Heaven Study guide 3: What will new creation be like?
Community Group Study Guide — What Will New Creation Be Like? (Heaven Week 3)
Revelation 21:1-5
August 23, 2026
Study Information:
Media depictions of heaven do not do justice to what the Bible actually teaches about our eternity. Some of us grew up with Farside comics in the newspaper which showed heaven as a boring place in the clouds or more recently television shows like The Good Place, which painted a picture of heaven that most people ended up feeling was mediocre. What will eternity be like? In the church we can default to talking about eternity like a constant worship service since the depictions of it in Revelation are filled with singing. We can love Sunday worship singing but still be puzzled by the idea of an eternity that looked like that. There will worship in eternity and it will encompass all of our existence. The image used at the end of the book of Revelation described eternity with God as a “New Creation” What we learn from Revelation 21:1-5 is that this eternal destination is a place where heaven and earth overlap, which is temple language, and it is like the old creation but transformed and it will be anything but boring because God will be there!
Continuous But Transformed
Revelation 21:1, 5
The book of Revelation repeats the words “then I saw” over and over again as John wrote about his vision of the end. Revelation is filled with with symbolism and imagery, so we should read with care and caution. Revelation 21:1 starts “then I saw a new heaven an a new earth…” This is a picture of the end with a promise that God will create something new that matches and replaces the current heaven and earth. Genesis 1 and 2 described the world as very good and filled with beauty; and Revelation 21 and 22 use the words “new heaven” and “new earth.” The beginning and the end of the Bible have a beautiful symmetry meant to connect back to the goodness and beauty of God’s original creation and at the same time highlight that it will be magnified and transformed in the new. Indeed the word “new” in this passage does not mean brand new, but rather something remade and improved. The word for brand new in Greek is neos, but this word kainos, is used for something remade or restored to a new quality. Think of it like a house remodel or when someone restores a classic car. It is “new” and transformed but still continuous with the original design. It is hard to prove definitively from the scripture but this leads many to believe that parts of the new creation that will be familiar to our eyes and not marked by sin. Think of the beauty of the beach, the redwoods or the Grand Canyon magnified in their glory because they’re transformed. We wonder about things like will there be pets in heaven, will my favorite spot in nature still be there, what will community with other humans be like and can we enjoy the world God will make? It can be helpful to look back at the Garden of Eden and imagine something even better. We read in Genesis 2 that there was unbroken fellowship between people with people and people with God. Likewise, the garden was filled with beautiful plants, scenery and animals. We do not know if someone’s specific pet will be in New Creation but likely there will be animals around and features of this created world that are transformed to fill us with awe and wonder at God’s power (Romans 1:20).
New Creation will be continuous with this current world but transformed. It will be a physical reality like a remodeled earth presented in a way that is “new” because God will have redeemed it from the effects of sin as he makes “all things new.” We can be excited for this reality not just because it will be beautiful but also because it will be filled with joy and the presence of God.
A Joyful Ending to the Story
Revelation 21:2, 4
Most stories that we read or watch are either a tragedy or a comedy. Tragedies have lots of conflicts and rough endings and leave people unsettled. Comedies are light and happy and often have low stakes conflict. The Bible has elements of both types of stories, there is real tragedy in suffering, death and sin but the story does not end in despair for the follower of Jesus. Revelation 21:4 acknowledged the tragic aspects of life including tears, death, mourning, crying, pain and what are described as “the former things that will pass away.” Those are the things that will not be fit for New Creation and will stay behind when God wipes away the effects of sin. Notice that even the sea will be no more. This is not because God hates the ocean, but because the sea was the image of chaos and uncertainty in the ancient world. Just read or watch the Odyssey to know why, a lot of stuff can go wrong on the ocean.
The tragedy does not and cannot last forever, there is joy on the other side. The entrance into New Creation is described as a “wedding,” we will hear on Sunday that great writers like Shakespeare often had their comedies end in a wedding because of the joy and happiness that fills a story with. Revelation points to the reality that Shakespeare likely drew upon, our eternity with God is inaugurated with a wedding. The new city is described as coming down from heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Revelation 19:7 described the people of God as the bride ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb and later in Revelation 21:9 the bride is described as the wife of the lamb. The idea of the city in Revelation 21:2 is likely a way of pointing to the people of God set apart for God himself and this day of entering New Creation is like a wedding day. It is a day of anticipation, joy and hope.
Whatever New Creation is like, it will filled with joy and not sorrow. We can look forward to an eternity that has removed the tragic aspects of life and magnified joy because God is there forever and we are united to him once and for all in eternity.
With God Forever
Revelation 21:3
How can it be that there is no more sorrow or sin in New Creation? Because God himself is there and the old has passed away. What makes New Creation glorious and great is that God’s presence will be known in a way we cannot imagine on this side of eternity. This passage used temple language to highlight God’s presence as the defining quality of New Creation. The idea of a temple in the ancient world was a place where heaven and earth overlapped and God was accessible. Revelation 21:22-23 even highlights that the New Creation will have no formal temple because the whole thing is a temple as God himself is present. We can look forward to unbroken access to God and God’s presence forever and that is the most important defining point of New Creation. Think about going on a vacation to someplace amazing but you went without anyone you loved. Sure, it could be a form of adventure or enjoyable, maybe for a short time, but experiencing that trip with someone who loved you and whom you loved would be a more enjoyable and fulfilling time. We can have a new world made by God and filled with fun, beauty and joy but if God was not there it would not be heaven, it would be a form of hell.
What would it be like to be in God’s presence without hint of shame, fear or guilt? What would it be like to continue to learn more about God and enjoy God more and more for eternity since God is infinite? What would it be like to experience love from God and love for God without hint of selfishness or sin? These are the things we can look forward to because the former things have passed away and God promises to make all things new. New Creation will be glorious because of God’s presence and we will explore that more in the next study guide.
At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.
How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week?
Discussion Questions:
Revelation 21:1-5
How does this passage, study guide and sermon challenge your assumptions about heaven?
Why does God describe eternity as a new heaven and new earth? What do you think this new creation will be like based on what you read?
A defining feature of our eternity will be the presence of God. What are some reasons John described it as a “bride” and why did he use temple language?
How does this Biblical vision of heaven help you endure hardships and tragedies now?
