Day 142: The New Heaven and the New Earth (1042-1050)

• It’s Day 142!!

• THE HOPE OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH

• So what happens to the Cosmos?

• What happens to all created things?

• At the end of time, when all things are brought to rights…

• Not just humanity will be brought into line with God

• ALL OF CREATION will be brought into line with God

• Remember how God created this world

• There was no darkness, evil, sin, brokenness, death, mourning, crying, pain, etc.

• Then what happened?

• Sin entered the world and we experience all of those things

• Paragraph 1044 says, “‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’”

• We are talking about this HOPE of the NEW HEAVENS and the NEW EARTH

• We long for this gift of this final day when God doesn’t just redeem all humanity but EVERYTHING HE HAS CREATED gets redeemed by the work of His Son, Jesus Christ

• So let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you. We thank you and we praise your name. We call upon the name of your Son, Jesus, who is the Redeemer of the World. He is the Redeemer of Man. Of course, absolutely Lord God, we say yes to that. He is also the Redeemer of your Creation. Lord God, the Creation that you made good that we have broken, but you still continue to redeem, you still continue to use it and bring back to yourself, will one day be fully restored. We beg for that day in our lives and our time. We beg for that day to come soon. Because, Lord God, we find ourselves walking in the midst of pain. We find ourselves walking in the midst of mourning, and of grief, and of sorrows, and of loss, and of death. Lord God, until the Last Day when you restore all things, please meet us in those moments. Please meet us as we walk in the midst of our own grief, in sadness, and death. Meet us in the midst of those because we know that you are the God of the living. You are the God who can bring the dead back to life. You are the God who will wipe away every tear. And you are the God who meets us in our brokenness. You meet us in our broken hearts. And so until that day, continue to come to us. Continue to find us in our brokenness. And continue to redeem it. Continue to transform it. Bring us close to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• THE HOPE OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH

• The whole human story of Creation will be concluded

• In this new universe there will be a place

• Every human being will be reunited BODY AND SOUL

• A human being is a BODY AND SOUL COMPOSITE

• That body NEEDS A PLACE TO LIVE

• All of Creation will also be REDEEMED

• It is not simply a matter of human beings being redeemed and having their bodies redeemed in a completely new way

• The universe ITSELF will be renewed

• Some people think of Heaven being relatively boring 

• People think we have robes and a cloud and bounce around playing our harps (or in my case my hybrid double-neck guitar and mandolin!!! 😉)

• We love traveling parks

• But we get bored after an hour

• If Heaven is just a giant traveling park sure it can get boring

• If Heaven is just a giant harp concert yes it can get boring

• BUT…

• WHO created this universe in which we find so much JOY?

• WHO created this universe in which we find so much BEAUTY?

• WHO created this universe in which we find so much EXCITEMENT?

• WHO created this universe in which we find so much ADVENTURE?

• GOD!!!

• The same God who created this universe is the CREATOR AND REDEEMER of the New Universe

• THE NEW HEAVEN

• THE NEW EARTH

• If we are fascinated by THIS world

• If we look at the Rocky Mountains and think they’re incredible

• If we look at the ocean and think we could stay there forever

• Fr. Mike is now talking about Lake Superior and telling a story…

• The same God who made this is the same one who REMAKES the Heavens and Earth

• There is NOTHING even remotely boring about the idea of Heaven and life with God forever

• Not only is all the universe restored

• BUT…

• We get COMPLETE ACCESS TO GOD

• Ultimately, God is THE POINT OF ALL OF THIS

• Paragraph 1045 says, “Those who are united with Christ will form the community of the redeemed, ‘the holy city’ of God, ‘the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ She will not be wounded any longer by sin, stains, self-love, that destroy or wound the earthly community. The beatific vision, in which God opens himself in an exhaustible way to the elect, will be the ever-flowing well-spring of happiness, peace, and mutual communion.”

• GOD IS THE POINT OF HEAVEN!!

• Redemption…

• New Heavens…

• New Earth…

• AMEN!!

• SO INCREDIBLE!!

• BEAUTIFUL!!

• UNIMAGINABLE!!

• BUT…

• The POINT of all of it is the VISION OF GOD

• We will have an UNMEDIATED encounter with the Lord HIMSELF

• We can’t even BEGIN to imagine this

• AND YET…

• Paragraph 1046 says, “For the cosmos, Revelation affirms the profound common destiny of the material world and man: For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God…in hope because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay…We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now…”

• So how do we live NOW?

• Paragraph 1048 says, “‘We know neither the moment of the consummation of the earth and of man, nor the way in which the universe will be transformed.”

• So we have to take care of the earth we have

• There will be a NEW CREATION

• There will be a NEW HEAVENS

• There will be a NEW EARTH

• Fr. Mike is telling a story about a rental car…

• Or something about building a new house…

• The brokenness in us doesn’t want to take care of things

• That is the attitude that the Church is counseling AGAINST

• Paragraph 1049 says, “‘Far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come. That is why, although we must be careful to distinguish earthly progress clearly from the increase of the kingdom of Christ, such progress is of vital concern to the kingdom of God, insofar as it can contribute to the better ordering of human society.’”

• Let’s not only care for each other, let’s care for this earth

• We NEED to advance and help people around us

• We NEED to take care of the earth

• If we can move forward with more justice and education and truth that is awesome

• That is a worthy goal

• We also have to realize that the ULTIMATE GOAL is what will LAST FOREVER

• We don’t trash what is going to pass just because it is going to pass away

• We honor it now because it is part of Creation

• At the same time…

• We must keep our eyes fixed on the Lord

• THIS IS SO REMARKABLE!!

• Paragraph 1050 says, “God will then be ‘all in all’ in eternal life.”

• St. Cyril of Jerusalem says in Paragraph 1050, “Thanks to his mercy, we too, men that we are, have received the inalienable promise of eternal life.”

• At some point in our lives, Christ will present to His Father an ETERNAL AND UNIVERSAL KINGDOM

• Whether you are around ON EARTH or around IN ETERNITY

• WE WILL BE AROUND!!

• YOU AND I ARE GOING TO SEE THIS HAPPEN!!

• Our prayer is that we use this life on earth in such a way to be able to live with Him forever in Heaven

• That we use this earth in such a way to be able to enjoy the New Heavens and the New Earth forever

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• God has made us and placed us in THIS WORLD because He had made us for ANOTHER WORLD

• THAT world will be a world of PEACE AND JOY

• EVERYTHING will be centered around the One who made it

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!