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As the beloved and aged Apostle John reached the final and climactic
section of the Book of Revelation (Revelation 21:1-27; 22:1-21) and, in many respects, the
apex of human history itself, he wrote, “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” (Revelation 21:1). The heaven and earth that John saw was not new
with respect to origin. It was new with respect to quality. John was beholding
the present heaven and earth—totally cleansed, completely regenerated, and
absolutely perfect. He was beholding heaven and earth in all of its pristine
beauty as Adam and Eve saw them in the Garden before the advent of sin and
consequent curse upon all of creation.
In the Greek New Testament, there are two primary words translated
“new”. The one word is neos. It means
“new” in time—recent, just appearing, young. When the Bible speaks of new
wine, it is neos wine; that is, it is
this year's crop—“new” in time. The second word for “new” is kainos. It means “new” in quality—superior to the old. In the upper room, the Lord instituted the “new” (kainos) covenant. It is a covenant that
is qualitatively better than the old or Mosaic covenant (1 Corinthians 11:25; 2
Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:8). The Apostle Paul taught that a believer in
Christ is a new (kainos) creation (2
Corinthians 5:17); that is, he is qualitatively superior to what he was in his
unregenerate state in Adam.
When John speaks of a new heaven and a new earth, he
uses the Greek word kainos and is
emphasizing the “quality” of the new heaven and earth—not that it is new in
time or origin. It is the same heaven and
earth, but cleansed and regenerated from the consequence of sin. It is kainos—“new” in that it is
qualitatively superior to the old. It is the present heaven and the present
earth which, when purged during the Day of the Lord, becomes, when “touched by
the Master's hand”, the new heaven and the new earth.
Henry Morris, in his helpful commentary The Revelation Record, in commenting on Revelation 21:1, has
written:
“The new cosmos [world] is not a novel cosmos [world]; it is a renewed
cosmos [world]. It is just like the first, except that all its age-long ravages
of decay have been expunged and it is fresh and new again”.
The present heaven and earth are not blotted out, not swept into
nothingness; but retouched, changed, renovated, cleansed, and brightened up—regenerated from all its old disorders and imperfections.
Joseph Seiss, in his commentary on Revelation, though written more than
ninety years ago, continues to speak with eloquence and considerable insight.
He wrote concerning the new heaven and earth:
“Think, then, what its regeneration must bring!—an earth which no
longer smarts and smokes under the curse of sin—an earth which needs no more
to be torn with hooks and irons to make it yield its fruits—an earth where
thorns and thistles no longer infest the ground, nor serpents hiss among the
flowers, nor savage beasts lay in ambush to devour—an earth whose sod is
never cut with graves, whose soil is never moistened with tears or saturated
with human blood, whose fields are never blasted with unpropitious seasons,
whose atmosphere never gives wings to the seeds of plague and death, whose ways
are never lined with funeral processions, or blocked up with armed men on their
way to war—an earth whose hills ever flow with salvation, and whose valleys
know only the sweetness of Jehovah's smiles—an earth from end to end, and
from centre to utmost verge, clothed with the eternal blessedness of Paradise
Restored!”
The beautiful and insightful words of Joseph Seiss warrant a second
reading and thoughtful meditation by every Christian. It is a description of
our future dwelling place.
When God purges the cosmos by
fire and renovates it, Planet Earth will be qualitatively perfect. It will be a
new heaven and a new earth.
All nature, with anticipation, awaits that day so that it may be freed
from the curse of sin (Romans 8:19-22). The Apostle Peter, in one of his early
sermons, links that day with Christ's return and calls it “the restitution
[restoration] of all things” (Acts 3:21). The Lord himself speaks of that day
in conversation with His disciples. He taught, “Verily I say unto you, That ye
which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in
the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). The word “regeneration” means “new
birth” and is used by the Apostle Paul to describe the believer's “new birth”.
(Titus 3:5). Thayer, in his Greek Lexicon
of the New Testament, has written concerning the word “regeneration”:
“It is that signal and glorious change of all things [in heaven and
earth] for the better, that restoration of the primal and perfect condition of
things which existed before the fail of our first parents...”
