Recently I heard a believer friend of mine name a few beautiful locations on this earth. Then they said something I found odd. They said, "I hope I get to visit those places before I die." Here's my question...why did they say, "before I die"? What is it about death that makes them think they will be prevented from going to those places thousands of times for thousands of years if they want to?
Is it that we think once we get to heaven we will be incarcerated there...that we can never leave to come see the beauty of the new earth? Maybe they're thinking once we get there we would never want to leave...that its beauty would be so overwhelming, we would want to stay there forever? Then why is God making a new earth if we will never see it? Will it not reflect His glory as well? What's the purpose of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven and landing on earth (or do we think it will hover just overhead?) and God choosing to dwell among men...here...on this planet. Do we think that God has chosen to dwell only in heaven, and that since we want to be where He is we must refrain from any traveling to other cities on earth? But isn't He everywhere at all times? Would that cease to be after He creates the new heaven and new earth? I would love to hear what you think. Read Revelation 21:1-4, and give me some feedback.