Question from a reader:

I’m grateful for Randy’s book, Heaven. It’s an amazing eye-opener. In the book, Randy states, “...the entire new universe will be ours to travel.” Where is the Scripture supporting that?

Answer from Eternal Perspective Ministries:

You are correct that there is no exact verse saying, “Resurrected people will travel the new Heavens God will create.” But as you read in chapter 2, Randy writes:

Nearly every notion of Heaven I present in this book was stimulated and reinforced by biblical texts. Though some of my interpretations and speculations are no doubt mistaken, they are not baseless. Rightly or wrongly, I have drawn most of them from my understanding of the explicit and implicit teachings of Scripture. Discussions of Heaven tend to be either hyperimaginative or utterly unimaginative. Bible believers have tended toward the latter, yet both approaches are inadequate and dangerous. What we need is a biblically inspired imagination.

Two paragraphs below that sentence you referred to, Randy writes, “Even under the Curse, we’ve been able to explore the moon, and we have the technology to land on Mars. What will we be able to accomplish for God’s glory when we have resurrected minds, unlimited resources, complete scientific cooperation, and no more death?”

Also consider the section right after that, “What Is the Morning Star?”

In chapter 44 “Will We Design Crafts, Technology, and New Modes of Travel?” under the section “Will We Travel and Explore in Space?” Randy makes a further case for why he thinks resurrected people may very well travel the universe.

At the end of that chapter he writes:

In much of what I’ve just said, I’m speculating, of course. But because the Bible gives a clear picture of resurrection and of earthly civilization in the eternal state, I’m walking through a door of imagination that Scripture itself opens. If all this seems more than you can imagine, I’d encourage you not to reject it simply on that basis. Our God, after all, is called the one 'who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine' (Ephesians 3:20). The very next verse gives praise to this God who acts immeasurably beyond our imaginations: ‘To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!’

Also see this article on our website, with excerpts drawn from the book: Is It Possible That in the Ages to Come We Will Travel to Other Planets and Encounter Alien Beings?