The biblical narrative ends with God in the midst of God’s people, perpetuating Creation in love, grace, and peace. You get to participate with God for eternity simply by beginning to participate with God now through knowing and following and embracing Jesus Christ.
Three features of New Creation stand out: the River of Life, the leaves from the Tree of Life, and the fruit from the Tree of Life. The river gives life, the leaves heal, and the fruit nourishes us in abundance. This is God’s promise to his people: life, healing, and abundance.
Through Jesus Christ, we have access to life, healing and abundance now (see John 15.1-8), in anticipation of God’s restored Creation. Because God intends to work once again through us (see Romans 1.20, 2 Corinthians 5.20), we must take this charge upon ourselves to export Eden’s government, creativity, and peace. That’s how we make God’s glory visible to the world.
This is the real ecology of the Bible—not just that the Earth is our home and we should take care of it, but also that the Earth is the vehicle for giving glory to God.
Adapted from Why God Died