If someone should suggest the old heaven and the old earth are said to
“pass away” (Revelation 21:1) and, therefore, the present heaven and earth
cannot be the new heaven and earth, let it be noted that the Greek verb
translated “pass away” in the King James Bible comes from the root parerchomai (see also Matthew 5:18, 24,
34-35; Mark 13:30-31; Luke 16:17, 21, 33; 2 Peter 3:10). This verb means “to
come, come forth, go, pass, pass over, or transgress”. However, neither in the
Bible nor in classical Greek is there an illustration of this verb ever meaning
“annihilation or passing out of existence”. That it means “great change” is evident.
It is speaking of a “passing” from a corrupted and polluted heaven and earth to
a renovated, perfect heaven and earth – from this age, to the age to come. Only
in that sense is the present age said to “pass away”.
It is sometimes argued that terms used by the Apostle Peter are
describing the annihilation of the present heaven and earth and therefore the
present heaven and earth cannot be associated with the new heaven and new earth.
In speaking of the Noahic Flood, he wrote, “Whereby the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3:6). And a similar fate, Peter
argued, is still in store for the earth. Only the next time it will be judgment
of the earth by fire rather than water.
But, we ask, was the earth annihilated when it “perished” in the days of
Noah? Clearly, the answer is “No”. The world “perished”, but the earth
remained. The world “perished”, but eight souls (Noah, his wife, three sons,
and three daughters-in-law) continued on. The world “perished”, but animals
representing all species of life—two by two—disembarked from the ark. And,
on this side of the flood, God blessed Noah and said, “Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 9:1). The heavens and the earth
remained after the world “perished”.
Peter also spoke of the elements in heaven melting with a fervent heat
and the works of earth (all of man's accomplishments in every area of endeavor)
being burned up (2 Peter 3:10). In light of these certain realities, Peter
rhetorically inquired, “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness”
(2 Peter 3:11).
The word translated “dissolved” literally means “to loosen”. It was the
word which the Lord used when He said of the colt, “Loose him” (Mark 11:2, Luke
19:30); and of Lazarus, when he came forth from the tomb with burial wrappings,
“Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:44); and of the four angels bound at the
Euphrates, “Loose them” (Revelation 9:14); and of the devil, “He must be loosed
a little season” (Revelation 20:3).
The teaching of God's Word is that by reason of the fall of man the
present creation is in a state of captivity, tied down, bound (Romans 8:19-23).
The dissolving of all things, of which Peter speaks, is not, in the
words of Joseph Seiss, “the destruction of them, but the breaking of their
bonds, the loosing of them, the setting of them free again to become what they
were originally meant to be”. The “dissolving” of the heaven and earth is not
their annihilation; it is their long-awaited deliverance from the curse of sin.
It is restitution of all things.
On the second of the six days during which God created the universe, He
created the heavens (Genesis 1:6-8), and on the third day He created the earth
(Genesis 1:9-10). The divine commentary on all that God created is this: “And
God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis
1:31). But soon Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and with that disobedience, a curse
was placed on man and the domain of heaven, earth, and sea over which he was
authorized to reign (Genesis 1:28).
The heaven and earth which were created “very good”, now became very
bad. Before the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, there could be no
death, disease, famine, war, natural catastrophe, cancer, weed, rust,
pollution, hatred, murder, rape, lying, corrupt government, wife-beating,
child-molesting, greed, and a thousand other ills that have plagued man for at
least six thousand years of history. Every broken body, every disturbed mind,
every hurting heart—the collective tears of the human race – can trace their
origin back to the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
As a consequence of sin, under Satan’s reign, man has polluted the
ocean, raped the earth, and poisoned the heavens, the very sphere which God
committed to man's authority. Is there any wonder, then, that the present
heaven and earth must be dissolved (that is, be purged by fire to loose it from
the consequences of sin) to make way for a new heaven and earth?
A New Heaven and a New Earth—When?
