The New Heavens and New Earth

Introduction

Happy New Year! When I was thinking about what to preach about this month, I was thinking that as it is a new year, I could teach something about how, through Christ, we are a new creation. And for sure that is a worthy topic! But, when I thought of “new creation”, I thought of the new heavens and new earth that will be coming after our Lord returns. So, that is what I will be teaching on today!

The teaching of a new Heavens and new Earth is most striking in the book of Revelation. But, it turns out that God gave this insight first to Isaiah.

OT Teaching

As we read Isaiah’s prophecy, there will be a lot similarity to it and John’s vision in Revelation. Of course, this should be expected as it is the same God who is giving the prophecy to Isaiah and the vision to John. We know that God does not change. So we should not expect the prophecy to change!

Isaiah 65:17–25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

In the new heavens and new earth, there will be no pain from illnesses or physical hurt. Nor will there be weeping because of sorrow.

No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

We cannot take this to mean that it will still be possible to die in this time. We know that in eternity, after we are resurrected, we have new bodies that are imperishable. Paul explains this well in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 15:50–57 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery.

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Paul is speaking of the resurrection. After the resurrection, is when God creates the new heavens and earth.

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

So, going back to Isaiah, Isaiah is painting a poetic picture of long life with by using the phrase “hundred years old”. There is also a picture of the eternal state of hell. At the time of the creation of the new heavens and earth, sinners, that is, those who have not received Christ as their Lord and Savior, will be in the lake of fire. Then, the “sinner who is accursed” will also live forever in the lake of fire.

They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

This is an interesting thing to note. It is likely we will still be doing work in the new heavens and earth. Just as God had work for Adam and Eve to do in the Garden before the fall, we also will have work to do in eternity. This shows that work is not an effect of sin. Sin just makes work harder and less enjoyable.

They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.

If we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become children of God, “the offspring of the blessed of the Lord!”

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.

The killing and eating of animals, the shedding of blood, is a mark of the effect of sin in the world. This effect started when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. Before their sin, there was a peaceful order of creation. Earlier, Isaiah expanded upon this vision of the peaceful order of creation that would exist in the new heavens and earth.

Isaiah 11:6–9 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

And just before this vision, Isaiah prophesies of Jesus. It is an amazing picture because we now know that we will also be with Jesus forever in eternity!

Isaiah 11:1–5 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

NT Teaching

Turning to the New Testament, we see Jesus also speaking of the new heavens and earth.

Matthew 19:28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Just as Jesus is ruling and reigning right now, He will be ruling and reigning in the new heavens and earth!

Paul explains the current state of our world because of sin and that it must be made new.

Romans 8:19–23 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly,

but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves,

who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Also, Peter speaks of the new heavens and earth as he gives comfort to those waiting for Jesus’ second coming. Before this, Peter wants us to understand why it is taking so long for our Lord to return: so that God will bring to himself all whom He would save!

2 Peter 3:10–13 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,

and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,

because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Righteousness dwells in the new heavens and earth because:

1) We will be there in our glorified bodies made righteous through Christ.

2) Jesus, our Lord and Savior will be there along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

3) No sin will exist as Satan and the Lost will be in the Lake of Fire.

Finally, we turn to the book of Revelation on John’s vision of the new heavens and earth as we end today.

Revelation 21:1–8 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”