We begin a short mini-series on life on the New Earth today. In this message we look at the first three characteristics of the New Earth: Renewal, Intimacy, and Worship. The Bible reveals an eternal future far beyond what we could ask or think!
What Will The New Earth Be Like? – Pt. 1
Revelation 21-22
- At this point in the book of Revelation, we have seen God bring judgment and destruction on the Jews who rejected Christ, and on their temple, and their holy city.
- We have seen that Christians will bear witness to the gospel throughout the world in the power of the Spirit.
- We have seen that anti-Christian governments will persecute and oppress them.
- We have seen that there will be instruments of Satan that will seek to deceive God’s people through lying signs and wonders.
- We have seen that at the very end of the church age there will be a short time of very intense persecution in which Satan will summon the nations for an all out war against the saints.
- But we have also seen that Christ will return to destroy and judge His enemies and reward His faithful followers.
So, what’s left? What happens next? That is the subject we will explore for at least the next two Sundays. We are going to explore what life will be like after the final judgment as saints dwell with God and Christ on the New Earth.
As I have studied through Revelation 21:1 – 22:5, I have organized the Biblical description of life on the New Earth under 10 words: Renewal, Intimacy, Access, Joy, Life, Holiness, Glory, Security, Love, and Service.
1. Renewal
The first heaven and the first earth passed away. How are we to understand this “passing away” of the first heaven and earth?
The Annihilation of the Earth Theory
There are some passages which sound like God is going to completely obliterate them and put them out of existence, and start over from scratch to create a brand new heaven and earth. That is how I understood this for a very long time. And there are some passages in the Bible that do sound like that.
2 Peter 3:10-13, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
Notice the language used – pass away, destroyed, burned up, melt with intense heat. This does sound like the present earth will be annihilated. However, if we reflect a little further, we will discover that this language does not necessitate this conclusion.
Pass away: when someone we love “passes away”, they have not ceased to exist. Their body has died, but their soul lives on.
Destroyed: look at the immediate context. 2 Peter 3:5-7, “For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” In this passage Peter says that the ancient world was “destroyed” by water (the flood). But does that mean that God annihilated the ancient world so that it ceased to exist? Of course not! We are still living on the same planet that was “destroyed”
Burned up: I just discovered that the best and earliest manuscripts have a different Greek word here that does not mean “burned up.” This Greek word means “exposed, or laid bare.” This would mean not that the earth will be totally destroyed, but that when Christ returns all people will be judged and all their works will be exposed and laid bare to Him.
Melt with intense heat: the earth can melt with intense heat and not be annihilated. When a house burns to the ground, it is not obliterated but transformed into other substances like charcoal and carbon dioxide.
The Renewal of the Earth Theory
Others believe that our earth will not be annihilated. Rather, it will be purged of all evil and renewed. Are there Biblical reasons to support this view? Absolutely!
Acts 3:19-21, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” This suggests that the return of Christ will be followed by the restoration of all of God’s creation to its original perfection – thus pointing to the new earth (Anthony Hoekema).
Romans 8:19-23, “19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only that, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” This passage is definitely talking about the annihilation of the present creation, but of it being set free from its slavery to corruption. Yes, the present earth will be set free from corruption, but not annihilated. We are looking for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
The Resurrection of the Body. Think of our new glorified bodies for a moment. Yes, they will be very different from our current bodies, but it is still us that are resurrected, not a totally new set of human beings. Our resurrection body will be like Christ’s (Phil.3:21). Yet, Jesus’ resurrected body was still similar enough for people to recognize it was Him.
The Big Picture. Let’s try to stand back and look at the Big Picture of what God is doing. At the end of the first six days of creation, “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve reject God’s wisdom and authority over them, and eat the forbidden fruit, submitting themselves to the devil. This brought about the Fall. In Genesis 3:17 God said, “Cursed is the ground because of you”. However, there is hope for man. In Genesis 3:15 God says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” In other words, God will raise up a descendant of Eve to be a Savior, a Deliverer, who will triumph over Satan and those who follow him.
