New Heaven & New Earth OR Renew Heaven & Renew Earth

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow. The sun forebear to shine.-Amazing Grace

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.- Revelation 21:1-2

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwell.- 2 Peter 3:11-13

A few weeks ago we sang "Amazing Grace" in church and the lyrics on the last line says, "the earth shall soon dissolve like snow. The sun forebear to shine." I did not sing that line and one of the teens called me out. He wanted to know why I did not sing that sentence. Below is my answer to the teens question.

We see in these texts that the goal of redemptive history is the restoration of fallen creation through the ushering of a new heaven and a new earth. But here's something worth noting. In Revelation 21- and in 2 Peter 3, the Greek word for "new" is kainos, not neos. Now, kainos means "new in nature or in quality," while neos means "new in time or origin." In other words, when these passages employ the phrase "new heaven and new earth," they are positing a world renewed, not a world brand-new. Therefore, what we see in Scripture's vision of the end of redemptive history is not an earth thrown in the trash can with its righteous inhabitants escaping to disembodied bliss in the clouds but a restored earth where creation has been reconciled to God. Looking carefully at Revelation 21, we see heaven meeting the new earth; heaven and earth collide into what is new (or renewed), and all things are made new on that new earth. What will that be like? 

The Bible tells us some wondrous things about the new earth. Isaiah 35:1 tells us that deserts shall blossom as the rose. Amos 9:13 says that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and that the mountains shall drop sweet wine. In Isaiah 65, we learn that there will be no more sounds of weeping heard on the earth, that the days of God's people shall be like the days of the tree and that on the earth the wolf and the lamb shall feed together. We see in Isaiah 11 that no one will hurt or destroy anything in all of God's holy mountain. And, according to Habakkuk 2:14, this is true because evil will be vanquished to the lake of fire, and the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as waters cover the sea.

Think of this! Slow down and ponder it. If you know somewhere in the world that is renowned for its spectacular views, what you see is nevertheless broken, and what is to come in the new earth is far beyond what you can fathom or imagine. The work that God does in us through the power of the gospel of Jesus's redemptive work is a glorious mystery, a matter of eternal interest to curious angels (1 Peter 1:12). Is it any wonder that we must have a world to match the wonder of salvation? Scroll back up and read 2 Peter 3:11-13.

Because we know Jesus is making all things new, and because 2 Peter 3 tells us we are waiting on a new heaven and a new earth, we should not see the fire and dissolution Peter speaks of as annihilating creation but refining it and remaking it. Think of how a blacksmith heats up a piece of metal to soften it before hammering it into shape. We who trust in Christ are counted righteous in Christ-this is our justification-and we are being made righteous through the Spirit's sanctifying work in us so that we will be fit to occupy a "sanctified" creation. We are declared God's righteousness so that we will be fit for the land "in which righteousness dwells.

This is the ultimate fruit of gospel mission, and it is undoubtedly what Jesus was praying for when he prayed that God's kingdom would come in such a way that God's will would be done perfectly on earth as it is done in heaven. Jesus himself was the answer to this prayer, inaugurating the kingdom through his earthly ministry and testifying that people who place their faith in him alone will enjoy the blessing of the kingdoms future consummation, when all the crooked ways are finally made right.