“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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“These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.... They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.”Revelation 7:14-17.
(Ed 303.1)
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“Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:” now we know in part; but then shall we know even as also we are known. 1 Corinthians 13:12.
(Ed 303.2)
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“They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.”Revelation 22:4.
(Ed 303.3)
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There, when the veil that darkens our vision shall be removed, and our eyes shall behold that world of beauty of which we now catch glimpses through the microscope; when we look on the glories of the heavens, now scanned afar through the telescope; when, the blight of sin removed, the whole earth shall appear in “the beauty of the Lord our God,”(Psalm 90:17) what a field will be open to our study! There the student of science may read the records of creation and discern no reminders of the law of evil. He may listen to the music of nature’s voices and detect no note of wailing or undertone of sorrow. In all created things he may trace one handwriting—in the vast universe behold “God’s name writ large,” and not in earth or sea or sky one sign of ill remaining.
(Ed 303.4)
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There the Eden life will be lived, the life in garden and field. “They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”Isaiah 65:21, 22.
(Ed 303.5)
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