For the unsaved, a new heaven and a new earth is a horrifying prospect,
for all which they possess (even their very lives) is associated with the
present heaven and present earth which is one day going to be burned up. Peter
wrote:
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up”
(2 Peter 3:10).
How quickly values change when one truly understands that basic fact!
For those made righteous in Christ—a new heaven and a new earth is a
glorious prospect. All that has brought sadness and tears will be dissolved and
replaced by all that brings joy and peace.
But when do the new heaven and the new earth commence? The popular view
from among those of us who hold to the premillennial return of Christ is that
the new heaven and new earth will commence at the end of the Lord's
thousand-year reign.
First, it is
suggested that John's beholding of a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation
21:1) follows contextually on the
heels of a discussion of the Millennium in the previous chapter (Revelation
20). Therefore, the new heaven and new earth must occur at the end of the
Millennium.
Such reasoning, however, does not necessarily follow. John noted that
Satan was bound by chains for a thousand-year duration. He wrote: “And he laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:2).
Whatever happens to Satan at the end of the thousand years naturally
becomes a crucial issue. And John does not leave us in doubt. Satan will be
loosed for a little season, deceive the nations, and finally be cast into the
lake of fire (Revelation 20:3, 7-8, 10).
John also calls attention to the fact that the faithful martyrs of the
Great Tribulation are going to be resurrected at the beginning of the
Millennium as part of the first resurrection unto life:
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto
them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus,
and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his
image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4).
And once again, natural inquiry would be directed to the status of the
unfaithful who have died before the Millennium. How does the resurrection
impact them? John does not leave us in doubt. They will partake of the second
resurrection at the end of the Millennium and will be eternally consigned to
hell at the Great White Throne Judgment.
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened:
and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of
life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).
In the cases of both Satan and the wicked dead, their status at the end
of the Millennium is given only to complete the discussion of events which
occur at the beginning of the Millennium.
The discussion of the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21 can
quite naturally and exegetically, therefore, have as its focus the beginning of
the Millennium and not its end.
Second, it has
been argued that in connection with the new heaven and new earth there will be
no sea. The Apostle John wrote, “... for the first heaven and the first earth
were passed away; and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1).
However, the Bible indicates that there will be a sea during the
Millennium (Ezekiel 47:1, 8-12). Consequently, the reasoning goes, the new
heaven and earth must occur after the Millennium has run its course.
The solution to this objection is a closer look at Revelation 21:1. It
does not say, as many affirm, that there will be no sea in the new heaven and
earth. What it does say is that the sea, as with the heaven and earth, “passes
away”. The sea, as part of man's domain, must also be cleansed from the
defilement of sin to pass into the glorious age to come.
In connection with the pouring out of the second vial during the Day of
the Lord, it is written, “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the
sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul [thing]
died in the sea” (Revelation 16:3). At that time even the rivers will be purged
of defilement: “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and
fountains of waters; and they became blood” (Revelation 16:4).
The heavens and the earth are spoken of generically for all which God
created (Genesis 2:1); thus the new heavens and the new earth would include a
new sea.
Finally, in defense
of a commencement of the new heaven and new earth at the end of the Millennium,
many appeal to Peter's prophetic discourse (2 Peter 3). Their logic follows
this track:
First, Peter shared information regarding the Day of the Lord. He wrote:
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up”
(2 Peter 3:10).
Second, he clearly linked his teaching on the Day of the Lord with the
new heaven and the new earth. He exhorted with these words: “Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).
And finally, these teachers, by placing the time of Peter's Day of the
Lord at the end of the Millennium, insist that the new heaven and new earth
must likewise commence at the end of the Millennium as part of the eternal
state.
But, is this position justified by the text of 2 Peter 3, particularly
in light of the fact that every other Day of the Lord scripture is related to
Christ's second coming before the Millennium and not at its end (Joel 2:31;
Isaiah 13:6-11; Mathew 24:29-31; Acts 2:20; Revelation 6:12-17)?
