Imeandikwa na Randy Alcorn

Hebu fikiria wewe ni sehemu ya timu ya NASA ambayo inajiandaa kwa safari ya kwenda kuishi kwenye sayari ya Mirihi kwa miaka mitano. Baada ya muda wa mafunzo ya kina, tarehe ya kuondoka hatimaye inawadia. Roketi inapopaa, mmoja wa wanaanga wenzako anauliza, “Unajua nini kuhusu sayari ya Mihiri?”

Jione ukiinua mabega yako na kusema, “Hakuna. Hatukuwahi kuzungumzia swala hilo. Nadhani tutajua tukifika huko.” Ni jambo lisilofikirika, sivyo? Haiwezekani kuwa mafunzo yenu hayangejumuisha utatifi wa kina na maandalizi kwa ajili ya mahali mnakoenda. Katika shule za Biblia na makanisa kote ulimwenguni, kuna mafundisho machache sana kuhusu makao yetu ya mwisho: Mbingu Mpya na Dunia Mpya. Tunaambiwa jinsi ya kufika Mbinguni, na kwamba ni mahali pazuri sana kuliko Jehanamu, lakini tunafundishwa mambo machache sana kuhusu Mbingu yenyewe.

Je, Mbingu ya Sasa na Mbingu ya Milele ni Tofauti?

Mtume Paulo aliona kuwa ni muhimu kwetu kujua ni nini kinatokea tunapokufa: “Lakini ndugu, hatutaki mkose kujua kuhusu wale waliolala mauti, ili msihuzunike kama watu wengine wasiokuwa na tumaini” (1 Wathesalonike 4:13).

Kwa kawaida watu hufikiria “Mbingu” kuwa mahali ambapo Wakristo huenda wanapokufa. Lakini hiyo inatuzuia kuelewa tofauti muhimu zinazojitokeza katika Biblia. Ufafanuzi bora zaidi unaeleza kuwa Mbingu ni makao makuu ya Mungu, mahali pa kiti chake cha enzi na anatawala ulimwengu akiwa huko.

Mahali hasa ambapo Mbingu ya sasa inapatikana hapajulikani, lakini tunaambiwa Mbingu ya baadaye itakuwa kwenye Dunia Mpya, ambapo Mungu atashuka kuishi na watu wake (Ufunuo 21:3). Mbingu ya sasa ni mahali pa mpito kati ya maisha ya zamanı ya waumini duniani na ufufuo wa siku zijazo katika Dunia Mpya.

Maisha katika Mbingu tunakoenda tunapokufa ni “bora zaidi” kuliko kuishi hapa Duniani chini ya Laana, mbali na uwepo wa moja kwa moja wa Mungu (Wafilipi 1:23). Lakini ingawa patakuwa mahali pazuri sana, hatukuumbwa kuishi katika Mbingu ya sasa, mahali ambapo Mungu anaahidi kupaumba upya ili tuishi humo milele. Watato wa Mungu wamekusudiwa kuishi kama viumbe waliofufuliwa katika Dunia iliyofufuliwa.

Ufunuo 21:1 inasema, “Kisha nikaona mbingu mpya na nchi mpya, kwa maana mbingu za kwanza na nchi ya kwanza vimekwisha kupita.” Mara tu tunapotupilia mbali dhana yetu kwamba Mbingu haiwezi kubadilika, kila kitu kinaeleweka vizuri. Mungu habadiliki; hageuki. Lakini Mungu anasema wazi kwamba Mbingu itabadilika. Hatimaye itahamishwa hadi kwenye Dunia Mpya.

Je, Dunia Mpya na Maisha katika Dunia Mpya yatakuwaje?

Waefeso 1:10 inasema kwamba mpango wa Mungu ni “kuvitia vitu vyote vya mbinguni na vya duniani pamoja.” Kama vile Mungu na mwanadamu watakavyounganishwa milele katika Yesu, ndivyo Mbingu na Dunia zitaunganishwa milele katika ulimwengu mpya unaoonekana, ambapo tutaishi kama watu waliofufuliwa.

Mungu ataishi nasi katika Dunia Mpya. Hiyo italeta pamoja vitu vyote vya Mbinguni na Duniani. “Nami nikasikia sauti kubwa kutoka kile kiti cha enzi ikisema, ‘Sasa makao ya Mungu ni pamoja na wanadamu, naye atakaa pamoja nao. Yeye atakuwa Mungu wao nao watakuwa watu wake, naye Mungu mwenyewe atakuwa pamoja nao’” (Ufunuo 21:3). Tutaishi, kutawala na kutumika pamoja na Bwana wetu Yesu, chanzo cha furaha yote.

