inconsequential world somewhere off in space; rather they are the present heaven and earth renewed to their original perfection.

PART I

WHAT WILL PEOPLE BE LIKE IN THE WORLD TO COME?

Before taking a closer look at the Biblical glimpses about life in world to come, let us consider what will people be like in the new world. Will the resurrected/translated saints receive a physical body like the present one or a spiritual body radically different from the present one?

We are rather fortunate to have Paul’s discussion of this very question which had been raised by the Corinthians: “But some one will ask, ‘ How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body which is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body” (1 Cor 15:35-38).

What Paul is saying here is that as God gives a body to each kind of seed that is sown, so He will give a body to each person who is buried. The fact that deceased bodies are buried like the seed in the ground suggested to Paul the analogy of the seed. Paul further develops the analogy of the seed by giving us the clearest description we find in the Bible of the continuity/discontinuity between the present and future body: “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:42-44).

In this passage Paul explains the difference between our present body and the future resurrection body by means of four contrasts. These contrasts are equally applicable to the bodies of the living saints who will be transformed at Christ’s return without seeing death. First, our present bodies are perishable (phthora)—subject to sickness and death—but our resurrection bodies will be imperishable (aphtharsia)—no longer liable to sickness and death. Second, our present bodies experience the dishonor of being lowered into a grave, but our resurrection bodies will experience the glory of an inner and outward transformation.

Third, our present bodies are weak, as they easily become tired and exhausted, but our resurrection bodies will be full of power, with boundless energy to accomplish all our goals. Fourth, our present bodies are physical (soma psychikon), but our resurrection bodies will be spiritual (soma pneumatikon). This last contrast has led many to believe that our resurrection/translation bodies will be “spiritual” in the sense that they consist of a non-physical, non-material substance, whatever that may be.

A “Spiritual” Resurrected Body

Did Paul believe, and does the Bible teach that at the resurrection/translation believers will receive non-material and non-physical bodies, totally devoid of physical substance? This is indeed the view of many Christians today. They define “spiritual body–soma pneumatikon” as meaning a non-physical body suitable for the new “heavenly environment.”

This popular belief rests on the assumption that God will condemn this earth to eternal desolation and create, instead, a new “heavenly” world suitable for the habitation of spiritual saints. This assumption raises serious questions about the wisdom of God in first creating this planet to sustain human and subhuman life, only to discover later that it is not the ideal place for the eternal habitation of the redeemed. To remedy the problem, God would then be compelled to create a non-material “heavenly planet” and to equip the resurrected saints with “spiritual bodies” suitable for such a heavenly environment.

This reasoning is ludicrous for anyone who believes in the omniscience and immutability of God. Changing models and structures is normal for finite human beings who learn by trial-and-error, but it would be abnormal and inconsistent for a infinite God who knows the end from the beginning. If God discovered that matter had become intrinsically evil so that it had to be banished, then, in a sense, the devil and the Greek philosophers would have been proven right. But matter is not evil because it is part of God’s good creation. The Bible affirms that this material world was “very good” (Gen 12:31) at creation, and there is no reason to believe that it will be “very bad” at the final restoration.

The most compelling proof of the goodness of the present creation is the teaching of the resurrection of the body —a teaching that was absurd and particularly offensive to Greek thinkers who believed that the physical body as well as the material world are evil, and thus to be discarded at death. For them only the disembodied soul survives the death of the body.

Apparently some Corinthian Christians were influenced by this prevailing Greek dualistic view of human nature and destiny. This is indicated by Paul’s question: “How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (1 Cor 15:12). Paul refutes this error by affirming the resurrection of the body. This teaching provides the most convincing proof of the continuity between the present life and the life to come.

Spirit Led Life

Some challenge the notion of continuity because Paul contrasts the present “physical—psychikos” body with the future “spiritual—pneumatikon” resurrection/translation body. To them this contrast indicates that the resurrection body will no longer be physical consisting of “flesh and blood.” This interpretation ignores that for Paul “spiritual” does not mean “non-physical.” This is evidenced by his usage of the same two words (physical-psychikos/spiritual-pneumatikos) in the same epistle with reference to the present life: “The unspiritual [physical-psychikos] man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual [pneumatikos] man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one” (1 Cor 2:14-15).

It is obvious that the spiritual man in this passage is not a non-physical person. Rather, it is someone who is guided by the Holy Spirit, in contradistinction from someone who is guided by natural impulses. Similarly, the resurrection body is called in 1 Corinthians 15:44 “spiritual” because it is ruled not by carnal impulses but by the Holy Spirit. This is not an anthropological dualism between a “physical–psyche” and a “spiritual–pneuma” nature, but a moral distinction between a life led by the Holy Spirit and one controlled by sinful desires.

This insight helps us to understand Paul’s statement a few verses later: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor 15:50). It is evident here Paul is not saying that the resurrection body will be nonphysical, because, writing to the Romans, he says: “But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you” (Rom 8:9).

