Transcript Slide 1

Text
• Rev. 21:1a (NIV):
–“Then I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away . . .
. . .”
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Introduction
• In our first lesson on this subject,
we introduced the subject of life
on the New Earth.
–In this lesson, we will continue
what we began.
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Will The New Earth Be A Paradise?
• It has been stated already that
this present Earth can teach us
some things about the New Earth.
–This Earth, with its natural beauty
and wonders gives us a foretaste
and glimpse of what we might
expect in the New Earth.
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• This life, including its environment
and people and culture can
provide the basis for some things
we might expect in the New
Earth.
–None of the sin and corruption
that plague us in this present
Earth will do so in the New Earth.
–That is the major difference.
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• Aside from the vast improvements
that will result from the removal of
sin, sickness, sorrow, death, and
so forth, life on the New Earth will
bear some similarities to life in
this present Earth.
–If we take literally the earthly
depictions of life on the New
Earth, it allows us to make a
direct connection with our current
lives.
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• For example, here we eat with
people and enjoy food, fellowship
and friendship.
–This provides us with an
understanding of how we might
do the same in that perfect world
to come.
–This is not some radical doctrine,
it is just taking a few steps in the
light that Scripture gives us.
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• Every joy on earth, including the
joy of reunion, is an inkling of
greater joy that will be
experienced on the New Earth.
–The Alps, the Grand Canyon, the
Amazon rain forests, the beauties
of forest and plains, are all just
rough sketches of things to come
in the New Earth.
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• The most beautiful things in this
present world are merely sneak
previews of the New Earth’s
beauty.
–Whenever we see beauty in
water, flowers, animals, man
woman, or child, we catch a
glimpse of Heaven’s coming
beauty.
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• Just like the paradise that was the
Garden of Eden, the New Earth
will be a place of sensory delight,
breath-taking beauty, satisfying
relationships, and personal joy.
–God prepared Eden as man’s first
home on Earth.
• Gen. 2:8 (NIV) says:
–“Now the LORD God had planted
a garden in the east, in Eden; …
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–“. . . and there He put the man He
had formed.”
• The phrase “planted a garden”
shows God’s personal touch – His
intimate interest in the creative
details of the home He prepared
for Adam and Eve in Eden.
–Jesus is personally preparing an
eternal home for us (John 14:2-3).
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• He has been preparing a place for
us for over 2,000 years now.
–God’s creativity and imagination
is unparalleled, and the eternal
home He is preparing for us will
surely be overwhelmingly
magnificent.
• The New Earth will have a carry
over of culture and nations.
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An Eternal, Perfect New Earth
• The eternal “Heaven” and the
“New Earth” are the same
place.
–Heaven is truly “the last frontier.”
–Like all other frontiers in the
history of mankind, it will
challenge us with new
opportunities, possibilities, and
experiences.
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• Unlike our experiences in this
present Earth, our life on the New
Earth, our eternal Heaven, will be
unlimited in time and space.
–We will be inspired to join as
participants in the dynamic,
creative plans of God.
–We will experience the greatest
adventure possible.
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• The eternal quest of the human
spirit longs for a Heaven in which
we can explore the infinite
possibilities of an unlimited
universe.
–Our future blessings in Heaven
will begin with the ending of all
evil, suffering and adversity.
–But that is just the beginning.
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• We will experience the fulfillment
of all the real joys and happiness
of human life that God intended.
–The Bible describes our rest after
satisfying labor and the
elimination of toil and grief.
• Scripture nowhere suggests a life
of inactivity or boredom in
Heaven.
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• On the contrary, what we are
promised are lives of active,
purposeful and joyful life in a
creation filled with beauty, peace
and righteousness.
–It will truly be “heaven on Earth”.
• In our present life, it is difficult to
reconcile the goodness and
power of God with the seeming
triumph of evil and death.
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• However, in the new heaven and
the New Earth, we will see the
final reconciliation of all the
accounts of life.
–Evil will be judged and punished,
and righteousness and goodness
will triumph forever.
• The current spiritual warfare in
our hearts between our good and
evil natures will end forever.
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• Believers will enjoy their newly
resurrected bodies with their
hearts, minds and spirits being
cleansed from every stain of sin.
–God’s unfolding purpose
throughout human history is that
His will and nature will be
reflected in a perfected humanity.
–Evil will be annihilated and good
will triumph forever.
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• Rev. 11:15 declares the aim and
goal of God’s plan for the New
Earth:
–“The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord,
and of his Christ; and He shall
reign for ever and ever.”