The Day of the Lord has been defined by noted scholar, F. F. Bruce, as
“the Day when Yahweh [the Lord] will vindicate Himself”. Colin Brown called it
the time of “God's decisive intervention into history for judgment”. It is the
outpouring of His wrath when His long-suffering has reached its end.
A compendium from the prophets' descriptions of the Day of the Lord
reveals the following. The Day of the Lord will be:
- A time where God “ariseth to shake terribly the earth”. (Isaiah 2:19).
- A time of destruction from the Almighty (Joel 1:15).
- A time of divine wrath and fierce anger (Isaiah 13:13; Zephaniah 1:15; 2:2).
- A time when God will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity (Isaiah 13:11).
- A time when God's indignation and fury will be directed against the nations (Isaiah 34:1, 2; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:14-2:3; Zechariah 14:3).
- A time when God's vengeance will be revealed (Isaiah 34:8).
- A time of darkness in the heavens (Isaiah 13:9-10; 34:4; Joel 2:31).
- A time of fire from the Lord (Joel 2:3, 5, 30; Zephaniah 1:18; 3:8).
These verses all relate to the Lord’s judgment of the earth at His second
coming before the commencement of His millennial reign.
If the major point of Peter's teaching in 2 Peter 3 is understood,
placing his Day of the Lord at the end of the Millennium is impossible. Follow
Peter's logic in this important discourse (2 Peter 3). He taught:
- In the last days, there would be scoffers walking after their own lusts (v. 3).
- They would, ridicule the promise of Christ's return (v. 4a).
- The reasoning of the false teachers was based on their presumption of an uninterrupted flow of history. Things would continue as they always had (v. 4b).
- Contrary to the philosophy of the scoffers. God, in fact, did intervene in the course of human events with judgment through the Noahic Flood (v. 6).
- The present heavens and earth are reserved for judgment once again. The next time it will not be by water (flood), but by fire (v. 7).
- Judgment has been withheld by a long-suffering God, giving man the opportunity to repent (vv. 8-9).
- The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, and the heavens and the earth will be judged by fire (v. 10).
- In the light of the certain fact of the coming Judgment, men are to live holy lives, looking for the coming of Christ (vv. 11-12).
- His coming will be followed by a new heaven and new earth (v. 13).
Peter's whole argument revolves around the fact that God entered the
flow of human history for judgment with the Noahic Flood. And He will enter
human history for judgment once during the Day of the Lord. If the Day of the
Lord of which Peter speaks occurs at the end of the Millennium (an absolute
requisite for the new heaven and new earth to commence at that time since the
two are linked), then the Lord's second coming, during which time He will
imprison, execute the Antichrist, purge the earth, destroy false religion,
judge the wicked, and bring in a thousand-year messianic age, cannot be viewed
as a divine intervention in history.
Such a conclusion—a necessary requisite if Peter's Day of the Lord is
placed at the end of the Millennium—flies in the face of this text and the
clear, compelling, and consistent testimony of Scripture.
Premillennialist, Robert Culver, in his classic work, Daniel and the Latter Days, summed up
the timing of Peter's Day of the Lord succinctly. He wrote:
“...as to time, the new heavens and new earth, anticipated by Peter and
the other prophets, are to appear at the beginning of the Millennium, and that
in nature and extent the conflagration which introduces the new heavens and new
earth shall consist of a strictly limited renovation rather than annihilation
of the existing natural order”.
Since Peter clearly linked the new heaven and earth
with the Day of the Lord and since the Day of the Lord occurs in connection
with Christ's second coming, the new heaven and new earth must be associated
with the beginning of the Millennium—not its end.
Among some of the additional and conspicuous facts that require the new
heaven and new earth to commence at the beginning of the Millennium, note the
following:
(1) When Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, speaks of the Day of the Lord,
which is clearly associated with Christ's second coming, he says that it will
come “as a thief in the night”. Peter uses the exact same language in
describing the Day of the Lord: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in the night” (2 Peter 3:10). Since Paul's Day of the Lord is associated with
Christ's second coming, it is hard to escape the fact that Peter's Day of the Lord
is discussing the same event.
