Heaven and the new creation

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

²¹ who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴ and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,

⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

¹ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

² For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,

³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.

⁶ Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.

⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight.

⁸ We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own.

¹⁵ If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.

¹⁶ Instead, 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.

²² Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels

²³ in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

² In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

² I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

⁴ ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

¹⁵ For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.

¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’

¹⁷ For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

²¹ And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

⁴ because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—

⁵ the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel

Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.

² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.

³ And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows—

⁴ was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were too sacred for words, things that man is not permitted to tell.

And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.

And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”

“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”

While He was blessing them, He left them and was carried up into heaven.

² At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.

³ The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.

¹ Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb

² down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him.

Then He declared, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

And the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.