The New Earth is an expression used in the Book of Isaiah (65:17 & 66:22), 2 Peter (3:13), and the Book of Revelation (21:1) in the Bible to describe the final state of redeemed humanity. It is one of the central doctrines of Christian eschatology and is referred to in the Nicene Creed as the world to come.
The twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation introduces the final state of perfection where, according to one commentator, "cosmic time has been turned into eternity." [1] In symbolic and visual language, God allows John to see the glory and beauty of the inheritance of His people. The first thing the reader notices about this vision is that it includes a "new heavens and a new earth" (21:1). To understand what the Bible teaches about eternity, the reader of the Apocalypse must understand the New Testament doctrine of the "New Heavens and the New Earth." [2]
The basic difference with the promises of the Old Testament is that in Revelation they also have an ontological value (Rev. 21:1;4: "Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth,' for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea...'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away") and no longer just gnosiological (Isaiah 65:17: "See, I will create/new heavens and a new earth./The former things will not be remembered,/nor will they come to mind"). [3] [4]
But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home (2 Peter 3:13).
In Koine Greek, there were two words that are translated as "new" in the English Bible; neos and kainos. One Greek resource states:
As distinct from néos, "new in time," kainós means "new in nature" (with an implication of "better"). Both words suggest "unfamiliar," "unexpected," "wonderful," and the distinction fades with time. [5]
That kainos should not be taken as something totally new can be seen in a passage like the following:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV)
Here the Apostle Paul uses kainos in the expression "new creation." Paul did not intend to convey the idea that this is a completely different individual. There is continuity between the old person and the new person to such an extent that it remains the same person, but renovated. The person is the same, but the quality of that person has been transformed.
In the same way, the biblical concept of the New Earth is one of renovation and restoration. Either on this current earth or on a rebuilt new planet. This conclusion is supported by Peter's words in his public speech in the temple at Jerusalem.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. [6]
This earth, however, will be either cleansed or destroyed by a very hot temperature of heat or a great fire, for the purpose of restoration as expressed in the following passage:
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? (2 Peter 3:10-12 KJV)
The Roman Catholic Church links New Earth with New Creation (theology), seeing them both signified in Baptism. [7] Baptismal grace - in particular, the fruit of the Holy Spirit - is a foretaste of eternal life in Paradise, [8] which in turn is a foretaste of deified life in the New Earth on Judgment Day. [9]
On Judgment Day, Heaven will unite with the Universe via the Second Coming, whereby the whole Universe and all angels and saints will be deified, just as Jesus' humanity was deified via his resurrection. [10] The Universe is unconditionally predestined for deification, [11] while angels' and persons' respective predestinations are both conditioned on moral behavior. [12]
Despite being resurrected unto immortality along with the saints, the damned - along with Satan and the rest of the demons - will forever be prisoners in hell. [13] By rejecting God, they reject eternal deified life with God in the New Earth. [14]
The deified Universe, and all creatures therein, is collectively called the "New Jerusalem" or "Heavenly Jerusalem" because it is the definitive house and reign of God. [15]
Saint Thomas Aquinas argues that the new heavens and the new earth will include material components as well as a spiritual ones. [16] But in Summa Contra Gentiles , he teaches that the New Earth will lack everything unnecessary: eating and defecation, food and cooking, animals and plants, etc. [17]
The Book of Revelation or Book of the Apocalypse is the final book of the New Testament. Written in Koine Greek, its title is derived from the first word of the text: apokalypsis, meaning 'unveiling' or 'revelation'. The Book of Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the New Testament canon. It occupies a central place in Christian eschatology.
Eschatology concerns expectations of the end of present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions, which teach that negative world events will reach a climax. Belief that the end of the world is imminent is known as apocalypticism, and over time has been held both by members of mainstream religions and by doomsday cults. In the context of mysticism, the term refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and to reunion with the divine. Many religions treat eschatology as a future event prophesied in sacred texts or in folklore, while other religions may have concepts of renewal or transformation after significant events. The explicit description of a new earth is primarily found in Christian teachings.
The Second Coming is the Christian and Muslim belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven. The idea is based on messianic prophecies and is part of most Christian eschatologies. Other faiths have various interpretations of it.
