Restoration

Colossians 1:20 (ESV)20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

2 Peter 3:13 (ESV)13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1 (ESV)The New Heaven and the New Earth 21 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.

The Moody Bible Commentary J. The New Heaven and New Earth (21:1–22:5)

Some interpreters understand it to be suspended above the earth, while others say that its sturdy foundation argues for it being grounded. This is more likely. Each entity is described as new. The emphasis is not on time, but on freshness or better quality. This place superseded everything that had ever come before it. The city brings to mind Eden, and is set in contrast to Babylon

What would happen now that the first heaven and the first earth had passed away? John saw a new heaven and a new earth. Whether he meant a transformation of the old elements of the universe and a renovation or whether this is a brand new universe is not clear. What he saw, however, transcends anything that could exist in the universe as we now understand it (for example, life on earth without a sun, v. 23).

Kendell H. Easley, Revelation, vol. 12, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 394.

Isaiah 65:17–18 (ESV)

New Heavens and a New Earth

17 “For behold, I create new heavens

and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

or come into mind.

18 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.

Isaiah 65:17–18 (NIV84)New Heavens and a New Earth 17 “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.