May 8, 2023: 2 Peter 3:13 - Believers in Christ Look for New Heavens and a New Earth
“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” - 2 Peter 3:13
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:1, 26-27)
When God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, He created them knowing that Adam and Eve would sin, doing the one thing He had forbidden Adam to do or else he would die - to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 1:16-17) - knowing that the curse of sin would begin at the point they ate of that tree and that sin would be passed down to every single person ever born thereafter. Adam and Eve’s sin did not surprise God; no, He knew they would sin before they sinned, and He knows that we will sin before we ourselves commit sin. But God had a plan, a plan of redemption of sins through His Son Jesus Christ.
As part of His perfect plan, God would first show us Himself, His holy character, through the nation of Israel, whom He chose to set apart from all other nations, and to whom He gave the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law is “made up of the Ten Commandments, the ordinances, and the worship system, which included the priesthood, the tabernacle, the offerings, and the festivals (Exodus 20-40); Leviticus 1-7; 23).” (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/Mosaic-Law.html). The Mosaic Law was to reveal that sin is inherent in each and every one of us, that while the Law is good and holy, no one could ever fully keep it, and to point the nation of Israel to the One - the only One - who can forgive and wash clean all sin by His precious blood, and He is the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. When Jesus came to earth the first time to offer salvation from all sin to the nation of Israel, most rejected Him as their prophesied Messiah and had Him crucified. However, that was not the end of the story; rather, it was just the beginning. Jesus did not stay dead, but rose from the dead three days later and after 40 days, He ascended to the right hand of God the Father. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles of Jesus Christ to preach and teach the good news of salvation. The apostle Paul, a former Pharisee who previously went by the name of Saul, a Jewish religious leader who had previously persecuted those who followed Jesus, had been converted on the road to Damascus by Jesus and was chosen by Jesus to bring the good news of salvation to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-19):
“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.” (Jesus Christ; Acts 9:15)
Paul later wrote about this in the book of Ephesians:
“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles - if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.” (Ephesians 3:1-7)
From the very beginning, God intended to send Jesus to save all peoples and not just the nation of Israel. The prophet Isaiah wrote about this in the book of Isaiah, long before Jesus came to earth the first time:
“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD…And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:1-2, 10)
The “root of Jesse” refers to the lineage of King David, and Jesse was David’s father. Jesus is a descendant of King David and is of the tribe of Judah. The apostle Paul quoted Isaiah’s prophecy above in Romans 15:12. In the last book of the Bible and its last chapter, Revelation 22, Jesus Himself stated:
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” (Revelation 22:16)
Though the majority of the nation of Israel has rejected their Messiah, when Jesus Christ returns to earth a second time after a 7-year period of horrific tribulation upon the earth, a remnant of Jews will be alive and all of that remnant will be saved, as Paul wrote about and quoted from Isaiah:
“And so all Israel will be saved [delivered], as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob [whom God renamed to “Israel”; see Genesis 35:10]; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’” (Romans 11:26-27)
The prophet Zechariah also wrote about Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their prophesied Messiah, how they would be scattered from their land, that most would die in its rejection of Him, but a remnant would be saved:
“‘Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones. And it shall come to pass in all the land,’ says the LORD, ‘That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, “This is My people”; and each one will say, “The LORD is my God.”’” (Zechariah 13:7-9)
God has had a plan since the very beginning, even in the book of Genesis where the first prophecy about Jesus was made when God said the words below to the serpent - Satan - who had deceived Eve into eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:
“So the LORD God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His Heel.’” (Genesis 3:14-15)
I have put in bold above the text that prophecies of Jesus. Gotquestions.org explains this in a simple way: “The serpent and the "seed" of Eve will have conflict; the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent. Jesus is this seed, and He crushed Satan at the cross.” (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html).
Just as a person who is born again and made new by believing in their heart that Jesus is their Savior and He is the only One who can save them from all their sins, Jesus will create a new heavens, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem where only we who have been made new in Him will live in our eternity. Isaiah prophesied of this:
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” (Isaiah 65:17-19)
When the apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos because of his faith in Jesus Christ and was given the revelation of Jesus Christ to write, John “…looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven,” and was told “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1). After writing about the 7-year tribulation period upon the earth, Jesus’ second coming, His 1,000-year reign on earth, and the great white throne judgment during which all those not saved by Jesus will be found guilty and cast into the lake of fire, John wrote in chapter 21 of what he saw:
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; three shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son.’” (Revelation 21:1-7)
For believers in Jesus Christ as our Savior, this is our hope! We have a hope that the non-believing world does not have, and that is His promise: God will one day judge sin and He will do it in His perfect timing, giving much time for people to realize their sin and turn to Jesus in belief as their Redeemer; for all who are saved by Jesus, we will see Him destroy by fire the current heavens and earth and will witness the creation of a new heaven, a new earth, and a New Jerusalem and will be allowed entry into His glorious kingdom.
For the unsaved, they have no such hope, for by their own choice they reject God and His promise of salvation:
“…having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:18-19)
Instead of believing the truth of God, they chose to believe the lies of Satan. Consequently, they will spend their eternity separated from God, as John wrote about in Revelation:
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)
“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s [Jesus Christ’s] Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27)
Do you have this hope? Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? If not, I pray you turn to Jesus today, before it’s too late. ✝️