Why I See Moss-Covered Paths, Not Gold-Paved Streets, In Our Future

Is this really the picture John's vision in the Revelation is meant to convey?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... God saw all that he had made and it was very good." Genesis 1

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth... One of the angels... said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb... And he showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God." Revelation 21

Ask most Christians what they see as their eternal home, and they'll describe something like a gigantic, illuminated city of gold and precious stones, and with twelve gates of pearl.

But what if this lavish description of a new 'Jerusalem' was really meant to be understood as a brilliant metaphor for God's people? In other words, as a word picture of a radiant and many-splendored Bride, rather than as a palatial mansion of many rooms in which God's people spend all eternity?

And what if God's intention is to have that vast 'city' of billions of redeemed people--people who reflect God's light, image and likeness--to inhabit the very earth and under the very heavens God originally created for them--but one that is thoroughly 'new', i.e., purged of all traces of contamination and pollution?

Meanwhile, we are being purified as living building stones, a people who are built together into a radiant and welcoming "city on a hill", a living temple for God to live in. This everlasting 'people city' has protective 'walls,' but 'gates' that are forever open, welcoming people in from all directions.

Note that there is no reference anywhere in the Revelation 21 text to this city being a "heaven" to which we will transported to forever escape planet earth. Rather, the city is specifically identified as "the Bride, the Lamb's wife," the saints who have been in God's dressing room getting ready for their forever wedding. This radiant bride is then specifically described as "coming down out of heaven" to a God-renewed earth.

When we distance ourselves from connection with the amazing earth God created, pronounced "very good", and mandated us to care for, we develop an indifferent attitude about its future. After all, we are about to evacuate it, and God is about to discard it, right?

Wrong. God is all about redeeming and restoring all creation, certainly this pearl of a planet. And if we don't care for the earth we have, are we really good candidates for a new one?

Before you write me off as a heretic, take time to read the following passages with its many metaphors for the church, then tell me what you think:

“You (plural) are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14

“You are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (petra) I will build my church.” Matthew 16: 18

“Come to him, the Living Stone… like living stones, you are being built up into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are well pleasing to God.” I Peter 2:4-5

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones … their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” I Corinthians 3:11-13

“We are a colony of heaven on earth (citizens of heaven) who cling to our life-giver, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our humble bodies and transfigure us into the identical likeness of his glorified body!” Philippians 3:20-21

"...You have come to Mount Zion, city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful assembly, to the congregation (church) of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven.” Hebrews 12:22-23

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, from God, prepared like a bride dressed up for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne, and this is what it said: ‘Look! God has come to dwell with humans! God will dwell with them, and they will be God's people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.” Revelation 21:1-3

‘Come with me,’ he said, ‘and I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb.’ Then he took me in the spirit up a great high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God; it is radiant, like the radiance of a rare and precious jewel, like a jasper stone, crystal-clear. It has a great high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names inscribed on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. There are three gates coming in from the east, three gates from the north, three gates from the south and three gates from the west. And the wall of the city has twelve foundation-stones, and on them are written the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb.” Revelation 21:9-14

“The foundations of the city wall are decorated with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation is jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates are twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The street of the city is pure gold, clear as glass. I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God the Almighty is its temple, together with the lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the lamb.” Revelation 21:19-23