“Since the beginning of the world men have not...perceived by the ear, neither hath the eyes seen,...what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.”Isaiah 64:4.
(Ed 301)
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“They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.”Revelation 22:4.
(Ed 301)
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Heaven is a school; its field of study, the universe; its teacher, the Infinite One. A branch of this school was established in Eden; and, the plan of redemption accomplished, education will again be taken up in the Eden school.
(Ed 301.1)
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“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”1 Corinthians 2:9. Only through His word can a knowledge of these things be gained; and even this affords but a partial revelation.
(Ed 301.2)
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The prophet of Patmos thus describes the location of the school of the hereafter:
(Ed 301.3)
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“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.... And I John saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”Revelation 21:1, 2.
(Ed 301.4)
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“The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”Revelation 21:23.
(Ed 301.5)
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Between the school established in Eden at the beginning and the school of the hereafter there lies the whole compass of this world’s history—the history of human transgression and suffering, of divine sacrifice, and of victory over death and sin. Not all the conditions of that first school of Eden will be found in the school of the future life. No tree of knowledge of good and evil will afford opportunity for temptation. No tempter is there, no possibility of wrong. Every character has withstood the testing of evil, and none are longer susceptible to its power.
(Ed 301.6)
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“To him that overcometh,” Christ says, “will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”Revelation 2:7. The giving of the tree of life in Eden was conditional, and it was finally withdrawn. But the gifts of the future life are absolute and eternal.
(Ed 302.1)
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The prophet beholds the “river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”“And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life.”Revelation 22:1, 2. “And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”Revelation 21:4, R.V.
(Ed 302.2)
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“Thy people also shall be all righteous: They shall inherit the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified.”Isaiah 60:21.
(Ed 302.3)
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Restored to His presence, man will again, as at the beginning, be taught of God: “My people shall know My name: ... they shall know in that day that I am He that doth speak: behold, it is I.”Isaiah 52:6.
(Ed 302.4)
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“The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.”Revelation 21:3.
(Ed 302.5)
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