,, And 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."
Rev.21: 1
Last time we studied the terrible judgment and with the end of the terrible judgment ends "human history" in which time played an important role and in today's text we have written verses that "lead" us into eternity and during that time the Apostle Paul wrote words that are relating to the Lord Jesus Christ and so far have not been fulfilled and will be fulfilled only in the "time" which is the future for us:
,, For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him," it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.“
1 Cor.15: 27-28
And this means that the Son of man obeys everything as a mediator of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. We know from the Bible that according to the Deity the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are equal and there is complete and eternal equality.
But from the incarnation to the terrible judgment, Christ is the center of everything as the Son of man, and when eternity begins, it ceases and Jesus is in the whole "universe"
"God all in all."
Jesus Christ, "God all in all." Is still not today, but it will be, and when it becomes eternal, "man" remains, but since then, "God is all in all." He is eternal, and that means that from then on he will eternity to be everywhere the will of God.
And now below, let's see what God's will is for the future and what information we have from the Bible about something "new" that needs to come true in the near future.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away, and the sea is no more. "
The Bible begins with the verses:
,,In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Gen. 1: 1
but in the original Hebrew language, the plural of "heavens" was used for the sky, and based on what the Bible says, we know that there are three heavens: the atmospheric, the starry, and the third sky.
The first sky above the earth is the atmospheric sky and we can read what is written about it:
,, Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Genesis 1: 6-8
And then we have a record of what happened when God punished the world that was before the flood.
,, In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.”.
Gen. 7: 11-12
So it is raining from this part of the sky and that is what we see today and we know that there are clouds in this part of the sky and air traffic separates there and also birds fly in that airspace and that is actually the layer we call the earth. air envelope "
The second sky is the starry sky and it says:
,, Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
"and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.”
Genesis 1: 14-16
This second heaven is the sky in which there are celestial bodies as we call the sun, moon and stars, but the Bible also says about the third heaven, and we use the term paradise for that sky. Here is what it says about the third heaven:
,, I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago-- whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
2 Cor.12: 2-4
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, "John was informed that the first heaven had passed and this probably refers only to the first heaven we mentioned because in Revelation there is the word" ouranos "which means the first or atmospheric sky while for the rest the sky uses other terms.
This heaven is the heaven in which Satan rules and for this heaven it is written:
,, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
2 Peter 3:10
and in the continuation of this chapter it is written:
,, Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
2 Peter 3:13
So Peter was thinking of this first heaven that will burn but God will create a new heaven.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, "
We have been talking about the heavens so far, so now let's see what happened to the earth. Since its creation, the earth has experienced several "changes", so let's say something about it.
First we can see that the earth was formless and desolate.
,, The earth was without form, and void;”
Gen. 1: 2
Then God acted, so the conditions for life were created (Genesis 1), and then when "man" fell into sin, God "cursed the earth" and it began to produce thorns and weeds.
,, Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return."”
Gen. 3: 17-19
The next drastic change was during the flood
,, Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was on the earth.”
Gen. 7: 6
And then the country took a global form, which to this day, in addition to, say, "minor changes" that are constantly happening, writes about this country and its inhabitants:
,, For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. And not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”.
Rom.8: 22-23
And "everyone will sue" until another change occurs during the Millennial Kingdom. It is written about that country:
,, The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;”
Isa.35: 1
But the earth will undergo a final change at the end of the Millennial Empire, so we can read about it:
,, But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men”
2 Pet.3: 7
and then in verse ten we can read what will be.
,, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
2 Peter 3:10
According to this verse, the earth will burn completely, which means that it will undergo a radical change, and only then can we read:
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, "
of which the prophet Isaiah conveys the words of the Lord Jesus Christ who said:
,, "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”
Isa.65: 17
And we read in our text about the new country to write:
"And the sea is gone."
Let us first say that in the Millennial Kingdom there must be:
,, He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.”
Ps.72: 8
,, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.'”
Zechariah 9:10
,, And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur.”
Zechariah 14: 8
In a completely new environment, the sea will no longer have the purpose of existence, so it says that they will no longer exist
So we've seen a little about the old "heavens and the earth" and that's mostly what we know from experience and we can see it and we just mentioned the new earth but the verses below say more about what will be and what won't be on new country, so we will talk more about that in the continuation of the study.