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THERE'S A NEW HEAVEN COMING This may come as a surprise to you, but heaven where Jesus, the holy angels, and the dead saints are is not eternal. It will not last forever. But wait a minute. It will be replaced by a new heaven! When Jesus told the disciples that He came to fulfill the Law, He told them that not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the Law until all is fulfilled and heaven and earth passes away (Mt. 5:17-18). Our Lord said in Matthew 24:35 that heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words would not. The Apostle Paul was caught up to the third heaven where Jesus is. The first heaven is the one in which the birds fly, and the second heaven is the space in which the stars and planets orbit in their solar systems. And there is the outermost third heaven where Jesus is, where Paul was caught up to. Peter wrote that the heavens and the earth are now kept until the Day of Judgment, and at that time the heavens and the earth shall pass away with a great noise and fervent heat (2 Pet. 3:7-12). When Satan is released from the bottomless pit at the beginning of the Great Tribulation he will go up to the third heaven and make war against the holy angels. (Satan is currently bound, but his demons are not. Satan will be cast down to earth and enter the Antichrist, knowing his time is short---about three and a half years.) The apostle John recorded in Revelation 20:11 some of the events of the last day. He wrote that the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And in 21:1 he wrote that heaven and earth passed away. So we can see that heaven, along with the earth, will be annihilated---it will be destroyed by fire. But praise God! John also recorded in Revelation 21:1 that he saw a new heaven and a new earth! There is now a temple in heaven (Rev. 7:15; 11:19; 14:15, 17; 15:5-6; 16:17), but it also will be destroyed. But praise the Lord! God will be the temple in the New Jerusalem that comes down from the present heaven that will be destroyed (Rev. 21:22). Come, Lord Jesus!
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