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The Celestialized Earth
And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new.-Ether 13:9.
When the Prophet Joseph Smith was asked to explain the meaning of the sixth verse of the fourth chapter of John's Revelation: "And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind," he made this inspired answer-"It is the earth, in its sanctified, immortal, and eternal state," and of the beasts full of eyes, he said, "They are figurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in describing heaven, the paradise of God, the happiness of man, of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the spirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the beast, and every other creature which God has created."-D.C. 77:I-2.
Righteous Will Dwell on the Celestial Earth
The general belief in relation to the final abode of man is that he will dwell in a heaven where God is, and that this heaven is somewhere off in space. Heaven is, to many minds, more or less an ethereal, intangible place, the habitation of beings of like nature. We hear the people sing of the
"Land of the true, where we live anew,
Beautiful Isle of Some-where."
But to all Latter-day Saints the scriptures have made it clear that this very earth is to be the abode of the righteous. It is a very beautiful world even now, as far as its physical features are concerned, when the Lord blesses the people with times and seasons, and former and latter rains; but what we see today is nothing to be compared with what the earth will be when it is redeemed.
Life Stages of the Earth
Today this earth is passing through its mortal state just as are all creatures upon it. In a short time a change shall come over it and it shall be made more beautiful; all sin shall be banished from its face; peace and plenty shall be universal. Men will love each other and enmity will cease. This condition will continue for one thousand years, and then the conditions of wickedness will return, for Satan will be loosed for a little season, in which he will prepare his forces for the last great conflict between good and evil.
The Earth Will Die
At the close of this short period, when Lucifer and his followers shall be banished, the earth will die and pass away, being finally consumed by fire. This, however, is not the end of the earth; it shall not be destroyed, even though it shall be dissolved.
Isaiah predicted the death of the earth in these words:
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteous shall not be abolished.-Isa. 51:6.