h the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up.... Nevertheless we, according to
his promise, look for _new heavens and a new earth_, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." 2 Pet. 3:10-13.

The holy city of God, the New Jerusalem, is next introduced. Since this
meets its fulfilment in the new order of things subsequent to the
judgment scene, it must have special reference to the future abode of
the saints in the new earth. Many of the symbols here describing the New
Jerusalem, and even New Jerusalem itself, are often used to set forth
the church of God in the New Testament dispensation. The church on earth
and the church of God in heaven are in one important sense the same
thing, as they constitute but one family (Eph. 3:15); yet in another
sense there is a difference, and the proper distinction must be observed
even when the same symbols or titles are used to describe or designate
both phases. A similar two-foldness is seen in many lines of truth. In
Heb. 12:22, 23, we are represented as dwelling in the city of God in
this dispensation; yet verse 27 of this chapter and the fourteenth of
the following chapter plainly show our entrance into the city at the
end. The Scriptures represent God as dwelling on earth in his church,
which, of course, is considered in a spiritual sense; but his actual
throne and place of abode is in heaven. A new creation brought about by
Christ in his first advent is set forth by various texts; still, it
remains a fact that a new creation will actually be brought to view
after the present world is no more and that the same will be our eternal
home. We obtain spiritual life through Christ now, hence have right to
the tree of life; yet in another sense our access to the tree of life is
at the end and we then enter in through the gates into the city. Chap.
22:14. Hence it is proper to speak of the city of God as both present
and future, by observing the proper distinction, just as the Scriptures
speak of the church in a twofold sense as being both on earth and in
heaven, or of the spiritual kingdom in the present and the eternal
kingdom in the end. It is Scriptural to speak of God's throne as being
on earth in the midst of his saints in a spiritual sense and also of its
being located in heaven. The tree of life is a present realization
spiritually and also a future reality. We dwell in the ci