Biblical cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws in the Bible. The Bible was formed over many centuries, involving many authors, and reflects shifting patterns of religious belief; consequently, its cosmology is not always consistent. Nor do the biblical texts necessarily represent the beliefs of all Jews or Christians at the time they were put into writing: the majority of the texts making up the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament in particular represent the beliefs of only a small segment of the ancient Israelite community, the members of a late Judean religious tradition centered in Jerusalem and devoted to the exclusive worship of Yahweh.
Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the Earth before the Millennium, heralding a literal thousand-year messianic age of peace. Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpretation of Revelation 20:1–6 in the New Testament, which describes Jesus's reign in a period of a thousand years.
In the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible, New Jerusalem is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city centered on the rebuilt Holy Temple, to be established in Jerusalem, which would be the capital of the Messianic Kingdom, the meeting place of the twelve tribes of Israel, during the Messianic era. The prophecy is recorded by Ezekiel as having been received on Yom Kippur of the year 3372 of the Hebrew calendar.
"The Day of the LORD” is a biblical term and theme used in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, as in "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come".
Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from God.
Matthew 5:35 and Matthew 5:36 are the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth verses of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. They are part of the Sermon on the Mount. These verses are part of either the third or fourth antithesis, the discussion of oaths. Jesus tells his listeners in Matthew 5:34 "to not swear oaths" and in here presents examples of swearing oaths. In context, this passage refers not to the modern understanding of cursing or using foul language, but rather, the act of swearing oaths and making promises.
Mark 13 is the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains Jesus' predictions of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and disaster for Judea, as well as Mark's version of Jesus' eschatological discourse. Theologian William Barclay described this chapter as "one of the most Jewish chapters in the Bible" and "one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament for a modern reader to understand".
Particular judgment, according to Christian eschatology, is the divine judgment that a departed (dead) person undergoes immediately after death, in contradistinction to the general judgment of all people at the end of the world.
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" is one of the Ten Commandments found in the Torah.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain" is the second or third of God's Ten Commandments to man in Judaism and Christianity.
Revelation 1 is the first chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author is a point of academic debate. This chapter contains the prologue of the book, followed by the vision and commission of John.
Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Theologians may undertake the study of Christian theology for a variety of reasons, such as in order to:
In Christianity, heaven is traditionally the location of the throne of God and the angels of God, and in most forms of Christianity it is the abode of the righteous dead in the afterlife. In some Christian denominations it is understood as a temporary stage before the resurrection of the dead and the saints' return to the New Earth.
For the majority of Christian denominations, the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, is believed to be the third divine person of the Trinity, a triune god manifested as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each being God. Nontrinitarian Christians, who reject the doctrine of the Trinity, differ significantly from mainstream Christianity in their beliefs about the Holy Spirit. In Christian theology, pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit. Due to Christianity's historical relationship with Judaism, theologians often identify the Holy Spirit with the concept of the Ruach Hakodesh in Jewish scripture, on the theory that Jesus was expanding upon these Jewish concepts. Similar names, and ideas, include the Ruach Elohim, Ruach YHWH, and the Ruach Hakodesh. In the New Testament the Holy Spirit is identified with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, and the Paraclete (helper).
Revelation 4 is the fourth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter contains an inaugural vision of heaven, portraying the throne room of heaven, and the heavenly worship which the writer observes there.
Revelation 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. This chapter describes the fall of Babylon the Great.
Revelation 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. This chapter contains the accounts of "the new heaven and the new earth", followed by the appearance of the New Jerusalem, "prepared as a bride".
This goodness theme is advanced most definitively through the promise of a renewal of all creation, a hope present in OT prophetic literature (Isaiah 65:17–25) but portrayed most strikingly through Revelation's vision of a "new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1). There the divine king of creation promises to renew all of reality: "See, I am making all things new" (Revelation 21:5).
By alluding to the new Creation prophecy of Isaiah John emphasizes the qualitatively new state of affairs that will exist at God's new creative act. In addition to the passing of the former heaven and earth, John also asserts that the sea was no more in 21:1c.
[...] St. Thomas thinks that the fundamental material bodies that he calls elements, for example, instances of earth, fire, and water, will exists in the new heavens and the new earth, and this for two reasons.
