Randy Alcorn's PowerPoint presentation from his message on the future Heaven at Good Shepherd Community Church, May 2019.

1. The thought of Heaven depresses me.
I’d rather cease to exist at death.
I can't stand the idea of endless
boring tedium. To me, heaven doesn't
sound much better than hell.
I’d rather be annihilated than spend
eternity like that.
An evangelical pastor

2. For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen, since what is
seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18

3. What & Where is Heaven?
1. The Triune God’s special, central
dwelling place; where he lives with
angels and his redeemed people.
2. The place where God’s throne is;
the location from which he rules the
universe and carries out his sovereign
plan.

4. Heaven: Where God’s Throne is
Where God dwells with His people
Present Heaven Future Heaven
Pre-Resurrection: Temporary Post-Resurrection: Eternal
Where God’s people go UP
to live with Him
Where God comes DOWN to
live with His people
Paradise/Third Heaven New Earth/New Cosmos
Our Layover Our Final Destination

5. … 17 And so we [together] will be
with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore encourage each
other with these words.
[Continuity]
1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

6. Present Heaven
Truly I say to you, today you
will be with me in Paradise.
[continuity]
Luke 23:43

7. To me, to live is Christ and to
die is gain.... I desire to
depart and be with Christ,
which is better by far.
Philippians 1:21, 23

8. As long as we are at home in
the body we are away from the
Lord.... We would prefer to be
away from the body and at
home with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 5:6, 8

9. I was caught up to the third heaven
fourteen years ago.… I was caught
up to paradise and heard things so
astounding that they cannot be
expressed in words, things no human
is allowed to tell.
2 Corinthians 12:2

10. The Future Heaven: Rev 21
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new
earth… the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away. 2 I saw the Holy
City, the new Jerusalem, coming down
out of heaven from God, prepared as a
bride beautifully dressed for her
husband...

11. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the
throne saying, “Now the dwelling of
God is with men, and he will live with
them. They will be his people, and
God himself will be with them and be
their God.”
Revelation 21:1-3

12. Revelation 22:1-4
1 Then the angel showed me the
river of the water of life…flowing
from the throne of God and of the
Lamb 2 down the middle of the great
street of the city….

13. Summary
Present Heaven: when we die God
will bring us up to live with him in His
place.
Future Heaven: God will come down
to live with us in our place. Forever!
New Earth!

14. Christians often talk about living with
God “in heaven” forever. But in fact the
biblical teaching is richer than that: it tells
us that there will be new heavens and a
new earth—an entirely renewed creation—
and we will live with God there.
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology

15. The new earth will also be heaven,
since God will dwell there with his
people.
Glorified believers, in other words, will
continue to be in heaven while they
are inhabiting the new earth.
Anthony Hoekema

16. Redemption: buying back what was
formerly owned.
Reconciliation: regaining a friend.
Renewal: making new again, restoring to
an original state.
Resurrection: becoming physically alive
again, after death.
Regeneration: being born again, having a
new beginning.
Restoration: bringing back what’s lost.

17. On each side of the river stood the
tree of life… 3 The throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in the city,
and his servants will serve him. 4
They will see his face.
Revelation 22:1-4

18. 4 God will wipe every tear from their
eyes. There will be no more death or
mourning or crying or pain, for the old
order of things has passed away.
5 He who was seated on the throne said,
“I am making everything new!”
NOT “Everything I’ll make is new.”

19. Then he said, “Write this down, for these
words are trustworthy and true. 6 I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning
and the End. To him who is thirsty I will
give to drink without cost from the spring
of the water of life.
Revelation 21:5-6

20. 25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and
in the end he will stand upon the
earth. 26 And after my skin has been
destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see
God ;
27 I myself will see him with my own
eyes—I, and not another. How my
heart yearns within me! [Continuity]
Job 19:25-27

21. All the dead shall be raised
up, with the self-same
bodies, and none other.
Westminster Confession
of Faith, 1646

22. 20 The Lord Jesus Christ ... 21
will transform our lowly
bodies so that they will be
like his glorious body.
Philippians 3:20-21

23. Luke 24:37-43
37 They were startled and frightened,
thinking they saw a ghost. 38 [Jesus]
said to them… 38 “Look at my hands and
my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and
see; a ghost does not have flesh and
bones, as you see I have.”