• In the New Earth, all wrongs will
be righted, and good will be
rewarded.
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• The underlying theme of
prophecy is that the justice of God
will triumph in the end.
–Behind the detailed descriptions
of the rise and fall of empires lies
the theme that all of these events
are unfolding toward God’s final
goal, in which God will reign
victorious forever.
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• Some (wrongly in my opinion)
teach that the very nature of time,
duration and causality will end in
Heaven.
–This is based on the last part of
Rev. 10:6 in the KJV which says
that: “… there should be time no
longer.”
• This is an unfortunate translation.
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• The original language actually
states: “…there should be delay no
longer.”
–The misunderstanding created by
a surface reading of an inaccurate
translation has led many to
develop a concept of a static,
boring Heaven of total inactivity.
–Nothing could be less true.
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• What this verse actually states is
that at that point in the sequence
of prophetic events in the Great
Tribulation, time (or delay) will be
no more.
–I.e., that the events following will
proceed immediately, without
further delay.
–Not that time will cease to exist.
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• The very nature of man and the
specific predictions of the many
activities of Heaven prove that
time will exist in the eternal New
Heaven on Earth.
–Eternity is not the absence of
time; it is an infinity of time.
• The negative consequence on the
boring view of Heaven some have
is that it has diminished the desire
of many to go there.
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• We need an active interest in
Heaven, which will involve an
eternal future in real life on the
New Earth.
–A study of all the passages in the
Bible that deal with the New Earth
will show that all the best things of
life here will find a perfected and
dynamic fulfillment in the New
Earth.
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• After the Millennium, the existing
Earth and heavens will be
cleansed with fire and renewed.
–The pollution caused by sin and
corruption under the Curse will be
done away with entirely.
• When God cleansed the Earth by
a flood in the days of Noah, He
promised never again to use
water to “destroy” the Earth.
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• This time God will cleanse the
Earth by fire.
–God will melt the elements and
recreate the surface of the Earth.
–As we have studied, the Earth will
not be annihilated, but rather, it
will be totally renewed.
–Many, many verses prove that the
Earth will continue forever in its
renewed form.
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• In II Pet. 3:7, 10-13 (NIV) the
apostle Peter describes the
renewal as follows:
–“7 By the same word the present
heavens and earth are reserved for
fire, being kept for the day of
judgment and destruction of the
ungodly. . . 10 But the day of the
Lord will come like a thief. . . .
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–“. . . The heavens will disappear
with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed by fire, and the earth
and everything done in it will be
laid bare. 11 Since everything will
be destroyed in this way, what kind
of people ought you to be? You
ought to live holy and godly lives. 12
as you look forward to the day of
God and speed its coming. . . .
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–“. . . That day will bring about the
destruction of the heavens by fire,
and the elements will melt in the
heat. 13 But in keeping with His
promise we are looking forward to
a new heaven and a new earth,
where righteousness dwells.”
• Just how God might choose to
completely envelope this present
Earth in fire is not stated.
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• Nuclear scientists state that the
enormously strong electrical
forces within the atom are
repulsing each other so strongly
that only a huge force equal to
900,000 volts for each atom is
holding all atomic structures
together.
–Scientists now agree that the
Earth can melt with fervent heat.
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• When God releases the
staggering powers of the atoms
“…kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men,” it will
result in the renovation of the
Earth by fire.
–Out of that destruction we are
promised a new heavens and a
New Earth.
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• It will be the fulfilled promise of a
“new heavens and a New Earth in
which righteousness dwells.
–Sin will have no dominion forever
in the New Earth.
• Satan will be released for “a little
season” following the Millennium
to test mankind one last time.
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• Many born during this period to
the natural men and women will
choose to join this final rebellion
led by Satan.
–God will then destroy Satan and
his army with fire.
• The Bible doesn’t give us details
concerning how God will transfer
people safely from the present
Earth to the New Earth.
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• But in some manner, they will be
protected like Noah and his family
were protected during the Flood.
–When the New Earth is
completed, all God’s people and
the natural peoples who will
repopulate the Earth will live on
the New Earth in peace for all
eternity.
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• Rev. 21:5 (NIV) says:
–“But the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word
are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men.”
• After the cleansing of sin’s
pollution by fire, The New
Jerusalem will come down to the
New Earth for eternity.
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• The New Jerusalem will become
the capital city of the world.
–It’s enormous size of 1500 miles
by 1500 miles and 1500 miles
high, will cover an area equal to
half the size of the United States.
