Within the heart of every man and woman lies a longing for the Golden Age on earth. It is as if everyone know that our Paradise was lost in the Garden of Eden and we hunger to have it restored. Many have sort to rebuild the Garden of Eden on this earth.
This is exactly what the Lord Jesus Himself taught us to pray when He gave us the Lord’s Prayer as is stated in Matthew 6:10 saying, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…..” (Matt. 6:10), that’s what you are praying for, that the condition of Heaven will operate here on earth.
But you and I know that that is not going to happen during the current reign of death and decay on this earth. This is what the writer of Hebrews had in mind when he was describing the people who have suffered greatly and are managing to get through that hope. Hebrews 11:16 says, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.”
That’s the hope of the eternal Utopia that got them through that period of suffering. Whether we know it or not, we all are home sick for the Garden of Eden. In everyone’s heart is the desire for what our forefathers enjoyed – the Garden of Eden.
We desire a beautiful and perfect earth. We want everything that was lost restored. We can’t help ourselves, it is programmed in the software of our humanity. This dream finds expression in many passages in the Scripture:
1. The promise of a New Heaven and a New Earth. Prophet Isaiah envisions a time when there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth and it will last forever (Isa. 66:22).
Isaiah also said that this new Heaven and New Earth will be so wonderful that it will cause us to forget what we know about the earth as we know it today.
God said, “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isa. 65:17).
Apostle Peter said that this New Heaven and New Earth will be a place where righteousness dwells. “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13).
One day God will fold the heavens and the earth up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing (Heb. 1:10-12, NLT).
Look at Apostle John’s position from the Island of Patmos: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea…5 And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new…” (Rev. 21:1, 5). That’s the promise of a New Heaven and a New Earth.
2. The purification of the New Heaven and the New Earth. Apostle John said that God will purify the earth, immediately after the White Throne Judgment where all the rebellions against God’s righteousness will be judged (2 Pet. 3:10-12).
What does the Bible mean when it says that heaven and earth will pass away? I used to believe that this earth we live in today will be totally annihilated at the end.
In order words, God will give up on this earth, totally wipe it out, and start all over again from the scratch. But know that this present earth we live in today will never be annihilated.
In 2 Peter 3:10, 12 the Bible says that both the earth and all that are in it will be burnt up. The word “burnt up” means “laid bare or uncover.”
Here the Bible is not talking about destroying the earth but purifying the earth. The earth will not be annihilated but will go through a period of disintegration. All the age-long processes of decay will be completely destroyed.
Then as the material elements of the former earth begin to fall together again after this holocaust, God will once more exercise His creative power, and create a new Heaven and a new Earth. The Bible says that God is going to make everything new.
In what sense is the new Heavens and the New Earth new? It describes something that is new not in time but in quality. It describes not something that has never existed before, but rather something that has been in existence but is now renovated and refreshed from the ruin and decay of the past.
God is going to make the earth new in the sense of making it fresh, in the sense of being purified from the old corruption. A New Heaven and a New Earth really means a Fresh Heaven and a Fresh Earth.
It is just like the first only that the age-long ravages of decay have been totally removed, and it is fresh and new again. The very foundations of the earth have been subjected to purifying fire. Every trace of sin, and every trace of decay has been removed.
It is the same world but it is now refreshed. Remember that our bodies will not be thrown away. It will be redeemed, restored and made new, not thrown away. The same thing will happen to the earth at the end. Therefore, God’s purpose is not to abandon the present earth but to restore it to its former glory.
Let’s look at an illustration from the Bible. It is about the flood that took place during the time of Noah (2 Pet. 3:5-7).
What could this possibly have to do with the new Heavens and the new Earth? Did the flood in Noah’s time annihilate the earth? No! God preserved Noah and his family so that they can re-inhabit the world that has been purified and made ready for them by the flood. In the same manner God will not cause the present earth to cease to exist by the fire that will come to purify and renovate it.
