Revelation 21:1-4

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.”

The history of this earth will culminate with the inauguration of a new creation that will put an end to the sufferings experienced in today’s world.  We can only imagine what this new and eternal life will be like, but we have in this and the following passages a brief description of what we can expect when God makes all things new.

NEW EARTH: The language of this passage is a little difficult to understand with complete certainty what will take place with a new heaven and a new earth and the sea being no more.  God is certainly capable of recreating something completely different.  He could destroy the earth and heaven as we currently know them, wipe the slate clean and then create something entirely different.  However, I “think I think” that by “new” it means to reverse all the effects of the fall of man and a sort of complete reconfiguration of how the climate, soil, continents, and topography function.  It will be an earth without natural disasters with greatly improved realities on both the surface of the earth and the atmosphere surrounding the earth.  A complete transformation that could only be described as “new.”  Think of the difference between a caterpillar and a butterfly.  It is the exact same insect in a technical sense of the word but with radically different look and abilities.  I also “think I think” that there will be oceans or seas and that when John says there will be no more sea he is speaking metaphorically as the “sea” being the chaotic world of sin from with the beast rose.  

NEW JERUSALEM: It seems that the capital of the “new earth” will be the new Jerusalem.  This city will be described in more detail moving forward, but it seems to physically descend from heaven to occupy its new place on the new earth.  Perhaps, the new Jerusalem is that which Jesus is referring to when He said, “I go to prepare a place for you.”  This massive city will likely provide some continuity between the current heaven and the future new earth that will be our eternal abode.  This city will be the central hub of activity and reigning that will be the new eternal reality of our experience.

NEW DWELLING: The most startling and precious thing about the new earth will be the fact that God will be dwelling on the new earth with us.  It is important to understand that the Father and the Spirit are spirits and do not have bodies.  The Son, Jesus, does have a body and will be visible to us throughout eternity.  The Father, Son, and Spirit are one so the Trinity will be living with us on the new earth embodied in the person of Jesus.  Usually when we speak of heaven, we talk about living with God in heaven.  While I believe that is true in the sense that believers who die today immediately are in the presence of God in heaven.  However, for our eternal dwelling, I think it is more accurate to say that God will come live with us on the new earth.  This is absolutely astounding and will be the most significant glory of the new earth.  The beauty of the new earth will be exponentially greater than our current earth.  The glory of having God live with us will be far more precious than the beauty of the earth.

NEW REALITY: It is hard for us to be able to imagine living in a reality where there is no sin.  Death, tears, suffering, and pain are all consequences of sin, so they will be completely absent from the new earth.  It will be amazing and precious to be able to live without any of sin and consequences of sin.  Joy, pleasure, holiness, peace, and abundance will be our new reality. 

APPLICATION: Wonder at the glory of what it will be like to live on the new earth.  Thank God for this eternal hope.  Worship God with the understanding that this will be our eternal joy.  Share Christ with others so they too can enjoy this blessed hope.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 23, 2026 at 10:32 AM

    I am looking forward to this wonderful time.

    ReplyDelete

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