When the Bible about the new creation in Revelation 21:1-8, it’s a lot different than the way we typically think about heaven. Usually when we think about heaven, we picture this distant, otherworldly place where the only thing people ever do is sit on clouds and play harps all the time. To be honest, it’s kind of lame—because who really wants to do that? It actually sounds pretty boring.

Maybe that’s why Christians don’t really think about heaven that much—because the picture we have in our minds of heaven is mediocre at best.

Imagine you entered some raffle and won an all expenses paid vacation to Cancun. But let’s say you didn’t have any knowledge at all of the beautiful beaches of Cancun or other tourist attractions in the city. In fact, let’s say the only pictures you had ever seen of Cancun were pictures of the most run-down parts of the city—buildings that were falling apart, prostitutes and drug dealers on the street corners, and bad things happening all over the place.

Is that a vacation you’d be excited about? Probably not. But I think that’s sort of what’s happened with heaven. The picture we have of heaven so boring, no wonder nobody’s excited about going there.

Thankfully, however, the Bible paints a much different picture of heaven. The Bible refers to it (as we see in Revelation 21:1) as “a new heaven and a new earth.” Notice: not just a new heaven but a new earth as well. So this is not some dreamlike, otherworldly place. This is a place that is very real and very physical. It’s creation restored to its original goodness.

As it says in verse 5, God states, “Behold, I am making all things new.” “All things new.” It’s all of the things we enjoy, but it’s those things made new. Imagine a world that includes all the good things you like about this present physical world without any of the bad things you don’t like. That’s what the new creation’s going to be—except infinitely better.

It’s something we can actually look forward to even to the point of yearning to be there.