A New Heaven and a New Earth!
Revelation 21
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “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.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
As we move to the end of the book of Revelation, we see John's vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Usually we hear all about heaven and what it will be like, but we don't hear much about the "new earth" John is talking about here. We pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." When God created the heavens and the earth it was completely new. And then sin came into the world and death next and the newness was gone. This began the degeneration of both mankind and Creation.
I believe Paul has something extremely important to this matter in Romans 8. He says, "For the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subject to frustration not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it to it, in hope that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and brought into the glory and freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
So what does this mean? It means that not only will we be made new, but everything around us will be new and not subject to decay. And that would lead us to believe that we would not be subject to decay either. Remember the wages of sin was death both spiritually and physical. But in heaven all things, including our human nature, will be made new. And finally, the most salient promise is given in verse 4, when it says their will be no more pain, mourning or tears. They will all be wiped away.
So maybe we should be as excited about a new earth as a new heaven?
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “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.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
As we move to the end of the book of Revelation, we see John's vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Usually we hear all about heaven and what it will be like, but we don't hear much about the "new earth" John is talking about here. We pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." When God created the heavens and the earth it was completely new. And then sin came into the world and death next and the newness was gone. This began the degeneration of both mankind and Creation.
I believe Paul has something extremely important to this matter in Romans 8. He says, "For the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subject to frustration not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it to it, in hope that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and brought into the glory and freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
So what does this mean? It means that not only will we be made new, but everything around us will be new and not subject to decay. And that would lead us to believe that we would not be subject to decay either. Remember the wages of sin was death both spiritually and physical. But in heaven all things, including our human nature, will be made new. And finally, the most salient promise is given in verse 4, when it says their will be no more pain, mourning or tears. They will all be wiped away.
So maybe we should be as excited about a new earth as a new heaven?
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