24. … 41 He asked them, “Do you have
anything here to eat?” 42 They
gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43
and he took it and ate it in their
presence.
Luke 24:37-43

25. I confer on you a kingdom, just
as my Father conferred one on
me, so that you may eat and
drink at my table in my
kingdom.
Luke 22:29-30

26. On this mountain the Lord
Almighty will prepare a feast of
rich food for all peoples, a
banquet of aged wine—the best of
meats and the finest of wines.
Isaiah 25:6

27. Many will come from the east and
the west, and will take their places
at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob [continuity] in the kingdom of
heaven.
Matthew 8:11

28. Christ has been raised from the
dead, the first-fruits of those
who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20

29. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation. The old has passed away; behold,
the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17
 New creation isn’t destruction, but
transformation of old.
If there isn’t continuity between old and
new, there’s no regeneration, only
generation. [Christ’s body continued to exist.]

30. God saw all that he had made, and it was
very good. Genesis 1:31
Cursed is the ground [erets, earth]
because of you; through painful toil you
will eat of it…. It will produce thorns and
thistles…. By the sweat of your brow you
will eat your food.
Genesis 3:17-19

31. Romans 8:18-23
18 The sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that will be revealed in/to us. 19
The creation waits in eager
expectation for the sons of God to be
revealed….

32. 20 For the creation was subjected to
frustration [curse]…in hope 21 that the
creation itself will be liberated from
its bondage to decay and brought
into the glorious freedom of the
children of God. 22 We know that the
whole creation has been

33. groaning as in the pains of childbirth
right up to the present time….
23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for our
adoption as sons, the redemption of
our bodies.
Romans 8:19-23

34. No more let sins and sorrows
grow
Nor thorns infest the ground ;
He comes to make His blessings
flow
Far as the Curse is found.
Isaac Watts,
“Joy to the World,” AD 1719

35. Redemption in Jesus Christ reaches
just as far as the fall.
To conceive of either the fall or Christ’s
deliverance as encompass-ing less than
the whole of creation is to compromise
the biblical teaching of the radical
nature of the fall and the cosmic scope
of redemption.
Albert Wolters, Creation Regained

36. The early Christians believed that
God was going to do for the whole
cosmos what he had done for
Jesus at Easter.
N. T. Wright,
Surprised by Hope

37. At 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…
Jesus, Matthew 19:28

38. “[Christ] must remain in
heaven until the time comes
for God to restore everything,
as he promised long ago
through his holy prophets.”
Peter, Acts 3:21

39. Isaiah 11
A shoot will come up from the stump of
Jesse; from his roots a Branch will
bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will
rest on him… 4with righteousness he
will judge…with justice he will give
decisions for the poor of the earth.

40. He will strike the earth …he will slay
the wicked. Righteousness will be his
belt…6 The wolf will live with the
lamb, the leopard will lie down with the
goat, the calf and the lion and the
yearling together; and a little child will
lead them.

41. 7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the
ox. 8 The infant will play near the
cobra’s den, and the young child
will put its hand into the viper’s
nest.

42. They will neither harm nor destroy on all
my holy mountain, for the earth will be
full of the knowledge of the Lord as the
waters cover the sea. In that day the
Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for
the peoples; the nations will rally to
him, and his place of rest will be
glorious.
Isaiah 11:9-10

43. The Lord will comfort Zion; He will
comfort all her waste places. And her
wilderness He will make like Eden, and
her desert like the garden of the Lord;
joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and sound of a melody.
Isaiah 51:3

44. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good
news, who publishes peace, who
brings good news of happiness, who
publishes salvation, who says to
Zion, “Your God reigns.”
Isaiah 52:7

45. Isaiah 53
3 [Messiah] was despised and rejected
by mankind, a man of suffering, and
familiar with pain….4 Surely he took up
our pain and bore our suffering…

46. Isaiah 53
5 But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for
our iniquities; the punishment that
brought us peace was on him, and by
his wounds we are healed.

47. Isaiah 60
Nations will come to your light, and
kings to the brightness of your dawn…
[Rev. 21:24] 5 the wealth on the seas
will be brought to you, to you the riches
of the nations will come. [Rev. 21:26] 6
Herds of camels will cover your land.