3. What is the world going to be like when God has made everything new? When God has purified the Heavens and the Earth, and all the sin, and all the signs of disease are gone, what is the world going to be like then? In the new earth:
i) There will be no more Sea. God will wipe out the ocean. Since 2/3rds of the earth today is water, a new world without the oceans will really be new.
There will be no need for Sea on the new earth. In the new Earth all the people that live there will do so in their glorified bodies. In their glorified bodies, they will not have need for water.
Their resurrected bodies like that of Jesus Christ will be composed of flesh and bone, but no blood to serve as a cleanser or restorer of the present flesh as we know it. Blood is 90% water and present day human flesh is 65% water.
In other words, the way we will live in the new earth will be ecologically very different from the way we live now.
ii) There will be a reversal of the curse. Revelation 22:3 says, “And there shall be no more curse....”
What is the curse? This is a particular event that took place in the Garden of Eden because Adam and Eve violated the commands of God, and God cursed the earth (Gen. 3:17-19).
This is the curse of death and decay. But the Bible says that when we get to the New Earth, there will be no more curse because the curse will be reversed.
Everything will be returned to the way it was before the fall of man. The ground will no longer produce thorns and thistles, and there will be no more deaths because we will never die.
Because of disobedience, God pronounced a curse on His creation – the earth. But God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem that creation from the effects of sin.
The work of Christ is not only to redeem man from the curse but to redeem the entire creation from the effects of sin. That purpose cannot be accomplished until God has ushered in the new earth, until Paradise lost becomes Paradise regained.
iii) There will be the restoration of all things. Ephesians 1:10 puts it this way, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times God the Father might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him (Christ).”
God’s plan of the ages is to bring all things in Heaven and in Earth under one head, even Christ. Today, there is a great separation between heaven and earth.
Christ will make the earth into heaven and heaven into earth and the wall that separates heaven and earth will be forever demolished, and there will be one universe and all things in Heaven and in earth will be together under the headship of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. There will be no more gulf between the physical and the spiritual worlds. This is the unstoppable plan of God. This is the place where history is headed, and this is where every Born Again believer is going, to a new Heaven and a New Earth.
Beloved, I don’t know what this means to you, but this should change your whole paradigm of the future. The New Jerusalem which is the capital of the universe will descend from the planet Heaven to the planet Earth and land in Jerusalem, to be among men forever. See what the new Heaven and new Earth will look like in Revelation 21:9 - 22:5.
So at the end of it all, the renovated earth will be our eternal abode. How does this change your thinking? It should make you appreciate the world in which we now live, because if this world is just temporal, there will be no need trying to take care of it.
When you understand that this earth will not be destroyed but refreshed. When you understand that this earth will be part of your future eternal destiny, it will help you to look at this world in an entirely different way.
It will also help you to appreciate the new world to which we are going. We will have a free access to the heavens and the earth made new by the Almighty God. When John says, “Love not the world…,” one wonders what he is talking about. He is not talking about this world, but about the system (patterns) of the world.
He is saying, “Do not love the system of the world, but don’t stop loving the world because is my Fathers beautiful creation.”
Secondly and lastly: A new appreciation for the world to which we are going. If this bad earth is this beautiful, can you then imagine what heaven will be like?
Heaven is a place that is splendid beyond description. It is a place characterized by laughter without tears, singing without mourning, contentment without crying, and pleasure without pain. And Jesus Christ will be there, and our heavenly Father will be there, and the Holy Spirit will be there. And there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth crowned by a splendid city called the New Jerusalem.
I don’t have all the answers, but I know from the Scriptures that at the end, the same God who created this world will refresh it, and all Born Again believers are going to live and reign with Christ in this perfect place called heaven forever and ever.
For everyone that is not yet Born Again, time is running out. And the only way to be part of heaven is by placing your full trust in the finished work of Christ at Calvary. Please do not delay. Do it today even right now!
Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!
Your friend, I. I. MADUBUNYI (Head Pastor) 01.11.2020
Amen 🙏
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