A Fresh Glimpse of the New Heaven and the New Earth
In 2 Peter 3:13, the Apostle Peter states that “…we, according to his promise, look for new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Peter knew about the promise God made with Abraham.
We find in Hebrews 11:9-10 that Abraham also looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. To the best of our knowledge, Abraham lived somewhere between 2100 BC and 1900 BC. The Apostle Peter, some 2,000 years after Abraham, in the first century AD, was also looking for that same promised “city”, only Peter called it “a new heaven and a new earth”. If we today are to understand the “new heaven and new earth” that Peter was looking for, we must examine what the “old heaven and the old earth” actually were.
In the Old Covenant given to Moses at Mt. Sinai, the Holy of Holies was the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle and later of the temple where God’s presence appeared. (Leviticus 16:2, Exodus 25:22)
Leviticus 16:2 and the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
Exodus 25:22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
In the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was covered by solid gold known as the Mercy Seat. Inside the Ark were the stone tablets of the covenant, a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded. (Hebrews 9:4)
Hebrews 9:4 which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
The Bible teaches us that the Holy of Holies represented the presence of God to the children of Israel. The High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year to offer blood for the sins of himself and for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 9:7) Thus, Old Testament Israel’s whole relationship with God centred around the Tabernacle and later around the Temple. This was their heaven, thus the “old heaven”.
Hebrews 9:7 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
In Deuteronomy 7:6-8, we read how God chose the Nation of Israel to be His people. At Mt. Sinai, God gave His Laws and Commandments to His people Israel.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8, 6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. 7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8 but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
As long as they kept His Commandments, He would bless them and keep them. (Deuteronomy 7:9, 12-14, Exodus 19:5-6)
Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: 13 and he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 14 Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.
Exodus 19:5-6, 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
The Bible tells us that God chose Jerusalem to put His name there. (2 Chronicles 6:6, 1 Kings 11:36)
2 Chronicles 6:6 but I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel.
1 Kings 11:36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.
According to Scriptures, it is very clear that God had chosen Israel and actually put His Name in Jerusalem where the permanent Temple was built. (1 Chronicles 17:20-21)
1 Chronicles 17:20-21, 20 O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?
In the Scriptures, the word “earth” does not always refer to the physical planet “Earth”. An example of this can be found in Genesis 4:13-14.
Genesis 4:1-14, 13 And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
Cain was not banished off the planet Earth, but rather from the region where God’s people lived. Genesis 4:17 tells us that Cain went to the land of Nod and dwelt there. In this sense of the word “earth”, the land of Israel with her Temple in the capital city of Jerusalem was the “old earth” of God.
Now that we have established exactly what the “old heaven and the old earth” actually was according to Scriptures, the Bible speaks of a coming judgment against this “old heaven and old earth”.
This judgment was coming because the people of God had transgressed the Law and had broken the everlasting covenant. (Isaiah 24:5-6)
Isaiah 24:5-6, 5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
The Book of Hebrews makes it very clear that the Old Covenant, or the “old heaven and the old earth” are getting ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13)
Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
The Bible tells us that He took away the first so that He could establish the second. (Hebrews 10:9)
Hebrews 10:9 then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
Hebrews 10:1 tells us that the Law or the Old Covenant was a shadow of good things to come. The “old heaven and the old earth” were getting ready to pass away. A “new heaven and a new earth” were getting ready to replace the old.
Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
In this “new heaven and new earth”, the Lord said that He will put His laws into our hearts and in our minds. (Hebrews 10:16-17)
Hebrews 10:16-17, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more
The Apostle Paul proclaimed this same thing happening in 2 Corinthians 3:3.
2 Corinthians 3:3 forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
No more tables of stone, but rather His word is written on tables of the heart. Now, the blood of Jesus has opened up a new living way into His presence. The veil has been taken away, and now every born-again believer has direct access to the presence of God. (Hebrews 10:19-22)
Hebrews 10:19-22, 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 and having an high priest over the house of God; 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
The Temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed in judgment in AD 70. Now, it is our hearts, minds, and bodies that house the presence of God. When we are washed through the waters of baptism in Jesus Name and filled with the Holy Ghost, we become the temple of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) We become recipients of the promise. (Acts 2:38-39) Our bodies become the dwelling place for the presence of God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Acts 2:38-39, 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
This is the “new heaven”.
The Bible speaks of a New Jerusalem which will take the place of the “old” Jerusalem. The “old” Jerusalem was destroyed when judgment came in AD 70 and was promptly replaced by the New Jerusalem.
Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us that we have come unto the heavenly Jerusalem, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn.
Hebrews 12:22-24, 22 but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews 12:27-28 says that the first-century church had already received that kingdom which cannot be moved.
Hebrews 12:27-28, 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
What Adam and Eve lost in the Garden was spiritual life and fellowship with God. Now we have regained this relationship and spiritual life when we are born again of the water and of the Spirit.
The Apostle John wrote about the passing away of the “old heaven and the old earth” and the arrival of the “new heaven and the new earth.” (Revelation 21:1-3)
Revelation 21:1-3, 1 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. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
John boldly proclaimed that now the tabernacle of God is with men. His presence is not found in physical buildings anymore, but within our hearts, minds, and bodies. We, who are covenant connected by obedience to the Gospel message (Acts 2:38-39) are the “new earth”.
The other valuable thing that Adam and Eve lost that day in the Garden was access to the Tree of Life. (Genesis 3:22-24) The Tree of Life represented eternal life.
Genesis 3:22-24, 22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
When Jesus came, He brought with Him eternal life to all who would believe and obey. (John 1:4, 11:25, John 15:1)
John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman
Revelation 22:14 tells us that if we do His commandments, we will have right to the Tree of Life and can enter in through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We can either be born into it or dwell outside of the city, Outside the city dwells every manner of evil.
Revelation 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Notice that the two coexist. Inside the city is righteousness; outside the city is every kind of sin and wickedness. This is the exact same scenario that we have in our modern world today.
Inside the “city” or church, there is peace and righteousness. Outside the “city” or church, there is sin and wickedness.
Another important note, once we leave these mortal bodies and inherit our new immortal bodies, we have arrived. We have no need for the Tree of Life anymore. (2 Corinthians 5:1)
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Conclusion
Four thousand years ago, Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Peter proclaimed that he was looking for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Righteousness means, the quality of being right in the eyes of God including our character, conscience, conduct and word. This only happens when a person obeys the Gospel message that Jesus and the Apostles taught. (Acts 2:37-39)
We are living in that day. The prophet Isaiah also prophesied about the coming of a new heaven and a new earth. (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22) When the “old heaven and the old earth” passed away, the physical planet with the Universe was not destroyed.
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isaiah 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
The “new heaven and the new earth” that the Bible presents is here right now. This is the Kingdom of God which will never end. (Luke 1:31-33)
Luke 1:31-33, 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Right now, born again believers have access to the Tree of Life. This Tree is Jesus who gives Eternal life to all who believe and obey. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the only way to salvation. (Acts 4:12)
This Tree of Life, which is Jesus, gives us meaning, fulfilment, support for both the physical and the spiritual, and Eternal Life.
Will you live inside the “New Jerusalem”, which is the church, or outside the “New Jerusalem” which as per Revelation 22:15 is where the dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie dwell, the choice is yours. Will you live inside the “city” where righteousness dwells, or outside the “city”, where sin and wickedness dwell.
The choice is Yours. The New Heaven and the New Earth that the Bible describes, are here today.
Where will you choose to live?