When asking God to fill our imaginations with the world to come, we would do best to continue going to Scripture for the way the Holy Spirit describes these realities. With this, we must continue reconciling the “earthiness” of the age to come with our “heavenly” hopes. After all, one day, the Lord’s prayer will be fully answered: “On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Heaven and earth will be one. Not surprisingly, it’s the Son of God Himself who gives us great insight into the new earth. 

Jesus’s Resurrection Body

After Jesus physically resurrected from the dead, He appeared many times to His disciples. One such instance was at the Sea of Tiberias when Peter, John, and three other disciples went back to fishing. They were out on the boat all night and caught nothing (John 21:3). As the morning dawned, a man called out from the shore and said, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” (John 21:4) The man told them to cast down their nets again and they immediately caught a ton of fish! 153 to be exact (John 21:10).

They soon realized it was Jesus! They approached Him on the beach and saw that He had a fire going already with some fish on it, as well as some bread. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast” (John 21:12). What an encounter! The risen Son of God in the flesh, making them breakfast on the beach! This is a picture of the new world! Together with friends, eating breakfast.

This story shows us a few things about the resurrection. First, Jesus was in the flesh! He had a physical body. Colossians 1:18 says that Christ is the “firstborn from the dead.” He is the first one, but He won’t be the last. He has opened up a way so that we all can experience the same physical resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:23). 

Another thing to note is that they knew who Jesus was and He knew who they were. This may seem like a minute detail, but there are shockingly many people who believe, whether consciously or unconsciously, that we will not know each other in the new heavens and new earth. The idea that for some reason, after the physical resurrection, we won’t know each other is a very hopeless lie from the pit of hell. Knowing each other, remembering one another from this age, this will be a cause for deep praise toward God. 

Another example would be Moses and Elijah appearing to Jesus at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:3). Once again, Jesus knew them, they seemed to know each other, and even the disciples who were watching knew who they were. We will know each other in the new world. We will also know the history of our time before the resurrection. Friends and family will be reunited. This will be one of the reasons we will praise God so much. For His amazing power to bring His children back from the dead and back together. And for those who don’t yet know each other, they will have forever and ever to do so! 

Wonderful Things to Come

Back to the story of breakfast with Jesus on the beach… He also shows us there will be food and drink in the new world! One of the best experiences on earth is to eat good food and have something tasty to drink. This experience will continue after the resurrection from the dead. In another story, to prove He was physically alive, Jesus ate something in front His disciples. 

The disciples were “startled and terrified, and thought they were seeing a ghost” (Luke 24:37). “He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at My hands and My feet; see that it is I myself. Touch Me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, He said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in their presence” (Luke 24:38-42). 

Doesn’t your heart come alive as you read these stories of Jesus, alive from the dead, sharing the hope of the new world with His closest friends? What a special way for the new day to dawn. So intimate and precious, powerful and astonishing. This story, again, reveals the flesh and bone, food-eating reality of the resurrection. Jesus wasn’t only resurrected for Himself, but on our behalf as well. He was raised and we were raised with Him, and our bodies’ physical resurrection  is only a matter of time. 

What a wonderful day is coming, when we too will eat breakfast with Jesus in the flesh. He promised all of His disciples, “I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). We will drink and eat with Jesus, and all of our brothers and sisters, and if we have doubts, He will perhaps let us touch His hands and feet to prove that it is truly Him and it is not merely a ghost! He is the Savior of the world, the One who has made it, and will make it, new.