–(Remember that the Earth will be
remade, and this huge city will
substitute for the present
Jerusalem).
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• The new Earth will be
transformed into a world-wide
“Garden of Eden”.
–Man will again become the
master of animals and will no
longer have to fear them.
–Animals will be restored to their
original state before the Fall and
will all eat vegetation.
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• Isa. 65:25a (NIV) illustrates this
time, saying:
–“‘The wolf and the lamb will feed
together, and the lion will eat straw
like the ox, and dust will be the
serpent’s food. They will neither
harm nor destroy on all my holy
mountain,’ says the LORD.”
–Man will again have dominion
over all animal life.
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• In the New Earth, natural people
will flourish in joyful and
purposeful living under the rule of
Christ and His saints (more about
this in a future lesson).
• Isa. 65:18-19 (NIV) says:
–“But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create, for I will
create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy. . .
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–“. . .19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people; the
sound of weeping and of crying will
be heard in it no more.”
• That is because sin and evil, the
cause of pain, weeping and
crying, will be abolished.
–Men will then be free to enjoy the
wonderful creation of God in
complete peace and joy.
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• Life on the New Earth will be
productive, enjoyable and more
excellent than we are able to
imagine.
• Isa. 65:21 (NIV) says of the
natural peoples of the New Earth:
–“They will build houses and dwell
in them; they will plant vineyards
and eat their fruit.”
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• They will enjoy the fruits of their
labor, and be blessed a according
to Isa. 65:23 (NIV):
–“They will not labor in vain, nor
will they bear children doomed to
misfortune; for they will be a
people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with
them.”
–Note that they will bear children.
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• The natural peoples of the earth,
Jew and Gentile, will have
offspring forever in the New
Earth.
• Moses prophesied of this future
blessed time on the New Earth in
Deut. 30:8-9 (NIV) saying:
–“You will again obey the LORD
and follow all his commands I am
giving you today. . .
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–“. . . Then the LORD your God will
make you most prosperous in all
the work of your hands and in the
fruit of your womb, the young of
your livestock and the crops of
your land. The LORD will again
delight in you and make you
prosperous, just as he delighted in
your ancestors,’”
–This describes a productive life.
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• This prophecy confirms that in the
New Earth, the natural men who
survive Armageddon (both Jews
and Gentiles) will enjoy children,
crops, and cattle throughout
eternity.
–The promise for the Church is that
we shall be transformed and
receive our resurrected body
(similar to the resurrected body of
Jesus Christ).
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• I John 3:2 says:
–“Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know
that, when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him; for we shall see
Him as He is.”
• We shall see Jesus face-to-face
and enjoy His divine presence
throughout eternity.
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• In I Cor. 13:9-13 (Amp. Bible) the
apostle Paul talked about the
transformation in knowledge
which will take place after our
resurrection:
–“For [currently] our knowledge is
fragmentary (incomplete and
imperfect), and our prophecy (our
teaching) is fragmentary
(incomplete and imperfect). . .
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– 10But when the complete and
perfect (total) comes, the
incomplete and imperfect will
vanish away (become antiquated,
void, and superseded). 11When I
was a child, I talked like a child, I
thought like a child, I reasoned like
a child; now that I have become a
man, I am done with childish ways
and have put them aside. . .
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– 12For now we are looking in a
mirror that gives only a dim
(blurred) reflection [of reality as in
a riddle or enigma], but then [when
perfection comes] we shall see in
reality and face to face! Now I
know in part (imperfectly), but
then I shall know and understand
fully and clearly, even in the same
manner as I have been fully and
clearly known and understood [by
God]. . .
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–“. . . 13And so faith, hope, love
abide [faith--conviction and belief
respecting man's relation to God
and divine things; hope--joyful and
confident expectation of eternal
salvation; love--true affection for
God and man, growing out of
God's love for and in us], these
three; but the greatest of these is
love.”
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• With all the limits removed, our
capacity for learning and
experience will be phenomenal.
– We will learn directly from God
about His creation.
–We will understand our brothers
and sisters in an authentic,
transparent love which far
surpasses our current earthly
experience.
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• Faith, hope, and most of all, love
will exist forever.
–The essence of all that is right,
good, pure, holy, and lovely will
be present in Heaven at a much
higher level.
–No negative will exist there.
–Nothing that opposes God or His
will shall be in Heaven on the
New Earth.
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In Closing
• In our next lesson, we will
continue to explore the subject of
the New Earth.
End of Lesson
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