Will we explore the universe?
Scripture says God counts the stars and calls them by name(Psa. 147:4). God made the Bear, Orion and Pleiades constellations(Job 9:9). God also directs the movement of the stars and binds the Pleiades(Job 38:31). The Lord knows the laws of the universe(Job 38:33). We seem to pale in comparison to the universe(Psa. 8:3-4) that declares His glory(Psa. 19:1). Why would God want to keep His glorious creations off-limits?
Humans are capable of extraordinary feats. Even now we are able to send probes to planets, most notably Mars and Venus. We landed men on the moon using computers not nearly as advanced as today’s mobile devices. We were meant to explore the universe and given curiosity by God. If we are able to explore the universe now, why wouldn’t we in Heaven?
Will we find aliens? Over 100 planets have been discovered outside our solar system though we have no way of knowing if any have life yet. Scriptures doesn’t say whether aliens exist. Then again the people living during the times the Bible was written could not have understood the universe the way we do now as telescopes weren’t even invented yet.
Will the Eternal Heaven still have the sun and moon?
Will the sun and moon still exist in eternity? Some take verses such as these to mean they won’t:
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory(Isa. 60:19 KJV)
And 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(Rev. 21:23 KJV)
And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever(Rev. 22:5 KJV)
If you read these verses carefully you’ll find they don’t say the sun and moon won’t exist but that the light from them won’t be needed as God will provide the light. God’s light is stronger than light from the sun.
The sun and moon were made on the 4th day of creation(Gen. 1:16). At that time God also said they were good and weren’t affected by the curse or the fall of man. In the new universe we will see them in the glory they were meant to be in.
How will we explore?
When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God not only placed a curse on humanity but also on Earth and the universe. Space travel is hard because of solar radiation, cosmic rays, cold temperatures and no air just to name a few challenges. The nearest star, besides the sun, is 4.3 light-years away, or 25,277,549,200,000 miles. A ship cannot go faster than the speed of light because according to the theory of relativity an object’s mass approaches infinity when getting close to the speed of light. Because of all these obstacles, some visions of the future that include colonizing Mars and exploring the stars in ships have not been made a reality and won’t be for a long time.
None of this will be a problem in the new universe God creates at the end of times. God promised a new universe in addition to Earth(Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13). This will be a universe with no more Curse(Rev. 22:3). We could see planets that were once inhospitable become paradises.
We could construct ships that will reach neighboring stars and the rest of the universe. How? We will have better minds in addition to our resurrected bodies. We could build ships that go beyond the speed of light with new ingenuity or new laws of physics.
We may not even need ships with our resurrected bodies that will be like Jesus’ after He was resurrected(1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 3:20-21). We won’t need to worry about radiation and other dangers as the universe will no longer be under the Curse and our bodies will be indestructible(1 Cor. 15:42). Jesus had the ability to go through a locked door(John 20:24-26) and ascended to Heaven(Acts 1:9). We might be able to teleport ourselves to distant planets in our new bodies in a similar way. We may even explore the far reaches of the new universe with our minds while physically remaining on New Earth. The possibilities are endless.