48. All from Sheba will come, bearing
gold and incense and proclaiming the
praise of the LORD. 11Your gates will
always stand open, never shut, day
or night [Rev. 21:25], so men may
bring you the wealth of the NATIONS
—

49. their kings led… [Rev. 21:24] 13
The glory of Lebanon will come to
you, the pine, the fir and the
cypress together…I will call you
the City of the LORD, Zion of the
Holy One of Israel.

50. 17 I will make peace your governor
and righteousness your ruler. 18 No
longer will violence be heard in your
land, nor ruin or destruction within
your borders [Rev. 21:27], but you
will call your

51. walls Salvation [Rev. 21:24] and your
gates Praise [Rev. 21:21].
19 The sun will no more be your light by
day [Rev 21:23], nor will the brightness
of the moon shine on you, for the
LORD will be your

52. everlasting light [Rev. 21:23] and
your days of sorrow will end [Rev.
21:4]. 21 Then will all your people be
righteous [Rev. 21:7] and they will
possess the land [erets: the earth]
forever.

53. 24 The NATIONS will walk by [the
Lamb’s] light, and the KINGS OF
THE EARTH will bring their
splendor into it [the city]. 25 On no
day will its gates ever be shut…
26 The glory and honor of the
NATIONS will be brought into it.
Revelation 21:24-26

54. Isaiah 65
“Behold, I will create new heavens
and a new earth.…18 But be glad and
rejoice forever in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a
delight and its people a joy. 19 I will
rejoice over Jerusalem and

55. take delight in my people; the sound of
weeping and of crying will be heard in it
no more. [Rev. 21:4] …21 They will
build houses and dwell in them; they
will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
…

56. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed
together, and the lion will eat straw like
the ox, but dust will be the serpent's
food. They will neither harm nor
destroy on all my holy mountain,” says
the LORD.

57. As the new heavens and the new
earth that I make will endure
before me,” declares the Lord, “so
will your name and descendants
endure...”
[Continuity]
Isaiah 66:22

58. …the dead bodies of those who
rebelled against me; the worms that eat
them will not die, the fire that burns
them will not be quenched…” (Isaiah
66:24)
Jesus: “…where their worm does not
die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark
9:46)

59. They will say, “This desolate land
has become like the garden of
Eden; and the waste, desolate and
ruined cities are fortified and
inhabited.”
Ezekiel 36:35

60. Ezekiel 47
1 I saw water coming out from
under the temple…[Rev. 22:1]… 7
a great number of trees on each
side of the river [Rev. 22:2] … 8
When it empties into the Sea, the
salt water there becomes fresh

61. 9 Swarms of living creatures will
live wherever the river flows….and
makes the salt water fresh [Rev.
21:1b]; so where the river flows
everything will live; there will be
large numbers of fish. 12 Fruit
trees of all kinds will grow on

62. both banks of the river [Rev. 22:2].
Their leaves will not wither, nor will
their fruit fail. Every month they will
bear [Rev. 22:2], because the water
from the sanctuary flows to them.
Their fruit will serve for food and
their leaves for healing. [Rev. 22:2]

63. Revelation 22:1-2
1 Then the angel showed me the river of
the water of life… flowing from the throne
of God and of the Lamb 2 down the
middle of the great street of the city. On
each side of the river stood the tree of
life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding
its fruit every month.

64. And the leaves of the tree are for the
healing of the NATIONS.
3 No longer will there be any curse.
[God’s] servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face.…
5 And they will reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:3-5

65. Daniel 2
35 The rock that struck the statue
became a huge mountain and filled the
whole earth….44 “The God of heaven will
set up a kingdom that will never be
destroyed …It will crush all those
kingdoms and bring them to an end, but
it will itself endure forever.

66. He [Messiah] was given authority, glory
and sovereign power; all peoples,
nations and men of every language
worshiped him.
His dominion is an everlasting
dominion that will not pass away, and
his kingdom is one that will never be
destroyed.
Daniel 7:14

67. But the saints of the Most High will
receive the kingdom and will possess
the kingdom forever, forever and
ever.
Daniel 7:18, ESV
They will possess it forever—yes,
forever and ever. (NIV)

68. Then the sovereignty, power and
greatness of the kingdoms under the
whole heaven will be handed over to the
saints, the people of the Most High.
His kingdom will be an everlasting
kingdom, and all rulers will worship
and obey him.
Daniel 7:26-27

