“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” Revelation 21:1

In 1897, the obituary of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was published in a New York newspaper. The only problem was that Mark Twain was very much alive! He cleared up the confusion in a note written in May of that year: “James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

Sometimes an exaggeration doesn’t tell the whole story. That happened when the queen of Sheba heard what she considered to be outlandish reports of King Solomon’s glory in Jerusalem. When she visited the king, however, she found that Solomon’s kingdom exceeded what she had been told (1 Kings 10). Some people think what the Bible says about the new heavens and new earth is an exaggeration (for example, the lavish ornamentation described in Revelation 21:18-21 and the streets of gold and gates of pearl). You may think God is exaggerating at times (Ephesians 3:20 – “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,…” ), but He’s not. Heaven will be like nothing we’ve ever seen.   

There are no exaggerations in heaven, only truth beyond our earthly ability to comprehend.  That’s the hope of glory that we have in Jesus Christ!
 
Scripture repeatedly makes clear that heaven is a realm of unsurpassed joy, unfading glory, undiminished bliss, unlimited delights, and unending pleasures.
            – John MacArthur