At last we see the restoration of God’s ideal universe, fulfilling His plan of the ages, culminating in a resurrected people living with Him on a resurrected Earth. Then, and only then, will we live “happily ever after.”

In The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis paints a beautiful picture of the New Earth in the final book, The Last Battle. The book begins with a near collision of a railroad train, where the children are thrust into Narnia. But when their adventure is over, the children are afraid they will be sent back to Earth again.

Having experienced the joys and wonders of Narnia, and the presence of Aslan—the Lion who is in fact Christ—the thought of returning to earth was unbearable. Then, in the final section, called “Farewell to the Shadow Lands,” Aslan, the great Lion, gives the children some wonderful news:

“There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are, as you used to call it in the Shadowlands, dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”

That is followed by what is perhaps my favorite paragraph outside of Scripture:

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