There’s an interesting line in the movie The Magic of Belle Isle that provokes thought. It’s a story about a novelist, played by Morgan Freeman, who has lost his passion for writing and, frankly, his will to live. But he befriends a young girl on the Isle who admires his talent for storytelling and wishes to also write stories.
The author’s advice to her is, “Never stop looking for what’s not there.” This seems to be the crux of how good imagination works. Look at your surroundings in their ordinary habitat and stretch your mind to see something unusual, unexpected, or exciting that’s not currently there. To dream of characters that you could never be or that you and others would gravitate toward or flee from. The definition of imagination is “the ability to form mental images of things that are not present to the senses or not considered to be real.”
Great fiction stories make great use of the imagination. We all have favorite writers and love the stories they tell. They make use of their personal experiences and inspiration that compels them to write. For example, Anne Frank wrote short stories, essays, fairy tales, and the beginning of a novel before her life was tragically cut short. How did a teenage girl hiding in an annex for over 2 years become so accomplished? She was a voracious reader with many friends until she was abruptly hidden away from the world. I would argue that her imagination gave her hope amid oppressive boredom and fear. Scripture and our life experience can fuel our imagination.
As we believers in Christ get closer to Jesus’ return, we can use our imagination of what our lives will be like with Him in his eternal Kingdom by looking for what’s not there. To be certain, we are never to add nor take away from scripture (Rev 22: 18-19). We simply use scripture to inspire us and provide hope for what awaits.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in harmony with all the animals. And all was good. Certainly, all will be good one day, again. We are promised a place that Jesus has made for us in his Father’s house (John 14:2). Can we even begin to imagine that?! Our place must be within the walls of the New Jerusalem as described in Revelation 21. Jesus provides much detail for us there, such as the entire city appearing clear as crystal. It is laid out like a square with its walls 1,400 miles in length and height. It has beautifully adorned foundations with every kind of jewel, 12 gates made of pearl, and the main street made of gold.
Try to picture the vast courtyards, plants, trees, hills, parks, streams, and animals running within this city. Try to contemplate what our homes will be like, built by the Lord himself. He knows all our tastes and desires.
Look at your home now, and look for what’s not there. I don’t know anything about architecture, but I know I like Frank Llyod Wright designed homes and buildings. I can envision an open floor plan with horizontal and geometric shapes of the house with numerous large windows and sharp angles. My home will blend in with the surroundings. I will have an add-on stable for my white horse that will be given by Jesus, and plenty of room inside for my many basset hounds to romp and frolic.
I know that some have concerns about the size of the city. Is 1,400 x 1,400 miles enough room for all of us in Christ? Is that the actual size of the New Jerusalem? I say yes and yes! When Jesus provides details, we can take him at his word. Fourteen-hundred x fourteen-hundred miles is roughly the size of the Western United States cut from the Mississippi River. Since it will be in Israel, the size of it will encompass most of the Saudi Arabian Peninsula and run through 2/3rd of Iran. Plus, the city will be as high as it is long! How many people can live in this city?
Using Manhattan Island as a comparison, you may be surprised at your new accommodation one day. The size of Manhattan Island covers an area of about 23 square miles. One point six million people reside on the island, swelling to 4 million during the day. This calculates to 69,565 people, rounded up to 70,000 people per square mile.
That sounds like a tremendous amount of people in 1 square mile. But if you’ve been to Manhattan, you know it works. It’s vibrant, colorful, exciting, with beautiful historic homes and museums, restaurants, shops, and more. There are over 6,000 high-rise buildings in Manhattan, with 274 skyscrapers. And don’t forget Central Park! 843 acres of rolling hills, pedestrian bridges, trees, and ponds. It’s the most visited urban city park in the U.S.
Let’s compare Manhattan now to our New Jerusalem. Fourteen-hundred x fourteen-hundred miles is 1,960,000 square miles. How many will live in our city? In other words, how many Old and New Testament saints will there be? I will propose just 2 estimates for the imagination.
10 billion people = 5,102 ppl/ sq mile
50 billion people = 25,510 ppl/ sq mile (nearly 3 times less crowded than Manhattan!)
You get the picture quickly. Perhaps there are 2 billion Christians on earth today, and that is probably a stretch. There were only 8 people saved on Noah’s ark. There is going to be plenty of room for all to enjoy for eternity. Imagine all the people. And countries (Zechariah 14: 16-19).
And there’s more information to work with – Revelation 22. When we step out onto the veranda of our homes, we will view a river flowing right through the city from the thrones of God and Jesus. There will be the tree of life, yielding a different type of fruit each month. We will see our Father’s face and worship him. He will be our light, replacing the sun.
Verse 15 mentions that outside the gates of the city, there are some bad actors. We don’t really know why they are there, especially since we are told that all those not saved will end up in the Lake of Fire. Perhaps it’s just that a good story needs a good antagonist. They may be constant reminder of how good God is, and the adversaries will always be on the outside looking in. We’ll understand once we are there. To be sure, they will be no harm to us, and we will be enjoying new life that we can barely begin to imagine with our Lord. And I’ve only considered the city. For sure, we will get to venture all God’s creation to include the rest of the new earth and new heavens. I will leave that to you.
Remember, God has adopted us as his sons (and daughters) from the beginning through Jesus (Eph 1:5). And since we are his family, we will inherit all he has as he sees fit to give.
It may be difficult to see what’s not there for us at this time. But as we study God’s word and grow in our knowledge of Him, the better we can imagine the wonderful things that wait for us. And it will be great.