For many years, I had a completely wrong view of heaven. I used to think we’d float around in some spiritual dimension, I guess as spirits, because I didn’t really see us having actual bodies like we do now. I imagined this spiritual realm would be very bright.

That’s about it. I knew it would be a good place, certainly better than the alternative, but it really wasn’t a place I was excited to be. And I always felt bad about that. I knew I should be looking forward to heaven, but I wasn’t.

What seemed a lot better to me were warm, sunny, summer days. Relaxing by the pool with family or friends. Seeing the magnificence of the Rocky Mountains or the vastness of the ocean. Eating a really delicious meal. And just being together with my wife.

Then I’d hear people describe heaven as “a never-ending worship service.” I think what they meant was that we’d be singing hymns or worship songs non-stop. Forever. Well, other than the fact that I hope to have a better singing voice in heaven than I do now–a never-ending worship service doesn’t get me very excited about heaven either.

The views of heaven I’ve just described really have no biblical basis. So then what is heaven like?

Since I’ve never actually seen it, my view of heaven is mainly coming from Genesis 1 and 2 and Revelation 21-22. Those are the first and last two chapters of the Bible. They take place before sin occurred and after sin has finally been dealt with.

So here’s what I see…

We will live on earth. The apostle John wrote in Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…”

It will be made new, but it will be earth. As it was supposed to be. Before sin, death, pain, war, pollution, etc. If Adam and Eve had never sinned, mankind would have lived on earth in a perfect world. And one day, God will restore it to what it was intended to be. He hasn’t given up on the original intent.

So when you hear someone say, “Earth isn’t our home” or “We’re not home yet,” well, that’s not exactly right. Earth is our home. It was supposed to be perfect. We just messed it up. Sin and death aren’t supposed to be a part of it, so that’s what we long to escape–not the earth.

Think about it–doesn’t something feel really right about a great day on earth? Great weather. Great friends. Great food. Great sex, if you’re married. When you experience something wonderful, something powerful, something profoundly meaningful, we just have a sense that, “This is how life was meant to be.”

Don’t get the wrong idea that our bodies are somehow bad or evil. They’re not. They’re fallen. They’re broken. But the physical body is not bad. Adam and Eve were given physical bodies before they ever sinned. Jesus never sinned and He had a physical body. These bodies were made by God to live in a material realm like earth.

We will have physical bodies. They’ll be new ones, but they will be real bodies. And not only that, but…

God will live on earth with us. Revelation 21:3 says, “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.”

God is going to live on earth with us. How cool is that? More on that in a minute.

We will live in the city of New Jerusalem. It’s a large city. Very large, in fact. It’s described in Revelation 21 as being 1400 miles wide, 1400 miles long and 1400 miles high. I don’t understand how it can be 1400 miles high, but it is. It has three gates on each side of the city. Each gate is named after one of the 12 tribes of Israel and is guarded by an angel.

The city is described as being “the wife of the Lamb.” So we know it’s going to be incredibly beautiful. Read the description of it Revelation 21.

The gates of the city will never shut because there will be no night. I’m not sure if that means we will not need sleep. Maybe if Adam and Eve had never sinned, our bodies would never have needed sleep. I don’t know.

The walls around the city are 200 feet thick. It seems that we will be able to come and go through the gates of the city. I’m not sure if that means some people may choose to live outside of the city or if we will all live inside, but have freedom to go outside to work or explore or play or whatever.

In the city, we will not find a church or a temple. That’s because God Himself is the temple. We will not need to go to a certain place to worship. We will be in that place already. We will be in the presence of God.

God’s glory will be so bright that the sun and moon will not be needed to provide light for the city. I don’t take that to mean the sun and moon will not exist–just that in the city, their light will not be needed. And I don’t know if that means the sun will be needed for light outside the city.

I don’t know about you, but I start to look forward to being on the new earth, a beautiful, perfect place without the sin and decay and hatred and war that plagues the earth now.

Tomorrow, we’ll continue by answering a few questions. The answers might surprise you.

Are we going to eat and drink?

What will we do on the new earth?

Will we be married in heaven? And if so, to whom?

Will there be coffee in heaven?

If heaven is really going to be on the new earth, then where are the people who’ve already died and what are they doing now?