Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.36
Because they are true human beings, their planting must also be genuine, yet it must not stretch beyond what is real; it must advance only in what truly exists. The substance and the matter of our condition are not annihilated — for the One who established them is true and steadfast — but the present form of this world passes away, that is, the order in which the transgression occurred, since humanity has grown old within it. Precisely because God foresaw everything, this temporal form was instituted; we have already demonstrated this in the preceding book, explaining as far as possible the reason for the world's temporal fabrication. When this form is joined with a renewed humanity that lives toward incorruptibility and can no longer grow old, there will be a new heaven and a new earth in which the new human being perseveres, forever speaking fresh words to God. Since these realities endure without end, Isaiah declares: "For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain" (Isaiah 65:17). The Presbyters teach that those deemed worthy of heavenly fellowship will pass into the heavens; others will enjoy the delights of Paradise; still others will possess the beauty of the city. God will be seen everywhere, yet each will behold Him in proportion to their worthiness. There is a distinction among the dwellings of those who have borne fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold: some will be taken up into heaven, others will dwell in Paradise, others will inhabit the city. That is why the Lord said there are many mansions with the Father. All things belong to God, who supplies a fitting habitation for everyone. As His Word says, the Father apportions all things according to what each person is or will be worthy of. This is the banqueting hall where those invited to the wedding feast recline. The Presbyters, disciples of the Apostles, affirm that this is the ordering and arrangement of the saved, who advance through such grades: by the Spirit to the Son, and by the Son to the Father. The Son then hands over His work to the Father, just as the Apostle said: "For he must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:25–26). In the days of the Kingdom, the righteous person living on earth will forget how to die. When it is said that all things have been subjected, this plainly excludes the One who subjected all things to Him. But when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. John therefore carefully foresaw the first resurrection of the just and their inheritance in the earthly Kingdom, and the prophets prophesied in harmony about it. The Lord Himself taught this, promising to share a new cup with His disciples in the Kingdom. The Apostle also confessed that creation will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. In all these things and through them all, the same God the Father is revealed: He who formed humanity, promised the inheritance of the earth to the fathers, brought that promise to fulfillment in the resurrection of the just, and completes the promises in His Son's Kingdom — afterward bestowing paternally those things which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and which have never entered the human heart. For there is one Son who brings the Father's work to perfection, and one human race in which the mysteries of God are perfected — mysteries angels long to see and strive to fathom, the wisdom of God by which the very substance of His creation is perfected, conformed to the Son. Thus the offspring of His Word descends into the creation, that is, into the formed substance, and is received by it; and the creation in turn receives the Word and ascends to Him, surpassing the angels, and is made according to the image and likeness of God.
Latin
1. Cum sint enim veri homines, veram esse oportet et plantationem ipsorum, sed non excedere in ea quee non sunt; sed in iis quee sunt, proficere. Non enim substantia, neque materia conditionis exterminatur; (verus enim et firmus qui constituit illam:) sed Jigura transit mundi hujus, hoc est, in quibus transgressio facta est ; quoniam veteratus est homo in ipsis. Et propter hoe figura hee temporalis facta est, preesciente omnia Deo; quemadmodum ostendimus ®in eo libro qui ante hune est, et causam temporalium mundi fabricationis, secundum quod potuit, ostendimus. autem figura hac, et renovato homine, et vigente ad incorruptelam, ut non possit jam veterascere, erit coelum novum et terra nova, in quibus novus perseverabit homo, semper nova confabulans Deo. Et quoniam hee semper perseverabunt sine fine, Esaias ait sic: Quemadmodum enim caelum novum et terra nova, que ego facio, dicit Dominus, sic stabit semen perseverant in conspectu meo, vestrum et nomen vestrum. Et quemadmodum Presbyteri dicunt, tune qui digni fuerint ccelorum conversatione, illue transibunt, id est, in coelos; alii %tute Paradisi deliciis utentur; alii autem speciositatem civitatis possidebunt: ubique autem Deus videbitur, set quemadmodum digni erunt videntes eum. Esse autem distantiam hance habitationis eorum qui centum fructificaverunt, et eorum qui sexaginta, et eorum qui triginta: quorum quidam in celum assumentur, alii in paradiso conversabuntur, alii in civitate inhabitabunt: et propter hoc dixisse Dominum, multas esse apud Patrem mansiones. Omnia enim Dei sunt, qui omnibus aptam habitationem prestat. Quemadmodum ° Verbum ejus ait, omnibus divisum esse a Patre secundum quod quis est dignus, aut erit. Et hoe est triclinium, in quo recumbent ii, qui epulantur yocati ad nuptias. Hance esse adordinationem et dispositionem eorum qui Salvantur, dicunt Presbyteri Apostolorum discipuli, et per hujusmodi gradus proficere, et per Spiritum quidem ad Filium, per Filium autem ascendere ad Patrem; Filio deinceps cedente Patri opus suum, quemadmodum et ab Apostolo dictum est: Quoniam oportet regnare eum, quoadusgque ponat omnes inimicos sub pedibus sejus. Novissima inimica destruetur mors. In temporibus enim Regni justus homo super terram exsistens, obliviscetur mori jam. Quando autem dixerit, inquit, omnia subjecta sunt, scilicet absque co qui subjecit omnia. Cum autem ei fuerint subdita omnia, tune tpse Filius subjectus erit ei, qui sibi subjecit omnia, ut sit Deus loomnia in omnibus. Diligenter ergo Johannes previdit primam justorum resurrectionem, et in Regno terree heereditatem: consonanter autem et prophetee prophetaverunt de ea. Hee enim et Dominus docuit, mixtionem calicis novam in regno cum discipulis habiturum se pollicitus. Et Apostolus autem liberam futuram creaturam a servitute corruptelz in libertatem gloriz filiorum Dei confessus est. Et in omnibus iis et per omnia idem Deus Pater ostenditur, qui plasmavit hominem, et heereditatem terree promisit patribus, qui eduxit illam in resurrectione justorum, et promissiones adimplet in Filii sui regnum: postea preestans illa paternaliter, que neque oculus vidit, neque auris audivit, neque in cor hominis ascendit. Etenim unus Filius, qui tatem Patris perfecit; et unum genus humanum, in quo perficiuntur mysteria Dei, guem concupiscunt angeli videre, et prevalent investigare sapientiam Dei, per quam plasma ejus conet concorporatum Filio perficitur: ut progenies ejus Verbum descendat in facturam, hoe est in plasma, et capiatur ab eo; et factura iterum capiat Verbum, et ascendat ad eum, supergrediens angelos, et fiet secundum imaginem et similitudinem Dei.