Revelation 21 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth..."
Comment:
Dear Friend, Chapter 21 in the Revelation to John—the book that concludes the Bible—is packed with imagery; I can only touch on an overall theme in this brief response to your question. It is the great culmination of the epic journey that began in the first pages of Genesis—the journey of a spiritual being through the distractions and challenges of human consciousness to the higher spiritual consciousness that Jesus describes as "the kingdom of heaven." That journey is summarized and concentrated as the epic battles and tribulations described in the Revelation. It all culminates in the great realization of Chapter 21: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." The "kingdom of heaven," then, is not some place beyond the clouds where we will go after death. It occurs in this human experience; it is the perfect spiritual expression of everything that has been imperfectly expressing here on earth. "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men (21:3)." The promise is, then, that our journey will be joyfully complete when we have removed from our consciousness every thought and false belief of separation from our divine Source and become clear and nonresisting channels for the creative Power that is God. Then our lives here on earth will be completely infused with the divine, and the kingdom of heaven will not only be at hand; it will be the consciousness in which we live.
Blessings!
Rev. Ed