69. Gabriel to Mary: “The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David
and he will reign over Jacob’s
descendants forever;
his kingdom will never end.”
Luke 1:32-33

70. I have installed my king on Zion… I
will make the nations your
inheritance, the ends of the earth
your possession.
Psalm 2:6-8

71. Blessed [happy] are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5
You have made them to be a kingdom
and priests to serve our God, and they
will reign on the earth.
Revelation 5:10

72. The day of the Lord will come like
a thief. The heavens will
disappear with a roar; the
elements will be destroyed by
fire, and the earth and everything
in it will be laid bare.
2 Peter 3:10

73. In keeping with his promise we
are looking forward to a new
heaven and a new earth, the
home of righteousness.
2 Peter 3:13

74. In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new
earth… for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away.
Revelation 21:1

75. There will be cataclysmic events that
bring this world to an end as we know
it—not putting it out of existence, but
wiping out all that is evil and cleansing
it by fire and fitting it for an age of
righteousness and peace that will never
end.
John Piper

76. What happens to our bodies and what
happens to the creation go together.
…not annihilation but redemption.... Our
bodies will be redeemed, restored,
made new, not thrown away. And so it
is with the heavens and the earth.
John Piper

77. The goal of God’s redemption is the
resurrection of the physical body, and the
creation of a new earth on which his
redeemed people can live and serve God
forever. Thus the universe will not be
destroyed but renewed, and God will win
the victory.
Anthony Hoekema

78. Isaiah 25:7-8 7 God will destroy the
shroud that enfolds all peoples, the
sheet that covers all nations; he will
swallow up death forever.
8 The Sovereign Lord will wipe away
the tears from all faces; he will
remove the disgrace of his people from
all the earth.

79. 16 They were longing for a
better country—a heavenly
one. Therefore God is not
ashamed to be called their
God, for he has prepared a
city for them.
Hebrews 11:14-16

80. In my Father’s house are many
rooms [dwelling places].... I go to
prepare a place for you.
John 14:2
The Carpenter chose common,
physical terms (house, rooms,
place) to describe Heaven.

81. Make friends for yourselves by means of
worldly wealth so that when it fails, they
may welcome you into eternal dwellings.
Luke 16:9
….using worldly riches so that when
those riches are gone, you will be
welcomed in those homes that continue
forever. NCV

82. Albert Wolters
God hangs on to his fallen original
creation and salvages it. He refuses
to abandon the work of his hands—in
fact, he sacrifices his own Son to
save his original project….

83. Humankind, which has botched its
original mandate…is given another
chance in Christ; we are reinstated
as God's managers on earth. The
original good creation is to be
restored.
Albert Wolters, Creation Regained

84. Your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10
The earth will be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.
Habakkuk 2:14

85. . . . according to his purpose, which
he set forth in Christ as a plan for the
fullness of time, to unite all things in
him, things in heaven and things on
earth.
Ephesians 1:9-10

86. For by him [Jesus] all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth… that in
that in everything he might be
preeminent. …to reconcile to himself all
things, whether on earth or in heaven,

87. Nothing of the diversity of the nations
and peoples, their cultural products,
languages, arts, sciences, literature,
and technology—so far as these are
good and excellent—will be lost upon
life in the new creation.
Cornelius Venema,
The Promise of the Future

88. The total work of Christ is nothing less
than to redeem this entire creation
from the effects of sin.
That purpose will not be accomp-lished
until God has ushered in the new earth,
until Paradise Lost has become
Paradise Regained.
Anthony Hoekema

89. Are We Past Our Peaks?
LIFE ON NEW
EARTH Future
PRESENT
HEAVEN
LIFE ON
EARTH
Deat
h
Resurrecti
on

90. God will wipe away every tear from their
eyes; and there will no longer be any
death... Rev. 21:4
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
And let him who hears say, “Come!”
Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and
whoever wishes, let him take the free gift
of the water of life. Rev. 22:17

91. He no longer looked to them like a lion;
but the things that began to happen after
that were so great and beautiful that I
cannot write them. For us this is the end
of all the stories, and we can truly say
that they all lived happily ever after.
But for them it was only the beginning
of the real story.

92. All their life in this world and all their
adventures in Narnia had only been the
cover and the title page. Now at last they
were beginning Chapter One of the
great Story which no one on earth has
read; which goes on forever; in which
every chapter is better than the one
before. C.S. Lewis, Last Battle