God gave us our imaginations, and when He says, “we are looking forward to a new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13), He indicates this should be normal for believers. It is impossible to look forward to something if you do not envision it. People study in advance for trips, preparing themselves for seeing the great barrier reef in Australia or the Alps in Switzerland, or even for visiting Disney World. It is impossible to anticipate the new heavens and New Earth unless you use your sanctified imagination to envision what likely awaits us. Of course, you should never imagine anything that contradicts God’s revealed word. But you should take what He has given us in Scripture and let it fan into flames your imagination.
I use my imagination in my book Heaven. That imagination is not based on nothing; rather, it is based on clear, biblical passages. One of many examples is animals on the New Earth (see Isaiah 11 and 65). The traditional view of Heaven as largely a disembodied state with nothing for us to do and nowhere for us to go will lead to a false theology of Heaven that sees it as a better destination than hell, yet incompatible with human life and happiness because it is unearthly. But God made us to live on the Earth, and He designed us to live forever on a New Earth, which will be the capital planet of the new universe! No one can possibly get excited about that unless they allow the Holy Spirit to turn on the ignition of their imagination.
That imagination should be firmly restrained by any fences that Scripture gives us, but we should never reduce Heaven to some pitiful disembodied existence that is completely contradicted by the resurrection of Jesus and the promise that we will become like Him in our resurrection. Still, some may say, “We can’t imagine what the New Earth would be like.” I disagree. When God speaks of us having “new bodies” do we shrug our shoulders and say, “I can’t imagine what a new body would be”? Of course we can imagine it. We know what a body is—we’ve had one all our lives! Look in the mirror—you can see what a body is, and you can remember when it looked better. You can imagine a new body.
Likewise, we can imagine a New Earth, because we’ve lived on Earth. So look out a window. Take a walk. Talk with your friend. Use your God-given skills to paint or draw or build a shed or write a book. But imagine it—all of it—in its original condition. The happy dog with the wagging tail, not the snarling beast, beaten and starved. The flowers unwilted, the grass undying, the blue sky without pollution. People smiling and joyful, not angry, depressed, and empty. If you’re not in a particularly beautiful place, close your eyes and envision the most beautiful place you’ve ever been—complete with palm trees, raging rivers, jagged mountains, waterfalls, or snow drifts.
Think of friends or family members who loved Jesus and are with Him now. Picture them with you, walking together in this place. All of you have powerful bodies, stronger than those of an Olympic decathlete. You are laughing, playing, talking, and reminiscing. You reach up to a tree to pick an apple or orange. You take a bite. It’s so sweet that it’s startling. You’ve never tasted anything so good. Now you see someone coming toward you. It’s Jesus, with a big smile on His face. You fall to your knees in worship. He pulls you up and embraces you.
At last, you’re with the person you were made for, in the place you were made to be. Everywhere you go there will be new people and places to enjoy, new things to discover. What’s that you smell? A feast. A party’s ahead. And you’re invited. There’s exploration and work to be done—and you can’t wait to get started!