(2) The Lord cannot come as “a thief in the night” at the end of the
Millennium. The Millennium is His earthly Kingdom. He will already be
physically present. The Millennium is His earthly rule.
(3) The chronology of Isaiah 65 and 66 clearly teaches that the new
heavens and the new earth will be brought into being before the Millennium begins, not at its end. Isaiah wrote, “For,
behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17). Compare 2 Peter 3:13 where the
same expression “new heavens and a new earth” is used. Following the creation
of the new heavens and earth, a partial listing of millennial blessings is
given. Jerusalem will be restored and blessed (Isaiah 65:18-19); life
expectancy will be expanded (v. 20); men will “build houses, and inhabit them;
and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them” (v. 21); and “The
wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the
bullock” (v. 25).
The new heaven and the new earth of which Isaiah speaks are a renovated
heaven and earth and commence at the beginning of the Millennium, not at its
end.
(4) Eight Old Testament prophets (plus Luke, Paul, and Peter in the New
Testament) write in considerable detail concerning “the Day of the Lord”.
A careful examination of their descriptions of that day and a comparison
with the events which unfold with the blowing of the trumpets and pouring out
of the bowls in Revelation 8-19 will indicate that the same period of time and
events are in view. Premillennarians almost universally agree that Revelation
4-19 is depicting the second coming of Christ before the Millennium commences.
(5) Old and New Testament writers alike declare that a judgment of fire
in heaven and earth, similar to the one Peter describes, will immediately
precede the establishment of the messianic Kingdom (Isaiah 34:4; 64:1-4; Joel
2:30-31; Zephaniah 3:8-9; Malachi 4:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
If anyone should argue that some of the passages speak of disturbances
at the beginning of the Millennium and others of disturbances at its close,
they should note Hebrews 12:26 (quoting Haggai 2:6), in which the Lord
distinctly promises, “Yet once more [not twice] I shake not the earth only, but
also heaven”.
(6) When the King of Glory returns to usher in a golden age—to rule
and reign for a thousand years – the curse of sin will be lifted. Peace will
become a reality, life expectancy will be extended, the earth will give her full
bounty, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, men will turn their spears into
pruning hooks, and righteousness and justice shall be established among men.
All of that and more will be brought about by the purging and regenerating of
the heaven and the earth in connection with the Lord's rule. It is neither
comely nor logical to entertain the thought that the Lord of Glory would rule
for a thousand years over a cursed world which, like a basket of overripe
summer fruit, is still smelling and decaying from the effects of man's sin.
A New Heaven and a New Earth—For Whom?
A new day is coming. How bleak would be man's future if such were not
the case! Heaven and earth are destined to be restored to the perfection that
was theirs before the advent of sin. How glorious that new age will be! How
blessed its occupants! But who will they be? Who will inhabit the new heavens
and the new earth?
Following the Rapture of the Church—which occurs immediately prior to
the opening of the seventh seal (Revelation 8:1)—God's wrath will commence.
It will be for the purpose of purging the cosmos
(world) from everything that has been defiled by sin. But during that period of
time, God's grace will continue to be manifested. There will be two witnesses
who will continue to prophesy until the end of the 1,260 days (Revelation
11:3). There will be 144,000 men from the twelve tribes of Israel sealed for
protection and evidencing their fidelity to God (Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-5). And
there will be an angelic being “having the everlasting gospel to preach unto
them that dwell on the earth” (Revelation 14:6-7).
As a result of these testimonies, there will be an ingathering of
precious souls at Christ's physical return to earth when “The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ” (Revelation
11:15). Among those who have physically survived to that point in time will be
people designated by our Lord as “sheep” and “goats”: “And before him shall be
gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). The goats will be
sent “away into everlasting punishment” (v. 46a), but the sheep “into life
eternal” (v. 46b). This latter group, still in mortal bodies—cleansed through
faith in Christ—will enter the new heaven and earth.
