New heavens and earth?

Like many of you I'm sure, I've always been a little unnerved when the Bible starts talking about a 'New Heaven' and 'New Earth'. It seems to me that our Creator went to quite a bit of trouble to make this beautiful planet on which we reside as wonderful as it is. Why would He want to trash it someday? And that 'New Heaven' bit - will grandpa and grandma have to pack up their stuff and move to a different 'heaven' after just settling in to the current one? Seems a little redundant!

Ok, before you start labelling me a heretic, I realize that the Bible is speaking partly of the spiritual and partly of the physical when it refers to our future. But still, what will all of this look like? I am particularly nervous about the 'and there was no more sea' part. How am I gonna surf with no sea? How could that possibly be heaven?

Well, as I've said before, I truly believe that our Creator set the Universe in order according to hard and fast laws, both physical and spiritual. Sometimes we 'churchgoers' tend to forget that the laws of physics are just as binding on our Universe as spiritual laws. We like to label anything that God does as 'spiritual' or 'other-worldly' or 'supernatural'. I ask this question: Why would the Creator orchestrate all of Creation according to the laws of physics, only to throw out all of those laws to accomodate our finite theology?

Stay with me. How many cartoons have you seen where people in heaven are floating around on clouds with wings and harps? Where in the Bible do we get THIS picture? The Bible is actually quite clear heaven is a physical place where we will dwell in physical bodies (see 1 COR 15:35-58). Look up in the night sky. How many stars do you see? How many planets do you think orbit those stars? Why would all of that be out there if God's plan for us was to turn us into ethereal spirits who spend our days playing Handel's 'Messiah' on our harps?

So here's the deal. I read something really cool today. Astronomers at the Carnegie Institute have noticed something pretty amazing in the dusty disk surrounding HR 4796A, an eight-million year-old star in the constellation Centaurus. They used the Hubble telescope's Near-Infrared Multi-Object Spectrometer to analyze the light that is coming from this disk. They found that it is red, and not just for any old reason. You see, after careful analysis, they determined that the red hue is due to large organic carbon molecules called tholins. The analysis ruled out other causes of the red light, such as iron oxide. Why is this important? Because scientists are pretty sure that organic molecules were instrumental in kick-starting life as we know it on little ole' planet Earth.

You see, this disk of dust surrounding a star in the Centaurus constellation is in the process of forming planets. Eventually there will be real planets orbiting this distant sun, just like our solar system. The presence of organic molecules at this time of planetary formation means that these building-blocks of Life could be scattered on any planets that will orbit this star, paving the way for Life later on.

Real physics, folks! Planetary formation in action. Cool if you're a science geek, right? Actually, you don't have to wear a pocket-protecter to find the intrigue here. Let's go back to the 'new heaven and new earth' bit. We know that our Creator set the Universe to abide by certain laws. What is cool here is that we get to see a living example of the laws of physics working hand-in-hand with spiritual laws. God's word is telling us that we will one day inhabit a new earth. Scientists are telling us that they are witnessing potential new earths being created as we speak! Is the hair starting to stand up on the back of your arms yet? Physical science is once again backing up the spiritual truths contained in God's Word. Excuse me, but this is exciting stuff - and I'm a surf-bum, not an astrophysicist or a theologian!

I don't have to be anxious about what the 'new earth' will be like. It seems that God is already busy preparing for that. And just think of the size of the Universe. Someone who is so big with so much creative energy that He could have made all of that is surely not constrained by Man's image of what a new earth will look like. There may be 100 billion new earths, for all we know. It boggles the mind to think of what may be out there, awaiting our discovery. I truly believe that Heaven is a physical place, and the more I think about it, the more I am coming to feel that Heaven is physical places. The spiritual reality about heaven is that God Himself will be there with us physically. We will be able to see Him face-to-face! The what and the where are only details compared to that!

So, in light of all of this, this surf-bum isn't too worried that he may have to shelve his surfboards in heaven. You see, I've learned that if we trust our Creator, he gives us the desires of our hearts. He's probably the One who put those desires there in the first place! So, MY new earth will be mostly ocean, with a few small continents and islands centered around the equatorial zone basking in the warmth of the local sun. The water will be warm and constant storms hundreds of miles offshore will provide swell that will collide perfectly with beautiful reefs, beaches and headlands to make tasty waves every day. Or, God could put a special place in my heart for shuffleboard. Whatever the case, heaven will be real and it's gonna rock!

P.S. - You can read more about planet formation and the Universe in general on the Universe Today website. Thanks to Nicholos Wethington for the article that inspired this blog!