no more sea?

I was reading the last chapters of Revelation the other day, I noticed something I had never noticed before. 

The open words of the Bible speak of darkness over the face of the deep and says “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” [Genesis 1:2]. 

In many ancient civilizations, including Israel, the sea was often a symbol of chaos and disorder. It was a mysterious, ominous realm often associated with forces opposed to the God of order and light. In the opening verses of Genesis, we discover the Lord’s power over the sea. He is able to subdue the forces of chaos and create harmony and flourishing.
Those images of the sea as chaos and destruction and of God’s power over it continues throughout the Bible. 

• We see this in Noah’s flood when the boundaries of the sea are broken and water destroys the earth. 
• We see it in the Lord’s deliverance of the slaves through the sea while the waters then destroy Pharaoh and his army. 
• We see this in the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. “Who is this,” his apostles' marvel, “that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The answer, of course, is that Jesus is the same Lord who spoke over the waters of creation to bring order from chaos.
• We see this in the destructive power of hurricanes.

& it ends with these words in Revelation 21, and this is what I had never noticed before. John in the vision he receives of the redeemed earth, the new heaven and the new earth says “there was no longer any sea” (Revelation 21:1). 

Does this mean in the future we will occupy a world without oceans? Understanding John’s vision literally is both practically and biblically short-sighted. 

• Practically, we know a world without seas is uninhabitable because seas are necessary to sustain the atmosphere, weather, and terrestrial life. 
• Biblically, John’s vision must be read in the larger context of the Bible in which the sea represents evil and chaos. The Apostle is not making a scientific observation about the world to come, but a theological one. John is saying that when God’s redemption of creation is complete, the forces of evil, chaos, and death represented by the sea will not merely be contained—they will be abolished. As the loud voice in John’s vision declares, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” [Revelation 21:3-4].