So, what have we learned thus far? That when man sinned, he plunged creation into ruin and corruption right along with him. That’s exactly what Paul tells us in Romans 8. He says that creation was subjected to futility, and that it is in slavery to corruption. That is why plants and animals get sick and die. That’s why we live in a world where there are devastating tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, avalanches, and volcanoes. Why did God do this to the world? The creation didn’t do anything. God said, “cursed is the ground because of you!” Paul said, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it…” God subjected the creation to futility… until something else happens. What is that? The revealing of the sons of God! When the sons of God are revealed for who they are, then the creation will be set free from its corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God! At Christ’s second coming, He will reveal who the sons of God are. And at that time, the creation will be renewed. It will be restored to God’s original intention for the world.
In the beginning God created Paradise. It was a world in which there was no sin, no sickness, no death. Man dwelt with all of God’s creation in perfect harmony, and beauty. He dwelt with God in perfect fellowship. Then sin entered, and all of that changed. Now there is alienation from God, disease, death, carnage, devastation, the curse, and destruction. But God is going to this same world to His perfect ideal for it before sin came in. That’s really the story of the entire Bible. Paradise lost in Genesis 3 will be Paradise restored in Revelation 21! The rest of the Bible is God’s plan on how He is going to do it. Rather than scrap the heaven and the earth, and start completely over, God is going to restore and renew this present heaven and earth. He is going to burn up everything that has been marred by sin, remove all corruption, and make it new.
21:2 “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” This holy city, the new Jerusalem stands in stark contrast to the old Jerusalem. The old Jerusalem stands for the Old Covenant people of God who were unfaithful to God. The New Jerusalem stands for the New Covenant people of God, the church. We know that from Rev. 21:9-10, “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. So it is very clear that the Church is the holy city, the New Jerusalem.
But notice that the Church comes down out of heaven from God. If she is coming down from heaven, I assume she is being brought to this New Earth that God has made. The New Earth is the eternal dwelling place of the Church.
The first heaven has passed away. Heaven is the dwelling place of God. But the old heaven has passed away. Now God’s dwelling place is the New Earth. So, the church will still dwell in heaven, the dwelling place of God, but heaven will now be the New Earth! Revelation 21:1 – 22:5 is describing the eternal home of the church of Christ.
Try to imagine life on the New Earth. It will be a Paradise more beautiful than anything we have ever seen. We marvel at the beauty of Yosemite and Hawaii and the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. Try to imagine those places before the curse had entered! It will be a world without sin. There will be no murders or rapes or wars. There will be no need for police, fire departments, the court system or armies. No one will steal or lie or blaspheme or dishonor parents. There will be no natural disasters, no disfigured children, no down’s syndrome, no cancer or heart attacks. No one will die. And the glory of God will be everywhere! And all of creation will worship Him!
2. Intimacy
Rev. 21:2 “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.” This first symbolic vision is the people of God seen as the bride of Jesus Christ. The church and Christ have been betrothed to each other for a very long time, but now it is time for the marriage to be consummated. They will see Him face to face. The relationship between a bride and her husband is the most intimate of all relationships. They “know” each other completely. They become “one flesh.” One of the most wonderful aspects of life on the New Earth will be the intimacy the people of God share with Jesus Christ.
Rev. 21:7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” This second picture is that of the Christian being called God’s son. Of course, the most deep and intimate of all relationships is that between God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. Well, we are in Christ. And thus, God will relate to us as His son. We are not strangers. We are God’s sons. A son knows he can crawl up onto his daddy’s lap at any time. His daddy might be a very powerful and influential man. He might be the President or the King. His daddy might be meeting with a very important person but the son knows that he can go to his father at any time.
Notice the Christian is not called a servant or a subject. He is called a son. A son is the heir of his father. In this case, the son’s inheritance is not land or wealth, but the New Earth and the direct intimate fellowship with God that he will enjoy forever.
Rev. 21:22 “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” There is no temple in the New Earth, because the entire New Earth is a temple. A temple is the place where God’s presence is to be found. God dwelt in the temple of Solomon in the Old Testament, and in the temple of the church in the New Testament. God Himself is the temple in the New Earth, and His presence fills the New Earth, so that wherever you go in this New Earth, God’s glory is seen, and the worship of God is performed.
