Temporary yet Permanent

Today I discovered that there is much discussion about the eschatological implications of this verse:

John 14:1-3

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.You believe in God; believe also in me.2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

The question centres on the noun [μονη] and it's corresponding verb [μενω] meaning "dwell" or "dwelling place". In the above NIV it's the word 'place' at the end of verse 2.

As I have been reading this verse is one of the lynch pins in interpreting whether our eternal destiny is somewhere up in heaven or here in a renewed earth. And it comes down to whether this dwelling is temporary or permanent.

You see, the root of the word is something like a tent. So, is a tent a temporary thing?

Again it's the nomadic perspective that cuts through the mist here, in beautiful simplicity.

A tent is a permanent, reliable, dependable home. But it doesn't stay in one place! A nomad's home is safe, secure and permanent, yet its location is temporary and movable.

If I, as a believer in Christ, die before his return I will go to the place where Jesus is even now preparing for the Day of the Lord. I take up residence in his Kingdom permanently, never again to be separated from him. But tents are built to move! At the right time Jesus will return to earth and the lot of us with him. God's salvation plan is for a renewed, redeem and perfected earth.