He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:5

What is heaven like? Heaven already exists, but it’s not in its final form, according to scripture. The Bible refers to a place where God is and where Jesus returned to when He ascended from earth. This place is a realm where followers of Jesus are fully alive in completely perfect bodies, having shed the broken-down versions we lived in on earth.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself” (2 Corinthians 4:14).

The scriptures talk about a new heaven and a new earth. Imagine the most beautiful place you’ve ever been on this planet—what you saw and experienced is only a decayed version of what it was when God created it.  Our earth will be totally remade.  John’s visions recorded in the book of Revelation are a picture of all of God’s creation being renewed to God’s perfect, incredibly beautiful design (sneak peak in Revelation 21). As part of that renewal, we will inhabit the pristine earth and its bejeweled sister-city, heaven. In short, heaven is perfect beauty in the presence of God.

We don’t have full details about what that will be like, but Paul anticipated it eagerly, saying, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

 

Resource reading: Revelation 21:1-27