Kuwa katika miili iliyofufuliwa katika Dunia iliyofufuliwa katika mahusiano ya kirafiki yaliyofufuliwa, kufurahia utamaduni uliofufuliwa pamoja na Yesu aliyefufuliwa—sasa hiyo itakuwa sherehe kuu! Kila mtu atakuwa jinsi Mungu alivyomuumba kuwa—na hakuna hata mmoja wetu atakayeteseka au kufa tena.

Mwanadamu alikusudiwa kuishi Duniani ili kumletea Mungu utukufu. Hilo ndilo jambo lililoletwa na umwilisho, kifo na ufufuo wa Kristo—wanadamu waliofanywa upya katika Dunia iliyofanywa upya.

Jambo ambalo mara nyingi linaeleweka vibaya kuhusu Mbingu ya milele ni kwamba patakuwa mahali tusipopajua. Lakini hiyo si kweli kabisa. Tunaposikia kwamba Mbinguni tutakuwa na miili mipya na tutaishi kwenye Dunia Mpya, hivi ndivyo tunavyopaswa kuelewa neno mpya—umbo lililorejeshwa na kamilifu la miili yeti tuliyoizoea, Dunia yetu tuliyoizoea na mahusiano yetu tuliyoyazoea.

Je, Kuwa na Hamu ya Kwenda Katika Makao Yetu ya Milele Kunatuathirije Sasa?

Baada ya kusema “sisi tunatazamia mbingu mpya na dunia mpya, ambayo haki hukaa ndani yake,” Petro mara moja anaongeza kusema, “Kwa sababu hii, wapenzi, kwa kuwa mnatazamia mambo haya, fanyeni bidii ili awakute katika amani, bila mawaa wala dosari” (2 Petro 3:13-14).

Kujua kwamba tutaishi milele kama watu waliofufuliwa katika Dunia Mpya kunatusaidia kutambua kwamba machaguo tunayofanya leo, ikiwa ni pamoja na machaguo kuhusu utakatifu wa kibinafsi—na jinsi tunavyowatendea wengine—yatakuwa na matokeo yasiyoweza kufutika katika umilele. Mungu anaangalia. Anafuatilia. Yesu alisema kwamba Mbinguni atatupatia thawabu kwa ajili ya matendo yetu ya uaminifu kwake, akizingatia hata kikombe cha maji tunachowapa watu wenye mahitaji katika jina lake (soma Marko 9:41).

Maisha ya Duniani ni muhimu, si kwa sababu hayo ndio maisha pekee tulio nayo, bali kwa sababu kuna maisha mengine mbali na maisha ya Duniani —maisha ya Duniani ni mwanzo wa maisha ambayo yataendelea bila mwisho kwenye Dunia iliyofanywa upya. Kile ambacho Mungu anasema kuhusu mustakabali wetu hutuwezesha kufasiri maisha yetu ya zamani na kumtumikia katika maisha yetu ya sasa.

Iwe ni kufunza timu ya wachezaji, kuwashauri vijana, kumkatia mjane nyasi, kutetea watoto ambao hawajazaliwa, kufanya juhudi ili kuleta upatanisho kati ya watu wa rangi mbalimbali, kusafiri kwenda katika misheni za muda mfupi, au kutoa sehemu kubwa ya mapato yako kwa ajili ya misheni au huduma katika maeneo maskini ya miji —ikiwa unafanya hivyo kupitia nguvu ya Kristo, unaleta kionjo cha Dunia Mpya ya baadaye kwenye Dunia hii ya sasa yenye dhiki.

Hatupaswi kusahau ukweli wa kuvutia kwamba sisi ni raia wa himaya mbili, ambazo siku moja zitaunganishwa kuwa moja—Mbingu Mpya na Dunia Mpya, isiyoweza kugawanyika na iliyo chini ya utawala wa milele wa Kristo. Katika Dunia hiyo, tutatazama nyuma tukiwa tumeridhika na tukiwa na shukrani kwa ajili ya mema tuliyoweza kufanya katika Dunia hii kwa neema ya Mungu.

Mtazamo wetu leo unaongozwa na ukweli kwamba ufufuo unawangoja watoto wa Mungu. Hii inamaanisha kuwa kamwe hatutaweza kupita vilele vyetu. Mambo mazuri zaidi bado yanakuja! Hakuna haja ya kuandika orodha ya mambo tunayotamani kufanya kabla ya kufa, kwa sababu matukio ya kusisimua yanayotungoja katika Mbingu Mpya na katika Dunia Mpya yatakuwa mazuri zaidi kuliko mambo ya kusisimua zaidi ya maisha haya. Wakati tunafikiria “mambo hayawezi kuwa mazuri kuliko hivi”…yatakuwa mazuri zaidi.