By the phrase “not in the flesh” Paul obviously did not mean that Christians had discarded their physical bodies. Rather, he meant that already in the present life they were guided by spiritual rather than by worldly values (Rom 8:4-8). If Paul could speak of Christians as being not “in the flesh,” already in the present life, his reference to the absence of “flesh and blood” in the Kingdom of God, simply means the absence of the natural, carnal, and sinful inclinations of the present life because the redeemed will be led fully by the Spirit.

The Meaning of the Resurrection of the Body

What, then, does “the resurrection of the body” mean? Biblical writers knew as well as we do that it could not possibly mean the rehabilitation of our present physical bodies. First, because many bodies are sick or deformed, and second, because at death they decompose and return to dust (Ps 104:29; cf. Eccl 3:20; Gen 3:19).

In the Biblical wholistic view of human nature, the term “body” is simply a synonym for “person.” For example, when Paul appeals “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom 12:1), he is clearly thinking of the whole person. In view of this fact, to believe in the resurrection/translation of the body means to believe that my whole human self, the human being that “I” am, will be restored to life again. It means that I will not be someone different from whom I am now. I will be exclusively myself. In short, it means that God has committed Himself to preserving my individuality, personality, and character.

Central to the Biblical promise of the resurrection of the body is God’s commitment to restore to life the very same individuals who existed previously on earth. God is not going to resurrect an indefinite group of look-a-like people, but the very same persons who lived on this earth. The Bible reassures us of the preservation of our identity through the suggestive imagery of “books” where our “names,” thoughts, attitudes, and actions are recorded (Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12).

A name in the Bible stands for character or personality, as indicated by the various names used to portray the character of God. This suggests that God preserves an accurate picture of the character of each person who ever lived on this planet. The record of each life is all inclusive, because Jesus said: “On the day of judgment men will render account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt 12:36-37).

Each believer develops his or her own unique character as a result of the temptations, struggles, defeats, disappointments, victories, and growth in grace each one experiences. This means that the possibility of “multiple replication” of people at the resurrection, all looking, acting, and thinking alike, is inconceivable. As there are no two persons with the same DNA molecular design, so there are no two Christian characters that are the same. Each one of us has a unique character or personality that God preserves and will unite to the resurrected body.

In a society where people are often regarded as cogs in a machine, numbers in a computer, it is reassuring to know that God places a transcendent significance on our personal identity. He has written the name of each believer “before the foundation of the world in the book of life” (Rev 13:8). In the sight of God what ultimately counts is not our church affiliation, our family lineage, or our racial belonging, but the values, attitudes, and decisions that characterizes our personality.

Some Practical Implications

The practical implications of the belief in the resurrection/translation of the whole person are not difficult to see. To believe in the resurrection/translation of the body means to believe that we will be able to recognize our loved ones. We shall recognize our loved ones, not necessarily because they will look exactly the same as when we last saw them, but because their unique individuality and personality is providentially preserved and resurrected with a brand-new body given by God.

When we meet elementary or high-school classmates after 20 or 30 years, most often we have difficulty in recognizing them by their external appearance. But as soon as they begin to talk, we realize who they are because their unique personalities really have not changed. They are still the Mary, the John, or the Bob we knew many years before.

The same principle applies to the recognition of our resurrected loved ones. We shall recognize them, not because they will look as young or as old as when we last saw them, but because their unique individuality and personality is providentially preserved and resurrected with a brand-new body by God.

The fact that God will restore to each of us our distinct personality and character, teaches us that our future personality is formed now. As aptly stated by Ellen G. White, “the characters formed in this life will determine the future destiny” (Child Guidance, p. 229). This important truth summons us to cultivate all the powers that God has given us in order to develop characters which are fit to serve God not only in this world but also in the world to come.

Summing up, then, people in the world to come will have physical bodies like the present ones, but without the liabilities of sin, sickness, and death. The purpose of the Plan of Redemption is not to remove defects from God’s original material creation by recreating the human and sub-human creation of a different non-physical, “spiritual” substance, but to restore the whole creation to its original perfection. What was “very good” at creation will be proven to be “very good” at the final restoration.

PART 2

WHAT WILL LIFE BE LIKE IN THE WORLD TO COME?

In the first part of this Bible Study we concluded that the redeemed will have a physical body like the present one, but without the liabilities of sin, sickness, and death.

The next question we wish to address is the actual environment and lifestyle of the redeemed. Will the new world be a material place like the present one or a “spiritual” realm radically different from this world? Will the redeemed engage in the kind of activities we know today, or will they spend eternity in everlasting contemplation and mediation?

The chief Biblical passages which speak of life in the new earth (Is 65:17-25; 66:22-23; Rev 21:1 to 22:5) offer us only glimpses of what life will really be like there. Thus, any attempt to characterize the life, the conditions, and the pursuits of the world to come must be seen as very limited and imperfect efforts to describe a reality which “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived” (2 Cor 2:9).

Renewal of this Earth

To appreciate the Biblical glimpses about life in the world to come, it is important to remember first of all that in the Bible the eternal habitation of the redeemed is located down here on this earth, and not somewhere up in heaven. Both the Old and the New Testaments speak of a “new heaven and a new earth” (Is 65:17; Rev 21:1) as being, not a different world somewhere off in space, but the present heaven and earth renewed and transformed to their original perfection.