Based on the cataclysmic events described in the Book of Revelation, we
can make an assessment that only a relatively small number of men and women
from among the earth's more than four billion people survive the seventieth
week. Those judged to be sheep will enter the Millennial Kingdom. With the
absence of death, war, disease, famine, or natural catastrophe, they will
quickly repopulate the new heaven and earth.
But what of those who were resurrected or raptured at Christ's coming
and possess glorified, immortal bodies? How do they relate to the new heaven
and new earth?
A New Capital—Where?
Not only did John see a new heaven and a new earth. He also saw “the
holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).
The first reference to Jerusalem in the Bible is the occasion when
Abraham encountered Melchizedek upon his return from rescuing his nephew, Lot
(Genesis 14:15-20). The name “Melchizedek” literally means “king of
righteousness”. He was a priest of El
Elyon, the most high God, and he ruled over the city of Salem (peace),
which is understood to be the historical city of Jerusalem.
Her divinely appointed destiny is to be seen in the very first mention
of the city. Jerusalem is to one day become the city of peace, ruled over by
One who is a royal priest, the King of Righteousness, and Priest of the most
high God.
It was to Jerusalem (actually, Mount Moriah) that Abraham came when he
was willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.
It was to the same mount, later called Jebus, that King David came to
defeat the warlike Jebusites and make their fortress his capital and call it
Jerusalem.
It was on Mount Moriah at Jerusalem that King Solomon built a temple to
be a habitation for God on earth.
It was at Jerusalem where the Lamb of God died for the sins of the
world.
It is to Jerusalem that Jesus will return for coronation as the Lion of
the tribe of Judah to become King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jerusalem – is the
center and capital of human history.
New Jerusalem will be the center and capital of Christ’ millennial Kingdom.
New Jerusalem is the city that father Abraham looked for “which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
- New Jerusalem is a city built for the Church, the Bride of Christ (Revelation 21:9-10).
- New Jerusalem is a city which will descend out of heaven and rest upon the earth (Revelation 3:12; 21:10).
- New Jerusalem is a city in which God himself will dwell (Revelation 21:11, 22-23).
- New Jerusalem is a city constructed of the most precious of materials (Revelation 21:18-21).
- New Jerusalem is a city of safety and perpetual day (Revelation 21:25).
- New Jerusalem is a city where nothing that defiles can enter (Revelation 21:27).
- New Jerusalem is a city whose inhabitants will know only good and endless life (Revelation 22:1).
- New Jerusalem is a city of unending abundance and provision (Revelation 22:2).
- New Jerusalem is a city whose inhabitants shall have intimate access to the Lamb (Revelation 22:4).
New Jerusalem is a city of spectacular dimensions (Revelation 21:16-17).
It will be a square, twelve thousand furlongs in each direction—an equivalent
of 1380 miles wide, deep, and high (a distance comparable to that from Maine to
Florida or the Atlantic Ocean to Colorado), if it is composed of floors at one
mile intervals, there would be 1380 levels. The city would dwarf the surface
area of the present earth. Never, never was there a city like the new
Jerusalem. And it is the home of all who have been redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb, the King.
To summarize:
(1) The new heaven and earth is the present heaven and earth purged by
fire and made perfect through regeneration.
(2) The new heaven and earth commences at the beginning of the
Millennium, not its end.
(3) After the rapture, those left on earth who survive the Day of the
Lord and exhibit faith in Christ at His return are the “sheep” who will enter
the new heaven and new earth.
(4) New Jerusalem coming down from heaven will be the capital city of
the new heaven and new earth and will be the dwelling place of the true Church,
the Bride of Christ.
Two worlds are about to collide: and only one will survive. The which
will survive is the one over which Christ, the Son of God and Savior of men,
will rule for a thousand years; the new heaven and new earth.
The ultimate question to which every man must render an answer, whether
by profession or by default, is this: “To which world do I belong—the one
which will be destroyed or the one over which Christ will rule for a thousand
years?
The just (explained
in the Book of Romans) shall live
(explained in the Book of Galatians) by
faith (explained in the Book of Hebrews).
