Against Heresies: Book V
Chapter 36: People will truly be resurrected; the world will not be destroyed, but there will be different levels of dwelling places for the saints, based on the status each person is given. Everything will be subject to God the Father, and thus, He will be everything to all
Since there are real people, there must also be a real establishment so they do not vanish among non-existent things, but progress among things that actually exist. The substance and essence of creation are not destroyed (because faithful and true is He who established it), but "the fashion of the world passes away;" meaning those things where transgression has occurred, as mankind has grown old in them. Therefore, this current form has been made temporary, with God foreknowing all things, as I pointed out in the previous book and shown the cause of the creation of this world of temporary things as much as possible. But when this present form of things passes away, and humankind is renewed and flourishes in an incorruptible state, preventing them from becoming old, then there will be a new heaven and new earth, where the new humanity will remain continually, always engaging with God. And since these things will continue forever without end, Isaiah declares, "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I do make continue in my sight, so shall your descendants and your name remain," says the Lord. According to the elders, those who are deemed worthy of a place in heaven will go there; others will enjoy the delights of paradise, and others will possess the splendor of the city, for everywhere the Saviour will be seen according to how worthy they are to see Him.
They say, moreover, that there is a distinction between the dwelling places of those who produce a hundred-fold, those who produce sixty-fold, and those who produce thirty-fold. The first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, and the last will inhabit the city. This is why the Lord declared, "In My Father’s house are many mansions." For everything belongs to God, who provides everyone with a fitting dwelling-place, just as His Word says, a share is given to each by the Father, according to each person's worthiness.
This is the couch on which the guests will recline, having been invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the apostles' disciples, assert that this is the progression and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through stages like this. They ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father. In due time, the Son will yield 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 that will be destroyed is death." For during the kingdom's times, the righteous person on the earth will forget to die. "But when He says, All things shall be subdued unto Him, it is clear that He is excepted who put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."
John clearly foresaw the first "resurrection of the just" and the inheritance in the kingdom of the earth, and what the prophets have prophesied about this aligns with his vision. The Lord also taught these things when He promised to share the mixed cup new with His disciples in the kingdom. The apostle also confirmed that creation will be freed from the bondage of corruption, to enter into the liberty of the children of God. In all these matters, the same God the Father is revealed, who created man and promised the inheritance of the earth to the fathers, who released creation from bondage at the resurrection of the just, and fulfills the promises for the kingdom of His Son. He subsequently bestows in a fatherly way things that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and that have not entered into the heart of man. For there is one Son who fulfilled His Father’s will, and one human race in which the mysteries of God are accomplished, "which the angels desire to look into." They cannot fully understand the wisdom of God by which His creation, confirmed and united with His Son, is brought to completion. This is so that His offspring, the First-begotten Word, might come down to what has been created, and be contained by Him. Conversely, the creation should contain the Word, ascend to Him, surpass the angels, and be made in the image and likeness of God.