What will we experience on the New Earth?
(Make your own list. This is just a portion of mine.)
Forever more:
- Closeness to God greater than we’ve ever known
- The companionship of Jesus
- Wonderful, loving relationships with people
- Reunions with family and old friends
- Making new friends
- Getting to know angels
- Seeing how God truly did work all things together for our good
- Meeting and talking to Christians who impacted us through their writings and lives
- Happiness
- Delight
- Comfort
- Righteous desires and emotions
- Perfectly healthy, strong bodies
- Eating and drinking (redeemed food and taste buds—you may yet discover your favorite food and beverage!)
- Story-telling around tables and fires
- Laughter
- Humor—not degrading and mocking, but enriching
- Fun that’s worshipful
- Animals—our favorites kinds, with loving relationships, no harm, no fear
- Adventures
- Travel (there are streets, people come in and out of the New Jerusalem, there’s a world to see while serving Jesus)
- Learning
- Art—drawing, painting, sculpting, ______
- Reading literature (poetry, drama, story, nonfiction…)
- Music
- Play (hiking, climbing, boating, sports—maybe your favorite sport will be is one you haven’t played yet!)
- Exploration of a fantastic planet and likely of other redeemed planets and galaxies
- Astronomy
- Fulfillment of lost opportunities and dreams
- Work God has for us that’s fulfilling, engaging, fun, and fascinating
- Rest
- Leisure time with God and His people
- More great things to do than ever
- Time to do everything!
- Heartfelt worship with people from every tribe, language, and nation
- Delightful and engaging service of Jesus
What will we NOT experience on the New Earth because of “No more Curse”?
With the absence of the negatives, ponder the presence of the positives. We’ll have the good that’s the opposite of all the bad—the blessings that correspond to the absence of the curses.
No more:
- Sin
- Suffering
- Death (of children, parents, spouses, siblings, friends)
- Satan or demons
- Weeping (out of sorrow or pain)
No more:
- Sexual immorality
- Adultery
- Pornography
- Lust
- Sex trafficking
- Cruelty to people or animals
- Gender confusion
- Racism
- False worldviews
No more:
- Starvation
- Polluted drinking water
- Cancer
- Blindness or deafness
- Futility
- Insanity
- Dementia
- Drug abuse
No more:
- Crime
- Rape
- Holocausts
- Drowning
- Terrorism
- Persecution
- Child abuse (or elder abuse or any abuse)
- Abortion
- Murder
- Slavery
- School shootings
- Poverty
- Homelessness
- Car accidents
- Prisons
- Physician assisted suicide
No more:
- Lying and deceit
- Peer pressure
- Mockery and contempt
- Tyranny
- Bullying
- Jealousy
- Hatred
- Self-obsession, self-promotion, self-congratulation, or self-exaltation (No more self? No! A redeemed, Christ-like self!)
No more:
- Grief
- Shame
- Hurt feelings
- Pandemics, no more COVID
- Fights about COVID or politics
- Berating people for their beliefs about the masks or social distancing or vaccination
- Corrupt and confusing politics
- Cutting, biting words (tongues finally tamed by righteousness)
- Snarky, berating, insulting social media posts (You are dishonoring Jesus and pushing people away from Him—please don’t post these and say you are a Christian. Jesus says in Matthew 12:36-37: “On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak. By your words you will be acquitted, or by your words you will be condemned.”)
No more:
- Blasphemy
- Questioning God’s goodness and mercy
- Arrogance
- Greed
- Divorce
- Blame
- Insecurity
- Self-pity
- Hating the way we look, or the things we do
- Fear
- Worry
- Depression
- Suicide
- Loneliness
- Broken relationships
No more:
- Enemies
- Torture
- Tragedies
- Home invasions
- Forest fires or homes burned to the ground
- Natural disasters
- Sweat shops
- Witchcraft
No more:
- Division
- Alienation
- Amputations
- Gossip
- Phobias
- Slander
- Betrayals
- Broken friendships
- Rebellion
- Idolatry
No more:
- Funerals or hospitals or rest homes
- Putting to sleep a beloved pet
- Broken hearts
- Locking doors
- Exploitation or neglect of the poor and needy and elderly
- Poor and needy and elderly!
- Beatings
- Exploitation of children
- Giving up on or demeaning the sick and disabled
- Big and powerful people deciding small and weak people have no rights
No more:
- Provoking each other to anger
- Disobedience
- Unreasonable expectations
- False advertising
- Kidnappings
- Plane crashes
- Identity theft
- Catastrophic business failures
- Arson
No more:
- Doubting or distrusting God
- Sleepless nights
- Embarrassment
- Self-consciousness
- Humiliation
- Abandonment
- Regrets
- Misunderstandings
- Hurting others’ feelings
- Trying to figure out whether someone trying to hurt us
No more:
- Food poisoning
- Dysentery
- Tape worms or intestinal parasites
- Deadly viruses
- Neuropathy
- No more ADHD
- Asthma
- Autism
- Chronic fatigue
- Epilepsy
- Fetal Alcohol Disorder
- HIV/AIDS
- Kidney Disease
- Meningitis
- Strokes
- Agoraphobia
- Claustrophobia
- Phobias of any kind
No more:
- Getting fired
- Hostility
- Indifference or apathy about others
- Grudges
- Corrupt governments
- Cursing of God
- Sense of entitlement
- Defensiveness
- Denying Jesus
- Defrauding others
- Vanity
- Bragging
- Whining and complaining
- Victims
- Perceived victimization
No more:
- Gluttony
- Prostitution
- Flattery
- Rage
- Revenge
- False Christs
- Favoritism
- Hard hearts
- Doublemindedness
- Evil desires
- Temptation toward sin
- False worship
- Demonic influences
- Assault
- Being deceived
- False teaching
- Laziness
- Narcissism
No more:
- Eating disorders
- Broken bones
- Back pain
- Paraplegia
- Quadriplegia
- Heart attacks
- Flu
- Headaches
- Stomachaches
- Acid reflux
- Neuropathy
- MS
- Measles or mumps or chickenpox
- Shingles
- Down Syndrome
- Trisomy 13 or 18
- Lyme disease
- Birth defects
- Arthritis
- Rheumatism
- Allergies
- Loss of limbs
No more:
- False promises
- Broken promises
- Broken marriages
- Sickness of any kind
- Weakness
- Getting weaker as we age
- Petty hurtful arguments
- Media bias
- False accusations
- Separation from our spiritual family
- Boredom
- Alcoholism
- Addictions
- Violence
- Contradictory studies “proving” that opposite positions are true (regarding COVID, masks, vaccination, etc.)
- Choosing to believe only the “facts” stated by people who think like we do
- Ridicule
No more:
- Judgmentalism
- Self-righteousness
- Being proud of what we should be ashamed of
- Abuse—sexual or verbal or any other kind
- Condemnation
- Self-justification
- Putting people “in their place”
- Chauvinism
- Pain about past injustices
- Assuming that someone is a racist or chauvinist
No more:
- Plots
- Anarchy
- Riots
- Oppression
- Taking verses out of context
- Envy
- Bitterness, resentment, and grudges
- Getting fired or going out of business
- Insurance and taxes
- Feeling superior
- Feeling unworthy
- Stubbornness
- Assuming we know what we don’t
- Self-harm
- Grudges
- Ingratitude
- False religion
No more:
- Assuming the worst
- Stealing
- Suspicion
- Disillusionment
- Despair
- Death of dreams
- Wrong or misguided dreams
- Unqualified or incompetent leaders
- Moral compromise
- Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl and other minor irritations
- www.epm.org