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New Heaven and New Earth

There is much debate and confusion about the term NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH—terminology that we find in both the Old and New Testaments. Let’s put our presuppositions aside and examine the biblical evidence about what this phrase actually means. The evidence shows that the NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH is a Hebraic theological idiom about the new covenant. It’s not about a new physical universe.

There are many reasons why the New Heaven and New Earth of Revelation 21:1 (and other places) is not speaking of the physical universe. To start thinking about this, the first question that should be asked is this: “If God lives in heaven, why do we need a new one?”

As regards the earth, the Bible indicates that the earth will abide forever (Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalm 78:69, and Psalm 104:5). These statements about the earth abiding forever are most likely in reference to the everlasting nature of God’s dominion—rather than about literal cosmology. But, the Bible is silent on when the physical universe might end. So, it gets more complicated than most Christians believe. The biblical writers were not thinking about the end of the physical universe. For them, everything was covenantal.

Let’s explore this with just three pieces of evidence (out of many) from Scripture:

1. There are over 30 passages in Revelation that demand the book’s fulfillment was very soon after it was written. For example, Revelation 1:1 and 22:6 say that the book is about events that MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE. Revelation 1:3 and 22:10 say that the TIME WAS NEAR. Placing its fulfillment thousands of years into the future does violence to God’s word.

2. Matthew 5:18 says, “For assuredly, I say to you, till HEAVEN AND EARTH pass away, one jot of tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Jesus ties the passing of heaven and earth with the passing of the law. So, unless heaven and earth have already passed away, every detail of the law of Moses are still in effect today! We know that Jesus ushered in the new covenant of grace, so the passing of the law―and the passing of HEAVEN AND EARTH―must have already been fulfilled.

3. The foundational passage for New Heaven and New Earth is Isaiah 65-66. In this passage we see that God’s enemies are destroyed in a “final judgment,” but regular human history continues with births, deaths, building, etc. In verses 15-24 of Isaiah 66, which is about the end-time judgment, there are still people living on earth who never heard of God. And the survivors of Armageddon evangelize those who never heard of God (Isaiah 66:19). GET THAT? THERE ARE PEOPLE ON EARTH WHO NEVER HEARD OF GOD in the NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH! Also of note, there is SIN IN THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH per Revelation 22:15! (Look it up!)

We must conclude that the Old Covenant―the old “heaven and earth”―passed away in finality in AD 70 when Jerusalem fell and the temple was destroyed. That’s when God judged Old Covenant Israel for her sins and rejection of Jesus. We are NOW living in the NEW HEAVEN AND NEW EARTH, i.e. the new covenant age of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a lot more about this! I’ve identified Ten Clues to Understanding the New Heaven and New Earth. Take the time to study it in more detail. Continue here for a fuller discussion:

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AP%2DWWhhfd9qIXys&cid=D3BD424B0B25B83F&id=D3BD424B0B25B83F%2116999&parId=D3BD424B0B25B83F%21113&o=OneUp

2 Peter 3:1-18 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 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 in 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. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according the the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Rev 21:1

With he passing away of the old Jerusalem, the entire structure was enhanced - with the "new creation" with the vision of the "New Jerusalem"

This explains the spiritual significance of Christ's fulfilling all things in Himself and His Church.

The New Jerusalem describes both heaven and Christ's Bride, the Church. The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven to be with the saints on earth.

Look at Rev 21:12-14 where the city has 12 foundations and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb --> this is from Ezekiel 48:31-34 and where the 12 apostles names replace the 12 tribes name. The Church is the fulfillment of God's Old Testament promises to the chosen people.

This is especially clear from Jesus' promise that the apostles would "sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" - Matthew 19:28

The new temple that was inaugurated and came with the destruction of the temple is in Rev 21:22 "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the almighty and the Lamb

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The thing is - we are living in the Kingdom. This was evidenced in Jesus's own words

Luke 22:16
14 When the hour came, He reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

And 2 chapters later

Luke 24:30
30 And it came about, when He had reclined at the table with them, that He took the bread and blessed it, and He broke it and began giving it to them.

The Kingdom is brought near in the Word incarnate, it is proclaimed throughout the whole Gospel, and it has come in Christ's death and Resurrection. the Kingdom of God has been coming since the Last Supper and, in the Eucharist, it is in our midst

Romans 14:17 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

To fulfill the Father's will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven

Jesus Himself said

Mark 1:15

Jesus came into Galilee, [k]preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God [l]is at hand; repent and [m]believe in the gospel.”

He told people in 30 AD that the Kingdom was "AT HAND" -- not that "It is 2000 years away" -- Jesus did NOT lie to those people. The Kingdom DID come in 33 AD.

Remember that although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, He did enter on an ass -- acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings salvation (Hosanna means "Save!" or "Give salvation!"), the "King of glory" enters his City "riding on an ass"

Jesus' entry into Jerusalem manifested the coming of the kingdom that the King-Messiah was going to accomplish by the Passover of his Death and Resurrection == the ride into the Jerusalem was the ride to His coronation. He was crowned with thorns and in 3 days when He rose again, He had gained victory over death and inaugurated His Kingdom

In Jesus Christ the Reign of God has already come and is coming. It will come in its fullness only upon His glorious Return. In the interim, we are invited to live in, anticipate and spread that kingdom. We do so most fruitfully when we live in the heart of the Church, which is a seed of the kingdom, for the sake of the world. Mark 4:26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; Mark 4:30 30 And He was saying, “How shall we [j]picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is the smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and forms large branches, with the result that the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.”

So this kingdom, this reign of God, has already come, it is coming and, when the King returns, it will be finally and fully revealed.

the question you as, where is it now in our daily lives?

In the Gospel of Luke we read about an encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees which says:

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus said in reply, "The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.' For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you. (Luke 17:20,21)

Our Christian life is a participation in the very life of God; what the Apostle Peter referred to as a participation in the Divine nature. (2 Peter 1:4) It is thus a participation in the kingdom - of which the Church is both a seed and sign.

2 Peter 1:4 Through [g]these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust

"To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened." (Luke 13: 18 - 21) -- this is very clearly about there being no Jew and no Gentile

Paul also makes it clear in his letters to the Corinthians and the Galatians that it is necessary to do God’s will to enter the kingdom of God: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” The immoral, idolaters, adulterers, sexual perverts, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers, those guilty of envy, “and the like” are all excluded (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-10 and Gal 5:21). But Paul makes clear that this is not only a matter of avoiding certain fleshly evils; it is a matter of living in the spirit of God: “I tell you this, brethren: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor 15:50).

I will end this with Jesus saying in Matthew 12:24 AFTER HE HAD cast out demons

But if I cast out the demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
He DID cast out demons just before that and He speaks the truth,

this belief that

God's family expanded from a man (Abraham) to a family (isaac, Jacob) to a nation (Israel) to the world
That the kingdom is of all humanity

These beliefs are from the 1st century of Christianity

Before 21:28-32 you have Jesus' authority challenged from the Sanhedrin elders

Then after that, the parable of the landowner

33 “Listen to another parable. There was a [n]landowner who planted a vineyard and put a [o]fence around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and he leased it to [p]vine-growers and went on a journey. 34 And when the [q]harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his fruit. 35 And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they did the same things to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him and take possession of his inheritance!’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the [r]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the fruit in the proper seasons.”

Again the same - the vineyard is the Kingdom of Heaven. The people of ISrael killed the heir and so the kingdom is given to other vine-growers

This is glaringly apparent in Matt 21:43-44

43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a [t]people producing its fruit. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”