New Heavens and a New Earth

Isaiah 65:17-25 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

New Heavens and a New Earth

¹⁷ “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
¹⁸ “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing
And her people for gladness.
¹⁹ “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;
And there will no longer be heard in her
The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
²⁰ “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days;
For the youth will die at the age of one hundred
And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred
Will be thought accursed.
²¹ “They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² “They will not build and another inhabit,
They will not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people,
And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
²³ “They will not labor in vain,
Or bear children for calamity;
For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord,
And their descendants with them.

²⁴ It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. ²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.

This is the future of the world. God will create this new heaven and new earth. This future is not something we as believers should fear. Rather, we should look forward to it. The world fears the end of the age because it will be the end of worldly mindsets, the end of selfishness, self centered and self seeking behavior. It will be the end of the world system. Even now, we as believers are called to live that way, putting aside the things of the world. 1 John 2:15-16 says:      Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.… and James 4:4 says:      You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

The creation of the new heaven and earth is actually the restoration of things to God’s original intent. It is returning creation and man to the way God created and intended things to be, in the garden, before sin. While we do now live in a fallen world with the effects of sin all around us, Jesus came to redeem and restore. Through the cross He redeemed man from sin. John 19:28-30 is the account of Jesus on the cross.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” ²⁹ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. ³⁰ So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

When He said it is finished He was not speaking of His life. Jesus was speaking of the work He came for, the fulfillment of the Father’s will. The redemption of mankind and the restoration of all things to the Father’s original design was finished on the cross. In this realm, subject to finite time that reality is still to come in the future. It is the finished and complete in the heavenly and spiritual realm.  Throughout His ministry on earth Jesus said “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. In Matthew 10:7-8, when Jesus first sent out the disciples this was what He told them:    "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.…  

The day will come when things as we know them will end. Today’s passage describes the better state of things to come.  Revelation also speaks of and describes the things that will be. Revelation 21:22-24 says: I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.…   At that time the nations will walk by the light of God and Christ, the lamb.

 Now though, because of the finished work of the cross, Jesus calls us as believers saying:  “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12) He says: "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) We should look forward to the day of the Lord’s return, to the final restoration of all things. But we do live here in this realm. From the beginning the disciples wanted to know when the restoration would come. Many throughout history have focused on trying to know that time. Jesus answer to the disciples in Acts 1:6-8, is His answer and instruction to us today:

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; ⁸ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, help me to not concern myself with the time of Your return and the restoration of all things. Rather, because of the finished work of the cross and through the power of the Holy Spirit, enable me to be Your witness. May both my words and my life be a testimony of Your goodness and a declaration of Your kingdom. I do look forward to Your return, but for now, in this time I pray that in and through my life, Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.     Amen