The Book of Revelation speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. It appears that the term "heaven," as used in Revelation 21:1, is referring to the firmament, that is, to the physical heaven, the sky. The last two chapters of the Book of Revelation describe the descent of the perfected spiritual Heaven from the new physical heaven (sky) to the new physical earth (Hebrews 12:23).

God's Kingdom indeed shall come. His will indeed shall be done in earth as it now is being performed in Heaven. This precisely is what the Hebrew Prophets have announced will come to pass in the earth. When God's will is being done in the earth as it now is in Heaven, the nations of saved peoples of the earth will behold the fullness of God's glory in the Church descending from the new sky.

Heaven always and eternally is God's throne.

Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? (Isaiah 66:1)

But in the twenty-first and twenty-second chapters of the Book of Revelation we find that the new Jerusalem descends to the surface of the new earth, and that "the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it" (Revelation 22:3).

When God's will is being done in the earth and the Throne of God is located in the earth, then the earth has become Heaven; not the physical heaven, the firmament (sky), or the spiritual area where Paradise is now, but the place where God dwells and rules.

In the present hour the spiritual Heaven appears to be located in the physical heaven (sky), although in another dimension. But in the future, when the Kingdom of God has been perfected, the spiritual Heaven no longer will be located in the physical heaven. The spiritual Heaven will be located on the physical earth—and perhaps in the same dimension, although we cannot be certain of this.

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. (Jeremiah 3:17)

Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, that is, "Heaven."

Will the new heaven (sky) and new earth be physical? Yes, they will.

When God created the material dimension, He created the form of it for eternity. This is illustrated by the fact that the body (the flesh and bones) of the Lord Jesus was raised from the cave of Joseph of Arimathea. The Lord Jesus still possesses His flesh-and-bones body, although now glorified.

If the material creation were not eternal, there would be no purpose in the resurrection from the dead. If our bodies are not an eternal creation, what would be the purpose of the resurrection from the dead?

Why would God raise our bodies from the dead if they are not to be redeemed? Indeed, as some are teaching, we would have only the body from Heaven. Therefore there would be no resurrection from the dead of our mortal bodies. It is being maintained, contrary to the Scriptures, that our physical body never will be made alive, never redeemed.

To be continued.