Our Best Life Yet to Come: The New Earth, Our Eternal Home

Imagine you’re part of a NASA team preparing for a five-year mission to Mars. After a period of extensive training, the launch date finally arrives. As the rocket lifts off, one of your fellow astronauts asks, “What do you know about Mars?”

Envision shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Nothing. We never talked about it. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” It’s unthinkable, isn’t it? It’s inconceivable that your training wouldn’t have included extensive study of and preparation for your ultimate destination. Yet in seminaries, Bible schools, and churches around the world, there's very little teaching about our ultimate destination: the New Heavens and New Earth. We’re told how to get to Heaven, and that it’s a better destination than Hell, but we’re taught remarkably little about Heaven itself.

Are the Present Heaven and the Eternal Heaven Different?

The apostle Paul considered it vital for us to know what happens when we die: “Dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died” (1 Thessalonians 4:13, NLT).

People usually think of “Heaven” as the place Christians go when they die. But this keeps us from understanding important biblical distinctions. A better definition explains that Heaven is God’s central dwelling place, the location of his throne from where he rules the universe.

The exact location of the present Heaven is unknown, but we’re told the future Heaven will be located on the New Earth, where God will come down to live with his people (Revelation 21:3). The present Heaven is a place of transition between believers’ past lives on Earth and future resurrection lives on the New Earth.

Life in the Heaven we go to when we die is “far better” than living here on Earth under the Curse, away from the direct presence of God (Philippians 1:23). But although it will be a wonderful place, the present Heaven is not the place we’re made for, the place God promises to refashion for us to live in forever. God’s children are destined for life as resurrected beings on a resurrected Earth.

Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.” Once we abandon our assumption that Heaven cannot change, it all makes sense. God doesn’t change; he’s immutable. But God clearly says that Heaven will change. It will eventually be relocated to the New Earth.

What Will the New Earth and Life There Be Like?

Ephesians 1:10 says that God’s plan is “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” Just as God and man will be forever united in Jesus, so Heaven and Earth will forever be united in the new physical universe, where we’ll live as resurrected people.

God will live with us on the New Earth. That will bring all things in Heaven and on Earth together. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God’” (Revelation 21:3). We’ll live and rule and serve with our Lord Jesus, the source of all joy and happiness.

To be in resurrected bodies on a resurrected Earth in resurrected friendships, enjoying a resurrected culture with the resurrected Jesus—now that will be the ultimate party! Everybody will be who God made them to be—and none of us will ever suffer or die again.

Mankind was designed to live on the Earth to God’s glory. That’s exactly what Christ’s incarnation, death and resurrection secured—a renewed humanity upon a renewed Earth.

A common misunderstanding about the eternal Heaven is that it will be unfamiliar. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. When we hear that in Heaven we’ll have new bodies and live on a New Earth, this is how we should understand the word new—a restored and perfected version of our familiar bodies and our familiar Earth and our familiar relationships.

How Does Longing for Our Eternal Home Affect Us Now?

After saying “we are looking forward to a New Heaven and a New Earth, the home of righteousness,” Peter immediately adds, “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (2 Pet. 3:13-14).

Knowing we’ll live forever as resurrected people on a New Earth helps us realize that the choices we make today, including choices of personal holiness—and how we act toward others—will make an indelible mark on eternity. God is watching. He’s keeping track. Jesus said that in Heaven He’ll reward us for acts of faithfulness to Him, right down to every cup of cold water we’ve given to the needy in His name (see Mark 9:41).

Life on Earth matters, not because it’s the only life we have, but precisely because it isn’t—it’s the beginning of a life that will continue without end on a renewed Earth. What God says about our future enables us to interpret our past and serve Him in our present.

Whether it’s coaching a team, mentoring young people, mowing a widow’s lawn, standing up for unborn children, working for racial reconciliation, going on short-term missions trips, or giving a large portion of your income to missions or inner-city work—If you’re doing it through Christ’s power you’re bringing a foretaste of the coming New Earth to this current, hurting Earth.

We shouldn’t forget the compelling reality that we’re citizens of two realms, which will one day be consolidated into one—a New Heaven and a New Earth, indivisible and under the eternal rule of Christ. On that Earth, we’ll look back with satisfaction and gratitude at the difference, by God’s grace, we were able to make on this Earth.

Our perspective today is informed by the reality that resurrection awaits God’s children. This means we’ll never pass our peaks. The best is yet to come! No need for bucket lists, because the adventures awaiting us in the New Heavens and on the New Earth will far exceed the greatest thrills of this life. Right when we think “it can’t get any better than this”…it will.

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