The New Earth

As God spoke heaven and earth into existence in the beginning, even so will He bring into existence "a new heaven and a new earth". Satan, as we know, through sin, strife and rebellion, defiled not only this present earth but also heaven, the very sanctuary of God. Consequently, both are to be destroyed. Yes, my dear friend, the same fire which is to consume the wicked will also consume heaven and earth. The apostle Peter gives the following description of how this will take place after the second coming of Jesus: "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 a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2Pet.3:10).

Perhaps there are some who will ask, "Why will there be a new earth?" and, "Who will live there?" The answers to these two questions become obvious once God's promise to Abraham is understood. "The Lord", as you recall, "said unto Abram [Abraham], after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever" (Gen.13:14-15). This land which Abraham surveyed was the land of Canaan, as is undeniably shown when God renewed His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:8, "I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession."

The Israelite occupation of Canaan (Palestine) was, and is, only a shadow of the fulfillment of this promise, for we are told, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb.11:8-10).

Now, let's see how this inheritance, or "land of promise" is obtained, and who is to have a part in it. "For the promise", says the apostle Paul, "that he [Abraham] should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.... Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee the father of many nations" (Rom.4:13-17). We must understand that "The Lord our God...hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance" (Ps.105:7-11).

Yes, my beloved, the true Israel of God (the church) is soon going to inherit the real "land of promise"; not the present Canaan, but that new Canaan - that new earth - for which Abraham, along with all other true servants of God, kept looking, and for which all faithful followers of Christ still look.

This promise has great effect on all believers, and therefore all believers should be greatly interested in God's covenant with Abraham, for we are told by the apostle Paul (Gal.3:7), "They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." He goes on to say, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

The only hope that anyone has of a future inheritance on the new earth is based upon this promise which God made to Abraham. We become heirs with him of that promise by receiving Christ. By entering into his life, we come to be of Abraham's seed (Christ), to whom the promise was made.

The earth was made for man, and heaven was made for God and the heavenly beings with Him. As David said, "The heaven, even the heaven of heavens, is the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children of men" (Ps.115:16). The new earth, likewise, will be for the children of men; that is, the ones who have been redeemed. And the new heaven will be for God and the faithful inhabitants of this heaven. The redeemed will dwell eternally on the new earth, after reigning with Christ a thousand years on this old one, during which time the marriage supper takes place and the saints, with Christ, judge the wicked, who at the end of the thousand years will receive this sentence from the mouth of the Lord: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."

The resurrection was involved in "the promises". In order for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, there must be a resurrection. From the prophet Ezekiel (37:12-14) we hear these words, "Thus sayeth the Lord your God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel [the new earth]. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord." Oh, thank God for the promise of the resurrection! "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable", said the apostle Paul. Again he says, "If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?" (1Cor.15:32).

This promise of God is being contradicted by many false ministers today. By pointing to heaven as the future home of the saved, many teachers and preachers are unknowingly contradicting this great promise of God, the promise which Jesus emphatically affirmed when he said to his disciples, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the EARTH" (Mt.5:5). Just before returning to his Father, Jesus told his followers, "I go to prepare a place for you." The place he went to prepare for his saints could not be heaven, for heaven was already made at the time he promised to go prepare a place. Besides, this heaven is to be destroyed (Mt.24:35).

Thousands upon thousands are failing to see this important promise of a new earth, which God made to Abraham and confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, and was, as we have just read, confirmed by Jesus to his disciples. Oh, how can you, my brethren, fail to see this? Just listen to Peter, as he gives you this warning concerning the promise of which we speak: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 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. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."

John, in Revelation 21:1, saw the fulfillment of God's promise and gave us the following narrative, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." The psalmist, David, shows his confidence in the promise of inheriting the new earth by counselling us to "Wait on the Lord and keep his way [covenant], and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it" (Ps.37:34).

Thank God, the time is approaching when all the faithful will witness the execution of this promise from Him who said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Let us remember that the "blessed" shall inherit! The old Pentecostal folk used to refer to the baptism of the Holy Ghost as "the Blessing". This is, indeed, correct, for all who have received the baptism of the Spirit have received "the Blessing". With this phrase in mind, let us read this scripture from Psalm 37:22: "For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off." Now, my dear reader, have you been blessed yet? If so, Isaiah gives you these encouraging words: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath, for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner, but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool, but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation"

None of the wicked will inherit the earth. "The wicked", we are told by the wise man, King Solomon, "shall not inherit the earth" (Prov.10:30). And from the pen of Solomon's father, King David, we receive this testimony concerning the fate of the wicked, "But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs. Into smoke they shall consume away" (Ps.37:20). Yes, children of God, after the destruction of the wicked and this present heaven and earth, the new earth will be given to us for an everlasting inheritance. And there - Praise God! - under the new heaven we shall never be disturbed nor molested.

No honest person of fair intelligence can fail to understand, after reading this tract, that God will give a new earth to the redeemed, after the thousand-year reign of Christ on this earth. May God not only help all who read this tract to see it, but also help all of us who see it to live a consecrated life to God while we are here, so that when the time comes, we may receive the eternal homes promised to us. You remember, Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions" (Jn.14: 2). Later, Paul also spoke of these "mansions", saying, "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2Cor.5:1). These heavenly "houses" are new, glorified bodies into which the faithful will be translated "in the twinkling of an eye." Speaking of this event, Paul wrote that Jesus "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body" (Phip.3:21). It is in these bodies that the saved will dwell on the new earth. There will be NO sin in this new earth my friend. Yes, beloved, the mansions that will be used in the new earth will never decay. They are eternal. On the new earth there will be no floods, wars, or storms to cause fear or destruction. When God destroys sin, "He will make an utter end. Affliction shall not rise up the second time" (Nah.1:9). Thank God, we shall have homes where sin cannot enter; and, as Isaiah tells us, "God shall wipe away tears from off all faces. And the rebuke of His people shall he take away from off all the earth [Hallelujah!], for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo this is our God, we have waited for him" (Isa.25:8-9). Praise God!

If we who have received "the Blessing" would receive this inheritance promised to us, we must remain free of sin as we travel through this life. Nothing shall enter that land with sin. Obedience to the will of God in Christ is the only way into eternal life.

My friend, if you are as yet unprepared to meet God in peace, don't be reluctant to turn to Him now while He is speaking to you. Let the salvation of your soul dwarf all other interests in this life, for if you are not given a part on the new earth, you will be given a part with the damned, cast away "into everlasting punishment". Just think of it: "into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Judgment is coming, and God has forewarned us that the new earth is prepared only for the "new creatures in Christ Jesus" who are faithful until the end. My prayer is that you may be one of those creatures and meet me there, in that "city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."