“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” (Revelation 21:1)
As Christians, we know that there will be a new earth and a new heaven. We know a little about what the new earth will be like, with the part about New Jerusalem coming to earth in Revelation. How those who are saved will be there. As for the new heaven, we know nothing in regards to it, except for one thing. New Jerusalem existed in the new heaven before coming down to the new earth. What this means is that more information will be given to us in the next life when it comes to the new heaven, including more details of the new earth also. However, there are religious sects like Mormonism that say they already know about heaven. How there are three degrees of glory, the Celestial, the Terrestrial, and the Telestial. How the very wicked go to the Telestial kingdom, the Christians who believe in Jesus go to the Terrestrial kingdom, and the Mormons go to the Celestial kingdom. This is where Mormons believe they are exalted to Godhood, and are given a planet of their own. This way they can have their own spirit children, and even have a Savior of their own world. Does this sound like a Biblical Teaching? Absolutely not.
Mormons present such heresy of heaven in a way that sounds believable to many. However, when asking them where these teachings come from, they say their latter-day prophets have spoken them. But are they talking about the old or new heaven? If it is the old heaven, then it will have passed away already. And if it is the new heaven, then where is the evidence for such a new heaven that has a divided kingdom structure like this? These kinds of details are left out of the Bible for a reason, and we are warned to not add or take away from what it says. Now, in 1 Corinthians 15, we see where Mormons have cherry-picked a verse and have made it their core doctrine for the plan of salvation. It reads, “there are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.” (1 Corinthians 15:40) What they don’t realize is this is talking about earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. This is easily seen in this passage of scripture. However, in Mormonism, they have taken this too far in saying “Terrestrial” is part of heaven and not earth. My friends, this is what happens when people trust in their false prophets over what the Bible says. Trust in Jesus and don’t be led astray. Amen.
