New Jerusalem and the Missing Temple of God

Among the most extraordinary promises in the Bible is the declaration that there will eventually be "e;a new heaven and a new earth."e; The phrase sounds serene, beautiful, and comforting. It suggests renewal, perfection, permanence, and the final disappearance of everything that causes human suffering. Yet beneath its reassuring language lies a project of almost incomprehensible magnitude. The vision presented in the closing chapters of Revelation is not simply the repair of a damaged civilization, the restoration of a ruined city, or even the transformation of the earth as we know it. It is a cosmic project. Heaven and earth themselves become part of the divine redevelopment plan. The existing order passes away, and an entirely new order takes its place. What makes the vision particularly remarkable is that the world being replaced is itself the world that, according to Genesis, originated through divine creation.The biblical story therefore opens with the creation of heaven and earth and closes with their replacement by a new heaven and a new earth. Genesis begins with the declaration that "e;God created the heaven and the earth."e; Revelation reaches its climax with John declaring that he saw "e;a new heaven and a new earth,"e; because "e;the first heaven and the first earth were passed away."e; Between these two declarations lies the entire biblical drama: creation, humanity, the entrance of sin, judgment, covenant, Israel, prophecy, redemption, Christ, resurrection, final judgment, and ultimately the new creation. The magnificent beginning therefore does not constitute the final condition of reality. Whatever the theological explanation may be, the biblical narrative ultimately moves beyond the first creation toward another.The language of Revelation is striking because it does not describe merely a repaired earth. John does not say simply that the old earth has been cleaned, renovated, or restored to its original condition. He sees a new heaven and a new earth. The old order has passed away. The language is sufficiently dramatic that it invites us to imagine a complete transition from one cosmic arrangement to another. The familiar world of oceans, continents, cities, mountains, nations, generations, and human history belongs to the former order. The vision then introduces another reality in which the conditions that presently define human existence are radically altered.