Multiple times in Revelation 21, God says He will come down from the present Heaven to live with His people on the New Earth. The city “comes down out of heaven,” God’s dwelling place is “with man,” God will “dwell with them,” and God Himself “will be with them.” Despite the repetition, most Christians still don’t appear to believe that God’s plan is to bring Heaven to Earth and dwell here with us forever. Not just for a thousand years in a millennial kingdom on the old earth, but forever on the New Earth.

Christ is Immanuel, “God with us,” forever. The incarnation of Jesus was not temporary.

We normally think of us going up to Heaven to live with God in His place. That is indeed what happens when we die. But the ultimate promise is that God will come down to live with us in our place, on the New Earth. The ultimate Heaven will not be “us with God” but “God with us” (Revelation 21:3). The New Earth will be Heaven incarnate, just as Jesus Christ, our Immanuel, is forever God incarnate who will happily live in our midst.

Charles Spurgeon put it beautifully: “‘God with us’ is eternity’s sonnet, heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of the angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky.”

In this clip from a chapel message I gave last year at Liberty University, I share some thoughts about Immanuel, God with us, and the blood-bought hope He secured for us:

You can watch the full chapel message here.

Photo: Pexels