Expecting New Heavens & a New Earth
Peter tells us, “according to His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). This expectation is clearly fulfilled in Revelation 21:1, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.”
Genesis 1-2 records God’s original creation with man as the center. Because man fell, as recorded in Genesis 3, “sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and thus death passed on to all men” (Rom. 5:12).
Because of man’s fall, the whole creation was impacted, as described in Romans 8:20-21, “the creation was made subject to vanity, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will also be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
God’s answer to this is “through Him [Christ] to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20). This reconciliation includes not only all men but also all things. The full application of this reconciliation, and the freeing of the creation is in Revelation 21:1—”a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away.”
This new creation is the proper environment for the appearing of “New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:2).
Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The text of this Bible is at text.recoveryversion.bible; this too is © by LSM.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.
Posted by Don on June 5, 2024
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/06/05/expecting-new-heavens-a-new-earth/
