Here, however, we are told that the first earth has passed away.

Some people think that heaven will be a renovated earth. Sun, moon and stars point to their Maker. ‘The heavens declare his glory, and the firmament showeth his handiwork’ (Psalm 19:1). ‘Heaven and earth’ stands for the universe. In Revelation 21 the apostle John writes, ‘I saw a new heaven and new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.’ We have never been there, so God must show us what sort of place it is. But what is heaven really like? The only way of knowing is by revelation. They see it as a kind of escape from earthly existence as their individuality disappears and they are caught up into God. Hindus have the opposite picture of heaven. It consists of flowery gardens, fountains of fresh water and lots of sensual experiences to be enjoyed, a kind of worldly paradise. Perhaps you are not on the way to heaven What are you going to miss? A question arises naturally in our mind as to the sort of existence he or she now has. Many of us know a believer in the Lord who has died, perhaps a parent or a friend. It is not just seventy years we are to speed there but eternity. What sort of place is heaven? If we are going there then surely we want to know what it is like.

Pictures of the firmament