NAKED: 2 Cor 5:1-5, Gen 3:7, 24, Ezek 28:13. After Adam and Eve sinned by believing Satan’s lies and disobeying God’s instructions, they were kicked out of God’s garden called Eden. This garden was apparently in a unified heaven and earth and Adam and Eve apparently had glorified bodies which permitted them access to the unified heaven and earth. Ezek 28:13 describes the Garden of Eden in heaven and Gen 2:8-14 describes it on earth. As soon as Adam and Eve lost their access to heaven they discovered that they were “naked.” Paul describes what it means to be naked in 2 Cor 5:1-5; it means to be without a glorified body. Man’s basic nature had been changed. They were no longer in God’s image. They no longer had access to heaven and to the tree of life, Jesus. A barrier was set up which would keep them out of heaven, The barrier that God erected was apparently a dimensional barrier. It is described in Gen 3:24 as a flaming sword. In the Bible the sword represents the word of God and Jesus is called the Word. A flaming sword would be one that purifies. This symbology represents the fact that the only way that man can now get back into heaven is through being purified by accepting the word of Jesus, the gospel of Jesus. Jesus is the only way to heaven. After man was thrown out of heaven he could no longer and still cannot get into heaven by his own doing. The only way he can ever get back there is by the grace of God and accepting the sacrifice of Jesus that makes him perfect again and fit to re-enter the garden of God.

NEPHILIM: see Angels, Evil and the Nephilim

NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH: Rev 21-22, 2 Peter 3:13, Isa 65:17. Rev 21:1-8 describes the new heaven and new earth for us and tells us who will inherit them. Rev 21:1 says that the first heaven and first earth has passed away. Heb 1:10-12 confirms this when it says that the heavens and earth will wear out and be rolled up like a scroll. It follows that by saying that they will also be changed, like a garment. Rev 21:1 says that there will be a new heaven and a new earth and they will be quite different from the first. In fact verse 1 also says that there will be no sea, meaning that there will not be any humans on the earth. We are also told that there will be no more death, no more pain, no more sorrow, because the old order has passed away. Men will now live in a new heaven and earth in glorified bodies like the one that Jesus had after his resurrection. God will live within men in the new order. God says in Rev 21:5, “I am making everything new.” God then goes on to say that all of this will be available to “the one who overcomes.” However, the one who lives a sinful lifestyle will inherit only the “second death” in the lake of fire. See Rev 21-22, Ps 72:8, Isa 11:9-11, Ezek 47:8-20, 48:28, Zech 9:10 and 14:8. Also see New Order.

NEW JERUSALEM: Rev 3:12, 21:9-10. The new Jerusalem is figurative language for the bride of Christ. This is apparent from the following scriptures Rev 21:9-10, Heb 12:22-24, Rev 3:12. It may be that the new Jerusalem represents both a woman and a city just as Babylon represented both a woman and a city in Revelation, Rev 17:1-2, 18. It may be that the New Jerusalem also has a physical aspect to it. I suspect that it is the place where we will reside with God and he will reside with us. The language used by John in John 17 may come into play here. Jesus is praying to the Father that we may be one just as he and the Father are one; that we may reside in them and they in us. Very deep theological meaning here that nobody really fully understands. Also Eph 2:22 says that the church is being put together as the dwelling place of God. Rev 21:3 says that the dwelling place of God is now with men. In fact, from Rev 22:4, 13:1, 3:10-13 and Isa 62:2, 11-12 we see that believers have three names inscribed on the foreheads of their spirits, (1) the holy people of God, (2) the redeemed of the Lord, and (3) the dwelling place of God, the new Jerusalem. An extensive description is given of the city in Rev 21:9-27 emphasizing its historical framework, its purity, its beauty, its great size, its great worth and its relationship to and with Jesus and the Father. Again we are told that this is the church, the bride of the Lamb. Another interesting insight into the new Jerusalem comes from the similarity of the language used in John 17 and Rev 21 concerning the redeemed bride of Christ and the use of the word “glory.” In Rev 21:11 we see that the bride, the new Jerusalem coming down from heaven to earth “shone with the “glory” of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” In John 17:22 Jesus says “I have given them the “glory” that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.” The word “glory” may mean “the state or appearance of Jesus or the redeemed believers after their resurrection.” In John 17:22 Jesus seems to be saying that he was bestowing on his future bride the right to the same kind of glorified, resurrected body that he would have. He is also saying that this glorified body would enable them to be one even as he and the Father are one. Thus we seem to be seeing the bride coming down from heaven to earth already in their glorified, resurrected bodies. Also see New Order, One, Sealed.

NEW ORDER: Rev 21-22. Jesus says in Rev 21:4 that the old order has passed away, implying that a new order has come into being. In Rev 21:4-5 Jesus says that he is making everything new. The word “new” used here implies utterly renewed and renovated, not a new creation. There are several scriptures that lead us to believe that the redeemed will live on earth forever. There are several references to the Jewish people living in the Promised Land forever. Heb 1:11-12 says that the earth and heavens will wear out and be rolled up like a scroll. It continues by saying that they will be changed like a garment. So it seems that there will be some great change to the earth but it will still be the earth; it will still be our eternal home. Revelation chapters 21 and 22 deal with a strikingly different kind of existence for mankind. There is said to be a new Jerusalem which will be the eternal dwelling place for both mankind and God in a new earth and a new heaven. This new Jerusalem is said to be a huge city, either a cube or a pyramid with walls over 200 feet thick, and having length, width and height of about 1400 miles. To put this in perspective, the city would be about 2/3’s the size of the moon. It is said to come down out of heaven. If it is a physical city it could not land on earth for several reasons. It would protrude through the atmosphere, which is only a few miles thick, and well into outer space. It would cause the earth to wobble on its axis, affect its rotation and cause a myriad of other serious problems. It could possibly become another satellite of earth like our moon. The point I am making is that the typical picture of the new Jerusalem coming down and landing on a physical earth is seriously flawed. We must look a little deeper into the language used in Revelation and the rest of the Bible, Genesis in particular, to get a more realistic idea of the picture that is being painted for us in Revelation 21 and 22. Let us next look at the nature of the new existence that is being presented in chapters 21 and 22: (1) Man and God now live together in a new city in a new heaven and on a new earth. There will not need to be a sun or moon because the glory of God and the lamp of the Lamb will provide the light; there will be no night. (2) This existence is eternal, it will never end. (3) Man is no longer bound to the three dimensional earth; he now has a resurrected spiritual body that can live both on earth and in heaven. There will no longer be humans; no more sin nature. (4) Man will no longer experience death, mourning, crying or pain. (5) Jesus will always be there to meet all of our needs. (6), Sinners and unbelievers will not be a part of this existence; they will be in either the lake of fire or outer darkness. (7) Satan and his evil angels will not be a part of this existence; they will be in the lake of fire. (8) There will no longer be a curse on the earth and on mankind. It seems that in this new order the barrier that was placed between heaven and earth in Gen 3:24 to keep man out of heaven has been removed. Heaven and earth are in unity once more; they are one. Redeemed man can now freely move back and forth in both heaven and earth at the same time, just as God and his angels do. It may be that this new order is put into place in two phases. Phase one takes place at the beginning of the millennium when the earth is restored. Phase two takes place after the final judgments at the end of the millennium when the barrier between heaven and earth is removed. Heaven and earth are then unified. It may take place in just one phase after the final judgments. See God’s plan for the ages for much more detail.^^