Rev. 22:4 “they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.” Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face! This must be speaking of the face of Christ, because God is not a man and does not have a human face, but Christ does. None of us really know what Jesus looks like. There are no Biblical descriptions of Jesus’ appearance. But one day we will see our Savior – the One who died for our sins to redeem us and bring us to this New Earth! And to highlight this intimacy even further, we are told that His name will be on their foreheads. Just as a bride takes the name of her husband, we will have the name of Christ on our foreheads. There could be no greater union and intimacy envisioned than this.
3. Worship
Another glorious feature of the New Earth is our worship of God. Of course, we worship God now, and that is wonderful. But our worship of God will be greatly increased and heightened in the New Earth.
Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” Notice the repetition of the word “among.” God wants there to be no mistake. There is a closeness, a directness of access that is one of the distinguishing features of the New Earth. And notice that “the tabernacle of God is among men.” The tabernacle was the place of worship. The people worshiped God through sacrifice. We need to read Revelation 21:15-17 to understand this more fully.
Revelation 21:15-16 “The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.” Don’t try to take the language in this chapter literally. Remember that this “city” is really the church. It is the redeemed people of God living on the New Earth. And what is interesting about God’s people is that their width, height, and length are all equal. In other words, the church is a cube. What else in Scripture is a cube? The holy of holies! It was 10 cubits in every direction. The holy of holies was the place of God’s presence in the Old Testament. Only the high priest had access to God’s presence in the holy of holies, and then only on the Day of Atonement. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple, separating the holy of holies from the holy place was torn from top to bottom. In other words, this tearing of the veil was not the work of man but of God. It symbolically pictured the truth that now the presence of God was not limited to one man on one day of the year. God was now accessible to all who have faith in His Son. The entire church on the New Earth is pictured as the Holy of Holies. In other words, everywhere you go, you will be in the immediate presence of God. Everywhere you are, you will enjoy immediate and direct access to God. And because we will all have direct access to the immediate presence of God, we will be worshiping Him constantly and continually.
And the wonderful thing is that you won’t ever be uncomfortable in the immediate presence of God because you will never sin! There will nothing to be ashamed of or guilty for. There will be no fear of punishment, because you will never do anything to merit God’s punishment. You will be absolutely free to enjoy the fulness of God’s presence without discomfort or reserve!
Conclusion
- S. Lewis once wrote, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
My friends, do you have a desire that no experience in this world can satisfy? One of the ways you can know whether God has saved you is that you will have that desire. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 8:23, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” In Romans 8:19-23 Paul says that the creation groans. For what? To be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Creation wants the curse to be lifted, so that its corruption will be gone forever. Paul’s point is that creation is not the only thing groaning. He says the Christian is also groaning. Why? Because he longs for his full adoption as sons, which includes the redemption of his body. We have redemption now, which is the forgiveness of our trespasses. But our body has not been redeemed it. Our body still bears the effects of the Fall and the curse. We still get sick, we still give in to temptation and sin, and we still die.
The Christian wants to never sin again. That is the longing of his heart. And he can’t find any experience in this world to satisfy that longing, that groaning. But there is coming a day in which that longing will be satisfied. We were not made for this world. We were made for the world to come, the New Earth in which righteousness dwells.
Within the heart of the child of God there is a longing to dwell in a world where the effects of sin and the Fall are removed forever.
There is a longing for intimacy with God.
There is a longing for a place with direct access into the immediate presence of God at all times.
Guess what? That is what God has made you for! That is what He has saved you for! That is where He has decided to bring you.
But remember, Rev. 21:7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things.” Christian, you are an Overcomer! You must persevere in faith to the end. You may feel tired. You may feel like you have been beat up and bloodied by the devil. You might be thinking, “what’s the use? I think I’ll just throw in the towel.” That’s exactly what the devil would like you to do.
I’m here to tell you to stand up on your feet by the grace of God and declare this: “I will never give up on Jesus. I will never stop fighting sin and the devil. I will never stop running the race.”
We should all be able to say the same thing that the apostle Paul said at the very end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
No matter how difficult life gets, no matter how many times you fail, no matter how hard it is to live for Jesus, make this resolution “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.”
May God use the vision of this new world He has prepared for you to fortify your souls to do battle with the enemy, and to never give up, until His grace brings you into His heavenly kingdom! Amen.
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