What is the New Heaven? Also, Can Christians Have Prenuptial Agreements?
by Pastor Walter Snyder

Q: The Bible teaches about a New Heaven and a New Earth. I can see why we need a new
earth, but why do we need a new heaven? What's wrong with the old heaven? When the
faithful die and go to heaven, they will not even know if it's the new or the old heaven.
Even the book of Revelation, where we have a glimpse of heaven, does not tell us if it is new
or old. So why the new heaven?

A: First of all, we need to agree what "heaven" means in the context of your question. Like most
Christians, we first of all think of heaven as a specific place, i.e., the place where the Lord God
dwells. However, we need to remember that heaven (or "heavens") also refers to sky, including
the entire universe outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Already through Isaiah, the Lord promises: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and
the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. (65:17)" And in the next chapter,
He says, "'For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me,' says the
Lord, 'so shall your offspring and your name remain.' (66:22)" The sin-corrupted, falling-apart
nature in which we live faces certain destruction. However, those who trust in the Lord and are
heirs of the promise through belief in the Savior "remain." Yet even in this, we know that we
don't remain with our old natures nor even our old bodies.

Peter develops this End Times/New Creation theology in greater detail: "The day of the Lord will
come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be
burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all
these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and
godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to
his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2
Peter 3:10-13)"

Peter not only issues warnings and promises for God's people. He also reminds us that the new
life of the resurrection is ~physical~ as well as spiritual.

Revelation 21 "merges" the two meanings of heaven. There is a "new heaven and a new earth. (v.
1)" However, this new, physical creation isn't separate from the dwelling place of the Lord, for
verse 3 says, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they
will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." How all of this takes place is
a mystery known only to God.

Q: Are prenuptial agreements Biblical? Are they along Scriptural lines or are they totally
against the Bible?

A: Taken as they are, prenuptial agreements remind us of our sinful, fallen natures. They attempt
to protect us from our own evil thoughts, words, and deeds. Some people hate them because
these agreements seem to assume that a marriage will fail. This assumption has some statistical
support. Even among chosen people, the Lord knew that sin would tear apart some marriages. As
Jesus reminded the Pharisees, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce
your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. (Mt 19:8)" Certainly, prenuptial agreements
could be considered in light of Christ in Luke 16:8, "For the sons of this world are more shrewd
in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light."

God never absolutely condemns or forbids earthly wisdom. With all the cultural differences
between Biblical times and ours, direct comparisons are often difficult. However, we might be
able to consider such agreements akin to the marriage contracts of days gone by.

In other words, I think that a believing couple can prayerfully construct an agreement that
addresses divorce, as well as death and disability. It can confess the sanctity of marriage while still
defending the principals from some of the damages that devil, world, and sinful flesh might inflict.
Please take this as my opinion based upon Scripture while remembering that the Bible remains
silent on the details of the question.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version~<TM>, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Ask the Pastor © 2005 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this
disclaimer, by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution.
Translations into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate
international copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the
book ~What Do Lutherans Believe.~