New
Heavens and A New Earth
Introduction:
Several religious groups and denominations believe that when
Christ’s second coming occurs, this earth will be transformed or renovated
and the righteous will live on it throughout eternity. But does God’s Word
actually teach this?
Body:
I.
Old Testament References
Isaiah 65
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Isaiah 65:1
“ ‘I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those
who did not seek Me.’ I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that
was not called by My name.” NKJV
(Romans
10:20) (Isaiah 65:1 is quoted.) But Isaiah is very bold and says: ‘I was
found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to those who did not
ask for Me.’ ” NKJV
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Isaiah 65:17
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall
not be remembered or come to mind.” NKJV In the
Christian era, the Law of Moses passed away.
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Isaiah 65:18-19
“But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create
Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in
Jerusalem, And joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be
heard in her, Nor the voice of crying.” NKJV
Jerusalem – spiritual (God’s People) They experience joy due to
salvation.
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Isaiah 65:20-23
“No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man
who has not fulfilled his days, For the child shall die one hundred
years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be
accursed. 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 as the days of a
tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy
the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth
children for trouble, For they shall be the descendants of the blessed
of the Lord, And their offspring with them.” NKJV
Death and sinners exist! This is not referring to eternal life!
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Isaiah 65:24-25
“It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while
they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together, The lion shall eat straw like the ox, And dust shall be the
serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy
mountain, Says the Lord.” NKJV Peace is
experienced by those in the “holy mountain.” Kingdom (church)
(Isaiah
2:1-4) “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain
of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And
shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many
people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we
shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the
word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And
rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their
spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.” NKJV
Also (Isaiah 11:6-9) “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard
shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the
fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear
shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall
eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not
hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.”
NKJV (Romans 15:8-12) “Now I say that Jesus Christ
has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, To confirm
the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God
for His mercy, as it is written: ‘For this reason I will confess to You
among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name.’ And again he says: ‘Rejoice, O
Gentiles, with His people!’ And again: ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!’ And again, Isaiah says: ‘There shall be a root
of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the
Gentiles shall hope.’ ” NKJV
Isaiah
66
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Isaiah 66:20-21
“Then they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out
of all nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and
on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,’ says the Lord, ‘as the
children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of
the Lord. And I will also take some of them for priests and Levites,’
says the Lord.” NKJV “All
nations” – Jews and Gentiles will make up the kingdom. (holy mountain -
Jerusalem) Christian age (Ephesians 2:12-17) “that at that time you
were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God
in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have
been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace,
who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of
separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law
of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one
new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile
them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death
the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and
to those who were near.” NKJV
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Isaiah 66:22-23
“For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain
before Me,’ says the Lord, ‘So shall your descendants and your name
remain, And it shall come to pass That from one New Moon to another, And
from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me,’
says the Lord.” NKJV All
will worship together in the Christian age. There will be a regular
pattern of worship.
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Isaiah 66:24
“And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have
transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is
not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
NKJV Those who reject Christ’s
invitation will suffer eternal punishment.
II.
New Testament References
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II
Peter 3:10-13
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the
heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be
burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what
manner of persons 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 dissolved, being on fire and the elements will melt with
fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new
heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
NKJV
II Peter 3:7
“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word,
are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men.” NKJV Consider this
context carefully.
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“Pass away” means to come to an end and no longer be there; disappear.
Matthew 24:35
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass
away.” NKJV Not transferred or renewed Heaven –
sky and space
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“Dissolved”
means let loose, unbound, destroyed.
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“Melt”
is to perish or be destroyed by melting.
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“New
heavens and new earth” are the final abode in heaven.
Revelation 21
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Revelation 21:1
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the
first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.” New is not
the same as the old. (physical)
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Revelation 21:2
“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
The holy
city, New Jerusalem, cannot be a physical one, because it’s coming from
heaven. The “new heaven and new earth” must be a figurative expression for
God’s dwelling place, heaven.
(Matthew
5:34-35) “But I say to you, do not swear at all neither by heaven, for it
God’s throne, nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great King.” NKJV
This describes where the righteous will dwell, including the faithful in the
church.
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Revelation 21:24,27
“And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the
kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 27 But there
shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an
abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book
of Life.” NKJV
Invitation:
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When
one becomes a Christian, his/her citizenship changes from earth to
heaven.
Philippians 3:20
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” NKJV
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The
Christian’s hope is now in heaven.
Colossians 1:5
“because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you
heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel”
NKJV
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Why?
Their inheritance is there!
I Peter 1:3-4
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in
heaven for you,” NKJV
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Let’s read Christ’s invitation.
John 14:1-3
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in
Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself;
that where I am, there you may be also.” NKJV
Bobby Stafford
July 3, 2011
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