Our Eternal Home: Part 1

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

In this column and the next two columns, we’ll look at three New Testament passages that help us grasp the promise of our eternal home.

Matthew 19:28

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

This verse comes in the context of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples about possessions and the kingdom of heaven. The disciples have just witnessed Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, whose love of wealth goads him to walk away from the Lord’s invitation to eternal life (Matt. 19:16-22). 

Jesus tells the disciples how hard it is for a rich person, like the young ruler, to enter the kingdom. Those who invest their lives and resources in the corrupt and fleeting domain of the evil one have no regard for the eternal king who offers them so much more. 

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Seven Observations about the Unnamed Books of Daniel 7

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 9: The Books Were Opened: Daniel 7:9-10.

In the previous post, we examined the opening of unnamed books in Daniel 7. Now, here are seven observations about these books.

First, final judgment is certain. While God judges people and nations in various ways  throughout human history, a day is coming when every person stands before God and gives an account of his or her life (John 5:28-29). Final judgment also is set for Satan and rebellious angels (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10). 

Second, God is the judge. In the case of Daniel 7, the Ancient of Days sits as magistrate, because he’s judging the antichrist and his counterfeit work against the Son of God. Jesus does not judge here in his own cause; rather, the Father brings the gavel of justice down on the one who presumes to take the Son’s place. Ultimately, however, Jesus is the judge, for the Father has entrusted all judgment to him (John 5:22). Whether it’s the judgment of sheep and goats, the judgment seat of Christ, or the judgment of the great white throne, Jesus sits as the final arbiter of justice over all people.

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Glory in Restoration

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

When we read the post-resurrection accounts of Jesus’ life, we see that his glorified body  is able to navigate the ravages of a world still under the curse of sin. Jesus eats our food, travels our roads, speaks with befuddled eyewitnesses of his death and resurrection, passes through closed doors, transports himself effortlessly from one location to another, and finally launches from the Mount of Olives into heaven. 

Our resurrected bodies are destined to have many of the same capabilities. Yet there’s still something missing in God’s redemptive work. The world in which we live is still fallen, a reminder of the full effects of sin. So, a day is coming when our sovereign Lord reverses the curse and makes all things new (Rev. 21:5).

Jesus refers to this as “the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne” (Matt. 19:28). Peter urges us to wait for “new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). And in his vision of the world to come, John says he sees “a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Rev. 21:1). These passages refer to the future glorification of the created order, a world purged of sin and its stain, where the pristine innocence of all creation is restored.

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The Books Were Opened: Daniel 7:9-10

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 9: The Books Were Opened: Daniel 7:9-10.

As I kept watching, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white like snow, and the hair of his head like whitest wool. His throne was flaming fire; its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from his presence. Thousands upon thousands served him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was convened, and the books were opened (Dan. 7:9-10).

Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days expands our study of the book of life. That’s because Daniel sees, not a single book, but “books” opened in judgment. This foreshadows what John witnesses centuries later in his vision of the great white throne: 

I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books (Rev. 20:12, emphasis added).

In final judgment, books are opened. Daniel doesn’t identify these books by name, tell us the quantity of the books opened, or even reveal who opens the books. But this much seems clear from the whole counsel of Scripture: while the redeemed are recorded in the book of life, other books evidently expose every person’s thoughts, deeds, and actions, resulting in various rewards for the saved and degrees of punishment for the lost. 

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Better by Far

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

As wonderful as the intermediate heaven is, our ultimate destiny is the new heavens and new earth, which Peter and John describe as a place of righteousness and restored innocence (2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 21-22). Christ returns, resurrects and judges all people, establishes his kingdom in fullness, creates new heavens and a new earth, and gives us roles to play in the administration of his eternal kingdom.

John begins Revelation 21 with these words: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth ….” There are two words translated “new” in the Greek New Testament: neos and kainos. Neos is an adjective describing the age of something or someone. But John uses kainos, which means “different from the usual, impressive, better than the old, superior in value or attraction.” 

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